All Images And Text On This Site Are Copyright 1999-2000
by
Thomas D. Hill Jr.
Aspens in Jasper National Park
I'm a great fan of Ansel Adams. I am continuously inspired by the technical perfection of his images. I remember very clearly my first view of one of his classics-Moonrise. I was 13 years old taking a Saturday drawing course in downtown Washington DC. My dad drove what seemed like hundreds of miles every Saturday to drive me and my sister to our various activities. I took trombone and drawing lessons. She took violin and piano lessons. Of course, none of these activities were conveniently located and occasionally I had to wait a couple of hours after drawing class while my dad was across town taking my sister to her next activity. Since, downtown Washington was inundated with museums and art galleries, I'd sneak into one or anther to occupy some time while waiting for my dad. During one of these excursions, I was formally introduced to outstanding photography with a view of a huge version of Ansel Adams' Moonrise.
By the time I saw Moonrise for the first time I was already developing and printing my own B&W 35mm photography. I had a bit of an understanding of resolution & grain. I had first hand appreciation of the many problems facing a B&W photographer especially if he was making enlargements. The Moonrise I saw was easily the largest photograph I'd ever scene. I must have been 8'x10'. It literally covered an entire wall. At first approach, I couldn't believe it was a photography. "How could such a large image be produced," I thought. This particular display allowed very close inspection and from inches away, the photo's grain was just barely visible. No doubt it was a photograph and no question the technical expertise required to produce the photo was beyond my abilities. This was my earliest memory of being impressed with any kind of art and I remember it clearly to even today.
One of Ansel's trademarks is his ability to make the mundane look incredible. By using proper exposure and outstanding composition, a normally benign photographic situation is transformed into something incredible. I made every effort to match that approach when I produced this image of trees.
Like other photographs I've made at Jasper NP, I had driven by this stand of trees literally dozens of times before stopping for the first time. I knew there was something there but had never stopped until I finally wanted to explore whatever there was to see. Pretending I was Ansel Adams, I spot metered the various shades around the scene and chose to expose for the green grass between the trees. My normal approach would have been to depend on my F90x's matrix metering and accept whatever that metering mode said. As an experiment, I used my camera's spot meter to control the exposure a bit more.
Did I know what I was doing? Maybe a bit. Did I visualize the final image? Yes I did. Was there luck involve? I bet. I've tried this approach several other times and at least 50% of the time I'm a total failure. I get a much higher success rate depending on my matrix metering most of the time. However, there are some situations that warrant more control. In this case, I think the more control approach was a success.
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