A day with Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams at work, Bear Valley, California, May 1971.

It was mid-week in May, 1971, at Ansel Adams’ six-day Yosemite Workshop. The photographers in attendance ranged from young and excitable (like me) through seasoned seniors with (apparently) loads of money, time, quality cameras and confidence. Early Wednesday Mr. Adams announced he was leading a photo expedition from Yosemite National Park to Bear Valley, California, and would any one care to ride along with him. I was first to volunteer, then spent several hours “riding shotgun” for Mr. Adams in his Ford LTD listening to stories of photographic zones, his extensive travels and Edward Weston. I was a curious young man and listened intently — amazed and amused at the revelation that MAD was his favorite magazine.
    We passed the Mariposa County Courthouse and other sites Ansel Adams had recorded over the years. At several locations in Bear Valley, he’d plant his tripod, focus a top-quality Hasselblad camera, measure highlights and shadows with his Pentax one-degree spot meter, evaluate the scene through a yellow gelatin filter, then take his single exposure.
    All the while I was bracketing exposures with my second-hand Mamiya C330 twin lens reflex camera.
    We had lunch. I learned he used a metronome in his darkroom for a timer. (He was an accomplished pianist who chose between music and photography.)
    I developed the (long discontinued) Kodak Panatomic-X black-and-white film the following morning and had some pretty decent negatives as a result — including a couple shots of the Master Photographer himself.
    Link to one of Larry's Photos from the Yosemite Workshop:
    http://larrykassellart.blogspot.com/2011/03/photographing-at-sunrise-yosemite.html

Photograph at sunrise, Yosemite National Park

Sunrise, Yosemite National Park, May 1971.

It was the fourth morning of Ansel Adams’ six-day Yosemite (National Park) Workshop in May 1971. I’d spent the day before sitting next to Ansel Adams in his Ford LTD chatting it up to-and-from Yosemite and Bear Valley, California.

    It was dark, the cabin was cold and I was wide awake — ready to start another exciting day. I was going to be another famous photographer after all. 

    Near the cabin the Merced River snaked its way through the valley. I remembered that the river reflected Half Dome and was pretty sure the sun rose from that direction.

    When the sun did rise that Thursday, I did some scrambling to find the right place for the sun to rise between the peaks and record the famous profile of Half Dome.

    The cold May morning caused condensation on the 65mm “taking” lens of the twin-lens reflex Mamiya C330, 6x6 film camera. A soft cotton handkerchief wiped the moisture from the lens between shots. Unlike Ansel Adams, I “bracketed” the exposures by one stop from the reading a borrowed Pentax Spotmeter suggested. I was actually overexposing the film by two stops before bracketing for “insurance” because the ratio of bright sunlight to deep shadow required underdevelopment to reduce contrast. At least I thought that was right.

    Later that morning Mr. Adams saw the film hanging from the clothesline in the darkroom and commented, “That’s what happens when you get up early.”

    I was pleased that even with overexposure and underdevelopment, lens condensation, bracketing ... plus my left foot and a tripod leg in the water, I had several usable frames ... and a picture that even the great Ansel Adams didn’t have in his portfolio.

Piano keys and paint brushes

There are similarities ...  and considerable differences between teaching piano and painting.

We’ve all heard a child brutalizing piano keys. That same child, when carefully and patiently coached can eventually produce the same glorious notes and chords handed down the centuries from Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven and other notables.

However in art, we’re told from an early age to “be creative” and “use our imagination” rather than being taught accurate drawing, underpainting, glazing and Golden Mean from the get-go. Pianos have 88 keys forcing the pianist to “stay inside the lines.” There just aren’t any more keys to the right or left. Young painters, however, are often encouraged to paint outside the lines, the box, or beyond the canvas and onto Dad’s old shirt. (You won’t find musical notes splattered onto the floor of a piano studio). If these youngsters were taught art like piano students, would their later paintings be of higher quality?

Master piano and violin teacher Mary Laura Gardner says: “The goal of a successful piano teacher is to enrich her student’s life through the medium of music.  From the very beginning I integrate the three essentials of beautiful music — melody, harmony and rhythm. Whereas art is appreciated by the eye, music is appreciated by the ear.  The goal is to make music quickly. This creates a desire to learn and sets the path ahead.

    “Technique is crucial in developing an artistic performer. One must understand the various touches producing many nuances and shades of tonal color. Producing a relaxed, beautiful tone on the piano involves listening and skill. A crisp staccato requires different control of the fingers and muscles than a lovely legato touch. 

    “Learning the rudiments of harmony and rhythm are also essential tools needed to produce the outcome of a piece enjoyable to the listener as well as the performer.

    “Every student is unique and must be nurtured individually in these basic elements which require practice and skill to master.

    “Before playing The Masters in their original form, one must have worked to accomplish the technique needed to express the music.”

Mary Laura Gardner encourages a student during a lesson.
Oil on canvas / 14h x 11w

Larry says: Imagine a room full of “creative” youngsters playing piano at the same time. On the other hand it’s not uncommon for an entire class of  five-year-old “ar-teests” to paint together. Using the infinite monkey theorem, would a young painter applying paint at random for an infinite amount of time eventually paint the complete works of Leonardo? Or, would it save time and materials to teach proper technique and control from the beginning?