Ansel Adams Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico
Reflecting on his most famous photograph, Ansel Adams said, "Moonrise is certainly my most popular single image. It combined serendipity and immediate technical recall." While driving in New Mexico, Adams saw the moon hovering over the small town of Hernandez and instantly recognized the potential for an amazing photo. He immediately pulled over, rushed to set up his tripod and camera; the sun was setting and he had to work quickly to capture the fading light.
Hernandez never looked better. Hernandez never looked like that at all. What I didn't realize, was the extensive dark room manipulation of the image Adams had to complete for the final print. With some of his photographs, up to 100 prints were made, pushing the light and dark to create the most impact. The film negative was his blank canvas.
After taking the following portrait, Richard Avedon gave detailed instructions to his printer.
Richard Avedon,instructions to his printer.
Richard Avedon, Lyal Burr, coal miner, and his sons Kerry and Phillip, Utah, 1981
2 comments:
You made me desperate to find a higher resolution of Moonrise (found one here) to see what he tweaked to create the "man on the moon" effect. But maybe he didn't adjust the shadows on the moon. Maybe it always looks like that?
I think everything, especially the moon was tweaked for dramatic effect. At first I felt like the kid being told there's no Santa, but accept that master photographers have an artistic vision, an ideal they are pursuing like a painter or sculptor; it's their interpretation of what they see.
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