Landscape Photographer Biographies

Classic: Ansel Adams

Born on February 20, 1902, this American photographer & environmentalist died on April 22, 1984. Famous images of his include Moon and Half Dome and Yosemite National Park, California. In 1916, Adams received his first camera, a Kodak Brownie box camera. That winter he learned basic darkroom technique working part-time for a photo finisher in San Francisco. As an avid reader of photography magazines, Adams attended camera club meetings & went to photography & art exhibits. In 1921, Adams' first photographs were published. Best's Studio began selling his Yosemite prints in 1922. Even then, his photographs showed careful composition & sensitivity to tonal balance. In the mid-1920s, Adams played with soft-focus, etching, Bromoil Process, and other techniques of the pictorial photographers. Staying away from hand-coloring, he used a variety of lenses to get different effects. Rejecting pictorialism, Adams went with a more realistic approach that relied more heavily on sharp focus, heightened contrast, precise exposure, & darkroom craftsmanship. Adams is most famous for his black-&-white photographs of the American West--particularly Yosemite National Park. Through his beautiful photographs, Adams was not only able to share the beauty found in this national park with others, but he was also able to use that beauty to keep destruction from harming this park.

Moon and Half Dome

In Glacier National Park

The Tetons and the Snake River

A photographic element in this photograph is value. Traces of pure whites can be found in the river & in the clouds. True blacks creep in the shadows of the mountains & are made by the silhouettes of the trees. Since the river is prominently the lightest part of this composition, the viewer's eyes see it first. The viewer's attention follows the line of the river & is brought to the mountains. The form of the mountains is emphasized against the lighter background. The line of the river helps bring the viewer's attention through the entire image.

Contemporary: Carr Clifton

This master landscape photographer was born on Clifton is famous for his distinctive & artistic landscapes of remote regions. His photographs are known to be vibrant and alive with saturated colors that really show the happy side of nature. To get the best shots, he explores the endangered, wild landscapes unknown to many. He is also best known for his 5 exhibit format books that showcase his work. In 1977, Clifton went into photography after seeking the advice & inspiration from his mentor & neighbor master landscape photographer Philip Hyde. He got a degree in Commercial Photography from Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Famous images of his include shots from varying places like New York & New England. There appears to be no titles given to his photographs that come up on the Internet. I can, however, offer you some titles of his very impressive portfolios such as Sacred Headwaters, Boats and Harbors, and Boats and Harbors II. His birthday remains a mystery seeing as there is very little on this guy that can be scavenged for on the Internet.

The principle of color also creates the element of emphasis in this photograph. Against the black background, the boat & its rope are emphasized. The form of the boat against the dark background create a line. Clifton frames the subject of this photograph in such a way that the viewer might not immediately realize that the subject is a boat. A sense of abstract photography comes into play here as well.