If Ansel Adams wrote his Basic Photography Series today?
If Ansel Adams wrote his Basic Photography Series today, I think he’d break ‘The Negative’ and ‘The Print’ down into 3 volumes, possibly called ‘Capturing the Image’, ‘Working with the Image’, and ‘Printing the Image’.
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Volume 1: Camera & Lens - it would cover about the same topics, updated to today
Volume 2: Capturing the Image - the basics of capturing the image including exposure, the zone system, raw capture, etc.
Volume 3: Working with the Image - creating the image you visualized starting from the raw image and processing it to achieve your creative vision
Volume 4: Printing the Image - printing and displaying images
Volume 5: Natural Light - substantially the same, how to use natural light
Volume 6: Artificial Light - substantially the same, how to use artificial light
I’d have loved to read those books. I’ve been reading his original books and trying to formulate what he said in terms appropriate for the digital world, but it’s not easy. I think it would have been easy for him though. In 1983, Adams said “I am sure the next step will be the electronic image, and I hope I shall live to see it. I trust that the creative eye will continue to function, whatever technological innovations may develop.”
I’m sure Ansel Adams would have embraced digital photography and possibly become its greatest practitioner.
