If It Was Good Enough for Ansel, It’s Good Enough for Me
A Higher Perspective with the TentBox Go RTT for Photo Adventures
When Ansel Adams climbed atop of his Pontiac station wagon in the fall of 1941 to photograph the fleeting light of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, he needed that extra rooftop height to get the angle he wanted for the composition.
There was time for just one exposure. He had to calculate the shutter speed and aperture in his head, because he couldn’t locate his light meter in the rush of the moment.
By the time he turned the film back around for a second shot, the light was gone.
Moonrise, Hernandez is arguably Ansel Adams’ most famous photograph. And it came about through a hurried set of circumstances that created the stuff of legends.
There’s a print of that image hanging in my studio. And I’ve been thinking about it lately, but not for the reasons you might imagine.
Eighty-three years later, I too am exploring the West. Instead of an 8x10 sheet film camera, I’m carrying a digital Nikon Zf. I don’t process my negatives in a chemical darkroom, nor print them with an enlarger. I use software on my laptop and an inkjet printer.
