Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist born in 1902 in San Francisco. He taught himself to play piano at a young age and found that it brought structure to his life, influencing his approach to photography. Adams spent much time in Yosemite National Park beginning in 1916, and became transfixed by its beauty. He photographed the American West extensively and is renowned for his black and white images of national parks like Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Teton. Adams developed the zone system for controlling exposure and development, and authored influential photography manuals. He was devoted to environmental conservation and the protection of America's wilderness areas.

1. AmericanPhotographerAnsel Adams By Linda Ivy "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.“-- Ansel Adams --

2. AnselEaston Adams

3. Ansel Easton Adams Feb. 20 1902 — Apr. 22 1984 Adams was born in San Francisco, California Photographer and environmentalist known for his black and white photographs of our American West.

4. Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley c.1927

5. Adams taught himself to play the piano and read music at the age of twelve.Taking lessons became his substitute for formal schooling. Piano brought substance, discipline, and structure. This would profoundly inform his visual artistry. Ultimately he gave up music for photography.

6. Minarets, Evening Clouds, California c.1937

7. He spent as much time as he could every year from 1916 until his death. From his first visit, Adams was transfixed and transformed from its beauty the evidence can only be seen in the beauty he captured in all of his photographs.In 1919 he joined the Sierra Club and spent four summers in Yosemite Valley, as "keeper" of the club's LeConte Memorial Lodge . Hemethiswife, VirginiaBest, hereatYosemite.

8. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico c.1941

9. 1922Adams first published photographs and writings appeared in the Sierra Club ‘s Bulletin.1927Adams made his first fully visualized photograph, Monolith, the Face of Half Dome. 1928 Adams had his first one man exhibition at the Sierra Club’s San Francisco headquarters. 1934 Adams is elected to the Sierra Club’s board of directors. Adams was a great artist of Sierra Nevada and was known as a protector and defender of Yosemite.

10. Lake MacDonald, Glacier National Park c.1942

11. Adams's life is the stuff of legends. Adams developed the famous and highly complex "zone system" of controlling and relating exposure and development. He produced ten volumes of technical manuals on photography. These books are known as the most influential books ever written on the subject of photography.

12. The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming c.1942

13. Some of Ansel Adams early video clipshttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/sfeature/sf_sierra.html

14. Central Park and Skyscrapers, New York City c. 1945

15. Records of the National Park ServiceAnsel Adams Photographs http://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams/

16. Nevada Fall, Rainbow, Yosemite Valley c. 1947

17. more websites to check out: http://www.anseladams.com/http://www.sierraclub.org/history/anseladams/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/peopleevents/p_aadams.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/peopleevents/p_aadams.htmlhttp://www.anseladams.com/aboutAAG.htmlhttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/?articleID=64235962&c=y

18. Oak Tree, Snowstorm, Yosemite National Park c.1948

19. Aspens, Northern New Mexico c.1958

20. Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley c.1960

21. El Capitan, Winter Sunrise, Yosemite National Park c.1968

22. All Photographs by Ansel Adams© The Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trustcourtesyof Masters of Photography

23. Ansel did not like using color he thought it was like playing an out of tune piano. Here are a few he did make.

24. Photographs: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/Web sites:http://www.masters-of-photography.com/http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/anseladams_biography2.htmlhttp://www.anseladams.com/ansel_art/faves.htmlhttp://theanseladamsgallery.blogspot.com/http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/adams.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/peopleevents/p_aadams.htmlhttp://www.anseladams.com/aboutAAG.htmlhttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/?articleID=64235962&c=y

25. Works cited: “Sometimes I do …. --Ansel Adams – Web sites : Turnage, Robert. “Ansel Adams: The Role of the Artist in the Environmental Movement”. March 1980. The Ansel Adams Gallery. http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/conservation.html Turnage, William. “Ansel Adams, Photographer”. 2009. The Ansel Adams Gallery. http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/anseladams_biography2.html “Ansel Anecdotes: Perspectives on Moonrise. 2009. The Ansel Adams Gallery. http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/ansel_ancedotes.html