Camera and Lens: 05/15/17

Name one famous photographer. I bet the first name that came to mind was Ansel Adams. Now if you live in the Bay Area, Ansel Adams is somewhere between a local hero and god. But he was a human being, a man who was dedicated to the art and craft of photography and one who was willing to continue pushing and experimenting.

Camera and Lens by Ansel Adams is the first book in a series of how-to books he wrote. As Adam's specialty was black and white, his book focuses solely on black and white film photography.

Even though I work in color digital, Adams's lessons are timely and relevant. Save for the computerized bits of the digital camera, the modern day camera still uses the same optical principles as the ones Adams used. And he used a wide variety of cameras (not just the large format 8x10 he's remembered for). Camera and Lens includes easy to understand descriptions of the major types of camera bodies.

Though it's called Camera and Lens, the book includes chapters on other equipment too for field work and lab work. If you shoot in RAW, the chapter on development will be relevant (sure, chemicals no longer come into play, but the techniques still do).

Ansel Adams is often immortalized as an eccentric naturalist who rode his donkey into nature with his old fashioned camera strapped to its side. Sure, he did sometimes do it that way but he also had an off roader with an awesome observation roof built on top. He went by four legged transportation when driving wasn't an option. He was even fond of aerial photography.

Four stars

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