What would Ansel do?

What would Ansel Adams do? This question is being worked over a lot in the popular photo mags like Outdoor Photographer, and the trend seems to be picking up speed lately. It’s always an interesting question to consider, especially since he liked to innovate and experiment to improve the quality of his work. I’ve always been an admirer and enjoy learning about his life and techniques. Adams devoted his entire life to the art and profession of photography, as well as advocacy for conservation and the national parks system. It’s no wonder so many people try to recreate the content or feel of his work. He is an inspiration.

But, seeing his name so much lately gives me pause and I have to ask myself this: do I want to be like Ansel Adams? Could I remotely, in my wildest imagination, come close to the compositional, technical and artistic quality that he achieved? What would this accomplish? Is it realistic? Does it even make any sense? Adams was a visionary by doing things and going places with photography that no one had done before. His images are iconic, but not because of their location or processing techniques. They stand on their own because the product is more than the sum of its parts. I could perfect my zone system techniques or travel to Yosemite and take my images at the same locations he did, standing in his footsteps. But even if I do all that, and I ended up with an image that gives the look and feel of Adams’, I’d have to say to myself that it’s already been done.

Instead, I have to take what I’ve learned from and about him and apply it to my own photographic techniques. I will always enjoy looking at his images and reading about his life, but I need to make it my own and take what works for my own photography.

Peter Blackwood to present new Wood Library show

Canandaigua photographer Peter Blackwood will host an opening reception for his 5th annual solo show of nature themed fine art photography on May 6th from 7 to 9 PM at Wood Library. Billsboro Winery of Geneva, NY will be on hand to provide wine tasting to those that attend and for those interested who can't make it, the show will be open to public viewing until mid June 2010.

Blackwood's photographic approach spans a wide variety of subject matter from vast landscapes of the American West to intimate pictures of wildlife and insects, to iconic scenes of upstate New York's Finger Lakes region. His skill and adaptability across this range is apparent, as is his passion for the art of photography.

Peter's web site was featured in the January 2010 issue of Shutterbug magazine, and the reviewer, Joe Farace, says of him, "The big surprise is the variety and quality of the images in his themed library exhibits..."

To view images by Peter Blackwood, visit www.blackwoodphoto.com