Add "Reading" to my list of things to do when you don't have time to get any pictures taken. Late at night, when I'm too blown for anything else, a good photograhy book is a wonderful thing. I can indulge my obsession without "being at the computer" all night and getting on my wife's bad side.
At the moment, I'm about half-way through "Examples, The Making of 40 Photographs" by St. Ansel Adams. All of us have seen wonderful images by one of the masters and wondered, "How'd he do that?" Well, in this book, St. Ansel shows 40 of his best and describes both the creative thought process and the technical processes used to make the image. The images span his long career and much of the technical information is from memory. While this means the technical info tends to be incomplete, the resulting mix of anecdote and approximation manages to be informative and…for want of a better word…charming.
Reading this is book is like having a conversation with a wonderful old gentleman, telling you how things were done before modern materials and precision devices were available. You never get the impression that he is longing for the “good ole days, when men were men….” He fully embraces the technical improvements of his later days and even anticipates technologies to come.
How wonderful it would have been to have that relationship with him in person. To be overwhelmed in conversation by the art and incredible craft he brought to his subjects. A great many people did have that relationship with Ansel Adams and he is reputed to have been an excellent teacher.
“40 Photographs” is well worth your time as a window through which to view a great artist as an approachable human being with so very much to offer. I have a copy checked out of my local library, but since this is one of those rare books I think are worth revisiting again and again, I intend to buy a copy to keep.
