Ansel Adams Half Dome, Evening, From Olmsted Point (c. 1959)

According to Andrea Stillman, his assistant along with John Sexton and Allan Ross at the time, the black skies were the result of his cataracts. They spread the light all over his eyeball so he could not see the blackness he was putting into his prints.

Here's a talk she gave for B&H:

As is true of all of us as we age.

cowanw said:

Your suggestion....

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Where to start...Sorry, I won't. I see things very differently...and I'll let the learned debate for the sake of debate if they wish.

Suggesting that Adams's work is accurate to the unaided eye is contradicted by Adams own writing.

For example I have no idea where this came from! You read a lot into life...far out! Keep at it!

edited to add: Since you put do much effort into your reply, I felt that I should add to my thoughts. AA influenced the conservation movement until the end of his life, including the meeting with then Pres Raygun. The young people at the time became involved with the movement influenced by many figures,, of which AA was one. Of course this influence was in the USA and heavily in the West. These kids are now presently running programs and projects they dreamed about in the mid-70s. And/or they are teaching others. I have worked with many of them and many are friends. I guess it is quite an academic thing to do to break such times into little boxes...elitism here...wilderness access here.. radiation in this box. But it seems a little silly to me when it is a continuium (sp) that is continuing.

But I have given my opinion and have enjoyed reading yours.

Though off topic, cataracts are now surgically correctable. I'll be having that surgery in a few years as my cataracts are starting to form. The lens is removed and a new one inserted. My ophthalmologist says he can likely correct my vision to near 20/20 when he does it. I can't wait! I've got extreme astigmatism and moderate to sever myopia. My glasses, if I need them still, will be a lot lower correction.

That would be my dilemma I am very use to my eyes as they are. Very near-sighted, I have worn glasses for 55 years. I like having 'safety' glasses on all the time and it sounds like I might need to wear some anyway -- so not a lot of gain there, but better sight w/o glasses. And right now, without my glasses on, I can focus down to about 3 inches. Nice for a LF camera's GG. I'd hate to lose that ability...but that is what loupes are for, I guess. Trade-offs! Good luck, vocemana!

Vaughn said:

The question becomes, how do you do that? I like getting my viewer's feet wet...make them stand in the water they are seeing! Lots of fun.

AA's image, in my mind, does that wonderfully. Ansel knew that the light striking the North Face was streaming over his home in Yosemite Valley to get there. He did not darken the sky to near black or even halfway there. Creating white clouds against a dark sky would have stolen the attention from the very light that he was experiencing and celebrating.

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I feel this image captured the feeling of standing in some eerie feeling woods down in central Florida.

Not the same state, but the movie, Dead Man Walking did come to mind, aided by that hint of "eerie" right before I scrolled down and saw the image.

The background looks wonderful...just enough there.