Yikes!

[Glenda]

One of our sons is currently on a year long climbing adventure through North and South America. The trip is totally self funded and at the same time he is raising money through donations for the Climate Council and Reach Out. He has also received sponsorship from various companies with camping and climbing gear and companies promoting adventure activities. Naturally these sponsors also wanted some high res images showing their gear or philosophy in use.

Now this son is not a photographer, but we have given him a DSLR and lens and some quick instructions on basic photography and camera settings. So far, the climbing shots he has posted have been pretty good. This morning I received an email from him saying that one of the companies which uses adventure trips for leadership training has said they wanted some Ansel Adams type images. :eek: No mean feat for any photographer - I'd gulp if somebody asked me for the same. Of course he didn't know who Ansel Adams was but googled to see what type of images they were talking about then emailed me asking for tips on how to shoot this style. Another :eek:.

I'll be interested in seeing what he comes up with. I think I may receive some raw images to process in mono shortly.

[Jorge Arguello]

Congratulations that your son got sponsors.

If someone asks "Ansel Adams" style photos to a person that is not a photographer then I would think he doesn't know what he is asking for. But I don't know for sure.

I would think that they want "beautiful" images for adversent. Maybe "braketing" and RAW images might help.

I wish you son enjoys his journey of climbing, and taking photos.

[Craig Zilko]

LOL - what an experience he must be having, I reckon not being a “photographer” will hold him in good stead, he wont overthink it like the rest of us probably would and just nail the shot that best replicates what he feels and sees in his vision of Ansel style. Good on him and I wish him every success in his venture.


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[swifty]

If only there was an "A(nsel)A(dam)" instagram filter :)
Seriously though, I think the company might be asking a bit much.
But your son should be able to get to some exclusive vantage points to take in the scenery. Just focus on the composition and delivering well exposed images and let the company pay for expert post processing. Talk him through some basics on exposing correctly with lowest possible ISO, adequate shutter speeds, adequate DOF and not blowing highlights in important areas.
Also look for good lighting conditions, such as golden hour, blue hour, light breaking through clouds etc.
Best of luck!

[Glenda]

Congratulations that your son got sponsors.

If someone asks "Ansel Adams" style photos to a person that is not a photographer then I would think he doesn't know what he is asking for. But I don't know for sure.

I would think that they want "beautiful" images for adversent. Maybe "braketing" and RAW images might help.

I wish you son enjoys his journey of climbing, and taking photos.
Thanks Jorge, yes I'm sure they want them for advertising and my son will definitely enjoy the climbing, the photography not so much.


LOL - what an experience he must be having, I reckon not being a “photographer” will hold him in good stead, he wont overthink it like the rest of us probably would and just nail the shot that best replicates what he feels and sees in his vision of Ansel style. Good on him and I wish him every success in his venture.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Thanks Craig, you are probably right in that he won't overthink it, he's very laid back.


If only there was an "A(nsel)A(dam)" instagram filter :)
Seriously though, I think the company might be asking a bit much.
But your son should be able to get to some exclusive vantage points to take in the scenery. Just focus on the composition and delivering well exposed images and let the company pay for expert post processing. Talk him through some basics on exposing correctly with lowest possible ISO, adequate shutter speeds, adequate DOF and not blowing highlights in important areas.
Also look for good lighting conditions, such as golden hour, blue hour, light breaking through clouds etc.
Best of luck!
Thanks swifty, your suggestions were almost exactly what I suggested in my reply email. I too think the company were asking a bit much but probably have no idea about photography either.

[Mark L]

Of course he didn't know who Ansel Adams was but googled to see what type of images they were talking about then emailed me asking for tips on how to shoot this style. Another :eek:.
You don't shoot this style, you PP it?


I'll be interested in seeing what he comes up with. I think I may receive some raw images to process in mono shortly.
So if you need a secound helper I can give you my Dropbox thing to upload photos to.
Well done son and have fun.

[Glenda]

You don't shoot this style, you PP it?


So if you need a secound helper I can give you my Dropbox thing to upload photos to.
Well done son and have fun.

Thanks Mark. In my reply email I did use the quote "you don't take a photograph, you make it" and explained how much time he had spent in the dark room processing his images. Yesterday he did include a landscape photo in his latest facebook post. Previously all photos had been of people ice climbing - he's currently in Canada. You can follow his journey on verticalyear.com - some of his blogs are interesting reading - but I'm probably biased:nod: