Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

Ansel Adams ​​was an American photographer and environmentalist who created high-contrast, black-and-white photographs of the American West. He used large-format field cameras to make his famous landscape photographs. These cameras were much bigger and heavier than the cameras and phones we use today. Instead of snapping a quick picture, Adams had to set up a tripod, carefully adjust the focus, and place a large sheet of film inside the camera.

Each photo took time and planning. Adams had to measure the light, choose the right settings, and sometimes wait for the perfect moment. Unlike today’s digital cameras, he couldn’t see the picture right away or take hundreds of shots. Every photograph required patience, skill, and careful preparation.

Adams came across this scene by chance, while he was driving through New Mexico. According to the story he told later, he realized he had captured something special. He tried to make another negative of the same scene, but the lighting had already changed. The setting sun had reflected off the white crosses in a cemetery, creating their bright glow. By the time he tried to take the photo again, the sun had already set, and the effect was gone.

I was coming back to Santa Fe after a futile day [photographing] up in the Charma Valley, and I looked out the window of the car and here was this scene. Well, this is extraordinary! So I practically ditched the car. And I had some companions with me and I started yelling, “Get me the 8 x 10! Get me the tripod!”. . .  Meantime the sun was going down behind clouds in the west, and I was getting panicky, you know. And I couldn’t find the exposure meter. So the only way I was able to control [the light]… well, I happened to know how bright the moon was in terms of candles per square foot: 250, approximately . . . so I could figure the exposure. And I said, “I’ve got a picture!”

Ansel Adams

In 1941 the U.S. Department of the Interior hired Adams to photograph national parks and monuments in the American West for a mural project. He photographed many iconic locations for the project, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks. Adams captured this image of Hernandez, New Mexico during one of his work trips for the government’s mural project.

tags: atmosphere, black and white, time, place, landscape, clouds, mountains, southwest, nature, light, environment, ecology