Fall Photography Workshop through the Sierra Foothill Conservatory

Explore the world of landscape photography with nature photographer Mike Osborne. Learn to capture beautiful fall images of the celebrated Merced River Canyon. This class will be geared primarily toward inexperienced photographers although all experience levels and all types of cameras are welcome. We will concentrate mostly on looking at light, composition and exposure--those elements that contribute to taking better photos. Photoshop and other post capture computer processing programs will not be covered in this class. You are encouraged to bring your camera manuals with you as there are a bewildering number of camera models and they all work somewhat differently. Please review your camera manuals before the class. If you have (or can borrow) a tripod bring that as well. Sturdy shoes should be worn--we will be walking over loose rocks from the road down to the riverbank and walking on wet & slippery rocks . This class will not be strenuous but it will require walking over unstable and slippery terrain. If it is raining, bring rain gear and umbrellas. A Picnic Lunch will be included at this very special event.

Saturday Nov 8^th 2008 - 8am to 2pm
$35 for members, $50 for non-members
Workshop limited to 12 participants

Contact Sierra Foothill Conservancy to register and for more information:

Bridget (209) 742-5556

www.sierrafoothill.org

Fall Color in Yosemite Valley

Fall color began last week in Yosemite Valley. The entire Valley loop, as well as the Merced River Canyon, is filled with trees changing to yellow, orange and red.

Fall colors can be seen along the entire Yosemite Valley floor or enjoy an easy walk through Happy Isles or to Mirror Lake.

Climbing Auction Raises Over $6,000

The 4th Annual Yosemite Climbing Association Art Auction, which was held at The Ansel Adams Gallery last week, raised over $6,000 to support efforts to build a climbing museum in Yosemite National Park.

For further information on the Yosemite Climbing Association, please visit www.yosemiteclimbing.org.

Fall Color in the Eastern Sierra

The fall color in the Eastern Sierra is reaching its peak. These photographs were taken over this past weekend at Silver Lake, which sits along the popular June Lake Loop. In addition to June Lake, fall colors can been seen in Lee Vining Canyon, Lundy Canyon and Crowley Lake.

Gallery President Matthew Adams' Inside Scoop from the New York Fall Photography Auctions

As of this morning we are halfway through the Fall photography auction season, and it looks like the shaky economy is taking its toll. Sales of Ansel Adams photographs have held up relative to many other photographers, but the results are definitely not as strong as we have seen over the last few years.

At Christie's, on Tuesday, there was the added factor of some unusually high estimates. Portfolios 3 and 4 had low estimates of $100,000 and $90,000 respectively, which when you consider the buyer premium suggested minimum values of $125,000 and $112,500. In a strong economy, we might expect these prices, but high values of $187,500 and $150,000 simply aren't likely. Not surprising, these lots, and many others, did not sell. Christie's did have a very good selection of Adams photographs, and some people were able to make excellent purchases.

Sotheby's, on-going at the time of this writing, realized $362,500 for a beautiful vintage photograph of Moonrise, Hernandez. Estimated to hammer between $200,000 and $300,000, there obviously is still a solid market for
the very rare prints of icon images. Other Ansel Adams prints in the Sotheby's evening auction achieved middling to strong results - $31,000 for a very good print of O'Keeffe and Cox, and $74,500 for a darker print of
Tetons, Snake River in excellent condition.

The volume of interest is low, not surprising given that most people have concerns about the economy and what is coming. Hopefully the sense of crisis will soon pass, and people will adjust to a weak but stable economy. For those who can afford it, now may be the best time to buy in a number of years.

4th Annual Yosemite Climbing Association Art Auction

The Ansel Adams Gallery will be hosting the 4th Annual Yosemite Climbing Association Art Auction tomorrow night.

Silent bidding begins today, October 16th and goes until October 17th at 4 PM. The live auction and catered reception will take place Friday, October 17th at 5 PM.

The gallery invites you to the auction to help support the Yosemite Climbing Association. All proceeds raised at the auction go to the Yosemite Climbing Association and their efforts to build a climbing museum in Yosemite National Park.

Two New Posters Available from Michael Frye

Photographer Michael Frye has released two new posters. Half Dome and the Merced River and Yosemite Falls are available online at www.anseladams.com or by calling The Ansel Adams Gallery at (209) 372-4413.

Opening Reception for Wet Plate Collodion Exhibit on Saturday, October 18th

On Saturday, October 18th, from 4-6PM, the opening reception for Wet Plate Collodion will take place at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park. Photographer Kerik Kouklis will be present to answer questions and discuss his work.

Kerik Kouklis grew up with photography, helping to build a darkroom in his parent’s basement in his early teens. He moved into large format cameras and sheet film in the late 1980’s, and began working with platinum/palladium in 1990. In recent years, Kerik has been producing a series of wet plate collodion work involving landscapes, flora and portraits.

Frederick Scott Archer introduced the wet plate collodion process in 1851. It became the first widely used photographic process because it was much more economical and accessible than the daguerreotype process that preceeded it. The process involves hand-coating collodion onto either clear glass to create a negative or onto metal or dark glass to create a positive image. The plate is then sensitized by dipping it into silver nitrate, loaded into the camera and exposed.

For collodion positives, many contemporary collodion artists now use aluminum coated with black enamel, known as an alumitype, and black glass for ambrotypes.

In addition to actively producing photographs, Kerik Kouklis also instructs workshops on the wet plate process, in addition to the platinum classes he has been instructing since 1997.

His work is in private and public collections in many countries.

Fall Color Has Begun in the Eastern Sierra

The fall colors in the Eastern Sierra are a favorite of visitors, locals and photographers alike. Every year, people venture over to Lee Vining and Lundy Canyons, Conway Summit, June Lake and other locations to see the aspen trees turn vibrant tones of yellow and orange.

The color is just beginning to emerge and the next couple weeks should bring forth a spectacular autumn display. The photographs seen here were taken on October 1st at Conway Summit, Lundy Canyon and the Tioga Pass Road.

Jerry Uelsmann: Other Realities

Jerry Uelsmann: Other Realities is currently on exhibit at our Yosemite gallery through October 15, 2008.

Born in Detroit on June 11, 1934, Jerry Uelsmann received his B.F.A. degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957 and his M.S. and M.F.A. at Indiana University in 1960. He began teaching photography at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1960. He became a graduate research professor of art at the university in 1974, and is now retired from teaching. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Uelsmann received a Guggenheum Fellowship in 1967 and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1972. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, a founding member of The Society of Photographic Education and a former trustee of the Friends of Photography. Uelsmann’s work has been exhibited in more than 100 individual shows in the United States and abroad over the past thirty years. His photographs are in the permanent collections of many museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Chicago Art Institute, the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliotheque in Paris, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the National Gallery of Canada, the National Gallery of Austrailia, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto.