Tenaya Creek, Dogwood, Spring Rain
Original Photograph Negative: ca, 1948
Artist: Ansel Adams
Original Photograph Negative: ca, 1948
Artist: Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams made this image around 1948 with an 8" x 10" view camera. After searching for dogwoods to photograph, he came upon this scene just 600 feet from Mirror Lake Road, but almost didn't set up his camera. He recalls the day in Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs: ‘A light rain began to fall, and I considered giving up for the day, but when I came to an opening in the trees and saw this subject open up before me, I banished such thoughts of defeat and set up the camera under protection of the focusing cloth. The rain added a certain richness to the scene and suggested an atmospheric recession of values that would not otherwise be seen.’ (E pg.79) In making the enlargements, Adams had difficulty separating the gray tones and found the process to be largely paper dependent. However, the first contact print made from this negative ranked among the most satisfactory prints he ever made displaying marvelous color (after selenium toning) and capturing the luminosity of his subject. This image was published in Yosemite and the Range of Light, was a part of the Special Edition of Yosemite series, and included in Ansel's last major project called 'The Museum Set,' a collection of photographs for which he wanted to be remembered. Sets were initially meant to include either 25 or 75 total images, 10 which Ansel picked as absolute and which he considered exemplary to his body of work (colloquially referred to as his 'biggies'). Of all the images considered for the set made throughout the entirety of his career, Tenaya Creek, Spring Rain was chosen as one of his ten 'biggies.'
