This beautiful black and white photograph is hand made from Ansel Adams' original negative, and available exclusively from the family-owned Ansel Adams Gallery. This is as close to an Ansel Adams original photograph as most people can purchase, and it is spectacular.
Save Time, Save Money
Have your photographs and prints framed by our professional framing staff. Compare our rates with your local framing shops, chances are you will discover the cost and convenience of using our framing service. We use the high quality components from industry leading vendors and our turnaround time for framing (usually 3 -5 business days) is often quicker than your local frame shop.
Custom Gray Frame - This is a solid (one-piece) frame built especially The Ansel Adams Gallery for the Yosemite Special Edition Photograph series. The color is matte gray (in Zone VII per Ansel's specifications) (Cost $150)
 
Nielsen Metal Frame (Style 1513) - Contrast Gray (Cost $85)
A satiny dark gray finish.
 
Nielsen Metal Frame (Style 1514) - German Silver (Cost $85)
A light champagne finish
 
Nielsen Metal Frame (Style 1521) - Matte Black (Cost $85)
A matte finish true black
 
Yosemite Special Edition Photograph Technical Information
The Yosemite Special Edition Photographs are high quality silver gelatin prints made directly from Ansel Adams' original negatives, and have been printed since 1975 by Alan Ross, Adams' assistant from 1974 to 1979. These prints are available only through The Ansel Adams Gallery.
The prints are made by projection rather than by contact, regardless of negative format. This ensures a consistency in finished size and also affords the greatest control of dodging and burning. Most of the negatives in the series are 8x10 format, but other negative sizes include 5x7, 4x5, 31/4x41/4, and 120 rollfilm. The 8x10 and 5x7 negatives are printed in the Beseler 8x10 enlarger designed by Ross, with a custom Aristo 12"x12" cold-light head. Negatives 4x5 and smaller are printed with an Omega D5500 enlarger with a diffusion color-head.
The negatives are printed on Ilford Multigrade Fiber Base paper, double weight, glossy. Print contrast is controlled by using varying strengths of yellow or magenta color-correction (CC) filtration. The prints are developed in Ilford Multigrade developer, usually at 1:16.5 dilution, for 3 minutes. After immersion in a standard acid stop bath they are fixed for 2 minutes in Ilford Universal Fixer, diluted 1:7, and transferred to a large tray of fresh water for a preliminary rinse, and then to a larger, clean-water holding bath.
The final processing sequence involves selenium toning, a procedure which intensifies the blacks of the print and which also makes the image more permanent. Adams also felt this process gave the print a more appealing image color, neutralizing the usually greenish-black tones of an untoned print to a sometimes very slight "cool-purple" black.
The selenium toning process for the Special Edition prints consists of three baths. Each of three trays contains a working dilution of Zonal Pro Archival Rinse; the second of these trays is the toning bath (Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner added, 1:10 dilution). The prints are given a minimum of three minutes in the first bath with continuous agitation, and then are transferred to the "toning" bath where they are continuously agitated until the prints have acquired sufficient color and density. They are then transferred to the third bath where they are given intermittent agitation for about five minutes. The prints are transferred to a preliminary rinse in a fresh water bath and then transferred to a large sink where they are rinsed again and held while being loaded into archival print washers. After washing, the prints are squeegeed and laid face down on fiberglass drying screens.
The dried prints are "spotted" to remove inevitable dust specks and are then mounted on Light Impressions Westminster board (bright-white 4-ply) with Seal MT-5 dry mounting tissue. Overmat stock, which has been specially letter-press debossed with the Ansel Adams Yosemite Special Edition signature logo, is bevel cut by hand to accommodate each image. Finally, each print is personally re-inspected and initialed on the back by Alan Ross before shipment to the Gallery. Each print is reinspected on arrival to ensure the highest quality photograph and presentation.
Ansel Adams made this image at 4:14 the afternoon of December 28, 1960 with a Hasselblad camera and 250mm Zeiss Sonnar lens, releasing the mirror before operating the shutter to minimize vibration. It was one of his last well known photographs.
Arguably, this is the definitive photograph of Half Dome and among the most famous images of Yosemite National Park . Belying its later worldwide acclaim, "Moon and Half Dome" debuted for a very personal audience: the first publication of this masterpiece was as the wedding announcement for Adams ' son, Michael, and his daughter-in-law, Jeanne in 1962.
In "Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs," Adams recalls making "Moon and Half Dome:"
"As soon as I saw the moon coming up by Half Dome I had visualized the image. …I have photographed Half Dome innumerable times, but it is never the same Half Dome, never the same light or the same mood. …Half Dome is a great mountain with endless variations of lighting and sky situations and seasonal characteristics; the many images I have made reflect my varied creative responses to this remarkable granite monolith."
"Moon and Half Dome" appears on the cover of "Classic Images," the book based on the Museum Set Collection, a retrospective portfolio of what Adams considered his strongest work. It also appears in "Yosemite”,"Yosemite and the Range of Light (out of print), " Yosemite and the High Sierra," "Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs," "and "Our National Parks."
|
