Bridalveil Fall, Storm

About Artist

Alan Ross is an internationally respected master photographer and educator who expresses his unique vision with a combination of traditional photographic craftsmanship and today’s technology.  His tonally exquisite photographs take the viewer from the grandeur of the American West to the changing faces of China to abstractions created by the relationship of objects both natural and man-made. Each image is a pure visual and emotional response to subject matter, executed with an exacting eye and superior technical artistry.

Alan honed his vision and technique while working side-by-side with Ansel Adams in the field and in the darkroom as his full-time photographic assistant. He was integrally involved with Adams’ books, teaching in Yosemite and production of fine prints. Alan was personally selected by Adams to be the exclusive printer of the Yosemite Special Edition Photograph negatives, an assignment he has enjoyed for nearly 50 years. As such, Alan knows Ansel’s approach and technique perhaps better than any other photographer today.

In 1979, Alan left Ansel and Carmel to open a commercial photography studio in San Francisco, where he enjoyed working on projects ranging from world-wide campaigns for the Bank of America to landscape murals for the National Park Service.

He relocated to Santa Fe in 1993 and enjoys pursuing his art, teaching, writing articles, and traveling the globe speaking about his years with Ansel and the impact that had on his own work.

Alan is also a consummate and dedicated photographic educator who gladly shares his vast knowledge of the art and craft of fine art photography, inspiring professionals and amateurs alike as they work to realize and refine their photographic voice.

His photographs hang in collections, galleries and museums around the world, including the George O’Keeffe Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Huntington Library, the Center for Creative Photography, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Yale Museum of Art and other public and private collections.

Story Behind the Image

In Ansel’s July 1974 Yosemite workshop, I had been assigned to run the darkroom, and just before the workshop started, Ansel had his business manager pull me aside, saying that Ansel had asked him to tell me that he was wanting to know if I would be willing to move to Carmel and work for him full time as his number-two Assistant. I thought about that for a microsecond! A few days later, the workshop had scheduled an all-day field session to the high country of Tioga Pass and back. The days in Yosemite leading up to this had been hot and hazy with campfire smoke, but on this day a considerable thunderstorm started rumbling through the Sierra. Undaunted by the weather, two other assistants and I made our way in my VW Bus, stopping to try to photograph whenever the rain offered a break. I managed to make a photograph of a boulder in the rain at Olmstead Point, but before I could pack up a gust of wind blew my camera over on the granite. That was enough! Heading back down to the Valley, we emerged from the Crane Flat tunnel to encounter an amazing drama of hanging, misty clouds with Bridalveil Fall in the distance and the Merced River, below almost glowing in the light. And no rain! Camera gear was flying and I was able to make two exposures before the clouds obscured the waterfall. Since I was running the darkroom for the workshop, I was able to develop the film that same afternoon, and was relieved that I hadn't made any horrible mistake with my exposures! In the two weeks between the workshop and my showing up for duty in Carmel, I was able to make my first good print of Bridalveil Fall in Storm. When I showed it to Ansel his comment was "Congratulations! Your first Mona Lisa!"

Print Information

Limited Edition Prints signed and numbered in an edition of 100. Each print is made personally by Alan Ross, printed either on Ilford Multigrade Classic fiber paper (SGP) and selenium toned or on Canson Platine paper (APP) using a Canon Pro-1000 printer and my personal printing profiles. Mounted and over-matted with 4-ply or 8-ply museum board using the most current industry standards for archival permanence.

Prices and availability subject to change without notice.

Ordering Information

Original photographs are hand-made, and not all sizes are kept in inventory.
Special orders from the photographer may take 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.

Please contact us at sales@anseladams.com if you have any questions about shipping and delivery.