Lightstorm, Yosemite

About Alan Ross

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

Once Ansel's request had been taken care of, I was free to head out with my cameras and some friends from the Gallery. We headed to Mirror Lake, where I spent some time working with my 4x5 camera on an ice pattern in the lake. I made a couple of images before we headed back to Yosemite Village.

After lunch, our group drove down to El Portal to help a Gallery employee move some furniture up to a house in the Valley. We had three vans full of furniture. We were just about back to the Village when we all pulled over to gasp at the magical landscape with sun and clouds to the west of Sentinel Rock and Church Meadow. I happened to be the only one of our group of photographers who had pulled his camera gear out and put it ON TOP of all the furniture. I got busy and this is the resulting image. What a great day of photography.

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.