‘MOON AND HALF DOME’ BY ANSEL ADAMS (1960)

One of his last well-known photographs, ANSEL ADAMS (1902–1984) took this image in the final days of 1960 during a driving stop within Yosemite National Park—with a Hasselblad camera and the classic 250 mm Zeiss Sonnar lens. The rising gibbous moon and the shadows that were beginning to creep up the cliff presented a decisively compelling opportunity for Adams. His techniques were well-established at this late stage of his career, and the characteristic use of contrast reveals delicate, almost lacy variations in the rock face. Arguably the definitive photograph of Half Dome and certainly among the most famous images of Yosemite. Printed by Gardner Lithograph of Buena Park, Calif. ANSEL EASTON ADAMS stands as the preeminent landscape photographer of the last century and is among the most beloved photographers in US history. A disinterested and rebellious student, he proved an exceptional autodidact once his father withdrew him from school at age 12. Initially pursuing a serious and amb