 Musicians practice constantly; most photographers don’t practice enough. The siren call of the hobby obscures the necessary exactions of art. It is easy to take a photograph, but it is harder to make a masterpiece in photography than in any other art medium. If you collected wisdom from history's greatest landscape photographer and applied it to your photography, what would be the results? I decided to find out. When asked who's the greatest nature photographer of all time, many older generations repeat the name “Ansel Adams”. Yet for the new generation of digital photographers, the name with two A’s is seldom mentioned. Every successful person must become a scholar in the history of their field. Whether it be in astrophysics or pottery, the greats today stand on yesterday’s wisdom. Photographers must do this if they want to become great themselves. Studying Ansel Adams is a necessity. We’ll explore the key lessons from the autobiography of Ansel Adams. A man who helped turn photography into a respected medium of art and inspired generations of photographers to capture the beauty of the natural world. Many photographers struggle with capturing the exact shot they had in their mind. A lot of photographers find it difficult to visualise the shot and then use their camera as a tool to create it with precision. This was Adams’ strongpoint. This piece will give you the method Ansel used to fix this problem and create images that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars today. Since practicing AA’s methods, I’ve seen a noticeable change in my work. More on that later. HIS LIFE: FROM PIANO SCALES TO SIERRA PEAKS Born in 1902 in San Francisco, as a child Adams was hyperactive and struggled in school. He dropped out aged 12. This led to a journey of self-education, first being trained as a musician where he became a talented pianist. His photographic journey started aged 14, when he was gifted his first camera. Adams became a janitor for the Sierra Club, a conservation group based in California’s Sierra National Park, where he later became its director for 50 years. His passion for this iconic area led to him photograph it throughout his career. Resulting in some of his most famous photos, like Moon and Half Dome.  Moon and Half Dome by Ansel Adams. This image is used for educational and commentary purposes under fair use. © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. All rights reserved. In 1932 he cofounded Group f/64 which promoted ‘straight’ photography, contrary to the popular soft focus pictorial genre of the era. Ansel also developed the Zone System, a way to determine the best exposure. He made a living through commercial photography. Something he didn’t regret doing. He was able to balance commercial assignments with the creative work he’s known for today. A balance photographer’s have struggled with forever. Adams was a strong advocate for the natural world and played a vital role in establishing photography as an art form. He received many accolades including 3 Guggenheim grants and the presidential medal of freedom in 1980 before passing away in 1984, aged 82. ANSEL ADAMS’ KEY LESSONS Who you know is as important as what you know. Ansel Adams' made connections with influential figures which opened doors to new opportunities. Cedric Wright introduced him to Albert Bender, who arranged him his first portfolio and introduced him to ‘a new world of creative people’. Alfred Stieglitz exhibited his work and introduced him to many of his contemporaries. These relationships, including those within Group f/64, helped him advance his photography career and expand his network of creative peers. Throughout the biography, Ansel is constantly mentioning people who’ve made his life and career better. He even has dedicated chapters to people. Including notable figures such as photography icons Stieglitz and Edward Weston, artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and Polaroid founder Edwin Land. A common thread in all the biographies I've read is the importance of forming friendships with A-Players. A-Players can give you advice, introduce you to more high performers, and help show your work to the right people. Relationships run the world. The sooner photographers realise this and start approaching people, the better. Practice visualisation. See the image in your mind’s eye before pressing the shutter. ‘The basic principle of Adams’ forthright new approach to photography is startingly direct and obvious. Know what you’re after… before you begin!’ Planning and pre-visualising the photo you want to make are two essential aspects of AA’s approach. As well as countless contemporary photographers like David Yarrow, Nick Brandt, and myself. But how do you do it? Adams advises us to ‘think “backwards” from the final print you desire, even before you open a shutter’. This allows the photographer to narrow their focus on a particular subject. You make photos, rather than take photos. You stop hoping the camera will do some magic and create a great shot itself. It’s your mind’s eye that makes the photo, not the camera. The camera is a tool. You are the creator. Imagine you’re walking up an open grassy hill with your camera. After a few sweaty minutes, you notice a lone tree standing beside a boulder. A perfect photographic opportunity. But before swinging your camera to your eye and taking a quick snap. Try to imagine the exact shot of the tree you want to make. Imagine it as a large print, maybe in black and white, against a white gallery wall. Imagine the exposure of the sky, the position of the tree in the frame and how much you want the tree to fill the frame. Once you have a strong visualisation in your mind, use your camera to actualise the visualisation. This may take a few tries, but you’ll make a great shot rather than taken a mediocre one. Visualising the finished print before clicking the button allows photographers to be more deliberate. You spend more time selecting the focal length, proximity to subject, exposure, composition, shutter speed and aperture. You slow down. You think. You make fewer photos, but better ones. Less is more. After researching beforehand, I knew the exact shot I wanted to make when I arrived at the drowned trees at Colliford Lake. I envisioned a high-key shot that turned the water into a pure white. If I hadn’t put the time into research and visualising, I wouldn’t have made this shot.  PETRIFIED, Jacob J Watson-Howland, 2025. Learn from the greats. ‘Carleton Watkin’s photographs of Yosemite had great positive effect… and William Henry Jackson’s photographs of Yellowstone’ Ansel was referring to two great American Wilderness Photographers who came before him. I searched them up and was astounded by how similar their photos were to Ansel’s. A few of Adams’ images were near identical to Timothy O’Sullivan’s– another photographer who came before him. These three photographers influenced the ‘father’ of landscape photography! It shows that there’s a blueprint for everything. Every great steal ideas from the ones who came before them. It’s human nature. We’re mimetic creatures. We learn by copying from others. We combine two or more stolen ideas and make it our own unique one. Whether it was Steve Jobs being inspired by Polaroid founder Edwin Land, Arnold Schwarzenegger following bodybuilding champ-turned-movie-star Reg Park’s blueprint, Kobe Bryant mirroring Michael Jordan or Ansel Adams copying Carleton Watkins’ Yosemite photos, all your heroes have their tribe of heroes that they emulated and imitated. Learn from the greats.  Images by Ansel Adams and Timothy O’Sullivan. This image is used for educational and commentary purposes under fair use. © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. Timothy O’Sullivan, http://timothyhosullivan.com/the_photographs.htm All rights reserved. Pass it on. ‘Marin followed the great tradition of “pass it on”: a tradition of sharing knowledge in which I had been raised. My father considered a profession an obligation to be practiced well and passed onto others through teaching and example. He taught that selfishness was a prime sin, and I suppose the sharing desire comes in part from this attitude.’ ‘As a child, as soon as I understood anything, I wanted to share it.’ Ansel learned from a young age to share his photography knowledge. What separates the good photographers from the greats? The greats teach. They have the foresight to share their wisdom with the younger generations. To pass it on, so the younger ones can build upon it. That’s how society progresses and innovates. That’s how photography improves. It's so easy to withhold information. Part of human nature is selfish. We don’t want people to have an edge over us. We want to have the advantage of superior knowledge because we think it will make us better. In the short term it does. However, the photographers that get remembered are the ones who teach. Through books, seminars, lectures, or nowadays through the internet. When the greats learn new things, they pass it on. Will you? Practice, practice, practice. ‘Nothing takes place of constant effort’ ‘The artist has no time to waste. Bohemian indolence is the pastime of the inadequate’ ‘Whether I walk at Point Lobos, fly in an airplane, move in a new environment, or relax in my home, I’m always seeking to relate one image to another, seeing an image in my mind’s eye’ ‘If something moves me, I do not question what it is or why; I am content to be moved. If I am sufficiently moved and it has aesthetic potential, I will make a picture’ ‘Study, observe, practice, perfect the craft of the medium, and then go into the world with trust in your intuitive creative appreciations and ability to see.’ These are all on the same page. They summarise Ansel’s philosophy. Waste no time, always see images in your mind’s eye, make pictures of things that move you and put the work in every day. ‘I think we are built for work’, says Ansel ‘Certain orders of physical and spiritual achievement succumb in the absence of effort and drive’. Ansel preaches practice more than any other photographer I’ve studied so far. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger says about all things in life, photography is about reps reps reps. There’s no point aiming to be the best photographer if you’re not going to put consistent effort in. Practice every day. Go out and make photos every day. Read books about the greats who came before you. ‘Perfect the craft of the medium’ says Ansel. ‘Musicians practice constantly; most photographers don’t practice enough’. I couldn’t agree more. Photographers should train like athletes. Everyday. Since reading Ansel Adams’s autobiography, I’ve been going out with my camera and 50mm lens daily. Bringing it with me on the way to places. When I have my camera in my hand, I see images everywhere. The images I make are for practice, but sometimes I make a printable image. My new project ALIENS started as practice shots of a park I walk past every day. Now it’s compounded and I’ve made some great images. Big things start small. The more reps you do, the better your work will become. Practice practice practice.  ALIENS, Jacob J Watson-Howland, 2025. Do work that feels like play. ‘I personally do not recognise a day of– work is my greatest enjoyment’. To a normal person, this may seem crazy. Most people associate work with boredom and stress. Like with most high performers, they do work that feels like play. Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others follow the same philosophy. As a photographer, if you feel overwhelmed, bored or stressed every time you pick up a camera, why are you doing it? The most successful people do a few things they enjoy. Repeatedly. If photography feels like a game to you, that’s an asset, keep playing. If it feels dull to you, like a 9-5 job, find a different thing that does feel like play to you. I’ve been playing the photography game since I was 15. When I was in secondary school, I often used it to avoid or distract myself from boring schoolwork. I’d go to a local nature reserve as soon as school ended to make pictures of birds. Even in mid-winter when there was barely an hour of light left after school, I went out and stayed after dark. It was an escape, it gave me energy. Every morning when I returned to the school building full of dread or sat in the classroom bored out of mind, I’d always be thinking about the next time I’d be out with my camera. It was a game to me. It still is. Make sure photography feels like play to you. If it doesn’t feel like play, don’t do it. 3 Key Takeaways to Improve Your Photography 1. Practice. Every day. Practice visualising the finished image before you make the photo. Practice seeing images in your mind’s eye. Practice editing images. Practice making prints of your work. Practice putting your work out there, on social media, on your website and show it to people, organisations, brands, journals and galleries. It’s all about repetition. If you put the reps in, they’ll compound. You will see results. Repetition is persuasive. Repetition equals reputation. 2 . Build relationships. Befriend other photographers like Ansel did. Connect with people online who you admire and want to collaborate with. Approach strangers in the gym, on the beach, in the sauna, on the train. Anywhere. Ask them questions, listen and show them you work. Follow them on social media or get their phone number. Even if nothing comes of it right away, that’s one more person who is aware of your work. They might be able to help you, but you won’t know if you don’t approach them and befriend them. Make new connections. 3. Pass it on. Don’t withhold information you think is worth sharing. We all learn from generous sharing of knowledge. When you share wisdom, you help others. People who learn from you will value you. It’ll create opportunities you didn’t expect. A Person Worthy of Study Ansel Adams was more than just a photographer. He was a philosopher, environmentalist, musician, teacher, artist and founder. He was a pioneer in the genre we call fine art landscape photography today. He helped solidify photography’s place as a fine art. His own work was exhibited in the world’s most prestigious institutions, like MoMA and V&A museum. His impulse to pass his knowledge on is the reason I’m writing this. Through his selfless imparting of wisdom through teaching and books, he inspired generations of photographers who came after him. Throughout his whole life he pursued the beauty of the natural world with his camera, surrounded himself with incredible people and shared his learnings with others. These are common actions in history's greatest photographers… “The only things in my life that compatibly exist with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit. After eighty years, I scan a long perspective. I think of a mantra of Gaelic origin given me fifty years ago by Ella Young. It echoes everything I believe: I know that I am one with beauty And that my comrades are one. Let our souls be mountains, Let our spirits be stars, Let our hearts be worlds.” And that is where I’ll leave it. I highly recommend this book if you want to become one of the best photographers of our time. If you buy the book using the link below, you’ll be supporting me at no extra cost to you. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you again next week. Jacob J. Watson-Howland https://www.jacobwatsonhowland.com/  Read the book yourself below. If you buy the book using the link below, you’ll be supporting me at no extra cost to you. amzn.to/4kczDEx Other books to read before you die https://www.jacobwatsonhowland.com/best-photography-business-books.html View my best limited-edition prints https://www.jacobwatsonhowland.com/featured-fine-art-photography-prints.html What’s in my camera bag? https://www.jacobwatsonhowland.com/pro-photography-camera-gear.html Instagram– keep updated for future episodes www.instagram.com/jacobwatsonhowland
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