World Photography Day: How Ansel Adams changed photography forever

How Ansel Adams Changed Photography - YouTube How Ansel Adams Changed Photography - YouTube
Watch On

ABOVE: Watch Aidin Robbins' great video on Ansel Adams

Influential photographers don't get much more influential than Ansel Adams. His dedication to exquisite tonal range and experimenting with composition gave the world landscape images that are still revered today. 

In fact, Adams' influence can be seen in the compositions of many of the landscape photographers currently working – one of the many reasons he is recognized as one of the greatest photographers of all time.

World Photography Day is the perfect opportunity to revisit Adams' work. Born in San Francisco, California, he was best-known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He was also a passionate conservationist, fighting to preserve the incredible vistas that he photographed.

Aidin Robbins is a popular photographer and YouTuber who broke down Ansel Adams' style, methods and intentions in a video that's well worth watching. He explored the different compositional techniques that Ansel Adams employed, such as leading lines, negative space and capturing the interaction between permanent structures and transient weather.

Robbins also broke down the kit that Ansel Adams used, which included medium format and large format cameras. This allowed Adams to capture as much detail as possible, which he supplemented by capturing the majority of his photographs at f/64. This dedication to shooting with a large depth-of-field even lead Ansel Adams to become one of the founders of f/64 group.

To find out more about Ansel Adams, watch the video above or visit the official Ansel Adams website

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you want to follow in Adams' footsteps, you might be interested in the best cameras for landscape photography, along with the best lenses for landscapes

Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.

Read more
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Threads apps logo is displayed on a smartphone screen
20 famous photographers to follow on social media in 2025 (and where to find them)
women in photography
30 female photographers whose work deserves to be seen, studied, and celebrated, on International Women's Day
Mountain valley during sunrise. Natural summer landscape
9 landscape photography tips I think every photographer should know
Nikon Peter Lindbergh
Did you know Peter Lindbergh became a fashion photography icon using Nikon DSLR cameras?
Courtesy of the Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation and The Photographers’ Gallery
Did you know that one of Japan's greatest photographers built his career using Nikon Coolpix compact cameras?
Macro Still Life
Photographer ‘dreams big’ using his graphic design background to craft mind-bending, dream-like images
Latest in Landscape Photography
Black-and-white landscape photograph of Porthcawl Lighthouse being battered by crashing waves during a storm
"The wind was ferocious and the sea spray was relentless, making it difficult to keep my lens clean," says photographer caught in one of Britain's wildest storms
A landscape photograph of waves crashing against craggy rocks during a storm on the County Kerry coast in Ireland.
"I photographed a fierce storm raging along the rocky coast of Ireland with my Nikon Z9 and a super-telephoto lens"
Mountain valley during sunrise. Natural summer landscape
9 landscape photography tips I think every photographer should know
Colourful trees frame a small river, photographed with a long exposure
I love to shoot long exposures in the rain – here’s why I head to the woods!
Frosty and misty landscape of the Peak District, with a church spire in the far distance surrounded by layers of open fields and forest
I don’t often shoot with a telephoto lens and had only purchased my Sigma 100-400mm a couple of weeks before this frosty landscape was taken
A misty morning at Glastonbury Tor with cows heading home and the sun rising
I got up at 6am to capture this landscape – and the misty conditions made it totally worth it
Latest in Features
A winning image from the World Press Photo awards
These images are uncomfortable to look at. But that’s the point. Meet the winning World Press Photos
Black and white image montage, three images showing scenes from the streets of Barcelona
“If you want to photograph a dynamic scene, you have to make do without a tripod”, I just love this cinematic night shoot!
Jacob Watson-Howland's image of a snowdrop in low-light, captured with a slow shutter speed to create a painterly abstract effect
“I didn’t bring a tripod. Big mistake.” Second attempt at low-light plant portrait lands young photographer prestigious award
A monochromatic image, showing a girl that looks through a door or window with an obscure view
These are the winners from Digital Photographer's captivating portraits contest
Fujifilm X-T5 with lens attached
If the Fujifilm X-T6 launches with this one feature, I’m going to be the first in line
Meta AI suggesting comments for Instagram image
Instagram is testing AI that analyzes photos and generates comments… but isn't that the opposite of solving the bot problem?