Ansel Adams: JeffreyPine tree at Yosemite Park

This was my first colorization of an Ansel Adams photo - his 1940 print of the famous Jeffrey Pine tree on Sentinel Dome at Yosemite Park that has been photographed by countless photo enthusiasts and tourists over the years, A clear specimen of the artistry of nature shaping an already beautiful tree. Sadly, this Yosemite landmark tree no longer exists. The tree died in a prolonged California drought in 1976 /77 but survived as a leafless stump for almost 30 more years before it finally fell in 2003.

The true before and after the drought that killed it. 

Ansel Adams : Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, California, 1944

Here's my colorized take on the famous Yosemite valley right after a winter storm. The trees were not as lush as his earlier shot on the same subject taken at the height of summer . I consider this more dramatic for the low cloud formation

Ansel Adams: Yosemite Falls

Colorized another Ansel Adams, the famous Yosemite Falls, a scenic gem for photography enthusiast /

Summer colors

Autumn Colors

Putting colors back to nature

It is said that color is the language of nature. So with all due respect to great B&W photographers like Ansel Adams and John Setton, among others, who produced some of the loveliest nature shots in monochrome, I am attempting to bring back the ciolors to what they must have seen with their eyes prior clicking the camera shutter button. 

Here is my colorized Ansel Adams photo of his 1942 print of a Driftwood from the Mural Project 1941-1942, Jackson Lake and Teton Range in background. 

Ansel Adams photos are so well detailed that they lend themselves nicely to colorization. Kodachrome color film was already widely used during his time but accdg to his son Michael, he confessed he did not have the control he needed to really capture the colors of reality as he saw it. Despite taking over 3,500 color photos, Ansel considered color photography as still immature. B&W films gave him more control and accdg to his son, Ansel would have loved using post-production Adobe Photoshop to correct colors, contrast and other elements in a color photo. That would be in the province of colorization as well. AA died in 1984 when digital photography was yet unheard of.

Queen Elizabeth II as a Toddler

In a photo taken ca 1930, Elizabeth is carried by his father, the late Prince Albert, Duke of York, who would assume the throne of England in 1937 as. King George VI