Just a point of clarification: Ansel Adams made contact prints from 8X10 negatives taken with his view camera. Some would argue that it was almost identical to the process of using a photocopier. He also did extensive darkroom work to bring out the shadow detail he so vigorously sought using his zone exposure system -- shadow detail that could not have been brought out without that darkroom technique. He also used toning and bleaching to create the image that was in his mind. Ansel was also best known for his artistic cropping of the images he created.

In short, Ansel Adams used the best technology available to him to create -- or recreate -- the images in his mind's eye. He did not etch his images on tin to pay homage to daguerreotype process. Nor did he feel that using his zone system was "cheating". He was a photographer and an artist and he used both his skill in the field and his unrivaled use of technology in the darkroom to create memorable images we can all enjoy today.

Jim