Ansel Adams Born February 20, 1902

(PCM) On this day we honor the birthday of famed photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams. Adams is best known for his stunning black and white nature photographs and his work with national parks across the country.

Adams began his career selling photographs of Yosemite National Park in the early 2oth century and eventually fined tuned his photographic style to feature incredibly sharp contrasts and intense exposures. He used large-format cameras to capture his images and was matriculate when it came to overall composition.

Chances are you have spotted an Ansel Adams photo somewhere in your travels as his photos have been widely reproduced in calendars, posters and books.

Some of our personal favorite works of Ansel Adams include the stark contrast black and white trees featured in “Aspens” and the majestic waterfall featured in “Bridalveil Falls“.

In celebration of Ansel Adams birthday we have included some fun facts about his life below:

•  Ansel Adams was injured during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. He was slammed into a wall breaking his nose.  He never had it reset and it remained crooked until the time of his death in 1984.
• Adams photographed every national park in the United States
• Adams had early ambitions to become a piano player, teaching himself to play at age 12
• Adams produced the first Presidential photographic portrait, as he was commissioned by President Jimmy Carter. The photo hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.