Well folks, what can I say–I spent 24 hours walking through and around Yosemite with Ansel’s son Micheal. Rather surreal to hear the stories of shots I have known about and revered all my life.

Here’s a qik video of one of my interviews with him, as you can see this was being shot on high def which will be up soon. Sorry the sound a bit weak, it was shot by Robert Scoble on his cell phone, during my interview with Michael.

We were up at Glacier Point looking down on the valley and across to Half Dome. the road up here was closed, we were kindly escorted in by the Park Service and so had the place to ourselves!
Robert Scoble got this shot of Michael pointing out some of Ansel’s journeys to me.

Here’s Robert Scoble’s blog entry:

Kodak Moment: Following Ansel Adams footsteps

It’s weird to read the New York Times to find this article on Ansel Adams on the front page. What did we just do? We spent two days in Yosemite with Michael Adams, Ansel’s son, who spent the better part of two days showing us around.

I shot a TON of Qik/cell phone video with Michael. We also did a bunch of “pro” video with our expensive HD camcorders, those will be up soon as part of a new show for DSLR photographers that’ll be on FastCompany.tv. Titled “PhotoCycle.” We haven’t set a start date for that, yet, more on that later. A special thanks to Marc Silber (he’s the professional photographer who’ll host PhotoCycle) because he’s the one who did the work to arrange this trip.

Ansel Adams Gallery now has a blog, too. One reason I was there was to film Ansel Adams Gallery, which is one of America’s most beloved family businesses and has been operating in Yosemite Park for 102 years.

Thomas Hawk, my favorite photographer that I watch on Flickr, put up a single photo from the two days and it already has gotten 50 votes on Flickr as “favorite.” Getting a “favorite” on Flickr is really hard, and to get 50 for one photo of something as photographed as Half Dome is demonstrates Thomas’ skill and popularity as a photographer, it was a real treat to get to follow him as he made images in Yosemite.

One really big thrill for all of us? They opened the Glacier Point Road just for us. There wasn’t another soul in place for 13 miles of road. Totally amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience of Glacier Point. We also made our own history: we did the first cell phone live video from Glacier Point thanks to Qik. It’s amazing that we had a live audience around the world while filming these videos.

The New York Times had a separate article about Flickr. Here’s Thomas Hawk’s feedback about that (he was one of the photographers quoted in it).

So, why a Kodak moment? Well, Michael Adams told me that Ansel Adams did a lot of work for Kodak. He shot a few of the Colorama ads for Grand Central Station in New York. Did you know Kodak has a blog now? I like the Kodak blog a lot, it gives me some great ideas for photos.

Little known Scoble trivia: I used to help run a camera store, LZ Premiums (now long gone) in the 1980s and was responsible for buying all the Kodak film and darkroom supplies. I saw someone walking out of the Ansel Adams Gallery with a yellow box of Kodak printing paper and it took me back to the hours I spent in a darkroom and all the friends, photos, memories I made back then.

This was — by far — the most special two days I’ve had outside of getting married or watching my two sons being born. I told someone I would have traded my Davos trip (which was freaking awesome) for hanging out with Michael Adams for 24 hours. It was that good and I can’t wait to show you the videos and more of our photos. Thomas Hawk told me he’ll have his photos up soon, along with a writeup of the two days.

Now, go back and read the New York Times article, and listen to it come alive thanks to Qik videos done on my cell phone.

Michael Adams, Ansel Adams’ son, in front of the family business, the Ansel Adams’ Gallery.
The famous Tunnel View, where Ansel shot his famous Storm Clearing photo. In the video we meet a tourist who took a class from Ansel and he tells us about that experience. I talk with Thomas Hawk about this view, and we find some other things to shoot as well.
Video from a meadow shooting Yosemite Falls.
Half Dome from the Bridge. In a second video Michael Adams tells what a photo from this bridge meant to his mother.
You’ve seen the famous photo, Moon and Half Dome, here you see where to shoot it, and we talk about some of our experiences making new images there, but also hear Michael’s stories about the photo and what it meant to him (it was used on his wedding announcement).
Up at Glacier Point we had the whole place to ourselves, so I made a TON of video.
Glacier Point 1.
Glacier Point 2.
Glacier Point 3.
Glacier Point 4.
Glacier Point 5.
Glacier Point 6.

In the videos you’ll learn that Michael is an interesting innovator in his own right. He was a fighter pilot, then went to medical school and now teaches medicine while also keeping memories of his father’s work alive and well.

I don’t know how I’ll top this in my career. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did (and there’s a LOT more to come from this two-day experience).

I also put up a bunch of photos on my Flickr stream and I’m sure that Thomas Hawk will have a lot more of his own.

I’ve been very busy getting ready for the launch of our TV show PhotoCycle—so named by Rocky Barbanica our Producer, as it covers the full cycle of photography: We’ll begin by taking you to visit the masters of photography—which is why I’m off to Yosemite to shoot a video with Michael Adams (Ansel’s son) who’ll take us through the Ansel Adams Gallery and then to see many of the amazing images that his dad captured around Yosemite valley.

Michael just emailed me “I just came down to Fresno from Yosemite. It is beautiful with all of the waterfalls full, the oak trees about to bloom and the dogwood just coming out…” Should be a fascinating journey, hearing about those amazing images, like the story of Ansel on his way to Happy Hour at the Ahwahnee hotel, seeing the moon over half dome, pulled his Cadillac over, grabbed his camera and got the shot, just like you or I could have!
Stay tuned for this episode it should be available in about two weeks.

Sorry I have been out of the loop, been very busy preparing for our new series of PhotoWalking (but stay tuned for another title as we will be spanning a broAd range of topics.) My passion is to bring you great content that both inspires and educates and to take you into places you wouldn’t normally have access to.

1.    We’ll, be taking you to meet some of the true masters of photography directly, such as our walk with Annie Leibovitz through her show at the SF Legion of Honor, and with the family of masters such as our trip to Yosemite with Michael Adams (Ansel’s son) and a view of Edward Weston’s studio with his grandson Kim. I want to put you in touch with these legends of photography to get an insight into how they worked, stories behind their shots and what you can learn from them to improve your own work.

2.    We’ll be exploring the business side of being a photographer to get an inside view of making a business out of photography. Again we’ll be talking to some of the greats and finding out how they made it work.

3.    We’ll be going on the classic PhotoWalkings where we strike out to accessible and photo-rich locations to see shots, discuss how to get them and again learn from these experiences.

4.    Finally we’ll be passing along tips and “tricks” to better your craft. I want you to hear from those who have mastered digital photography such as the use of PhotoShop, printers and your DSLR.

Along the way we’ll be taking you in to meet the worlds top innovators in photography, so stay tuned folks…