Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2018.

Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, California

Artist Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984)

Date1960

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 19 1/2 × 14 1/4 in. (49.5 × 36.2 cm)
Overall, Support: 28 × 22 in. (71.1 × 55.9 cm)
Overall, Mat: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. T. Lane Stokes

Object number82.128

Terms

Moon
Cliff
Yosemite National Park
California

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a photograph of a view in Yosemite National Park, California.

Label TextAnsel Adams American, 1902–1984 Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, California, 1960 Gelatin silver print, ca. 1980 Although it may look simple, creating a photograph like this one is intensely complex. Capturing the moon poses particular challenges. If the exposure is too long, the moon becomes a flat white disk; too short and it will be a faint gray smudge. To show the moon as a detailed and textured object, Adams used light meters, special lenses, and color filters, and he made multiple exposures. When he described the image years later, however, he insisted on its simplicity: “I was driving a bit aimlessly around the valley one winter afternoon, when I clearly saw an image in my mind’s eye of Half Dome as the moon rose over its right shoulder. I parked my car and with my Hasselblad [camera] and tripod firmly positioned across my shoulder, I strode over the snowy field…until I found the place that best revealed the scene.” Gift of Dr. and Mrs. T. Lane Stokes 82.128