Weathered Wood

broken window, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I saw an Ansel Adams exhibit a few days ago, at the Detroit Institute of Arts (I'm in Michigan this week.) There was one photo, of weathered barn wood, that I thought of when I was choosing what photo to post today. It's amazing what he went through to get a shot - while we're busy clicking away and getting dozens of snaps, he's carefully composing a single shot, setting up his large-format camera, putting the plate in, and shooting off the shutter. If he misses it, it will take many more minutes to be ready for the next shot. Besides which, he won't even know til he gets to the darkroom. And yet, would any of us say our photos are better than his?