Need a quick, soul-reviving fix of Yosemite? A webcam pointed at one of Yosemite National Park’s main attractions, soaring Yosemite Falls, went live this week. It joins Yosemite cameras already in place at Half Dome and El Capitan. Find them here.

“In a lot of ways I equate it to all of the beautiful picture books that we’ve had on our coffee tables, or the art from the 1870s that made Yosemite exciting to people around the world when they saw it for the first time,” said Michael Tollefson, president of the nonprofit Yosemite Conservancy, which placed the cameras.

The cameras are positioned to maximize the changing light and seasons.

Associated Press reports that the camera joins a smattering of others across the nation. One of the most popular webcams in a national park has been one showing sled dog puppies at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

But not all are quite so fetching. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a webcam shows traffic on the boat launch ramp at Bullfrog, Utah. One webcam at Sequoia Kings Canyon national park provides a view of a single oak tree so students can monitor its life cycle. At Little Bighorn National Monument, a camera offers a distant, grainy view of the military cemetery.

Titled Ted Orland’s Compendium of Photographic Truths, it features a collection of humorous observations about photography assembled and published by Orland, one of Ansel’s former photographic assistants. Centermost on the poster is an image of Ansel himself, peeking out from beneath the dark cloth of a view camera that is pointed at a group of school children. The caption below states “Even Ansel Adams had to earn a living.”

Given the iconic status Ansel’s wilderness imagery enjoys today, it is often difficult for people to imagine his humble beginnings, toiling as a commercial photographer in San Francisco, struggling to simultaneously learn the craft, earn a living with portraits, editorial and documentary work while still allowing sufficient time and energy for his creative efforts.

He writes in his autobiography, “I struggled with a great variety of assignments through the years. Some I enjoyed and some I detested, but I learned from all of them. The professional is subject to pressures and adjustments that sometimes seem impossible. But learning how to complete just such an impossible assignments on time is rewarding, because it develops discipline and a reputation for dependability. I have little use for students or artists who, from their particular plastic towers, scorn commercial photography as a form of prostitution. I grant that it is not difficult to make it so, but I learned greatly from commercial photography and in no way resent the time and effort devoted to it.”

Success came slowly, but steadily in spite of early (and entertaining) gaffes typical of anyone starting out in a new field. By the time he’d hung up his hat, however, Ansel’s list of clients included major corporations such as AT&T and IBM. The biggest challenge, especially in the early years, was weathering the peaks and troughs of income typical of sporadic assignment work. At times, he relied on Virginia ‘s summer earnings at Best’s Studio to see them through the lean periods. Not until the 1970s, more than forty years after he began, did Ansel cease accepting commercial assignments.

Not surprisingly, Ansel’s commercial work displays his unwavering commitment to quality. The compositions of his most successful commissions are arguably as compelling as his better known landscapes, and the prints display his mastery of the medium. Even though the subject is a factory instead of El Capitan , or a detail of human hands instead of a bough of dogwood blossoms, they are clearly the work of Ansel Adams. Indeed, images like Magnetic Core, Hands, “Weaving,” IBM Factory, Poughkeepsie are some of his most enduring.

Fiat Lux , is probably the most widely known commercial assignment that Ansel completed, if not for the sheer volume (over 1,700 prints) but because Ansel collaborated with Nancy Newhall to produce a book, and portions of the collection are frequently on exhibit. The project was an inventory of the University of California campuses in the 1960s leading up to the system’s centennial in 1968.

Also well-known is The Story of a Winery , a project that documents construction of the Paul Masson winery and the birth of the California wine industry. Like Fiat Lux, the project was a collaboration, this time with Pirkle Jones, one of Ansel’s former students and assistants. Many of the images from that effort are part of a permanent exhibit at Mumm Napa Valley in Rutherford , California .

Most of the commercial work, however, is rarely seen outside of corporate collections which is cause for pause when one stumbles across an album cover or coffee can graced by an Ansel Adams photograph.

You can enter the park in private vehicles, organized tours, or scheduled buses. The entrance fee for private vehicles is $20, motorcycles $10, and $10 for bikes. 80% of these fees stay within the park for resource conservation and maintenance, so while it may sound high, it’s less than a family trip to the movies and goes to a good cause.

Public transportation is a viable, although less convenient, way to get into and around the Park. The Yosemite Area Transportation System (YARTS) is connects Yosemite Valley via 140 to the west and 120 to the east. The western terminus is Merced (Airport, Amtrak, Bus) and the eastern terminus is Mammoth Lakes Village. The cost is up to $20 per person.

The Yosemite Shuttle operates between Yosemite Village, Yosemite Lodge, Curry Village, Happy Isles and the Ahwahnee Hotel from 7AM to 8PM, extended hours in summer. The shuttle is free.

One request for people driving into the Park – please use turnouts and let people get speeding tickets if they want, and please do not stop in the middle of the road to look at coyotes or waterfalls. The person driving behind you may not see the same thing until they’ve driven through your space.

Another way to help the National Parks in general is to lobby your United States Congressperson or Senator to increase the NPS operating budget. The most common complaint within any organization is that we don’t have enough money to do all the things we need to do, should do, or want to. The National Park Service is no exception, and has suffered from budget cuts and expanded but underfunded responsibilities. The National Park system was created to protect our American heritage for future generations and provide for today’s generations enjoyment. Congress should provide adequate funding to enable the NPS to achieve its goals.

We are located in the heart of Yosemite Valley, between the Visitor Center and Post Office, with incredible views of Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and Glacier Point. Yes, we’re fortunate, and the staff includes climbers, photographers, hikers, dog lovers, and generally people who love Yosemite.

In the summer of 1901, a landscape painter and political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle by the name of Harry Best took an excursion to Yosemite Valley to camp and paint. Little did he know that this trip would have, indirectly, such an impact on so many, or that we, his descendants, would be telling this story now, nearly a century later.

That summer he met Anne Rippey, a beautiful young woman working as an assistant in one of the photography studios in the Valley. After a whirlwind courtship, the two married on July 28 at the base of Bridal Veil Fall. After the ceremony, they stopped the incoming stagecoach to have everyone celebrate with them. (Rumor has it that several men were courting Ms. Rippey that summer, and Harry’s success lay in his persistence and having sent back to San Francisco for an engagement ring).

That winter, Harry applied to the U.S. Army, Yosemite administrators at the time, for a permit to operate a studio business. The following summer, in 1902, the Bests opened their studio in a tent in Yosemite Valley. Thereafter, Harry and Anne returned to Yosemite each summer, building the original Studio in the Old Yosemite Village in 1904.

Best’s Studio was a family affair from the earliest. Not only was it a husband and wife team producing and selling paintings, painted photographs, and photo finishing, but the Studio also represented Arthur and Alice Best, Harry’s brother and sister-in-law. Harry was successful both as a businessman and painter: Best’s Studio is the last of several artist’s studios that were established around the turn of the century, and paintings of his have hung in the White House and San Francisco’ s Bohemian Club for many years. His, and the company’s, success is attributed to a deep commitment to Yosemite National Park and the desire to share and create a positive Park experience for the visitors.

Harry and Anne’ s daughter Virginia was born in 1904, and grew up spending summers in Yosemite until 1926 when the family took up full time residence in the Valley. In those years, and for a long time thereafter, Best’s Studio was the social center of the Valley . It housed the only piano in the Park and the lovely singing voice of Virginia Best.

Ansel Adams first came to Yosemite National Park in 1916 and returned in 1920 as a caretaker for the Sierra Club’ s LeConte Lodge, still planning a career as a concert pianist. This goal brought him in close contact with the Bests, and Ansel soon found himself visiting the Studio as much for the company as to practice the piano. On January 2, 1928, Ansel Adams and Virginia Best were married in the newly constructed Best’s Studio in the “new village” in Yosemite Valley.

The addition of Ansel Adams to the family had a major impact on the business. At the time of the wedding, Ansel’s career as a photographer was just beginning. He had published, with the help of Albert Bender, his first portfolio in 1927, “Parmelian Prints of the High Sierra.” The Studio and Ansel had a symbiotic business relationship: Ansel providing high quality photographic material that appealed to visitors, and the Studio providing an outlet for his work and on-going financial support to a struggling artist. In this vein, The Ansel Adams Gallery continues to seek out and represent promising contemporary artists.

Ansel and Virginia had two children, Michael, born in 1933 in Yosemite, and Anne, born in 1935 in San Francisco. The family split its time between San Francisco, where Ansel still maintained the family home, and Yosemite. During the Second World War the family moved to Yosemite year round, and the children grew up in this idyllic spot. Ansel and Virginia published a children’ s story book, Michael and Anne in Yosemite , which still occasionally becomes available on the secondary market.

Harry Best passed away in 1936, and Virginia inherited the business that she had been running for some years. Around this time, Ansel and Virginia conscientiously shifted the focus of the Studio to offer merchandise and services that fit with an ethic to respect the landscape and draw inspiration and creativity from the beauty of the environment. This ethic continues to guide The Ansel Adams Gallery, and, while the standard is high, we think we have been successful in finding and developing artwork and services that fit this ethic. Reading was a life long passion of Virginia’s, and her interest embodied itself in a fine selection of books, and the book selection continues to be outstanding and widely complemented. Ansel and Virginia published a number of books, cards, and other photographic related items.

In the early 1950′s, Ansel initiated the Yosemite Special Edition Photographs, a series of Ansel’s photographs printed under his supervision and differentiated from his exhibition prints by price and presentation. The Ansel Adams Gallery continues to offer the Yosemite Special Edition, printed by Alan Ross. The Gallery is the exclusive source for these beautiful photographs printed from Ansel Adams’ original negatives.

The Photography Workshop program began in 1940, and was one of the first photographic education programs in the country. The original workshops were one week long with several instructors, and groups of 10 to 12 students worked with different instructors in field, classroom, and darkroom sessions. Many participants have told us that the workshop program with Ansel and the other professional photographers was a life shaping experience.

Virginia Best Adams operated the Studio until 1971, when she and Ansel turned the company over to Michael and Jeanne Adams, their son and daughter-in-law. During this time, the name of the business was changed to The Ansel Adams Gallery to reflect the primary focus of photography, and the powerful legacy that Ansel had in photography and environmental conservation. Photography and conservation are embodied in the person and work of Ansel Adams, and it is the purpose of the Gallery to encourage the values, efforts, and sense of awe that Ansel held and personified.

— Ansel Adams

From its origin in 1902 in a tent in the California wilderness, Best’s Studio, dba The Ansel Adams Gallery, has evolved into a center that celebrates the arts and the natural grandeur of our environment. The Ansel Adams Gallery strives to cultivate an aesthetic appreciation and concern for our world by offering visitors a unique variety of books, handcrafts, fine arts, and an extraordinary collection of Ansel Adams original photographs.

Welcome!

The Best / Adams family

Camera Walks – Free Camera Walks, led by staff photographers, are offered every Monday (at the Ahwahnee Hotel) Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday throughout the summer. These depart from the Gallery porch at 9 AM and are limited to 15 people. Topics are basic information about using cameras, composition, exposure, and whatever questions come up. Both digital and traditional formats welcome.

Fine Print Tours – Spend an hour with our gallery curator viewing some of the Ansel Adams original photographs in our inventory. Evan Russel discusses the evolution of photography, Adams’ personal artistic evolution, and answers questions. Highly recommended for aspiring to advanced collectors. Most Saturdays at 3PM, be sure to check the calendar and call for information.

Fine Art Photography Exhibit – The Ansel Adams Gallery has rotating exhibits of represented photographers, with works for sale in the Gallery and on-line. You can get a preview of the current exhibit, and check the archive for past exhibits.

Ansel Adams films – We host a free viewing of Ansel Adams, Photographer each Friday at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center East Auditoreum.

Photography Workshops – Intensive photography workshops are offered in Yosemite from October to May, ranging from 1 to 6 days in length. Each workshop will vary in terms of focus and level, and range in price from $250 to $1,250. Please click here for more detail about specific photography workshops.