Ansel Adams

By Sean Fagan

Capturing Wilderness

Above, is a fantastic documentary about Ansel Adams (there is a link to this video at the end of this short article).

It's hard to dispute with the fact that Adams was a tremendous outdoor photographer.

Considering the basic camera he possessed - he managed to create some stunning, groundbreaking photographs.

As regards locations, his core photographic muse was the magnificent Yosemite National Park.

Here, among the steep peaks and cliffs of the Sierra Nevada mountains - Adams lost himself to the timeless rhythms of nature...restlessly searching for the next image.

So, what has Adams got to do with bushcraft?

Well, quite a lot...

A huge part of bushcraft for many - is appreciating and enjoying wild landscapes.

And what better way than photography to get closer to wild landscapes?

I've rambled on quite a bit about blending bushcraft with creative hobbies – so that our time in nature can be all the more richer.

I'm also convinced that being creative outdoors can strengthen our ability to creatively improvise – a key asset for any true bushcrafter or outdoors person (for those interested in survival skills – being able to improvise can often mean the difference between life and death in survival events).

Sadly, I can't verify a correlation between creativity and an improved ability to improvise in the outdoors - but it’s something I’ve found to be personally true.

Bushcraft is many things...

For myself and many others – bushcraft is primarily a means of accessing, and living comfortably within, wild places.

Of streamlining our needs to a bare minimum, often to what we can carry on our backs – and venturing into wild places – confident in our ability to look after our bodily needs.

In that bubble of self-propelled freedom we can indulge in some of our creative urges – as many wild places are imbued with a great, timeless sense of silence, space and harmony. In effect, they are the perfect playground for sustained contemplation and creative ferment.

Of course, practising bushcraft in nature is hard, physical work.

It can also be risky.

But I think it’s well worth it.

Ansel knew this truth as he hiked among the immense, precarious beauty of Yosemite National Park – chasing after something elusive and ephemeral…the perfect image.

And so did another iconic outdoors man know this truth, Bill Mason.

Bill used his expert canoeing and bushcraft skills to travel through, and live within, the vast landscapes of his beloved Canada.

There, he would capture the essence of wilderness through the creative mediums of painting, photography and film-making.

On a very practical level, both Ansel and Bill needed to use a range of bushcraft knowledge and skills in order to sustain themselves in remote, wilderness areas while pursuing their artistic passions.

Can you think of anything you want to create in nature while exploring?

More importantly - why not go for it?

“I long for the high places, they are so clean and untouched” ~ Ansel Adams

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