Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico,

1941, printed ca. 1963–70

Adams is renowned for his depictions of the American landscape, and Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is one of the artist’s most iconic images, encapsulating his approach to visualization and his technical skills. He is said to have been driving south along the highway when he was struck by this scene: the last of the afternoon sun shining brightly upon crosses in a church cemetery while the moon rose above the clouds and snow peaks to the east. He quickly pulled over and took out his camera equipment. Unable to find his exposure meter, however, he supposedly recalled the luminance of the moon to be 250 candles per square foot and was thus able to calculate the exposure time using his famous Zone System. By the time he was able to prepare another 8 x 10 negative, "the sunlight [had] left the crosses and the magical moment was gone forever."