Editing Ansel Adams (section)

====Sierra Nevada====

[[File:"Coloseum Mountain, Kings River Canyon (Proposed as a national park)," California, 1936., ca. 1936 - NARA - 519933.tif|thumb|''[[Colosseum Mountain|Coloseum Mountain]], [[Kings Canyon National Park|Kings River Canyon]], California'' (1936)]]

During the summers, Adams often participated in Sierra Club High Trips outings, as a paid photographer for the group; and the rest of the year a core group of Club members socialized regularly in San Francisco and Berkeley. In 1933, his first child Michael was born, followed by Anne two years later.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 102}}

During the 1930s, Adams began to deploy his photographs in the cause of wilderness preservation. He was inspired partly by the increasing incursion into Yosemite Valley of commercial development, including a pool hall, bowling alley, golf course, shops, and automobile traffic. He created the limited-edition book ''Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail'' in 1938, as part of the Sierra Club's efforts to secure the designation of [[Kings Canyon National Park|Kings Canyon]] as a national park. This book and his testimony before Congress played a vital role in the success of that effort, and Congress designated Kings Canyon as a national park in 1940.<ref name="Sierra Club">{{cite web | title = Ansel Adams – History | url = http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/ansel-adams/ | publisher = Sierra Club | access-date = March 4, 2019 | archive-date = March 1, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190301140708/http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/ansel-adams/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 7}}

In 1935, Adams created many new photographs of the Sierra Nevada; and one of his most famous, ''[[Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park|Clearing Winter Storm]]'',<ref>[https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/a-grand-vision-the-david-h-arrington-collection-of-ansel-adams-masterworks/clearing-winter-storm-yosemite-national-park Print of ''Clearing Winter Storm''] on auction in December 2020 at Sotheby's, where another print dated 1938 was sold in 2005 (no page for this auction – see text). Before this print came to knowledge, the picture was thought to have been taken ca. 1942 –1944. An early [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/photographs-n08424/lot.142.html print from around 1938], which was sold in 2008, shows a still warmer tone than later prints.</ref> depicted the entire [[Yosemite Valley]], just as a winter storm abated, leaving a fresh coat of snow. He gathered his recent work and had a solo show at Stieglitz's "An American Place" gallery in New York in 1936. The exhibition proved successful with both the critics and the buying public, and earned Adams strong praise from the revered Stieglitz.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 120}} The following year, the negative for ''Clearing Winter Storm'' was almost destroyed when the darkroom in Yosemite caught fire. With the help of Edward Weston and [[Charis Wilson]] (Weston's future wife), Adams put out the fire, but thousands of negatives, including hundreds that had never been printed, were lost.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|pp=123–124}}<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Fraser | first1 = Christa | title = Fire on the Mountain{{snd}}Ansel Adams and Edward Weston in Yosemite in the late 1930s | url = http://adventuresportsjournal.com/fire-on-the-mountain-ansel-adams-and-edward-weston-in-yosemite-in-the-late-1930s/ | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = Adventure Sports Journal | date = October 21, 2009 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044409/http://adventuresportsjournal.com/fire-on-the-mountain-ansel-adams-and-edward-weston-in-yosemite-in-the-late-1930s/ | url-status = live }}</ref>{{NoteTag|In 2010, Rick Norsigian bought some glass negatives at a garage sale and claimed they were some of the lost negatives, estimating their value at $200 million.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Staff writer | title = Ansel Adams Pics Bought for $45 Worth $200M? | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ansel-adams-pics-bought-for-45-worth-200m/ | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = CBS News | date = July 27, 2010 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306042727/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ansel-adams-pics-bought-for-45-worth-200m/ | url-status = live }}</ref> The Ansel Adams Foundation contested this claim and sued. A settlement was reached in 2011 where Norsegian could sell prints without any reference to Adams.<ref>{{cite news | last = Harmanci | first = Reyhan | title = Ansel Adams Lawsuit: An Agreement Is Reached | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/arts/design/ansel-adams-lawsuit-an-agreement-is-reached.html | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = The New York Times | date = March 15, 2011 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306042748/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/arts/design/ansel-adams-lawsuit-an-agreement-is-reached.html | url-status = live }}</ref>}}