Jerry Gilliland studied photography with Ansel Adams and worked multiple summers at Yosemite as a desk clerk and bellman. He recalls Adams' patient teaching style and how the park's dramatic weather, thunderstorms, and winter snow shaped his black-and-white photography.
So you. You took a class with Ansel Adams, right?
Wow.
Did you learn anything?
Yeah, I took a lot of black and white shots. Yeah.
And so did you take the class here or in San Francisco?
Right, in the Valley. Yeah, right, in the Valley.
And Ansell wasn't famous back then, right?
No, he wasn't that well known. But his photography even then was outstanding. Of course.
But, you know, did you buy any prints? That's it. You bet.
Yeah, it was super, great, great success. What was his teaching style like? Yeah, he was very technical. And he also was a very pleasant person. He was very patient.
That's what I learned.
He was very kind and willing to take the time to talk individually, look at their work. He was very living proof. Yeah, well, patience is really necessary when you're teaching photography. That's right.
You never know from student to student.
How well they grasp that, like even depth of field, you know, I teach well.
Even this scene here. Right. I've been here 20 times. Yeah. It's different every time.
But it's never perfect. It's never perfect.
You need a little luck in photography, don't you? Yeah, well, luck and also just knowing when to be. Yeah.
The best thing for this year, in my opinion, is a little cloud in the sky. Because right now there's.
Were you here, you know, were you here yesterday? No, we were.
I was here and it was cloudy.
Yeah, but it was.
The Half Dome was obscured most of the day or partially. You know, friends of mine that have come up to shoot Half Dome and from Glacier Point in the summertime, they come up and they've had a new camera and guess what couldn't see it was the class we're in. You know.
Yosemite can be pretty interesting weather wise. I remember being in Tioga Pass in July. It snowed three inches. And then you're down in Sacramento, it's 102 degrees the same day.
Incredible.
How many times have you been up here?
I worked three summers here and 53 through. Where did you work? Well, I started at Wawona for John Curry. Yeah. And then I moved down to the Valley and I was a desk for the. For one summer. And then the most cherished job, of course, was a bellman. And so I worked that one my last year. In my fourth year, I had to go to ROTC summer camp.
And where do you live now?
We live actually in Copperopolis. I don't know if you know where that is. That's near Angel's camp. Oh, okay.
So not too far away.
No, not Too far away. So it's only three hours work for the Curry Company in 51 as a desk clerk at Curry and John Curry was a desk clerk with me. Yeah. And I don't whether you remember Bob Maynard.
I do.
Bob was running the coffee shop. Yeah. And then he became the general manager. General manager. Right, right. Yeah. So. And anyway, he finished out his career in the hotel where he was president of Aspen Sea Corporates. Right. And now he's retired and living up in Washington. Oh, is he? Well, he's gotten snow this week.
What's your name, by the way?
Jerry Gilliland. Yeah.
You're live on the Internet. Oh, look, I should have told you that about 10 minutes ago. Yeah, we're doing a little photo show.
For Fast Company magazine. Oh, well, super. Yeah.
What.
What is the Internet site? Site?
It's a qik. Com. Okay.
I'll give you a card so you can find it. Well, I like to see it. Yeah, but it won't be reshot.
No, it's recorded the minute I hit stop. Like when I hit stop right now.
We'll be back tomorrow when you look at this.
Absolutely. In fact, look at what's going on here. So Craig from Minnesota is watching live right now. So people can watch live and they can take comments. If they comment on the video, it comes to my cell phone so they can ask you, ask you questions. So have you, have you ever been up here with your dad taking pictures? I'm sure you many times.
I was up here once and there was a thunderstorm and I remember lightning struck right down here and got a tree on fire. And he said, oh, get in the car, get in the car. You know, after the fact. It was a little late, but it was spectacular. A big rainstorm and thunder and lightning. Wow, that's been pretty close. When did your dad like to shoot up here the most? In spring. Oh, all year round. All year round. I mean, there's some wonderful images. A lot of winter. Yeah. Summer, spring, fall.
Yes.
Snow. And I would say all year round. It was one of the.
To the people watching around the world, it is a spectacular day here. Not a cloud in the sky, right?
Yeah. I still have black and white pictures, you know, that I enlarged during that time. They've maintained themselves as far as clarity is concerned. A lot of winter shots.
Yeah. Well, it's really a treat to be here in the winter. I've been here several times. I remember walking through, down by the church, you know, when there was three inches of fresh snow early in the morning and I got pictures of El Capitan that were just stunning, you know, because I love. I love the winter here. Yeah, we can do it.
Yeah.
Let me. Let me turn off. We'll be back from Yosemite shortly. More from Yosemite shortly. Really great.
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