Digital BW, The Print

You could check with the Ansel Adams Center For Creative Photography in Tucson Arizona. Many of Ansels negatives are there and they have a wealth of info. The early versions of "moonrise" with a lighter sky are rare and more valuable than the later version wuth the black sky. Larger sizes command more in either version as they are fewer in number.

Walt

>Hello Ken,
>
>I remember reading somewhere years ago how many Moonrises AA printed,
>but have forgotten what it was.  Does anyone know?   
>
>Here is a quote from the After Image Gallery web site:
>
>"The much more common 16 x 20 inch Moonrise prints are now valued at
>around $50,000.00. Last October, Christies estimated the value of one
>at auction to be $50,000.00 to $70,000.00. Last year Sotheby's sold a
>20 x 24 inch Moonrise for $115,000.00, but it was printed in 1957. 
>The value of a 1970s-printed 20 x 24 Moonrise is $75,000.00 to
>$80,000.00."
>
>Regards,
>Clayton

> ... The early versions of "moonrise" with a lighter sky are rare and
> more valuable than the later version with the black sky. ...

Yet the early (drab, in my view) version's value is, no doubt, based on the
later version's dramatic, higher contrast sky.

> Ansels original exposure of the moonrise neg was made based on the correct
> exposure for a full moon, which he remembered, ...

Yes, it was not a "guess."  The "Sunny 16" rule applies to the moon.  It's
an airless desert with the same light conditions as here.  So, start from
exposure = f16 at film speed with a clear, straight up sun, and work back
from that according the angle of sun, hazy level, etc.  I had a meter go out
once and nevertheless had a fairly good roll of film based on these
"guesses."  

>  He was never satisfied with the crosses in the grave yard.

He would have loved digital.  The crosses in my Taos Pueblo Cemetery
suffered also until digital came around.  
See http://home1.gte.net/res0a2zt/Taos_Cemetery.html 
The crosses stood out in how I visualized the scene originally, but not on
the negative.


Paul
www.PaulRoark.com