GUEST: I brought a portfolio of prints by Ansel Adams.

A good friend of mine knew that I was a backcountry hiker.

My wife and I would go to national parks.

I'd bring him pictures to show of the trips.

And he said one day he had something to show me, and this was in his possession.

And later in his life, he called me back to see it again, and he said he wanted me to have this.

APPRAISER: Wow, that's incredible.

Mm.

GUEST: I mean, even today, pulling them out to look at them... APPRAISER: Mm.

GUEST: ...and seeing them here like this, these gave me goosebumps.

It's awe-inspiring.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

So this is portfolio number three, the third portfolio that Ansel Adams published.

It was published in 1960 by the Sierra Club.

And the images inside were made starting in either circa 1926, which is how this image is dated in the portfolio colophon--sometimes it's dated 1927, very early--all the way up to 1959, but they were printed in 1960 for the set, for the portfolio.

And they're each signed by Ansel Adams.

They really represent the qualities that people love about Ansel Adams.

He's one of the most collected, one of the most well-known photographers, still, in the world.

That precise focus, the clarity of vision, the contrast, the detail, and of course, as we've already discussed, the emotion that is conveyed through the images is really powerful.

This picture is called Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.

It's one of his most famous pictures.

He had a sense of being able to see the finished print in his mind, and then use what he knew about the camera to create the right conditions in order to be able to make that print.

So the dark sky.

The sky, of course, was not dark when he made this image.

He used a red filter in his camera to create the visual effect.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: His legacy is also as a teacher of these skills.

The photograph closer to you is called Winter Storm.

And that image is really what Ansel Adams is most well-known for, which is these sort of sublime landscapes that capture the big vision of the place.

There's a sense of drama, there's a sense of beauty, majesty.

The contrast between the light and the clouds, the snow in the landscape, and even captures the details of all the trees so perfectly.

This really represents Adams at his most skilled.

There were originally 16 photographs in this portfolio and there are three that are no longer part of the set.

Do you know what happened to those prints?

GUEST: I really don't--we think they were given away as gifts to other people.

APPRAISER: Okay.

So as is, at auction, my estimate for the set would be $40,000 to $60,000.

GUEST: It's a lot of money.

APPRAISER: If it was complete, an estimate might be $50,000 to $75,000.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So the good news is that the prints that are missing from your set you own are not among the most desirable or the most valuable in the group.

GUEST: Mm-hmm--cool.

APPRAISER: The two that I've pulled out here are... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...the two most valuable and desirable, because they're the most well-known.

At auction, individually, this print would be estimated between $7,000 and $10,000.

GUEST: (blows out) APPRAISER: The Winter Storm would be estimated between $8,000 and $12,000.

GUEST: Wow--that's my favorite one.

APPRAISER: Good.

(both chuckle) GUEST: You mentioned that you have taken your own photographs in Yosemite.

GUEST: Yes.

Oh, yeah.

(chuckles) APPRAISER: Um, how do you think they... (laughs) Would you call yourself a photographer?

GUEDT: No.

(laughs) I own a camera.

APPRAISER: Okay.

(both laugh)