Solvang’s nature and art museum displays William Neill’s photos in Yosemite: Sanctuary in Stone through August

William Neill commuted from El Portal to his job as resident photographer at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley five days a week for five years. During this time, from 1977 to 1984, through each changing season, the landscapes opened up to him. 

Noticing the towering granite formations and breathtaking passing scenes through his windshield, he began to revisit and capture them through his camera. 

Yosemite has since become the award-winning nature and landscape photographer’s muse, and his solo exhibit, Yosemite: Sanctuary in Stone, captures his burgeoning relationship with the area. 

More than 40 of Neill’s photographs spanning four decades are currently on display through Aug. 31 at the California Nature Art Museum (CALNAM) in Solvang. Some depict the swirling spray from a waterfall or the snowy shadows in a forest; others are zoomed out to capture the most iconic monoliths.  

A larger look into his extensive portfolio can be found in his newest photography book, also titled Yosemite: Sanctuary in Stone. 

Attempting to showcase his distinctively unique style among the countless other Yosemite Valley photographers, Neill said he wanted his images to be less descriptive of the place and more about “an artist’s journey.”  

The artistic and intimate act that Neill described, of surveying a scene unfolding before one’s eyes and affording a certain detail the spotlight, is what he has done since he received his first camera in 1974. It had a 50mm lens and allowed him to “make small details the big picture.”

Memories as a college student at University of Colorado Boulder also surface, of commuting to work earlier than need be, to spend time at Boulder Creek “looking for photographs.”

There, with his camera sloshing around in his pack next to school books, he began shooting close-up images of crystalline forms—similar to the ones featured in his Sanctuary in Stone exhibit, taken along the Merced River in Yosemite, which Neill now coins his “go-to location for ice imagery.”

He admits wide photos have a role to play but believes a body of work that includes a mixture of scale can better describe an area. He said he’s learned to think in themes, pairing images with similar feelings together—whether that be moods, colors, or contradicting seasons—in his various books and online portfolio collections. 

Many of his Yosemite photographs were taken using the intentional camera movement  technique, which involves moving one’s camera while taking a shot with a long exposure. The effect creates painting-like images, with vibrant details akin to brushstrokes on a canvas.

In one corner of the exhibit, three photographs of this blurry, abstract nature hang together, including Aspen Impressions #2 and Winter Forest. 

“He’s an artist and it shines through,” said CALNAM visitor and gift shop manager Mya Mantilla, noting the joy it brings her to gaze at the exhibit’s photographs—including the giant print of Rainbows over Lower Yosemite Falls—while at work.

“It’s almost a spiritual relationship with the land,” she said of Neill’s connection to Yosemite. 

Neill said his keen eye for photography can be traced back to his childhood years traveling to national parks on vacations with his family, and later working in those parks each summer during college. 

The day after he graduated high school in Virginia, Neill recounted, he hopped on a train and a plane to Glacier National Park to work as a dishwasher, exploring the backcountry, and taking photos on his days off. 

Come graduation in 1977, Neill landed a job in Yosemite Valley cleaning bathrooms—work that was not glorious by any means, but gave him the money he needed to continue purchasing film and processing it at The Ansel Adams Gallery. 

Three years later, at 26, Neill landed a job as resident photographer at that very gallery, which exposed him to what he deems “the sphere of Ansel”—not just the knowledge of Ansel Adams himself, but all the other fine art photographers involved with the gallery and their workshops.   

While leading camera walks for groups of tourists as part of his job, Neill said he would take aspiring photographers out to the meadow and teach them how to teach themselves. Because beyond the camera basics, Neill believes discovering what settings and techniques to use is a personal endeavor.

A similar approach was taken by Adams himself, Neill explained, having attended some of his iconic, two-week annual photography workshops and listened to his lectures on his days off.  

“He wasn’t teaching people to be Ansel,” Neill said. “He was adamant on finding your own way and responding to what struck you the most.”

Neill recounted a memory of absorbing Adams’ complex relationship with Yosemite one summer afternoon at the infamous Tunnel View pullout, where millions of tourists park and take photos each year. 

Adams was there testing out a large Polaroid camera, Neill said. The light overhead was not ideal, and Adams announced to the crowd gathered around him that it was not the right time to photograph. He took note of the clouds and weather pattern, and anticipated that an hour later they would move to the perfect spot, and it would be time to shoot. 

Neill waited around, and just like Adams predicted, the clouds positioned themselves beautifully. He said he can remember “the way the walls cast shadows” and how the light “highlighted different sections of the valley.”   

Neill stepped away from the gallery and became self-employed in 1984. A year prior, Adams approved his prints to be represented in his gallery, and thus Neill remains the last person to be selected by Adams himself. 

Since then, he’s worked to get his photographs published in magazines, books, calendars, and make money off print sales. In recent years, he’s hosted his own workshops to share his photographic knowledge with others. This fall, he will teach a workshop in the Eastern Sierras and next spring, one in Yosemite. 

Neill said someone once asked him how he can continue photographing in Yosemite after more than four decades. The answer is simple: He doesn’t see the park’s landscape and the photo opportunities it affords as finite. 

“Every time I go,” he said, “I’m amazed by something.”

Calendar Editor Angie Stevens loves being amazed. Reach her at astevens@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 10, 2025.