It was surreal for Jennings, in a small group of 10, to be in the presence of the legendary photographer, surrounded by his iconic images.

"All these famous Ansel Adams prints around and not even under glass. I get bumps thinking about it. He was wonderfully interesting but also down-to-earth and kind of unassuming. You could talk to him and not feel intimidated."

Adams' critique was for Jennings to expand the scope of his social documentation by also photographing the subject's environment to inform the viewer.

"As far as technically, there were a number of darkroom techniques we explored and practiced and went over. That helped me become a better printer. He was also very open to experimentation and new ideas. Even though he was a perfectionist and somewhat a purist, he was willing to try different things."

Adams would very much enjoy the digital age and would not be against it, in Jennings's estimation.

Though he plans to keep his darkroom, most of Jennings's work is digital now. His new images are not hand printed, but what he gains is more flexibility as far as shooting images and less stress by being able to discern and correct at a glance if an image is under- or overexposed.

Now that he is retired from teaching -- 39 years at Northern Adirondack Central School in Ellenburg and 27 years at Clinton Correctional Facility -- he has more time for his photography, including his well-known wedding photography and an upcoming Southwest tour with photographer Shaun Heffernan and his wife, Amanda Palmer, director of the Alice T. Miner Museum.

Jennings's most recent project has been working on images for his son Howard III's music CD and "Acoustic EP."

"It's a lot of fun again," Jennings said.

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com