North shore Merced River at El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, CA, 10/30/2008
I love to visit Yosemite Valley in autumn for the colorful foliage and clear reflections in the Merced River. Throughout most of the year the Merced moves too fast and turbulently to be a reflecting pool, but in the fall its waters can be almost perfectly still. This is the view looking southeast from the north shore of the river by El Capitan Meadow. In the distance, the eastern portion of Cathedral Rocks rises from the valley floor. On this morning I was delighted to find such a colorful scene in a quiet and peaceful setting. In large prints of this photo another photographer can be seen preparing his view camera on the opposite shore just right of center. His camera faces north, and I've often wondered how his photograph turned out.
