Late Afternoon Serenity

Autumn on the Merced River El Capitan — A Study in Serenity

It's spring now, with vibrant greens and flower blossoms everywhere. This image is not spring. It's from a late November afternoon, when the setting sun bathed Yosemite Valley in soft golden light. I found a perch in the middle of the Merced River, and made a series of moderately short, long exposures and stitched them into this panorama. On my way back to shore, my waders filled with water, making me to lose my balance and end up the river. All worth it.

Related Posts:

A closer, more intimate view of El Capitan: Headed to El Cap Along the Merced

The same granite face in an entirely different mood: El Cap in Monochromatic Mist

More from the Yosemite Valley floor: tLeviathans — The Three Brothers Tahiti Beach Prospect

Yosemite Fine Art Photography

Provenance: Phase One XT | IQ4.150 | Rodenstock 32mm

A river with trees and mountains in the background
EnlargeBuyLow-res fileSimilar images
A river with trees and mountains in the background

In October, when the black oaks on Yosemite's valley floor reach full color, El Capitan's reflection appears in the Merced River if the air is still and the water level is low enough to run without current — conditions that align on perhaps twenty mornings per year. This panorama was assembled from multiple frames, the camera positioned as low as possible above the water to maximize the reflection's area in the frame — a compositional choice that changes the image from a photograph of a mountain to a photograph of a mountain becoming something else. The oak color in this image is at peak — a mix of gold and amber that only holds for perhaps a week. The reflection broke within minutes of the capture as the first valley breeze arrived.