At Valley View in winter, Yosemite organizes itself perfectly: El Capitan anchoring the left wall, Bridalveil Fall a white thread against Cathedral Rocks to the right, the Merced River running dark and cold between bare cottonwood branches in the foreground. The light on this morning was the hard, clear light of a cold Yosemite winter — low-angle, shadowless in the valley, catching the granite faces while the floor remained in blue shadow. Made on medium format, the image resolves the full scene from near-ground to summit — the detail in both shadow and snow that makes large-format printing of a Yosemite winter possible. The cold that morning was the kind that makes equipment uncertain and resolve necessary.