Yosemite Valley Morning

Golden light reaches the broad granite face of El Capitan above a dark stand of trees. In the foreground, the river carries shorter patches of the same warm color between blue-gray ripples and scattered stones. A second cliff rises on the right, leaving an opening of clear sky between the rock walls. The shaded riverbank makes the illuminated stone seem brighter still.

Vertical marks run down the granite, while the river breaks its reflections into shorter horizontal lines. Both contain pale gray and gold, but the direction of those marks helps tell them apart. Along the bank, dark stones interrupt the water's edge. Pine branches reach across the brighter valley behind them, leaving a fine silhouette that differs from the softer tree line farther away.