Captured during a rare break in a winter storm, this image reveals El Capitan standing majestic and still, its form mirrored in the quiet river below. Snow blanketed the valley floor, and a fleeting patch of blue sky illuminated the granite face—just long enough to press the shutter.

This was a moment I had long hoped for. Inspired by the legacy of Ansel Adams, I stood in the hush of Yosemite’s winter, witnessing the storm part for only minutes before the landscape disappeared once more into snowfall. The river, reflecting El Capitan like a memory on water, made the scene feel timeless.

El Capitan from the Valley Floor is a tribute to nature’s quiet power, and to the patience it sometimes takes to witness it.