I photographed this at sunrise in Yosemite — a place called Gates of the Valley. Usually, this spot gives you one of the most dramatic skies in the entire park, with clouds catching early light and framing El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks in an almost unreal way. But on this morning, the rising sun wiped the sky clean. Instead of the big dramatic backdrop most photographers hope for, I got this moment…the sun just peeking out, spilling light over the trees and across the Merced River.
To get set up for this shot, I left long before sunrise and waited in the dark on the riverbank, listening to the water move around me and watching the outlines of the valley slowly take shape. There’s something special about standing in a place like this before the world wakes up. It feels like you’re witnessing something incredibly spiritual.
I love this park. I love exploring the same places the great photographers stood long before me — the spots where Adams, Weston, and so many others studied light and shadow, form and texture. And I can’t help but imagine John Muir standing on this very bank in the 1870s, watching the sun rise over these cliffs for the thousandth time and still feeling humbled by it.
Some places never lose their magic. Yosemite is one of them.
Originally shared on Instagram on November 24, 2025. Photography and story by Mark Middleton.