Yosemite Valley with El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall

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Few views in the American West have been photographed as often as the floor of Yosemite Valley, but the pairing of El Capitan's sheer granite face with the plume of Bridalveil Fall gives this scene its particular character. The great monolith rises roughly 3,000 feet from the valley floor, and the waterfall drops beside it in a thin, wind-blown veil, so the two forms read together as a study in scale. Views like this helped build the case for protecting the valley, which Congress set aside as a state grant in 1864 and which later became part of Yosemite National Park in 1890. Look closely at the valley floor to see how the meadow and river sit against the cliffs.

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