I made this photograph of a 3,000-foot high cliff below Granite Point on my first morning in the park. There were a number of controlled burns in progress in the area, giving the light a smoky, diffused haze. I took advantage of the haze, and also used underexposure to abstract to scene – suggesting the sheer scale of that great granite cliff, rather than clinically describing it, as so many other photographers preferred to do. I hope to leave more to the viewer’s imagination, using minimal light to maximum effect, and creating a soft dark painterly effect that speaks of age and time. I frame the scene within a brace of overhanging pines to both give a flavor of Yosemite and pull the eye into the image, leading it past the cliff and into the pinkish glow where the slope of the cliff meets a distant hill. Later, I realized that I was unconsciously influenced here by the work of the 19th century scenic artist Albert Bierstadt, who brought a similar theatrical quality of light to his own Yosemite paintings. What do you think of this interpretation? Would you rather see more of the scene and suggest less? Or does my low key, more abstract and subtle approach strike a chord within you. I invite your comments, questions, and criticisms.