This image could almost be a “Kodak Moment” or picture postcard. In other words, this image was on its way to becoming just another pretty picture describing a beautiful scene. There is nothing wrong with such an image, of course. But pictures intended primarily as attractive descriptions are not a form of expressive photography. Would it be a cliché? Almost. Pretty of famous sights such as this one are made from the same spot in the same way over and over again. Eventually, such imagery fails to stimulate our imaginations and emotions. So what makes this particular image any different? How do I bring “fresh vision to a tired cliché? The top half of this picture is, indeed, a Kodak moment. On the left, we see 7,500-foot-high El Capitan, one of Yosemite’s most famous landmarks, in all of its pristine beauty, shot with a 24mm wideangle lens to add the context of the surrounding forests and cliffs. It’s the bottom half of the picture that departs from expectations, and involves what I feel is a fresh vision. I make sure that the Merced River, with its predictable reflection of El Capitan, is underexposed. I turn this river into a hauntingly dark channel, taking up almost half of the image. I position myself so that rocks break up the reflection of El Capitan, suggesting it, but not defining it. This image now becomes one with a split personality. The top is predictable, but the bottom is not. It challenges the imagination, conveys the sense of mystery, and yes, even suggests the possibility of tragedy that has always surrounded El Capitan, a rock-climbers dream. I must have had a premonition. Just a few days later, two El Capitan climbers would perish as an early fall blizzard swept through Yosemite.