The Story Behind The Photo...

Have you ever found a silence so deep it quieted the noise in your own soul?

I stood on the banks of the Merced River at Valley View in Yosemite National Park, watching the last light of day set the granite walls on fire. To my left, El Capitan rose like a fortress, 3,000 feet of sheer rock catching the alpenglow. To my right, the Cathedral Rocks stood guard. The air was cool and crisp, carrying the scent of pine needles and damp river stone, a perfume that has drawn dreamers here for centuries.

This valley is sacred ground for photographers. It’s where Ansel Adams learned to see the “range of light,” capturing these same peaks in black and white. But standing here in color, with the purple twilight reflecting in the gentle flow of the river, I felt something more than just artistic inspiration.

Getting this shot required stillness. The light was fading fast, shifting from gold to lavender in a heartbeat. I had to slow my breathing, steady my hands, and just wait.
As the water smoothed into a glass mirror, holding the mountains in its surface, the words of Isaiah 26:3 drifted into my mind: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

I clicked the shutter.

In that moment, the verse came alive. The river wasn’t rushing or striving; it was just flowing, reflecting the glory above it because it was calm. Standing there, I realized that true peace doesn’t come from fixing everything around us. It comes from fixing our gaze on the One who is unshakeable, just like these everlasting rocks.

📖 Scripture (featured on the artwork):

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."
—Isaiah 26:3-4