A cool brisk day in paradise California otherwise known as Yosemite California. I stopped by the bend in the river which is one of my personal favorite places to stop and shoot Yosemite’s famous Half Dome reflecting in the near perfect mirror of the Merced River. Light horsetail clouds floated gently by and the air in the valley nearly perfectly still and calm. Yosemite Valley in the winter is a quite place great for reflection and inner searching or as in this case, just great for reflections of the incredible towering cliffs and domes above the Valley Floor. Yosemite is hugely popular and the most visited of all the National Parks but in the dead of winter thing slow down to a crawl and the park becomes a quiet winter wonderland. Trails are a bit muddy but the view spectacular and you have them to yourself. The hardest part is getting out in the cold but given how the East Coast has fared this week Yosemite Valley seems downright tropical. The park is nicely quiet and you could just sit by the Merced River as it winds through Yosemite Valley and just enjoy those special moments in life where you feel at one with nature and nature even seems for a moment to enjoy your company.