I took this photograph on my first winter excursion into Yosemite Valley in late January, 2009. I was extremely lucky - the week before my visit rain had washed away all remnants of winter snow, but two days before my visit the valley was blessed with a fresh blanket of snow. At 4,000 feet, Yosemite Valley does not get that much snowfall but there was so much during this storm that the park service closed the roads very soon after I had entered the valley, leaving me inside with a few other lucky souls. As I wandered around on the valley floor that week, I was in search of stands of trees which would create an interesting composition against the snow. In the meadow below El Capitan I searched among the oaks until I found these trees beautifully silhouetted against the late afternoon glow of the granite of this iconic monolith.