Outside Yosemite, below Briceburg, you can drive along a dirt road for several miles along the Merced River before it ends, and then hike along the old railroad bed for another mile or two before reaching the beautiful North Fork of the Merced.

On my way back from the North Fork one afternoon I saw this full, striking redbud along the bank of the river with golden reflections behind it—reflections from a sunlit, grassy hillside. But by the time I set up my camera the sun had left the hillside and the reflections were gone.

I returned the following morning, thinking that the light would be even better early in the day, but it wasn’t—the sun rose at the wrong angle. After a couple of cloudy days passed I returned again in the afternoon to find perfect conditions: calm and clear.