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The Yosemite Valley is among the most beautiful natural places in the world. Thanks to a favorable fate, in this area of the planet one can find a unique magic which has the power to fascinate the human soul. When I first heard about it, the stories were about The Nose, The Great Roof, The Shield or the Salathé. I dreamed about El Capitan by reading the stories by Reinhard Karl or listening to my friend Stefano who had climbed The Nose and the north-west face of Half Dome. Royal Robbins and Warren Harding’s names were familiar to me, while at that time I knew nothing about Ansel Adams yet or about photography in large format or Monolith. When I first visited the Yosemite Valley, in April 2005, I was on my first trip to the United States, and I was already completely absorbed by photography. But when I found myself at the foot of El Capitan, under the rough granite plates of this giant, my instinct of climber awakened violently, even though I was aware that my physical conditions could not even take me up to the Stoveleg Cracks. In those days the bad weather was raging on the Sierra Nevada so, besides not being able to climb due to my lack of practice, I couldn’t even take one photo of El Capitan or the Half Dome. I was lucky enough to have the chance to come back to Yosemite in Fall 2008. This time the weather was very good and I had three days to spend in this earthly paradise. Every day I went walking across the meadows along the Merced River and I put my camera towards El Capitan. The light, however, was always too strong and flat and the many shots I made could hardly be satisfying. Even on the Half Dome the sun could not draw those lines and the atmosphere I was looking for. But the third day began quite differently, and from early morning I felt that that day I would come back with some negatives that would capture forever the spirit of that place. Today I offer two new prints, “El Capitan, Pomeriggio, Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A.” and “Half Dome e Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A.”. I don’t know if I will ever go back again to this place, but for sure I can go every day in my darkroom in Milano where I can try to recreate the mysterious harmony which embraces the Yosemite Valley.