Whispering Veil

Behind the Image

Bridalveil Fall has always felt like the most mysterious of Yosemite’s waterfalls. It flows year-round, even in the hottest summer, and seems to shift constantly with light and wind. The Ahwahneechee people called it Pohono, meaning “spirit of the puffing wind,” which captures it well.

This is the waterfall I return to most often. There’s always something new to notice. On this morning, it wasn’t the main cascade that caught my attention but a thin wisp of mist that had drifted out on its own and into a shaft of light.

I composed the image with black oaks in the foreground to create a quiet frame. The fall plays a supporting role here, partially hidden and deliberately placed. This photograph is not about spectacle. It’s about restraint. About stillness inside motion.

Bridalveil offers that, if you’re patient enough to watch.

About the Artist

Charlotte Gibb is an award-winning and renowned nature and landscape photographer based in Northern California. She is known for her mastery of "Intimate Landscapes" — small scenes derived from a large landscape.

The youngest of nine, she spent her early life playing and exploring the rural Northern California mountain area of her childhood home. Her father, an avid mountain climber and nature lover, made sure his kids shared his passion for the outdoors. After his death in a climbing accident, her mother continued to encourage an attachment to nature, ensuring that family vacations were spent outdoors camping, hiking, and exploring.

Charlotte earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She cut her teeth in the advertising business as an art director in the 1990s, then operated her own graphic design firm in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades. Throughout her long career as an artist, her photography was constantly infused in her design work. Her darkroom has since been replaced with digital darkroom tools, and her style has evolved from a somewhat journalistic approach, to one that pays tribute to the natural world.

Charlotte writes and publishes on the subject of photography and creativity, has been a keynote speaker and educator for several national photography events, served as a judge for international and local photography competitions, and exhibits her work throughout California.

She can usually be found tromping with her camera bag in the wilderness areas around the Sierra Nevada range and Yosemite National Park in her home state.

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Ordering Information

Original photographs are hand made and not all sizes are kept in inventory.

Special orders from the photographer may take up to 4 weeks for delivery.

Please contact us at info@anseladams.com if you have any questions about shipping and delivery.

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