Found things in mono

The hubs and I did get a walk going today that included what we thought might be some trespassing but then we realized it was not.   We went to an old hydroelectric plant that he used to have to visit when he was working to test things for safety,etc.  (I really have no clue what but that is what he said!)   I did see the dam area and the "waterfall" that was going over the spillway as we had all that rain last Friday that was still flowing.   

The best part of the visit was seeing a sign at the gate area for a path through the woods.  The sign was a hiking sign!    So of course, we hiked!    We went to the right first where the path led us very close to the river side of the dam.   I got a couple of photos there but the trees really blocked the view.  Then we went on the right and were able to get right at the water's edge at the reservoir.  There we found a sign stating this "beach" area and the trail was a portage area for kayakers and canoeists that float down the river.    I am sure it is used as on can start on the river further up from where we were and float all the way to Columbia...about 30 or 40 miles away.   I hope people did not try to go over this dam!!   

As I was looking at the photos I took and then saw the mono Monday prompt of favorite I decided to make a collage of some of the things I saw.   Being on a trail is my FAVORITE thing; finding unusual things on the trail is another FAVORITE.    

The quotation by Robert Bresson " Make visible, what without you, might perhaps have never been seen" is one that an artist friend posted on her Facebook page today.  It resonated with me as I saw these things but no one else that I can think of would go to this location and see these same things.   So I am making visible these found things so others can see them.      Some are every day ordinary but they are all remarkable in their own way.   That acorn cap has an extra cap on top; the lichen was growing on the end of a stem; the tree was growing out of the old wood on a bridge we crossed; the shells found on the beach at the reservoir and the weedy grass shining in the sun with the bokeh lighting it up. 

Some other quotations from Bresson are:

"An old thing becomes new if you detach it from what usually surrounds it."


"The most ordinary word, when put into place, suddenly acquires brilliance. That is the brilliance with which your images must shine."


I think these statements are very true about photography.  Something I will be keeping in the back of my mind when I take photos.   

In the extra is the waterfall over the dam.  I did see a waterfall today and only an hour from home!