Posted on by Anne Sandler · 35 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #279: Magical

I remember going to the Magic Castle in Los Angeles to watch the magicians perform. Wow, what a treat. But that’s magic created by humans. Ann-Christine’s challenge this week is to find magic in special people, places, things, nature, adventures, childhood memories, etc.  

Mother Nature’s magic is a little different. Well, not a little. She creates weather patterns that we enjoy, giving us sunshine, rain, fog, etc. Sometimes there’s too much rain or not enough. That’s the magic of the Salmon Fall Bridge. It disappears under the Amercian River when there’s a lot of rain and reappears during a drought.

Now a State Historic Landmark, Salmon Falls is a former settlement and gold mining town in on the South Fork of the American River It was flooded by the construction, in the 1950s, of Folsom Lake. Waterfalls were nearby and that’s how the town got its name.

Salmon Falls is usually under water throughout much of the year. However, at low-water levels old foundations, roads, and the old Salmon Falls Bridge are easily accessible. That is when we hiked down to it.

In the following pictures, you can see the bridge in the distance, some of the town’s ruins, one of my photo buddies navigating the stream, and teepees that some kids had fun making.

We’re getting close now. The stone bridge is truly a beautiful structure. I liked the shadows and the reflections in the water.

We’ve crossed the bridge and walked downstream a bit where there is more water. Back upstream visitors had fun piling rocks to form cairns. Will they last through the next flood situation?

They are predicting some heavy rains for this area this winter. I’m wondering what magic Mother Nature has in store for us!

Thank you, Ann-Christine, for reminding us that there is still magic to behold. Please link to her original post when you create your magical experience and use the Lens-Artist tag. I enjoyed seeing your unique responses to Amy’s challenge last week. Tina will be presenting next week’s challenge so look for her blog post.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 28 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #154: One Photo, Two Ways

Years ago while taking pictures, with a small point and shoot, at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, Richard asked me why I was squatting. I truly didn’t know photography then, but I knew that to get a better picture I needed to get down low. In her challenge this week, Tina is asking us to look at the same scene in different ways.

I’ve gone back into my archives to 2019, and found two instances where my changing distance, angle and perspective changed the image. First are the tulips at the Crystal Hermitage Gardens, Ananda Village. Just walking to face the flower while standing up changed the image. The picture on the left was lower to capture the sun and texture of the leaves.

Some more flowers. Sunflowers. Here we have a total landscape of the sunflowers. How beautiful and happy they look. Now coming in as close as we can without going into the field and changing orientation, a busy bee took the spotlight. The third image shows a little more of the bee’s habitat. And the last shows a side view of a sunflower opening.

For my last example, I chose a recent outing to the Salmon Falls Bridge, Pilot Hill, only seen during a drought and when the river bed is low. First, a full landscape view showing the river bed and bridge in the distance. Then close to the bridge. And finally a close up of the bridge itself. Each tells a story.

Thank you Tina for giving us this fun challenge!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 18 Comments

Seeing it foretells drought: Salmon Falls Bridge, Pilot Hill

Let’s be honest, we’d rather not be able to see the Salmon Falls Bridge because that would mean there’s plenty of water feeding into Folsom Lake, which is at approximately 65% of its regular level right now. Located in Pilot Hill, El Dorado County, the bridge is the remainder of a flourishing gold rush area town that was founded in 1850. You can read more history by following the above link. Preceding a drought or a drought condition, the bridge is visible, so we went to see it.

The approach from the closest parking lot. And walking closer to the bridge we did find remnants of an old structure.

We needed to cross the stream to access the bridge. In this picture Marlene is getting help from Gert and his hiking stick. And leave it to visitors to use their imagination, making tee pees out of sticks.

We made it to the bridge. People were fishing, walking, etc. We weren’t the only curious folks. I waited to take these pictures.

We walked across the bridge and along the way found pelicans and cairns and other neat things.

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to see this disappearing bridge, let’s hope for a good rainy season for 2021/2022. I hope you enjoyed seeing it too.