Wasteland Paradise (Salton Sea)

This is what urban legends are made of. The Salton Sea was once a prosperous vacation spot during the 1920’s, thriving with ski boats, new housing developments, night clubs, and wildlife. The “Sea” (which is technically a lake) was formed from a sudden influx of water from the Colorado River. At first the new found mass of water was hailed as a tourist attraction, but because of a lack of water outflow, the lake progressively became more and more polluted and salty. So much that many species of fish are no longer able to survive in the Salton, let alone people. So in a nutshell this vast area is FILLED with signs of abandonment from a once optimistic 1950’s era. A modern day Atlantis… only MUCH MUCH smellier. Did I mention it’s a GREAT place to take photos?

(Fashionable) Cowboy Up

OK right off the bat, I wasn’t jumping out of my chair when my buddy Clinton Thompson (great name) suggested doing a cowboy photoshoot. His enthusiasm for modeling an old west theme won me over. SO, first things first, LOCATION! This is where having the hobby of road biking comes in handy. You get to see all these places you’d never see whizzing by 50mph in a car. I’ve had this oil refinery in my back pocket for a couple of months, and I’ve been itching to have a good reason to shoot there. Bingo. This place had everything; old trucks, graffiti, steel buildings, oil rigs, dead vegetation… all of which looks like it’s been there for ages.