Surreal Salton Sea, Joshua Tree & Palm Springs photo tour

Whether you’re a professional photographer or getting started, you’ll love this photography trip. Leading the way is an award-winning photographer to show you lesser-seen photogenic delights, teach you new techniques, and help you hone your craft in three quirky, surreal and fascinating destinations surrounding Palm Springs.

TRIP OVERVIEW

Palm Springs has long lured artists and movie stars to bask poolside in their sensational Modernist homes surrounded by majestic mountains glistening with snow in the winter sunshine. Increasingly, photographers have discovered it's fantastic allure and photogenic potential.

Join National Geographic author and photographer (and Palm Springs resident) Christopher P. Baker on this one-of-a-kind photo workshop and learn the art of photography as storytelling as you learn the quirky side of the region surrounding Palm Springs.

Making the most of the gorgeous winter and early spring weather with cameras in hand, we’ll explore such über-photogenic and off-beat sites as Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park, plus the Salton Sea’s artsy Bombay Beach and Salvation Hill, and the Galleta Meadows Sculptural Oasis at Borrego Springs. And let's not forget Palm Springs' own superlative Modernist houses and hotels. 

NOTE: This photo tour is part tour and part workshop. Christopher will teach you the art of creative composition, use of light, and effective use of your camera settings to make best use of composition and lighting. He will not offer instruction in Lightroom or other processing. 

ITINERARY

Day 1: Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park
We’ll meet up in the morning for a welcome and introduction. We’ll then head up to Pioneertown, a quirky desert oasis of Spaghetti Western-style edifices built in 1946 as a set for Hollywood movies and today a one-of-a-kind lived-in “museum” tailor-made for the camera. We'll then head to Joshua Tree National Park for a picnic lunch and to photograph the incredible granitic rock formations and monoliths and equally photogenic and wackily eerie Joshua Tree yuccas. This is the High Desert (average elevation about 3,500 feet), and weather can vary markedly in winter: from warm crystal-clear sunny days with deep blue skies to bitterly cold, when a blanketing frost or fresh overnight snowfall can make for sensational Insta-ready photography. And the High Desert is a riot of color in springtime, when the cactus and wildflowers bloom. We’ll explore the park’s distinct ecosystems, including such sites as Skull Rock and the Cholla Cactus Garden. Plus, we'll linger for the "golden hour" and "blue hour" before and after sunset, when the yuccas add an even more dramatic element.

Day 2: Salton Sea, Salvation Hill & Slab City
This head south for the Salton Sea, perhaps with a stop for a de rigueur date shake at Shields. Although the (accidentally) man-made “sea” is now a wasteland that bears no resemblance to its storied past as a watersports resort destination, our first destination—Bombay Beach—is a fascinating and funky (not to mention colorful) bohemian enclave of eye-popping art. We’ll revel in the photo ops, including more off-beat art at nearby Salvation Mountain and Slab City (and perhaps, time permitting, at nearby East Jesus, where people’s trash has metamorphosed into funky camera-ready art). We’ll then head back to the Salton Sea to photograph the miniature mud volcanoes of the geothermal “Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field” (access may be restricted) and famous “Three Trees.” We’ll linger by the shore at the nearby Sonny Bono Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge for the sunset "golden hour" and "blue hour" before heading back to Palm Springs.

Day 3: Palm Springs Modern & Borrego Springs’ Metal Beasts!
This morning we’ll shoot some of the iconic #insta-ready sites of Palm Springs, selected from among the Palm Springs Visitor Center sign, the Ace, Parker, and/or Saguaro hotels, plus one or two of the most photogenic modernist homes. (No, we will not be shooting the famous “Pink Door.” The owners of this private home have posted a “No photography” sign, and we will respect that wish.) After lunch, we’ll head follow scenic Hwy 111 south for Borrego Springs to photograph Ricardo Breceda’s iconic metal sculptures of giant beasts. We’ll linger for the ‘golden hour’ and ‘blue hour’ either side of sunset.

Salton Sea sunset courtesy Matthew Dillon, CC by 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tree trees orange sunset, courtesy Romain Guy, CC by 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Modernist house with Mercedes, courtesy Palm Springs CVB