Forums > Photography Talk > Desert location near San Diego?
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Photographer

Dick Woodhead

Posts: 34

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I've been finding great locations in and around San Diego - but am really after an accessible wide open flat desert area to do some racy swimwear images/fashion shots which I have in my head.

Short of driving around aimlessly and burning gas, does anybody have any suggestions for a suitable location that is within 1/2 an hour drive of San Diego.  Is there anything suitable out east towards El Centro?

Thanks. Nick

Sep 13 05 04:20 pm Link

Photographer

RobHowardStudios

Posts: 555

Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US

I have been a 4x4 nut living near San Deigo since 1989. I named my son Moses. I like the desert. His first desert camping trip was when he was 3 weeks old.

Anza Borrego is pretty diverse. What is your head seeing? Sand dunes and the like are about 2 or 3 hours east of San Diego past the Salton Sea. Fairly flat and vegitated terrain is about an hour or more out the 8. I know some great boulder piles at the foot of Cuyamaca just before the desert gets flat that is really nice but hard to get to.

Do you have 4x4? Can you describe the background you are looking for? I know the Anza Borrego like the back of my hand.

Hey... where did that mole on my hand come from?

Sep 13 05 05:25 pm Link

Photographer

Dick Woodhead

Posts: 34

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Let's see if I can channel the voices in my head...

I'm seeing salt flats or sand flats (either very smooth or with shrinkage cracks) with low lying mountains in the distance and nothing else.  The starker the better.

I was down in White Sands New Mexico a few years back - the bleakness and totality really appealed to me - at a pinch something similar would do.  But I'm really looking for flatness.... and favourable early morning light direction.

Thanks. Nick

Sep 13 05 05:44 pm Link

Photographer

RobHowardStudios

Posts: 555

Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US

Nicholas Taylor wrote:
Let's see if I can channel the voices in my head...

I'm seeing salt flats or sand flats (either very smooth or with shrinkage cracks) with low lying mountains in the distance and nothing else.  The starker the better.

I was down in White Sands New Mexico a few years back - the bleakness and totality really appealed to me - at a pinch something similar would do.  But I'm really looking for flatness.... and favourable early morning light direction.

Thanks. Nick

For something that flat you will have to get out at least to The Salton Sea. From there you will be have low mountains in the distance on both sides and a 100 mile wide valley to the south.

You might do better staying closer to the 78 then the 8. It is more desolate up there. A lot of places you can just pull off the road. ALWAYS keep an eye on your gas guage. It's like a desert out there or something.

On the other mountain range toward Arizona, all that sand piles up from being blown accross the desert. It is pretty Duney. But, a few hours east of San Diego.

For all the cracks and stuff you'll have to find riverbeds and flatlands in the spring. This late in the year all the cracks are all blown away.

You do get some pretty cool "waves" in the sand this time of year though. Look for those north of the Salton sea or near the Colorado river.

Make sure to bring a reflector or portable lighting gear. That sun is Hot Hot both heat and intensity. Shadows are several stops darker than sunlight areas. No water in the air means nothing between you and one really bright light. This time of year, the sun melts makeup right off. Sometimes the wind will blow everything away. When it works though... GOD I LOVE THE DESERT!

For morning shots check when the sunrises. Looking east over the Salton sea up to an hour before that beautiful desert sunrise is breathtaking sometimes. It makes for a hell of a backdrop. Be ready well before the sunrise time in the almanac. That is a wide desert that is on an eastern slope. The sun rises for an hour around there. If you can light her, or work with sillouette, you will thank yourself. It's never windy that early either.

Good luck... I am jealous!

Sep 13 05 06:35 pm Link

Photographer

Dick Woodhead

Posts: 34

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks for the information ... if I wanted somewhere a little closer to SD and was willing to compromise on the flatness, are there any good (non 4x4) accessible locations in/around Anza Borrego?  I need to get up there, but would like to be 'targeted' when I'm looking at possible locations.

Sep 13 05 07:23 pm Link

Photographer

RobHowardStudios

Posts: 555

Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US

If you head out to the 8 about 50 miles east of El Cajon you'll hit the flat stuff. Just find what you want. Head north if you veer from the 8. South is Mexico!

Buckman Springs road will save you a lot of time (25 or 30 miles east of el cajon) if that looks good to you. Its a fairly flat valley. If you use a short lens, the mounatins will look far away.

Have fun.

Sep 13 05 07:39 pm Link

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