The Salton Sea trip was triggered by great desert spring weather and a blog post by John Paul Caponigro where he shared his enjoyment with shooting with Vincent Versace.

I’ve done this before with my friend Josh Mitchell – most recently as we were chasing a snow storm in the high desert.

Josh after we were turned back by a snow storm in Yucca Valley

Not only do we end up shooting in very different directions in the same location we respect each other’s signature work and serve as scouts for each other.  At the Salton Sea my traveling partner Martin Trailer, not surprisingly has a thing for old trailers. I left him to shoot his decaying Airstream at Bombay Beach and went for the afterglow at the ruins of a old dock.

I went for the dock and Martin went for the trailer

The astute viewers will notice that there is some mystery light on the pier posts. They came from a truck turning around during my long exposure.

Mark Harmel
harmelphoto.com

Last weekend I went on a desert journey to the Salton Sea with my friend Martin Trailer. Both of us are still wading through our images and making posts as we find time. Martin beat me to the punch by posting an image of me walking out on some mud flats to shoot a series of dead trees stranded in the water.

Row of dead oak trees in the Salton Sea

They are not the typical vision of a idealized landscape, but when you are in a desert shooting into a dieing sea – a beauty of bleakness seems to be in order.

Mark Harmel
harmelphoto.com