Palos Verdes, CA.

Nestled just north of the hustle and bustle of where I live in Long Beach lies a beautiful and pristine area known as Palos Verdes. Palos Verdes is actually the name given to a group of coastal cities located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

I'd heard a lot about the Peninsula before but I had never had the chance to check it out. Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to explore the area for the first time. I had no idea what to expect and absolutely no idea what I was in store for: beautiful cliffs, dramatic vistas, crashing ocean waves, and oh yah, my favorite... abandoned houses! I had my Polaroid Land Camera 440 along with me for the trip and I am quite pleased with some of images I was able to capture:

The area known as Portuguese Bend on the Peninsula suffered a tremendous land slide in the late 1950's. The land movement continues to this day and requires constant road construction and maintenance. The land slide destroyed many homes in the area which still remain on the cliffs. I've been to many abandoned places before... but nothing quite like these houses. They seemed so erie and completely out of place, being surrounded by such pristine beauty...

Mono Lake

I blame my parents for everything.

There, I said it! 

Since I was born, my parents have instilled in me a true sense and love for adventure. And I absolutely love it. Even before I could walk, they would lug me around on their grand adventures throughout the American Southwest. Some of my best childhood memories have been from old ghost towns, tromping around in the backcountry, backpacking, hiking, exploring the Grand Canyon, camping in Utah, and the like. 

Now I am a photographer. I have had, for sometime, a strong desire to go back to all of these wonderful and beautiful places that I once explored as a child with my cameras and capture what I see and what remember. This past weekend, I made me first trip back to Mono Lake, just outside Lee Vining, with all of my cameras and film. It was a wonderful experience. Here are a few of my favorite images: 

As always, keep an eye on my Flickr for more updates & uploads. 

There & Back Again.

Without a doubt, one of my all time favorite places to explore and shoot is the Salton Sea in Southern California.
The Salton Sea is California's biggest lake. The lake's salinity is increasing by about 1 percent annually and it contains more salt than the Pacific Ocean. Once part of a vast inland sea that covered a large area of Southern California, the Salton Sea was the site of a major salt mining operation. Back in 1905, heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley damn. It took almost two years to control the flooding into the formerly dry Salton Sea area, also known as the Salton Sink. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the area resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea that exists today.

The Salton Sea area was once a popular destination for Southern Californians with it's relative proximity to Palm Springs and Los Angeles. However, most of the buildings and structures have currently been forsaken and abandoned. Old houses and trailers rot close to the Sea, being eaten away by the water's high salinity. Altogether, the Salton Sea is unlike any other place I have ever been to before. Placed deep in the desert, this vast body of water highlights the surprisingly contrast between life and death. The resulting images and scenes are surreal and somewhat erie, quite the photographers dream. 

Originally uploaded by Stephanie.....

To check out some of the photographs I've been able to capture from this strange place, please check this out.