And more generally, Los Angeles, I did not miss you either, but boy does your smog make for nice photos.

Picture taken on a "hike" in Runyon Canyon with Shasta and her pups, Wally and Charlie.

5.9.12

Hola, Hollywood.

I didn't really miss you at all.

5.9.12

Last photo of Joshua Tree. This was taken prior to the three photos below, but it's my favorite.

See you next year, Joshua Tree.

5.3.12

Desert in the dark. That's right, in. the. dark.

A full moon, a long exposure, a bit of bourbon and good company goes a long way in my book.

That evening in Joshua Tree was chock full of moments that would take another lifetime to replace.

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I'm tellin' ya. The desert and the ocean. In moments, similar colors, similar weirdness, similar awesomeness. That middle photo is pretty much what the bottom of the Coral Sea looks like. Really made me want to grab my scuba gear and hit the seas. But ohhhhh no - where did I head next? Los Angeles. Gross.

Speaking of gross, did I mention that I hate snakes? Well, I mentioned it to Kyle. Probably 50 times. I also declared that if I were a snake, I would absolutely want to come hang out right around this beautiful time of day, nice and cool.

And what do you know. Despite my tunnel vision to get back to the car without seeing one of those appendage-less creatures, I noticed something that may have been a serpent out of the corner of my eye. From behind me, Kyle yells, "Al! Snake!"

I think I did some weird cheerleading move to get out of the snake's path. Was it actually a snake? I don't know, ask Kyle.

Yuck.

Joshua Tree National Park at dusk.

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More from Joshua Tree National Park.

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I have so many photos of Kyle from this trip that I adore, but this is one of my favorites. Such a moment of fervour for life and appreciation for the beauty that is in front of you.

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Photos taken on our hike back down. It's pretty awesome that you can see the Salton Sea in the distance in the bottom photo.


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It's an absolute necessity to pull out the ol' teleconverter to capture the details of these desert flowers - some of them, alien in their structure. Strangely, photographing desert life reminded me very much of photographing undersea life.

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Good grief, Charlie Brown. The past three weeks sure have been a trip. Cincinnati to Minneapolis to San Diego annnd back to New York this morning - I've been in a different time zone every week and my body hates me for it. I don't think I've ever noticed visible signs of aging until this summer. Definitely need to add more water and yoga back into my regimen. What about sleep you say? Sleep is for suckers.

Anyway, I have the next 50some hours in NYC then it's back to the airport on Friday morning. So while I'm here, I'm going to try to take some spare moments to continue this lovely blog of mine. What can I say, I've missed it.

We left off wrapping up a photo shoot out in the deserts of California and thus I shall pick-up in the deserts of California. This time with a trip to Joshua Tree with one of my dear friends, Mr. Kyle Casey.

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It's always cool when you get to do a photo shoot with friends. Both Rog and Shasta are great friends of mine and we had a blast. Shas and I aren't in many frames together, but here are two of them.

Oh and by the by... you know how I said we returned all the clothes in that post below? Well, I lied. I own those shorts now.

The, uh, pegasus fringe top? Not so much.

Photos by Roger Kisby

Shasta and me/Salton Sea/CA/5.1.12

We were going for a more flowing look on the skirt. I blame Macy's. We had about 45 minutes to do our style shopping for this shoot. Pretty much everything worn was purchased and returned. Except for Roger's denim shirt... which inspired me to go buy my own awesome denim shirt. It will take me years to get it to look like Roger's... or perhaps I'll just give it to one of the guys on the steel crew over a few tours. That'll get it good and dirty!

Photo by Roger Kisby

Me!/Salton Sea/CA/5.1.12

So by now you may be wondering, where did these really awesome cars come from? Funny story. 

It all starts in the parking lot of that fine dining establishment, the Ski Inn, a few posts down. We see a really awesome rusty blue truck in the lot. We ask some people getting into their cars if they know who owns the truck. They don't know, but they say that the bartender will. We proceed inside. Roger asks bartender. Bartender points to a table in the back. Kindly middle-aged couple is sitting at the table. Roger walks over to see if he can rent the truck for a few hours. The gentleman says, "Sure, I fix old cars for a living. I have a lot more back at my place. We're done eating, if you want to see the rest, follow me."

So. We did. And that top photo is one of my favorites from the shoot. Pretty rad, right?

Photos by Roger Kisby

Shasta/Salton Sea/CA/5.1.12

Ms. Shasta in Salton Sea, California. Roadside flare in hand. It was a pretty cool idea on Roger's part with the exception of, as you can imagine, the heat and the chunks of hot ash that fall off every so often.

Photo by Roger Kisby


5.1.12

Well, I'm back. It's been a busy two weeks, but here we go again... currently in Kansas City, but still blogging as if I were still in Cali. I'll get caught up, I'll get caught up. As promised, here are the first two selects from the shoot with Roger out in the desert. You know what I appreciate Roger? He takes a pretty solid butt picture.

Next up? A few of Shasta's frames.

Photos by Roger Kisby

Yours Truly/Salton Sea/California/5.1.12

Of these photos, I'm not sure which I like best, but the middle one is a heavy favorite.

In the top photo, we've got a bumper stick that reads: God Bless John Wayne. Pretty solid statement, I think. God Bless John Wayne, indeed.

In the middle photo, we've got a bulletin notifying the bar regulars (and anyone interested, I'd imagine) that Elena Silva (Gloria's sister) is coming to town to do hair at Gloria and Bill's. Cut, color and "hair do's" all for the cost of a donation. The best part? No appointment necessary, just come on in! You know what? God bless Elena too.

Last, but most certainly not least, the sign on the left reads: Don't let these innocent smiles fool you, these are cruel, vicious women. Kudos to whoever stapled that one up there.

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P.S. - All of the dollar bills pictured have been signed and posted by patrons and visitors throughout the years. Ours reads: With love, Blue Jean Baby, L.A. Lady and Roger. It's stuck somewhere on the ceiling by the corner seats of the bar. Someone has a photo of it, but I dropped the ball on that one.

Roger wanted to do a photo shoot* and I wanted Roger to have some of my patty melt.

Truth be told, we were back in this weird part of the world to take some photos. Because Bourdain and my good buddy Andrew Sharp had recommended the Ski Inn, we made it our pre-location destination for planning and lunch... that turned into a location.

If a photographer should know anything about me being on the other side of the camera, it's that you should never use food as props. You have approximately twelve frames before that prop is gone.

*My dear friend Shasta Cross also made the trek from Los Angeles to hang in the desert and was also a part of this shoot - as you will definitely see. I cropped her snarfing a fry out of this shot (even though I didn't want to) because she would have punched me in the face... from L.A... had I not.

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Photo by Roger Kisby.

Yep. You got me. Even in the middle of the desert do I take Anthony Bourdain's advice. So shoot me.

This is the Ski Inn. Specializing in the delicacy of patty melts, the Ski Inn is one of the only restaurants in Bombay Beach. This ain't Le Bernardin, people, but it's a pretty awesome joint.

In fact, this place changed the course of the rest of our day, based on the things we saw and the people we met. And you know what? That patty melt was pretty damn good.

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Bombay Beach/California/5.1.12

After Stagecoach, my good friend and fellow photographer, Roger Kisby, came to visit me in the desert. Roger has been on a road trip since March 4th when we drove down to Austin for SXSW. Post-SXSW, well, he just kept on going. Having just quit his day job prior to our trip to Texas, Rog is now embarking on a full-on journey as a freelancer, quite literally. And to that, I say, "Welcome, Friend."

It really takes some balls to up and leave security, comfort and um... steady income, so I couldn't be more proud of him - particularly because he is already photographically kicking butt on his adventure. Photojournalism, photo shoots and on-the-fly portrait sessions have all appeared in his road trip portfolio, so if you like awesome things, you should check out his tumblr, Roger This and That.

In the above photo, I creepily take a photo of one of his impromptu portrait sessions with an elderly resident of Bombay Beach, California at the Ski Inn.

Oh yeah, and did I mention we are back at the Salton Sea?

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