Palm Springs, Baby!

[Darren Bradley]

Seeing has how the annual Modernism Show in Palm Springs is coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd dig a couple up from the archives of previous years (plus, it's a great opportunity to annoy everyone dealing with crappy weather right now ). We go up every year and hang out at these restored homes and hotels from the 50s era that are perfectly preserved in the desert sun and live like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra for a few days... Pass the martinis! :

 

[Brodie Jackson]

Wow looks amazing! Great shots also, Darren

 

[Pete Askew]

Very, very nice Darren. And I'm not jealous at all! Those skies and colour contrasts are super. And that grass - what a contrast with the landscape around. Oh, and buildings aren't bad either.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Gorgeous shots sir!

Love Palm Springs - even some of the new construction echos the retro style, very cool.

Normally hang out at Korakia Pensione, which has been used in many a photoshoot for Architectural Digest, Elle, Vogue etc.

I've been there a few times and seen photogs and models hard at work in the early morning light - doing magazine and commercial spreads.

Worth checking out if you've never been.

korakia pensione

 

[Brian Moore]

Great shots, Darren. The contrasting yellow/orange tones contrast beautifully with the purple/blue sky in the diner shot.

 

[Hamish Gill]

wonderful shots Darren, as usual!
tell me though, whats that thing behind the bed in the first one?

 

[Pete Askew]

It's a rock Hamish!

 

[Darren Bradley]

Yes, that's a giant boulder that's actually inside the house and forms part of the wall and headboard for the bed.

 

[Brian Moore]

Hamish may be asking about the orange thing behind the bed. Its a curtain, Hamish!

 

[Pete Askew]

We're just so helpful aren't we!!

 

[Darren Bradley]

Thanks, everyone!

Here are a few more shots of the house, where you can see the boulder better (again, being helpful!)

 

[Hamish Gill]

... ... ... I meant this gizmomatron ere

Bunch of frustrating human beings you lot are

 

[Darren Bradley]

That's the built in hi fi system.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Cooooooool! I want it

 

[Darren Bradley]

Spent another lost weekend in Palm Springs and took a few photos in between cocktails (imagine that). Here's a selection:


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 400


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 100


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.3
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 100


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 100


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture f/1.6
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 800


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 3.2
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 100

 

[Pete Askew]

Fabulous Darren. I love the colour palette in these. The first one reminds me of those air-brushed album covers from the late '70s. But the second to last is my favourite. I love the composition you have used and the contrast of the blue tones on the right with the overall orange hues. Wonderful.

 

[Hamish Gill]

And with the people inside! That's what I like about it! Almost sinister ...? I know it's not supposed to be, but I think it makes me think a shot from a film where I maybe is supposed to be sinister

What are you, if anything doing to the colour of blue in the sky of your shots?

 

[Darren Bradley]

Thanks, Pete, Hamish!

It does look a bit sinister and voyeuristic, doesn't it? Rest assured, all of those people in the shot are actually friends and family so nobody was spied upon unduly. They all knew I was out there!

As for the blue, I had a polarizing filter on my lens but other than that, nothing. The light in the desert is very unique and tends to take on a purplish tinge in the late afternoon around sunset. I was also using a flash and the strobe created some strange and unpredictable effects with the color balance, I think.

 

[Brian Moore]

Yeah another wonderful set, Darren. I'm with Pete regarding the colors on the second-to-last one. Scrolling back up to the second one,...that's a bank I do believe. Fancy! I wonder if it was originally designed as a bank? (I like how the peak seems to be sitting on top of the bank's roof.)

 

[Darren Bradley]

Thanks! You mean the third one, Brian? Yes, that's a bank. It was designed as a bank from the beginning and has always been one. But it was heavily inspired by the Brazilian Presidential Palace in Brasilia, which looks very similar.