A client of mine asked me if I was interested in doing a photo shoot in Salvation Mountain. I admitted to my friend that I had no idea where this location was, as I searched for Salvation on Google Maps. There it was just South/East of the Salton Sea I found Salvation Mountian. It is a unique man made mountian made of concrete and dirt, with bible verses, antique cars painted with various pastel colors and bible verses. A place that you can contemplate your own salvation.
Salvation Mountain is very unique local, with plenty of options for some awesome shots. As a writer I could come up with a crazy story about a man who has lost everything that has meant something to him. He decides to take his Harley out on a journey to find himself again, he takes a detour on his way to Mexicali. He stumbles upon Salvation Mountain and meets a beautiful woman named Mary... I think I wrote too much, this is another story. At SM, you follow a yellow road to the top, you look around and you can see the valley below. A parch land of desert brush and Joshua Trees. A quite place except on weekends when visitors from around the country and the world visit this iconic oasis.
When I arrived at SM, I saw two women in an old VW bug dance around a fire listening to Prince music. I thought maybe they were from our crew, I discovered later that they were just high on "salvation". I parked the RV and waited for the crew to arrive, there is a specific place to park, we had to wait for our guru to wake up before we could park our vehicles and set up base camp. The photographer had so many options for shots, something that could not be duplicated in the studio. It can get hot, very hot in the summer, so dress accordingly. In the winter temperatures can drop in the 30's and rain is always an option, even in the summer, but rare. This is the desert.
We stayed in Brawley, about forty minutes south at the Best Western Plus (760.351.9800), a nice place to rest with free breakfast, parking is adequate for large and small vehicles. There is a truck stop west of the hotel and a dump station about 1/2 mile east of the hotel both on the same side. There are several restaurants in the area, for Chinese food there is the Imperial Restfaurant, Brownie's Diner, a Dominio's Pizza, Subway, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and other places. Glamis Dunes are just east of Brawley and the Salton Sea is less than forty minutes north/west. I want to return to Brawley, it is a place that looks like Mexico, old and rustic, with more of a Spainish feel, than Americana.
If you have any questions about Salvation Mountian, or need to get a film permit, or motor homes or portable restrooms, feel free to call me Michael Green at 818 317 7099.
