Day in the California Desert by Kendall Wheeler

Today, we’re featuring a photo story from film photographer Kendall Wheeler. Kendall’s Day in the California Desert series beautifully captures the desert vibes with its muted tones and vintage subjects. Here is more from Kendall about photographing the California desert…

The California desert landscape is one I’ve been incredibly drawn to lately since my first trip to Death Valley in April. This past weekend, I set out on a day trip to the town surrounded by California’s largest state park, Borrego Springs. With temperatures topping 105F, there was slim to no sign of life in the town and the park surrounding, making it an opportunistic time to capture it’s nostalgic character. It was one of those days with zero expectations but to cover as much ground as possible in those five or so hours to see what jumped out at me. Beat up antique cars, vibrant motel/diner signs, and miles groves all against jagged desert mountain backdrop created a really unique scene that I would assume most film photographers would gravitate towards. It felt like I was walking on the set of a movie at times…

For the photos, I wanted to keep my approach simple so I stuck to one film stock and one camera. Shooting at the peak of harsh light worked well for this project style. I was able to boost up my f-stop while metering at 100 ISO on Portra 400 for a slightly overexposed effect (and capture more detail). There was something about being alone in an unfamiliar place that was exhilarating. The best part of projects like this is that you’ll never know what you’re going to find until you get there.

Going on about one year shooting film and it’s been a blast. Started with a point n shoot and have worked my way up to shooting 645, with a lot of room to learn. Favorite part is the slower process puts you in a different headspace of creativity, plus it just feels right. Hope you all enjoy a slice of my work.

Analog cameras and films used: Minolta XG-1 (Find at KEH Camera with code SIWF21 for 5% off or on eBay) | Kodak Portra 400 (Find on Amazon)

Connect with Kendall: Website | Instagram

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