Bombay beach, on the eastern shore of Salton Sea, has a trove of very picturesque abandoned buildings that were subsequently taken over by graffiti and other street artists.
For those unfamiliar with its history, Salton Sea emerged in the middle of Anza-Borrego desert in California in 1905 as a result of engineering errors in re-routing water from Colorado river for irrigation of Imperial valley in the Southern California. One rainy day swelling water broke the canal wall and over the next 2 years it spilled over into the Salton basin, some 70m below the ocean level, and formed a huge lake that is now called Salton Sea. For years, nobody cared much about this place, and then in the 1950 somehow it suddenly became a popular tourist destination. Whole new towns and communities were established, new roads were laid, and real estate developers jumped in. The boom lasted for about 10 years, until people realized that this "resort" is not sustainable and not very enjoyable. Why it took them 10 years, I am not sure. The lake was steadily receding (there wasn't any water supply coming in except for rare rains and runoff from nearby fields that brought in plenty of fertilizers and pesticides. It became more and more saline and unhealthy for swimming. Fish was dying by the millions every summer, and its rotten smell permeated the air. So most people left, real estate market collapsed, resorts and other real estate projects were frozen unfinished, whatever was built started to decay. Vagrants moved in and occupied some of those places. That's pretty much what it is now – abandoned lake, decaying ghost towns around it, and a small number of rather strange people living mostly off the grid. In other words, a perfect place for photography )).
P.S. I agree with some comments that the star lens effect was probably a bit too much, but I still like how the sun rays echo the eyelashes of the eyes on the wall.
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Place: 4 out of 39 Avg (all users): 6.5833 Avg (participants): 6.3500 Avg (non-participants): 6.7500 Views since voting: 1175 Views during voting: 109 Votes: 48 Comments: 12 Favorites: 0
i'll have to disagree with you and anyone else who wasnt a fan of the sunflare .. or the intensity of it .. ;)
i love it .. as well as the excellent edit you have given this .. so grungy .. and appropriate ..
congratulations on a great place in the challenge .. :)
Your composition is intriguing and interesting. So much I want to know about it’s structure and the drawings on the walls. I think the artificial sunburst through the roof is a little over dramatic and takes away from the natural beauty of the scene. Still not a bad shot!
Not sure how to rate this one. I like the room, the colors, the light. I think probably a viewpoint which would not be from the middle and at normal view height could be better. Also the star effect seems a bit overdone.
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