Sand Dunes near Los Angeles/safe locations for shooting nudes in the Landscape

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'm looking for some locations within a couple hour drive of LA where I can shoot some nudes in the landscape, ideally on/around sand dunes. Anyone from out west know of good locations?

 

[lee]

there is a sand dune area near Salton Sea which is near San Diego on I 8 up near San Luis Obisbo is the sand dunes that Edward Weston photographed it is about 4 hrs up hwy 101

out past Riverside Ca is Joshua Tree Nat Park depending on the time of year you could be alone or you could have 20,000 of your best friends there too.

lee\c

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'll be out there in Mid-December.

 

[wildbill]

I think the dunes Lee is speaking of may be the ones near/in Montana State Park which is about 3.5 hours north.

 

[lee]

the sand dunes north are called Oceana.

There is really nothing in LA that you can get to just out of town. Hell, everything in LA takes about 2 hrs to get to IN TOWN.

lee\c

 

[Jim Noel]

The Dunes in which EW photographed Charis are off Hwy 101 near SLO.
To get to an isolated location now is extremely difficult because the place is overrun with 4 and 6 wheel drive vehicles. To enter the dunes further south one has to cross private property, and the owners are not very hospitable about intruders.

The Kelso Dunes south of Baker off I-15 on Kelbaker Road are beautiful. They could be your best bet if not on a weekend or during a Holiday. Off-roading is prohibited. People do camp on the road, but usually not many.

There are also dunes north of Baker about 20 miles. There is a lot of off-roading on them

The dunes near Salton Sea are small and now too near homes. There are some possible locations off the Borrego-Salton Seaway which runs from just south of Salton City to Borrego Springs. They can be reached by parking and walking short distances.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

It's a long drive from LA, but the Eureka Valley sand dunes are huge and fairly isolated, or at least they used to be. Charles Manson and his "family" hid out in Eureka Valley for a while.

 

[Robert Oliver]

There are three good sets of dunes in Central California that might work for this purpose.

The Oceano Dunes where both Weston and Ansel Adams once photographed has one area that might work on the North end. Enter near the Livery Stables (23rd street in Oceano). I'm not sure if the public is allowed to enter there, but I've been doing it for years by going in before the sun goes up in the middle of winter. No 4x4's are allowed in this area.

Just south of Oceano is the Guadalupe dunes. Exit Main Street in Santa Maria and head west until you run into the ocean. They didn't use to allow 4x4's on the road to the beach. Might still be the case. Park there and hike south. This is where Cecil B. Demille (sp) shot his epic the Ten Commandments.

The third spot is near Montana De Oro State Park. There is a turnoff before you get to the state park entrance to head down to the dunes.

Not sure which would be warmer at this time of year... Desert or Central California.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Scott, the best place in my opinion is the Guadalupe dunes in Santa Maria. It is about 2 1/2 hours from LA. Get off the 101 freeway at Main street and take it to the end of the road about 8 miles. The park opens at 6:30 am now and in the 6 times I've been out on the dunes I have NEVER seen another person! This is mid week and on weekends. When you get to the parking lot at the end head into the dunes on a south easterly direction about 2 mile in and you will not believe what you see. No vehicles are allowed on these dunes,ever! I have an image in my gallery from this spot. Have a great time.

Jim

 

[BradS]

I guess it depends. What do you mean by "a safe place"?

One of my favorite places is across the highway from Neptunes Net at the county line. It is north of LA proper. Haven't been there in years. It used to be a pretty tough beach - but the violence was usually out in the water, during the day. Surfers can be a very a territorial lot.

Except for stong winds and uncooperative light / weather, I never had any problems in the late afternoon there. If you don't look like a tourist, you'll be fine.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I mean safe as in "not likely to get arrested/cited/walked in on".

 

[BradS]

I mean safe as in "not likely to get arrested/cited/walked in on".

Hmmm, well, I've never shot nudes. So I can't really judge the "won't get walked in on" part....but I seriously doubt that you'd get cited...but then again, who knows? The world is a much different place today than it was twenty years ago - even in LA.

More recently, I have seen quite a few instances of semi - pro looking glamor shoots happening on the beaches south of S.F. but, that is at least six hours drive from LA.

There are no dunes there but, I've always thought about the nude in the landscape in the rocky areas of Simi Valley. When I was a kid the running joke was that the whole Apollo program was a sham and that the astronauts had really been filmed in the hills outside of Simi...it was a much smaller place back then.

Sorry, I know this is not much help.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I mean safe as in "not likely to get arrested/cited/walked in on".

Scott, as I said in my previous post I have never seen another soul on the Guadalupe dunes. If you are going mid-week it is even better.

Jim