Drive into Palm Springs from the west and you’ll pass through the San Gorgonio Pass, where thousands of turbines spin against the base of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. It’s one of the largest wind farms in the country, and it’s also one of our favorite backdrops for anything that calls for scale and drama — rows of turbines stretching to the horizon, mountains rising behind them, and desert scrub filling in the foreground.
Whitewater Preserve, just north of the pass, gives a quieter version of the same landscape: turbines visible in the distance, but framed by a protected desert habitat instead of open highway. It’s a nice option when you want the wind farm as a backdrop element rather than the main subject.
Timing and conditions matter more here than almost anywhere else we shoot. Clear desert skies give you crisp, high-contrast turbine silhouettes, while a bit of cloud cover can add texture and mood overhead. We always plan around safe distance from the turbines themselves and check access before setting up, since much of this land is a mix of public and private property. Done right, it’s a landscape that photographs like nowhere else — a genuine visual signature of the Coachella Valley.