Spa Casino Garden with Star Lens Filter

Classic 50s architecture at entrance to Spa Casino in downtown Palm Springs

The Spa Casino, built in 1960, is truly a Palm Springs landmark with its mid-century modern entrance and tribute to the local Agua Caliente tribe. The image above was taken with a star lens filter to add extra drama to the frame in a nighttime shot.

What's remarkable about this image is the star lights up the Indian woman's face so much so that it's clipped (blown highlights or all white area). The effect, although not technically savvy, is stunning, bringing a spiritual effect to the image.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful monuments in Palm Springs, even though little is written about it online and hardly anyone even knows where it is (at the corner of Indian Canyon and Tahquitz Canyon Way).

The monument is a tribute to a spring that once flowed through the area. Long before downtown Palm Springs was built, there was a spring that ran from the top of the mountain into the downtown area at that very spot.