COUPLES SHOOT IN JOSHUA TREE
Charlie and I did this photoshoot purely by chance! The beautiful and talented Jasmine Buchberger reached out to me on instagram. She found me through similar interests as she was searching for a couple to photograph in Joshua Tree.
As soon as I read her message I knew I wanted to collaborate with her! You see, Charlie and I never did engagement photos. As I was building the budget for our wedding, some things just felt priority over others! Engagement photos being one that fell to the way side. This was my chance! That itching desire, in addition to Jasmine’s portfolio of work, and seeming like a really creative and bad ass adventure chick, sure had me curious.
(Oh. AND JOSHUA TREE)!!!
We quickly agreed to meet up to see if this could be a fun photography collaboration on both sides. Turns out Jasmine is also a transplant from the midwest and we hit it off.
Being an actor, Charlie is definitely more comfortable in front of the camera than I! To be honest, I think he’s just a natural.
The whole shoot I was trying to remember all the things our wedding photographer told us! Although Charlie and I did not do an engagement shoot ourselves, I would recommend it if you have the budget. You see, its sort of a test run for your wedding photos! You’ll have the opportunity to work out all the kinks in photographing together as well as familiarize yourselves with all the awkward posing!
A lot of the poses feel super unnatural for me because its not how Charlie and I normally interact. The pictures below especially! When she had me put my hand up on his neck I felt really silly! But I absolutely love how both of the pictures came out- its all about the angles and making the poses dynamic and complementary to the setting. Some poses are simply tried and true, the above being a good example: “Pose likes it’s a prom photo”!
Kissing and having the camera get up close also makes me nervous. This is when you just gotta go for it and hope your love for each other shines through! There is definitely an art to the “almost kiss”, and I think we actually nailed it with the picture below… if I don’t say so myself. {brushes shoulder off}
This shoot took place in Joshua Tree in January so we were actually pretty cold! At this time of year, the desert is fairly warm during the day, but we wanted to catch magic hour (aka right when the sun starts to go down) so I want to say it was around 50 degrees. I think we forgot we were from Chicago & Indy we were both so cold! The outcome was sure worth it though. The desert gave us the most gorgeous pink and purple sunset, and thus some of my favorite photos.
Joshua Tree has endless back drops amongst the Joshua Trees, mountains, boulders, and interesting foliage. We really just entered the park and and drove around until we found a place to stop! Some places were more well trafficked than others, Joshua Tree is a popular destination, so there may be some waiting to photograph in certain areas, whether its people or cars to clear the area. the deeper you go into the park, the more you can pull over with out many interruptions.
Did you and your partner take engagement photos? If so, where? I would love to see other photos in Joshua Tree, so please share in the comments below!
And remember, if you do go to a national park to take photographs, always leave it better than you found it! That means respecting signage and not going off trail, packing out your trash, and leaving what you find!
Lara