Palm Springs gets all the attention for its resorts and golf courses, but a short drive out puts you somewhere completely different: Joshua Tree National Park. The change in scenery is immediate — smooth desert flats give way to boulder fields and the park’s namesake trees, all gnarled branches and improbable angles, like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. For families who want portraits that look like nowhere else, it’s hard to beat.
The park rewards patience and good timing. Midday light in the desert can be harsh and flat, but that same landscape turns gorgeous in the hour before sunset, when the boulders and Joshua trees throw long shadows and everything takes on a warm, golden cast. It’s the kind of light that makes ordinary moments — kids climbing rocks, someone laughing at nothing in particular — look like they belong in a magazine.
What makes Joshua Tree especially fun for family sessions is how much there is to actually do while we shoot. The giant granite boulders practically beg to be climbed and explored, and that natural playground gives kids something real to interact with instead of just posing on command. The candid shots that come out of that — genuine curiosity, real excitement — tend to be the ones families end up loving most.
If you’re picturing a family session with a little more adventure and a lot more visual interest than a studio backdrop can offer, Joshua Tree is worth the drive from anywhere in the Coachella Valley.