Talia and Arunas were going to be celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary together in one of my favorite National Parks. They would be heading out to Joshua Tree National Park for the first time. While spending the weekend exploring, they wanted to celebrate with anniversary photos while there. I always love when I get to be apart of something so special, so of course I said yes.
The Cholla Garden is very unique to Joshua Tree. There is an entire garden of just Cholla Cactus that spread over an entire vast area. It is far in the back of the National Park, surrounded by gorgeous sandy mountains. The sunsets are always absolutely stunning, with the sun gleaming off of the Cholla Cactus. So naturally, we picked this area to do their photos. When frolicking through the Cholla you must keep in mind that the Cholla have heat seeking properties and will stick to your skin, clothes and shoes. Arunas found this out the hard way. He was a great sport about it as we spent sometime before our shoot on the side of the road, trying to tweeze some of the thorns out of his foot and shoes.
After clearing the thorns we started venturing through the left side of the garden with the sun bouncing a beautiful glow off the tops of the prickly Cholla. They were bright and golden as we moved carefully throughout the garden. As sun dipped behind the mountains, the ridgeline glowed with golden light, creating the perfect conditions for dramatic silhouette portraits. Talia and Arnuas were a breeze to work with. They were both fun, and energetically in love. They even recalled their favorite poses from their wedding as I photographed them, moving through the Cholla Garden. You could see the large amount of love they have for one another in every moment captured. I was happy to share such a wonderful celebration in such a beautiful place.
We ended with the sunsetting and used the contrast of the west facing mountains as our back drop. The Cholla Garden has these beautiful sandy mountains on the left hand side that eventually change to a shade of blue in the distance to the right. Talia and Arunas posed perfectly in between the mountains so soft and lovingly. This created what is still to this day my favorite photo I have ever taken.
Thank you for taking the time to read Talia and Arunas's Anniversary Story. I hope this has given you inspiration to venture to Joshua Tree and enjoy the unique features it offers.
