Moorten Botanical Gardens Engagement Photos | Lauren & Niles

Engagement photoshoots always land me in some of the most magical places, like Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs. I firmly believe it isn’t always about the where, but the why behind the location choice. I’m here to share a few tips for choosing the best location for engagement photos and how to make the shoot extra special. 

HOW TO CHOOSE AN ENGAGEMENT LOCATION

When planning your engagement photos, choose a location based on the meaning it holds in your relationship and not only because it looks super rad in photos. Before we decide on an engagement photo location, I send out a questionnaire to get more insight on your relationship, including locations or places you frequent and LOVE. This helps me guide you in the decision-making process and sometimes can land us in locations never-before-seen.

For Lauren & Niles, the California desert made the most sense since they met and fell in love at Coachella 8 years ago! As Lauren’s mama put it… “these two Soulmates met @ COACHELLA…so the Greater Palm Springs area is a natural ‘fit’ for their Wedding!”

MOORTEN BOTANICAL GARDENS

With their love story in mind, we explored a few fun Palm Springs locations for their engagement photoshoot. Moorten Botanical Gardens is a locals-owned cactus garden that is not only fun to tour, but allows photoshoots for a fee of $30 plus entrance for each person. It made it so easy to choose a place that has the essence of the desert all in one romantic garden. For their outfits, they chose to play with fun patterns and colors that complement each other and also lend to the natural desert colors. We had a brief stint at Ace Hotel Palm Springs before driving further Southeast. 

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

We then decided to go further out into Joshua Tree National Park for some champagne & sunset views in a landscape more reminiscent of Coachella Valley. Hemingway Buttress is one of my favorite places to take couples for the variety in landscape. When you arrive, you’ll turn down a dirt road that makes you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, when you’re honestly so close to the main highway. To the left and right are giant boulders that look like pebbles from faraway, Joshua Tree galore, and the perfect sunset spot over the JT hills. It is one of my best kept secrets… until now 😉 

MAKE A PLAYLIST

One final tip for couples and photographers alike… make a playlist! I always bring a portable JBL speaker to photoshoots (and download the music before entering the park because there isn’t any signal). It sets the mood and gives you jams to groove to while having the BEST DATE EVER amiright? Lauren works in the music industry (choosing rad songs for Netflix shows & movies when she isn’t going to concerts) which made it extra special having her underground selects for the engagement session. When couples don’t make a playlist, I normally will create something special based on their favorite songs and artists. 

Scroll to see how these few tips can create a comfortable and meaningful environment for any photoshoot.