Anna + Jon’s Palm Springs windmill engagement session!

My mom and I decided to make a mini mother-daughter girls’ trip out of my back-to-back SoCal bookings. So, we flew into Palm Springs and then drove to Yucca Valley. We wanted to visit somewhere new since we’d already done Palm Springs together. I always love visiting places like this with my mom and doing our favorite touristy things. Meaning we try all the food and have coffee somewhere different every morning.

Anna and Jon booked me after they saw photos from Anna and Patrick’s iconic windmill couple session. So, since I’d already done all the scouting for that shoot, it was easy to pick the location for this Palm Springs windmill engagement shoot. However, things didn’t exactly go according to plan on session day. Even though SoCal is one of my most frequently traveled destinations, this trip reminded me that there’s always something new to learn!

When I was on my way to the windmills, Maps rerouted me and added an extra half-hour to my drive due to a road closure. Of course, I immediately started stressing. But luckily, I had planned to arrive super early to the shoot, so even with the delay, I would still make it on time. I relaxed a little, but then as I got closer, I realized why the road was closed. Super strong winds were kicking up so much sand and dust that you couldn’t even see the road!

And that was when I learned the hard way to always check not just the rain forecast but also the wind forecast too… When Anna, Jon, and I arrived at the windmills, the wind blew so hard that we could barely stand up! And so much sand was blowing around that we couldn’t even see the windmills. It was so bad. So, we decided to reschedule the shoot for sunrise the following day.

Now, I began to regret the decision to stay in Yucca Valley instead of Palm Springs. It was an hour and a half from the windmills but just twenty-five minutes away from Joshua Tree for my shoot the next evening. But we made the sunrise session work!

The wind kept blowing strongly all night. I hardly slept because the wind was so loud! Thankfully, it died down just enough for us to shoot in the morning. And, silver linings, the light at sunrise was even better than it would have been at sunset. The way the light hit the pink mountains was gorgeous. I loved it so much. I actually use a landscape photo from this shoot as my desktop background now!

All in all, despite the uncooperative weather and last-minute change of plans, this Palm Springs windmill engagement session worked out much better than I imagined. And it was all a great reminder not to stress when things go wrong at a shoot. Unexpected road bumps can make for some of the most memorable sessions.