Wedding photography in Palm Springs

The desert loses the sun early

Here's the thing nobody tells you about Palm Springs light.

The city sits right at the foot of Mount San Jacinto. On the west side of town the sun drops behind the mountain well before the official sunset, sometimes by close to an hour depending on where you are. Your venue can be in shade while the sky is still bright.

That's actually great news. Soft, even light with no squinting, and a glowing sky behind you. It just means golden hour happens on the mountain's schedule, not the clock's.

Tell us your venue and we'll work out when the shade actually reaches you, then build portraits and your first look around it.

Heat, wind, and the months that work

Desert wedding season runs roughly October through May. Those months are warm, bright and very easy to love.

Summer is a different animal. Afternoon highs regularly pass 105 degrees from June through September. People do get married then. Plan the ceremony for the evening, keep getting ready indoors, and keep outdoor portraits short.

Then there's the wind. It comes through the pass, mostly in spring, and it shows up in the afternoon. Veils go sideways and ceremony audio suffers. Have a sheltered backup, and if your ceremony is outside, ask us how we handle audio in the wind.

Mid century, open desert, or Joshua Tree

A Palm Springs wedding can look like three completely different places.

In town it's palm lined streets, bright doors, pools and clean mid century lines. A little further out you get open desert, wide skies and nothing in the background but mountains. And Joshua Tree National Park is about an hour away if you want those trees in your photos.

Joshua Tree needs a permit for a wedding ceremony, so sort that out before you fall in love with a spot. Portraits are a lot more relaxed, and they're worth the drive.

Two of us, one timeline

Every collection includes both of us, and on a desert day that matters.

One of us can be with each of you while you get ready. During the ceremony there's someone at the front watching your faces and someone at the back watching your people watch you. And when the light only gives you a short window, two cameras means nothing gets missed.

Collections run six through twelve hours with engagement sessions, albums, drone and extra coverage available on any of them, all on the collections page. We also shoot Temecula Valley, San Diego and Orange County.