joshua tree national park adventure portraits

Something Callen is really good at (and I am so envious of) is his ability to stay connected to people from all periods of his life AND make time to see them when the opportunity arises. Whether it's inviting all his friends to hot tub every time we're in San Antonio, or reaching out to an old REI co-worker when driving through Zion, or facetiming Matt Minor across the country, he is always looking for ways to reconnect with people and spend quality time with them. We've been doing this mobile lifestyle for two weeks and we've already spent quality time with four sets of friends. Thats honestly more than our typical two weeks in Houston (I must point out, that is totally our own fault).

When Callen mentioned he'd like to meet up with his old friend Andres while we were in LA, I was hoping he had a girlfriend (no offense to Callen's single friends...I love you too, but sometimes it's nice to have a girl along!) and sure enough, he did! And they were both down to meet us in Joshua Tree National Park for a day of climbing, exploring, and camping! We had just bought our new Canon 5D Mark IV the night before, so I asked them if they'd be down to bring along some nice clothes and do a short session that evening. It's always so fun to do sessions for friends, especially at the end of a day spent playing together in the desert. Katy and Andres absolutely killed it as we ran around our campground taking beautiful photos in that dreamy California sunlight. Joshua Tree is definitely still one of my favorite places to do adventure portraits!

One thing I love about this session is it shows that professional photos are not just for weddings or babies :) These two just recently moved to LA to begin a new phase of life after doing their undergrad and master's degrees at MIT in Boston, so they're fully embracing the SoCal weather and exploring as much as they can. I hope that this session will always be a reminder to them of the beginning of this new season, the things they accomplished in the last one, and the exciting things that are in store for them in the future!