Joshua Tree Couples Session with Surprise Wedding Proposal

Sep 1

Joshua Tree Couples Session with a Surprise Wedding Proposal

As a Northern California elopement photographer, I often photograph couples in places like Big Sur and Yosemite, but for this full-day couple photo session with Ascen and Dan, I had the privilege of traveling down and visiting one of Southern California’s most beautiful outdoor spots: Joshua Tree National Park.

Meet Ascen and Dan, an Adventure-Seeking Couple from Spain

Ascen and Dan are one of the most adventure-loving couples I have had the privilege to photograph. Originally from Spain, they moved to the U.S. six years ago and recently landed in California where they fell in love with the stunning landscape.

Dan’s career as a professional landscape and astrophotographer has taken the two of them all over the world. Together, they have visited some amazing countries such as Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Peru. They even started a travel blog called Capture the Atlas to document their many adventures together. On the weekends you can find them exploring California in their camper van, hiking, camping, and photographing their adventures along the way.

Shortly before they reached out to me, Dan had been joking with Ascen about hiring a portrait photographer to take some photos of the two of them. Ascen took him seriously and decided to surprise him by booking a couple’s photo session for their anniversary. We hopped on the phone and decided to plan their anniversary photoshoot at Joshua Tree National Park; a perfect place for an adventure couples session.

A Sunrise Surprise Wedding Proposal at Joshua Tree National Park

Because they had booked their anniversary photos during the month of August - and Joshua Tree can get quite hot at that time of year - we decided to split their day into two parts. We started out with their first outfit at sunrise and, unbeknownst to all, Ascen had something special in store for the shoot. Partway through the morning session, she got down on one knee and proposed to Dan; a fun surprise for everyone!!

This wasn’t the couple’s first engagement, however. Dan had proposed to Ascen a few years ago in the Mojave Desert and the two had gotten officially married, but they were never able to have a full wedding due to COVID. They had always talked about celebrating their marriage, but for one reason or another, it never happened. Ascen used this surprise wedding proposal to re-propose to Dan to re-celebrate. They were finally going to have that wedding with their friends that they had always dreamed of.

After escaping the afternoon heat, we regrouped later in the evening to continue with a second outfit. The day was long but a lot of fun and this setup also allowed us to tackle different locations within the park during the best times for lighting. A win-win!

This anniversary session with Ascen and Dan was so much fun, and the surprise wedding proposal made the photo session even more special than I could have imagined. To learn more about planning your own adventure couples session, click here or, reach out to me! I’d love to help you plan your special day.

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Kind Words from Ascen & Dan

This year I arranged for my husband a professional photo session. My husband is a landscape photographer, and he hates taking photos of people so we hardly had any quality photos together. That's why he was very excited when I surprised him with the photo shot.
Since my husband is a photographer, I didn't want to choose the photographer without him, so I gave him an endless list of photographers that I more or less liked so that he, who understands, could choose. As soon as he saw Will's portfolio he didn't want to look anymore. He just wanted Will to take the pictures for us.
The first thing we loved about Will was how involved he was in the project. He offered to make a call with us to see what we were looking for and from minute one there was an incredible connection. We gave a lot of thought to the different destinations and dates and he advised us so that the experience was exactly what we were looking for.
Due to a problem at work, we had to change the date only a month in advance and even though we already had the flights booked, Will had no problem changing it.
He helped us choose what to wear, locations, everything! He was there at every moment to answer every question and guide us.
The day of the shoot, in Joshua Tree National Park, it was scorching hot so Will offered to split the shoot in two so we could avoid the hottest hours. I was very nervous before meeting Will but he made it super easy and let us be ourselves. And we had a great time and a fantastic adventure in Joshua Tree... I even proposed to my husband so we can get remarried in our home country, Spain (we are working now in the planning with Will).
Working with Will was such an experience. I can assure you that we ended the session more in love than before we started, and desperate to see the final result haha
Short time after we received the sneak peeks in our inbox, and after that the final results. I can't believe how beautiful the pictures are! I love them all and I'm waiting for our next project with Will!
-Ascen & Dan