Desert Rose (Patreon)

Part two from the new album of edited photos Lauren sent me from last year's trip out west! This time we venture into Joshua Tree, which is another place that blew my mind but flew by way too fast; we only really had an evening and morning there, so I definitely need to return to create some art in the daylight and explore the terrain. 

For Joshua Tree, we rented some yurts in the middle of the desert to spend the night; the only electricity we had came from a solar powered generator and our toilets were some port-a-potties outside. Not the most luxurious experience, but it was amazing! I only wish we had time to utilize the outdoor shower for some photos, but you had to bring your own water and we were already chasing daylight. There was, however, an amazing non functional standing tub a few yards from my yurt, just situated in the plains beneath the stars, that we used for some shots. If you follow me elsewhere, you probably have seen some of the photos. It was dark by this point, so we pulled our rental van up as close as we could to the tub and turned on the headlights. Made for a cool effect.

And, if you can't tell, that's also what we did here! We wanted to get in a few other looks if we could, so I changed into these purple tights and purple bikini bra that I got a few days prior from a photographer (we were shooting a Daphne look), grabbed my joint I'd picked up at the dispenasary earlier that day, and rolled out onto the dirt road just a little ways out from the yurts. We thought it could be cool to get some shots in the road with just the headlight streaming in. She took some of me and I took some of hers, but those are some of the photos I haven't gotten around to editing. They look pretty cool though, so I'll definitely have to go back at some point.

The best and scariest part about this night-time desert adventure? Well, while we were shooting these, we started to hear some howling in the distance... coyotes are normal in California (and a lot of the USA I'd imagine), but especially out there. At first, we didn't think much of it, but we started to hear some rustling sounds. Lauren and I were completely in sync, because in the middle of shooting, we both hesitated, made eye contact, and bolted to the van. We couldn't stop laughing when we got inside about how terrified we were and how we had the same emotion and reaction. And then, as we were about to leave, two coyotes sauntered across the road right in front of the van where we were just previously shooting. 

I know they're coyotes, okay, but they were so god damn cute! Ugh! I love animals. I think they would have been more afraid of us than we them, so I believe we were safe, but it was a pretty exciting and memorable experience! I'm glad we got some cool shots before that. We drove back to the yurts, explored our individiauls yurt rooms, took in the stars (which, obviously, were insanely beautiful out in the desert with no air pollution), and went to bed. Sleeping in the yurts was an amazing experience as well with my favorite part being waking up in the morning to the sunlight and fresh air in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing quite like it. I'm pretty sure I posted some cell phone shots from the stay there - just search 'Joshua Tree' in the search bar here and it should pull up. Highly recommended!

I know I say it all the time, but seriously, both of my trips out west have been so memorable and amazing and worthwhile, even beside the stress (I'm stilling paying off a few credit card debts from the initial trip which was half a vacation and half a work-trip and was definitely not as profitable as it could have been). 

I wouldn't change it.

LEM Photography
Joshua Tree, California 2022