Tucson Desert Couples Photoshoot Breakdown
This Tucson desert couples session was designed around cinematic golden-hour lighting, playful posing, and really cool outfits.
Session Breakdown:
Location: Broadway Trailhead, Saguaro National Park East
Time of Day: Golden Hour-Dusk
Style: Cinematic/Editorial
Outfit Palette: Complementary colors with unique gold accessories
Best Season: Fall, Winter, Spring
Session Type: Couples Portraits
Location
Tucson is surrounded by many miles of beautiful, diverse desert landscapes. While each location has its beauty, Broadway Trailhead is my favorite desert spot for photoshoots. The mature saguaros, cholla forests, prickly pears, and mountain backdrop is unbeatable. Aside from the natural beauty of this Sonoran desert location, it also offers maintained trails and accessible parking
We chose to start this session right before sunset and end at dusk. This timing was perfect to capture the golden baked desert feeling and the peachy haze of sunset.
Styling
These two are lovers of art and fashion. They did an amazing job of choosing colors, textures, and accessories that feel at home in the desert while still being extravagant and unique. The gold accessories take these outfits to the next level while still matching each other (without being matchy-matchy).
Want to make styling your session easy? Check out my style guide.
He wore a dark green shirt and and she wore a burgundy dress which are complementary colors. Complementary colors are colors that are on opposite ends of the color wheel and pair beautifully together. This is a great example of using color theory to create images that are visually appealing, cohesive and timeless. To add a unifying element they both wore bold gold jewelry and accessories.
The matching gold accessories elevates their outfits and creates a unique style that reflects their personalities.
Lighting
There are two distinct lighting styles in this session: golden hour backlighting and direct sunset front lighting.
How to recreate this look:
Best Time of Year:
September through May offers soft desert lighting and more comfortable temperatures
Best Outfit Colors:
Complementary (opposite) desert colors or neutrals.
Best Time of Day:
The final 30 minutes before sunset and through dusk
Best Session Length:
45-60 minutes allows enough time for multiple poses, outfit variety, and changing lighting conditions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Desert Photoshoots
Wearing neon colors
Wearing tropical prints or prints with large words or branding
Ignoring wind conditions
Ignoring high heat conditions
