Maternity shoot in Whitewater and Palm Springs

Ive known Gracie and Chris for…..well since before there were zero babies. This was maternity shoot number 3, and Gracie wanted a more nature / autumnal feel for this one, as the previous one were a shoot in Joshua tree National Park , and on a ranch in Idyllwild. Due to circumstances, we had a truncated shoot at Whitewater , but we decided that we would come back a week later and give ourselves some more options. This been January in the desert, actual weather occurred and the preserve was under a flash flood warning and was technically closed, however they graciously allowed us to step 30 ft in while they could still see us. so half up a path we went, and in the rain proceeded to keep drizzling rather than open the flood gates.

Whitewater Preserve is located near Palm Springs and the start of Highway 62 on the far west side of the Coachella valley.

A quick history of Whitewater , as per Wikipedia . In the 1930s, Whitewater Trout Farm and hatchery was developed on private property at this location. A cattle company grazed their herd on adjacent BLM land for many decades.In 2006, TWC acquired the property. The Conservancy spent a decade restoring the land and creating infrastructure for visitors. They bought the 40,000 acre cattle grazing allotment in Whitewater Canyon and removed the cattle. This restored the clarity of the water. They removed 19 old buildings and built visitor facilities. They replaced non-native plants in poor condition with native plants such as cottonwoods and sycamores. The preserve was opened to the public for light recreation.In 2016, President Obama designated Sand to Snow National Monument, which includes this preserve

We decided not to push our luck too much with the Rangers, and made our way to the windmills in Palm Springs, Chris , despite living in the desert for several decades , had never really been that close to them, so it seemed a good choice to get in front of the weather. Again the key was to kinda get in and out as soon as possible , and have the kids get rid of some energy by having a quick run around.

The goal for me in a family shoot that already have kids, is to be quick, engage everyone as much as possible and keep it as fun as possible for them. Boredom hits real quick especially after a car journey, so places where they can walk around and get out some energy is great. Whitewater has such an interesting bio diverse enviroment with water features and hiking paths . The Wildlands Conservancy replaced a lot of the diseased elms with mature native sycamores, cottonwoods, flowering ash, alders, narrow-leaved willows, native shrubs and wetland species.