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Liliya and Vlad Part 1 | Rattlesnake Lake, WA

Couples

Liliya and Vlad Part 1 | Rattlesnake Lake, WA

ByHenry Tieu August 14, 2017May 11, 2024

Read More Liliya and Vlad Part 1 | Rattlesnake Lake, WA

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About Henry Tieu Photography: We are a Seattle-based team of destination elopement & intimate wedding photographers who specialize in honest storytelling, candid moments, and soulful portraits in breathtaking landscapes whether that's the mountains of Washington State or the wild beauty of faraway places across the world. Published in The New York Times, named Best Wedding Photography (2019 - 2025) and a Rangefinder Magazine Rising Star, we're honored to capture the kind of love that's deeply felt, artfully preserved and intentionally celebrated. As an Asian and LGBTQ-owned business, we believe your love deserves to be seen, respected, and remembered exactly as it is. Inclusivity, trust, and connection guide everything we do.

LGBTQ-friendly

BIPOC Inclusive

All skin colors & body sizes are welcomed

Let's tell your story. Together. All of it.

Elopement Planning Resources

best places to elope in the world

washington state elopement guide

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I didn’t even hesitate and ordered this camera the

I didn’t even hesitate and ordered this camera the moment it launched. Between photographing weddings and even my own family, you’re always one second away from the moment being gone. This is the camera that changed how much I trust my gear to keep up with me.

The AF locks and doesn’t let go. 30fps blackout-free so nothing slips through. And when the light isn’t cooperating, the stabilization just handles it.

You need to try it for yourself and Sony is giving a lot of you that chance with Creative Space is on the road:

Savannah, GA: Apr 8–9
Charleston, SC: Apr 15–16
Richmond, VA: Apr 22–23
Boston, MA: Apr 29–30

If you’re close to any of these cities, I highly recommend you check it out!

#SponsoredBySony @SonyAlpha #SonyAlpha #SonyA7V

“If they’re here for the wedding, they should be h

“If they’re here for the wedding, they should be here for the marriage.”

We said that quietly the night before everything.

I remember walking into their Airbnb, perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean where the sound of crashing waves becoming the white noise that softened everything before the day began.

C sat across from me, not as a photographer this time, but as a bride. And maybe that’s what made it feel different. Softer. More real. Like we had both stepped out from behind the camera and into something far more vulnerable.

Because as photographers, we’re invited into people’s most intimate moments. We see what love looks like when it’s not performative…when it’s honest.

And maybe that’s why that sentence stayed with me.

Not for the aesthetics. Not for the photos. Not for expectations.

But for the commitment. For the quiet promises. For the life that begins after everyone goes home.

The next day, I felt all of it the moment I met their people…the ones who traveled across the country to be there.

I was reminded you don’t need many people. Just the right ones.

The kind who don’t just show up for a day, but for a lifetime. The ones have witnessed their story long before this moment…and will continue long after. The people who hold space without needing attention, who support without conditions.

So I captured the way they looked at C and L. The quiet reassurance. The easy laughter. The tears that didn’t need to be held back.

C and L, thank you for trusting me with something so sacred, for inviting me not just to witness, but to truly be part of your world.

And to C & L’s loved ones, thank you for welcoming me so effortlessly. For a moment, it didn’t feel like I was documenting strangers.

It felt like I was standing among family.

On film 🎞️ and @sonyalpha @hdpresets

Photographer @henrysdiary
Videographer @novafilm.co
Content @huflights
Venue @crookpoint
Cellist @kristenmariemusic @dolcefuocostrings
Florals @carriecrookfloralandevents
HMUA: @blackfernbeautyco
Cake: @munchkinmoocrew
Dress: @anthropologieweddings
Dress 1. Anthropologie Weddings and Dress 2. @Selkie
Suit: @menswearhouse
Catering: Black Trumpet Bistro
Rings: @aw.customjewelry

I still can’t believe this!!! I am beyond gratefu

I still can’t believe this!!!

I am beyond grateful (and honestly still in disbelief) to share that one of my images has been selected for the 2026 Best of The Best Engagement Photos by @junebugweddings

Out of thousands of submissions from incredibly talented artists around the world…somehow my work found its way into this space…and it all happened because of these two and all their trust for what I do.

They welcomed me into their home.
Into their safe space
Into corners of their lives that held both laughter and heartbreak.
And that kind of access…that kind of trust…is something I will never take lightly

Going into this engagement session, we turned everything off.
We let go of expectations.
We let go of what a “photo session” is supposed to look like
We simply connected

They shared pieces of their story
I shared pieced of mine.
And somewhere in between, we found something honest…something that felt like what life is supposed to be and what love is supposed to mean

Not everything we created is meant to be seen.
Some moments are too intimate, too sacred to share.

They belong to just C and K and as a human (not just an artist), I am okay with that.

I am okay with those photos never being seen by anyone but the couple themselves

Maybe that’s what makes this engagement experience mean so much.

Thank you C and K
Thank you Junebug Weddings and the judges

Captured on film an digital
@sonyalpha @hdpresets @lightroom

Not every elopement needs a long hike. Some do. S

Not every elopement needs a long hike.

Some do.
Some don’t.

Some look like waking up before sunrise and walking barefoot onto a quiet beach.
Some look like staying at a beautiful hotel, sipping coffee slowly, and watching the light change without rushing anywhere.
Some look like wandering through a forest when the light unexpectedly breaks through the trees… and realizing this moment, right here, is enough.

There’s this narrative in the elopement world that adventure = effort.
That if you’re not hiking miles, climbing something, or chasing something hard to reach… you’re somehow doing it wrong.

But what if the real question is simpler than that?

What feels right for you?

Because an elopement isn’t about proving anything.
It’s not about how far you go.
It’s about how deeply you experience where you are.

These photos are from C and J’s 2-day elopement in Kauai.
When they first reached out, we didn’t know exactly what their days would look like. We only knew they wanted something that felt true… something the internet doesn’t show enough of.

The way they planned these two days with part quiet beach, part luxury, part exploring, part just being…reminded me of something I always come back to:

You don’t need to earn your experience.
You just need to be present for it.

And when you are…
you notice everything.
You notice how you are loved, and how to love.
You notice that your wedding experience isn’t anyone else’s but your own… and you deserve to have it your way.
You notice that life is actually quite simple and joy is more beautiful when it’s shared.

C and J, thank you for trusting me.
Thank you for treating my family to shave ice the day before your elopement.
Thank you for going all in.
Thank you for cheering me on when I picked up the coconut from your ceremony to re-purpose for your detail photos.
Thank you for constantly lifting me up with your words, even after we parted ways.

———
Film photos on Kodak Portra 400
Digitals on @sonyalpha and edited with @HDPresets

Keywords: Hawaii wedding, Kauai elopement

@1hotel.hanaleibay @agaliafilms @akuahawaiki @isleflowers @cassidyeliseartistry @pronovias @tangsbridal

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới 🧧🐴 Happy Lunar New Year 2026. I

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới 🧧🐴
Happy Lunar New Year 2026.

If your furniture was made in Vietnam, there’s a good chance it was made here, in workshops like these, built by hands that learned from the generations before them, in a small town called Đồng Nai.

This is where my husband is from.
And this year, we get to celebrate Tết here with our son and daughter.

For as long as we possibly can, we want Alpine and Glacier to know this part of themselves.
To feel the magic of Tết.
To understand the quiet pride of craft passed down through generations.
To come home to family.
To sit around a table filled with food made from memory and love.
To listen to the endless stories about the past, about sacrifice, about what the future could hold.

Because being Vietnamese isn’t just where you’re born.
It’s what you carry.
It’s what you choose to return to.
It’s the rituals you protect.

From our family, wishing you a year of intentional living.
An abundance of inner peace and joy.
Good health.
And warm, unhurried rest.

Chúc mừng năm mới ❤️

#tet2026 #lunarnewyear2026

They waited 5 FULL YEARS for these photos. Like s

They waited 5 FULL YEARS for these photos.

Like so many couples during the pandemic, H & O got legally married but never had the elopement experience they once dreamed of.

And we all know life goes…
It pulls. It pushes. It asks us to move on before we’re ready/
Dreams get tucked away for “someday”

But H and O never forgot about that dream...the one where they get to slow down and forget all the noises that is life…the one where they get to have a moment to stay grounded in their journey, their story, their love.

I had the honor of photographing them on the exact date of their 5th anniversary right in the heart of wildflower season at Mount Rainier.

We stayed on trail.
Left no trace.
But took all the memories with us.

At one point, we came across a cluster of flowers shaped like a heart…almost as if it had been waiting for us all along…and if we just slow down enough to look, we’ll find beauty hidden in plain sight…just like life…just like relationships…just like the people around us.

When Sony asked why this was one of my favorite images of 2025, I shared this:

Just before I pressed the shutter, I knew we were running out of light. Instinctively, I wanted to bring H and O closer together. But O (the groom) gently stepped back, wanting H to have a moment alone with the landscape herself.

In that pause, I witnessed his love language unfold: presence, patience, and deep respect.

This photo reminds me not just of the beauty that is surrounding us, but also how love moves.

Thank you H and O for allowing me to be there.

A series of digital and film photos
Digital on @sonyalpha
Film on Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Gold 200

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