Ruby Beach Engagement Session | Best Place for Wedding and Elopement Photos in Olympic National Park | Washington Elopement Photographer
Olympic National Park or also known as the Olympic Peninsula consists of so many gorgeous view points. From the HOH rainforest to the rugged coast line with giant rocks of Ruby Beach, Shi Shi Beach, and Rialto Beach, truly, this is my favorite national park in Washington. In all honestly, you can’t go wrong for your engagement or elopement here.
Anther reason why I love Olympic National Park and Ruby Beach so much is because of how moody it is. I am sure if you have seen Twilight. Don’t lie, I know you have seen it 😚😜. Remember the very first movie when Bella hung out with Jacob along the moody, foggy, and rainy coast line? Yup, this is it. That’s Olympic National Park for you. This is where my creativity shines the most. I get to photograph at the most ideal light and I get to run around freely with my couples and truly it’s the most humbling experience ever.
Tiffany and John found me on instagram and I remember the first meeting we had. We met at local Starbucks and I remember my first reaction was “Damn, these guys are hella cute”. No you betcha I did not say that in person. I was just thinking in my head. I did not want to scare them away 🤣. At the end of our meeting, I was crossing my fingers they would book. And so they did within a couple of hours.
For their engagement session, we were thinking about something closer but I am so so so happy the beautiful couple decided on Ruby Beach. I totally get their hesitation about the location since it’s quite a drive.
Although it’s beautiful, Ruby Beach is about 190 miles from downtown Seattle and it would take about 3.5 hours drive to get here. So for us to photograph here, you’re looking at a whole day of driving and running around the beach. It’s a long day. I totally get it.
Tiffany and John was able to make a weekend getaway with it and it was truly one of the best advice I could offer anyone. You are already driving so far for this beautiful location, you don’t want to exhaust yourself out. Book a place to stay. Make a little mini getaway. It’s best for the soul just to leave the city scene and wedding planning for a while and just spend quality time with each other.
I met the couple and caught them day drinking. Haha, Tiffany and John, if you are reading this, just know that I am not judging. In fact, I was quite stoked you guys were drinking and playing yard games when I arrived. I was like “Heck yes, these are my people”.
The couple and I then drove along the Olympic Peninsula coast to scout for locations nearby. We knew Ruby Beach would be our final destination and we wanted to save it for the best light during golden hours. Therefore, we wanted something different for their first outfit choice. The best thing about this area is that you can drive and pull over anywhere and it’s lush green with beautiful trails. We ended up at this one trail and started exploring. We got lost, got mud all over our shoes, got to learn about each other’s biggest flaws in life and just had the best time. I also learned Tiffany has a hashtag for herself #TiffGoesOutside. Still the best hashtag ever!
We ended up on one of the beaches there. We hiked down and started photographing. It was truly magical to have the beach all to ourselves.
We took everything all in. Looked around us and admired how beautiful life is. I felt the wind in my hair and just enjoy every single gush of that salty wind. It’s such a cliche to say but I fucking love being an adventure photographer in the Pacific Northwest.
Also, before I forget, I better share this story. Of course everything around here is epic. But you know, things are not always perfect. Ready for a twist? Whenever we were down wind, we smelled something a bit funky. I joked that I farted. However, we couldn’t figure out what it was.As I was running backward and eyes in the viewfinder, I tripped and fell. About 5 feet away was a dead seal. I think I screamed a little. Not sure if they heard me. And that was when I found out where the smell was coming from.
We continued with our adventure along the Washington coastline in Olympic National Park and stopped by the Tree of Life. You just have to see a photo of this tree to see why it’s called with such an awesome name.
Finally, as the light gotten better, we drove to Ruby Beach. Although this blog post is written after the Vow Renewal Blog Post, this was my very first time ever to Ruby Beach. We arrived at the Parking Lot and was instantly welcomed by the beautiful iconic rock. The sun was going down a bit fast on us so we hurried down the trail and ran to towards the rock. Tiffany and John were such troopers and they all the crazy things I asked. From running and lifting each other up to actually got wet and played in the water, they did it all.
The last ray of light shined on their skin and illuminated their love for one another. I stepped back, played a little song, and gave them some quiet and quality time. And here are those magical moments I was talking about
Meet Your Intimate Wedding & Elopement Photographers
We’re Henry, Sergio, and Nick, the faces behind these honest, meaningful, and artful photographs of couples eloping in the most beautiful places. Since 2018, we’ve photographed more than 200+ intimate weddings and elopements all over the world and on 6 different continents. Our work has been published on Junebug Weddings, Green Wedding Shoes, Brides, Dancing With Her, etc…We’ve won international awards for best wedding photos but what’s most important to us is actually winning our clients’ hearts with our art.
With 15 years of combined photography experience, we’ve learned that the only way to a beautiful wedding experience & photos is through intentionality.
We’re here for you and with you from “let’s do this” to “I do”, one step at a time, each step of the way. We’re in this together