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Hey there! I'm so glad you've found your way to my blog! You'll find lots of inspiration and helpful info here! This space is a constant work in progress so check back often!

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Gabbi & Hardy’s Engagement Photos on the Washington Coast

November 5, 2021

When the weather forecast looked terrible for their session, Gabbi & Hardy were ready to roll with it. We had a blast shooting their beach engagement photos at one of my favorite locations on the Washington Coast – Ruby Beach! Keep reading to see these cute humans and to get my top 3 tips for the best beach engagement photos!

Gabbi & Hardy’s Washington Coast Engagement Photos

Genuinely had so much fun running around the beach with Gabbi & Hardy on a classic, gray, PNW day. Also, we forded a river together – no big deal.

They actually flew up from California for their session, so all I wanted was to get lucky with some amazing weather to welcome them. We all crossed our fingers, but the weather forecast looked terrible for the day of their session – luckily the rain held out for us amazingly!

These two wanted their engagement photos to be fun and silly and happy. And I think we captured that well 🙂 It was such a carefree & effortless session, both for them and me. This is what you capture when you’re prepared to make the best out of any weather, and you don’t let some clouds ruin your mood – they were nothing but smiles and laughs!

3 Tips for the Best PNW Beach Engagement Photos

If you’re wanting to plan your own beach engagement session in the PNW, reach out here – then I’ll give you all my best tips, expertise, and let you in on all the knowledge I’ve got.

But for now, here are 3 tips to get you started!

1. Do them on a weekday

Beaches on the Olympic Peninsula are popular for a reason! They’re absolutely stunning, and unlike any other beach along the coast. With that comes a good amount of visitors and tourists, especially from the late spring through early fall.

You can avoid mass amounts of tourists by taking your engagement photos on a weekday if that’s possible for you, since most visitors come on the weekends. You can also do your shoot at sunrise! Or put in a little more walking/hiking to get to a more secluded spot. If you have to do your photos on a weekend at sunset at a popular location, try to do it outside of peak tourist season. Aim for mid/late spring or early fall!

2. Plan for rain

It’s super important to plan + be prepared for rain, no matter how sunny the weather forecast is for the day of your photos. Being in the PNW means it would be naive to think that we can escape the rain. Or that the rain will plan around our schedule 😉

I’ve actually got a whole blog post dedicated to this topic since the worst possible thing to happen during a session is that we get rained on/get hit with unexpected weather and that we let it ruin the session.

Give it a read here to find out How to Deal with Inclement Weather at Your Session or Elopement!

3. Be prepared to get messy

This goes along with the last one – I recommend not going into your beach session with the hopes of staying completely clean or dry. With the sand, dirt, mud, and ocean waves, it’s almost impossible to stay totally clean if you want to have a carefree, relaxed session. So be prepared for it by bringing a change of clothes for after, and a few different outfit options!

Olympic National Park Engagement Photo Inspiration + Resources

Looking for more engagement photos & elopement inspiration at this beautiful location? Check out the Olympic National Park galleries and Washington coast resources below!