This post is going to be a little shameless plug for Yours Anne , a musical my son is in that opens this weekend in La Jolla at J*Company.  If you have the opportunity please go :) He and all the other kids/teens, actors, crew, musicians, director and parents have been working so hard and it is an amazing show with such an important historical message!!! Here’s a preview that was posted on You Tube today, to view it click here.  He and the wonderful Jennifer Bendelstein, who plays Anne Frank, will be on the news in the morning – Channel 7 if you’re in San Diego - NBC.  I will post a link to that You Tube as well when it is online.

And here’s a pic of my son.  He’s going to kill me for this but i don’t like posting on the blog without photos cause I’m a photographer. (note please….braces are now gone!)

to me.  Yep, it’s been a year since I quit my day job as a therapist and began pursuing my photography career full-time.  And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to unveil my new blog! I love it and hope you all will too. I’m so excited about the bigger pics and how the blog really fits with my style.  (btw, stay tuned for a sassy new website with great big pics, coming in about a month!)

I just want to thank all the couples and other clients whom I’ve worked with over the past 2 1/2 years of shooting weddings, portraits and anything that would stand still and somethings that wouldn’t!  It has been more fun and better than I could have expected. There are also a ton of other people I should thank – my family near and far and of course other professionals.  But this isn’t an academy award so I will move on :) 

So please enjoy.  Feel free to leave a comment and check back often.  Exciting new things are coming soon…

ps – photographers or anyone, if you are looking for an amazing blog designer please give Will a call.  He was amazing throughout this entire process.  will@sixsquare.com

THANKS WILL :)

A great big thank you to Danielle and Chris who allowed me to photograph their wedding where I captured this award winning photo of them!!! Here’s what the WPJA judges had to say about the photo – Joyful dance captured with excellence should be what photographers are delivering in spades from most weddings. This photograph makes me wish I knew the couple. That’s the kind of intimacy only still photographs bring to the table.

For those who may not know the Wedding Photojournalist Association is a professional organization that emphasizes capturing real moments as they happen, telling the story of the wedding day. Photographers must apply and be accepted to this organization. I have been a member of the WPJA since May 2005. This year I was also accepted into the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (AGWPJA) after placing in the details category in the most recent contest. This organization promotes Fine Art wedding photography. The only way a photographer can be accepted into the AGWPJA is to place in a contest.

And a few entries that didn’t place but I’m fond of them just the same.  A big thanks to Erica and Brent, Ramona and Darren, Margaret and Bryant and Leslie and Brian for giving me the opportunity to take their wedding pics :)

 

 

 

are such a unique and awesome couple. They have known each other since they were five years old. They grew up together and even took family vacations together. What a great day their wedding day must have been for both families. It was so fun to hear their story throughout the day. How despite living in different countries for a number of years they managed to keep in touch and when Rhea moved back to the US the sparks flew. The rest, as they say, is history.

So I think a couple who has know each other that long deserves some extra pics. Also my year is winding down and this is one of my last weddings of the year so I might as well show off a little :) Rhea and Tim – I hope Maui is wonderful. Thank you so much for your call the day after the wedding to thank me. Can you believe it? The morning after the wedding and Rhea is leaving me a message and emailing me to say thanks. What a great person she is. I know you will be checking the blog so be sure and drop me a note. Or maybe even send me a postcard, haha!!! See you in January for the Trash the Dress session. I can’t wait. Tim good luck finding a dress ;)

 

All the gals getting ready.
 

 

Sometimes getting in the dress can be an adventure.

 

Whew…Rhea actually had some major dress trauma a few days before the wedding. First the dress was too big, then when she had it altered they made it too small and she couldn’t get it zipped. But she remained calm throughout the entire deal and the dress fit perfectly.

 

Putting on the final touches.

 

Three bridesmaids and a bride.

 

Seeing each other for the first time.

 

The lovely Rhea.

 

A little love.

 

A quick impromtu bridal with Rhea.  I can’t wait for the trash the dress session!

 

A final few moments together before things really get going.

 

Bride in a parking lot.

 

Possibly the sweetest flowergirl ever.

 

Last minute pit stop.

 

Rhea helps get dad ready for the walk down the aisle.

 

Love the green orchids.

 

Tim looks very dashing.

 

The handoff.

 

Rhea’s bridesmaids wore lovely green dresses.  I love green!

 

I had a little competition during the ceremony.

 

Just before the kiss.

 

Do you think these two are happy to be married?

 

The first dance.

 

Everyone joins the bride and groom.

 

Rhea gets a great BIG HUG from dad after the father/daughter dance.

 

Bridesmaid cheat sheet.

 

I mean this is the nicest way possible, but this had to be the all-time craziest bridesmaid I’ve ever seen. No really, she gave a great speech (all 10 notecards of it) and obviously really loves this couple. Everyone should have a friend like her.

 

Let the dancing begin.

 

Rhea gets down with the girls.

 

Time to cut the cake.

 

These two think they are sooooo sneaky!

had a beautiful wedding this Saturday at the Lindley Scott house in Azusa. I love this place. And it was an awesome day to have a wedding. A little overcast, maybe not what brides dream about, but made for great lighting and great pics. When I first met with Tanya and Pat I just thought they were great. So relaxed, laid back but excited about the wedding day. They stressed how they wanted me to just capture the day as it happened and didn’t want many posed pics at all. That works for me :) Not that we didn’t do some posed pics with family and friends, we did, and I feel its important to do those but most of the day I was just capturing those real moments that happen. And there were a lot of them. Tanya and Pat were surrounded by family and friends who I think were just as excited as they were. So here you go! Tanya, I know those students of yours are waiting anxiously to see the wedding day. Thank you both for letting me be a part of it. Talk to you soon :)

Tanya and her mom.  Probably one of the happiest moms I’ve seen all year.

  

Tanya initially was going to wear a different dress. She even brought it and was about to put it on but was just so in love with this dress her mother brought back from the Philippines she made a last minute switch. She would have looked beautiful in either but I think she made a good decision.

 

 

The happiest mom in the world.

 

Tanya and Pat see each other for the first time.

 

Did I mention Tanya had a loooong veil?

 

Waiting for things to get started.

 

They were both all smiles all day.

 

 

Another beautiful fall bouquet.

 

One last moment together.

 

I can tell both Tanya and Pat are close to their parents.  Tanya says goodbye to Dad as mom and her in-laws look on.

 

Pat took a little good natured ribbing during the ceremony.  Something about how at one time he said he didn’t think Tanya was his type.  Famous last words.

The ring.  

 

The ceremony.

 

The kiss.

 

The celebration.

 

Lots and lots of hugs and smiles.

 

There’s that happy mom again.

 

 

Tanya and Pat are amazing dancers.  Here’s a view from the floor.

 

I love the idea of tying good wishes on a tree.

No wedding is complete without babies.

 

 And the hora.  I love the look on Pat’s face.

 

I’m not sure who this guy is but everyone was so excited and a little shocked to see him.

 

Greeting the guests during the reception.

 

Toward the end of the night.  A sleepy little flower girl.

here’s a site dedicated to you and the adventurous photographers who love you. Mark Eric started a website called Trash the Dress - it showcases day after and bridal shoots that throw caution to the wind for amazing photos, yippee!!!

Here’s what Mark had to say, I LOVE IT :)
Go ahead, you know you want to. Trash it. Get it dirty. Get it wet. Roll around in the mud. Drench it in the ocean. Totally trash it.
Why? … Why not? You’ve made a commitment to your husband. He’s your one and only. You’ll never need it again. Trust me, your daughter won’t wear it in 20-30 years. So you have two choices:
1) Suffocate it in plastic and throw it in a closet
2) Show your husband how commited you are by trashing the dress, and get some great fun pictures while you do it!
Then after you do it- send the pictures to us to publish for all the world to see. What are you waiting on? Call one of the trusted photographers on this page or find one you trust and go trash the dress!

Yesterday , Leigh Miller Photography was added to the photographers contributing to the mayhem. (You may remember April and Nate’s Morning After shoot in Riviera Maya.) So go check it out. And if you are an adventurous, sassy bride – give me a call and lets go Trash the Dress!!! What a great after wedding surprise gift that could be for your new hubby. And he thought all the fun was over after the honeymoon ;)

well Manuela is much more than a bridesmaid, but that’s how i met her. She has been a bridesmaid in 3 weddings I’ve shot this year – first Donna and Ben’s, then Ramona (her sister) and Darren’s and most recently Lavinia and John’s. And at every wedding she has always been such a blessing to have around – helping to gather people up, letting me know who’s who and of course taking amazing care of the bride. She’s a great positive person to be around. And she just made my day when I received the following email from her. Although I was laying around my hotel room in cabo with a horrible cold feeling sorry for myself, I felt so much better after finding this in my inbox, an email entitled -

hi leigh…from the ever-present-bridesmaid:

hi leigh, it’s manuela. donna gave me the password to the wedding album and i was looking through it with tears in my eyes. then i went to your blog and looked at john & lavi’s pictures which are incredible and realized how many amazing moments are missed by the eye and what an amazing difference a wonderful photographer makes. then i went and looked at my sister & darren’s blog pictures with tears in my eyes once again. to say you’re talented would be an understatment. i’m sure each of the couples have thanked you over and over for the amazing moments you’ve captured for them but i wanted to do it also because you seriously make all the difference. i loved each and every wedding that you have shot. thank you. thank you. thank you.

i don’t know when i’ll be getting married but i’m putting you on notice now that you’ll be doing all of my pictures for it. there’ll be no backing out and i’m reserving you years in advance!

you rock, manuela

and heres’s the lovely Manuela, waiting right outside the sanctuary doors to be the first one to give her sister a hug. I can’t wait to shoot your wedding Manuela!!! Thank you so much for your kind email.

I don’t even know where to begin with Sanny and Oli’s fabulous wedding! Sanny contacted me by email in May when I was actually in the Bahamas shooting a wedding. We hit it off immediately. After emailing for a couple of days I got the email – let’s do this! I was so excited. It was also cool that we had a chance to meet before the wedding since Sanny and Oli live in San Francisco. We made arrangements to meet when I was up in the Sonoma area to shoot a couple of weddings in June and as we talked I knew this was going to be one fun wedding. Sanny and Oli were so easygoing, another great couple!

The wedding was at a private villa in Pedregal, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I think it is my favorite destination wedding spot so far. I love everything about it. The weather was perfect, the villa amazing, and Sanny and Oli were just wonderful. So no more blabbing from me. Here are some pics. Hope you guys are loving the rest of your time in Cabo. Thanks for letting me come along. Safe travels home!