Anna and Alex got married at the beautiful Hilton Torrey Pines in La Jolla.  It was a gorgeous sunny, southern California day.  And as you will see from the pics below and the newest blog header, Anna looked stunning!  You may remember Anna and Alex from their engagement session at UCLA.  That’s where it all began.  Where the magic started.  Right there in the student coffee shop :)  One of my favorite things about Anna and Alex is their sense of humor.  The are just a lot of fun to be around which was evident by the number of friends at their wedding.  And they are such a good match.  It was funny on the wedding day Anna was describing how she can take about 30 minutes to explain something and then Alex will say back to her what she just said in 3 sentences.  I know they have a great future ahead of them!  So without further delay here’s a preview.  I know Anna’s been patiently waiting while I went out of town last week for my anniversary weekend.  Best wishes guys!  Talk to you soon. 

ps- I just wanted to add Anna and Alex were looking for a photobooth for their own wedding and decide to start their own photobooth company.  Check them out here.  And when I have a chance I will scan in the pics of me and Ryan the videographer in the booth :)

And heres the photobooth pic anna was nice enough to email to me. Isn’t she great!

Cara and Wes were one of the three finalist in the NYC engagement session giveaway. They didn’t actually win (and it was a really close race believe me!) but they wanted to go ahead and do an engagement session anyway while I was in NYC. You can read all about their story here.

There were a few things that drew me to Cara and Wes right away. First of all they sent me the funniest pics when they sent in the contest entry. A pic surrounded by a group of friends giving the thumbs up for if I chose them. And another photo with the group giving the thumbs down if I didn’t. That immediately cracked me up. And I love a couple with a sense of humor! I had a great time running around the West Village area with them. Did I get that right guys? We met at Washington Square and walked and walked and walked and took pics all over the place. Down all the Sesame Street streets. Who new Big Bird lived in such a ritzy neighborhood! So between the 4 shoots I did while in NYC I feel like I really got to see some areas I haven’t before. And got to spend sometime with 4 amazing fun couples, all very different, but just wonderful!!!   I really could go on and on but I’m sneaking this post on my anniversary cause I know Cara and Wes have been waiting patiently to see a preview.  Shhhh!  Don’t tell my husband ;)

Thank you Cara and Wes for showing me around and for a great lunch. I really had a good time and enjoyed it so much. I wish you the best and hope these photos make their way to your Italian wedding :) Talk to you soon!

Iris and Andrew were the winners of the day after shoot in NYC. You can read about their story here.  Andrew proposed to Iris on top of the Empire State Building. I knew just from reading their story that they were going to be a lot of fun and they didn’t disappoint me in the least. Iris was game for anything! And I mean that. No worries at all about her gown.  That’s the fun of the day after shoots.  The wedding is over and it’s just time to play.  Iris told me she really wanted to do this shoot because their wedding day schedule didn’t allow for a lot of running around NYC.  So off we went to the meat packing district.  I really wanted to get that funky, a little dirty, urban feel of NYC.  And I think we got it!  Thanks guys.  I had a great time.  Iris you’re a natural and Andrew you’ve good that cool, disinterested look down pat :)  I hope to see you both again when I return.  Talk to you soon!

I was really surprised, but we got to shoot a bit at the hip Hotel Gansevoort.  We just went in the lobby and asked.  That probably wouldn’t happen in San Diego.

This is on of my favorite photos from the day. 

You will notice a  few bride and groom walking away shots in this series.  I will admit.  I have a thing for those shots.  I’m not sure what it symbolizes for me but I have to keep a lease on myself or my website would be full of just those :)

This guy wanted to see this hat to Iris.  FOR $5000.00 – yikes!!!

One thing I didn’t notice until I started editing all the NYC shoots, but I really think NYC should ban gum chewing.  The amount of gum stuck to the ground all over the city is freaky!

Aren’t these two naturals.

And Iris is just awesome in front of the camera.

Two cool cats!  Thanks again :)

Colleen and Jimmy were the winners of the NYC engagement photo session giveaway.  You can read all about their story here.  It really is an amazing story going back to the generation of their grandparents when their grandmothers worked together as teenagers!  It was such a pleasure meeting them and getting to know them a little bit.  They are true New Yorkers.  Jimmy is a firefighter with the NYFD (as is a lot of his family) and Colleen works for an investment firm down by Central Park.  They both grew up in New York City and it was so fun hearing the stories about their lives and families. It was a real treat for me too when Jimmy took me by his parents house and I got to meet his mother, father and brother. Really wonderful, kind people.  Jimmy’s dad has the coolest photo on the wall of him with King Kong when they were filming that movie in NYC.  And Jimmy’s mom showed me their 9/11 cabinet.  Including a piece of the World Trade Center and a photo of one of their friends who died in the attack.  

After we were done shooting we went to dinner at a place where Jimmy worked his first job as a teenager.  I bet we came across about 1/2 a dozen people who said “Hey Jimmy” while we were out and about.  So refreshing and so different than California.  (Mostly because you know no one who lives in Cali is from Cali!)  Over dinner we talked about photography, surfing, and of course wedding planning!  It’s very important to Colleen to incorporate all she loves about NY and her family and friends in their wedding.  And she will make a beautiful bride! 

So before I move on to the photos I have to say, I really feel like I’m the one who won the contest!  What an awesome thing to get to meet these couples, spend sometime with them, hear their stories (the therapist in me really misses that!) and take photos for them that I know they will all treasure for the rest of their lives.  I felt so honored that they would take me to their families home and introduce me and then take me out to dinner.  We had a great time.  Colleen and Jimmy I know you have only the best in store for your future.  It was such a pleasure meeting you both and working with you.  Please come to Cali soon and you can meet my family and I will take you to dinner :)  Talk to you soon!

Colleen really wanted to do some of the shooting in Coney Island.  Apparently they are renovating it sometime in the next year and she wanted to go there and take photos before the changes were made.

About a month before I met either Trisha or Shawn I got a phone call from Shawn.  Shawn explained Trisha had seen my NYC giveaway and pointed Shawn towards my website and work.  She was disappointed for a couple of reasons #1 they weren’t engaged yet so didn’t qualify for the engagement session and #2 they had no plans to be in NYC when I was going to be there.  They live in Wisconsin!  So Shawn cooked up a surprise.  And what a surprise it was!  When he contacted me THE ring had already been in production for about 6 weeks.  He was already moving in the right direction.  So after a few phone calls (no emails cause apparently Trisha’s pretty sneaky!) Shawn decided he was going to take Trisha to NYC, propose to her in central park and hire me to shoot the proposal and then an engagement session around the park.  I was thrilled to say the least!  What an adventure.  Pictures speak louder than words so here’s how it unfolded.

I was to hang around Bethesda Fountain until I saw them.  Shawn doesn’t even have a cell phone but managed to call me to confirm that morning when Trisha was in the shower.  It was so early he even woke me up!

Shawn and I made eye contact and then he did this.

Then Trisha did this.

And here she’s thinking – who the hell are you?  So when I said Hi Trisha I’m Leigh Miller it was great.  She started hugging me like crazy!

Getting used to what just happened.

And then we walked around the park for a while and took some photos!  How many people have photos like these on their engagement day.  It was great.  Congratulations to you both.  And thank you for letting me be a part of it.  Wishing you both the best!

The running with scissors post.  You have no idea how hard it is for me to blog out of order but I wanted to go ahead and post images from Russ and Emma’s wedding in England over the weekend.  Even though its killing me to post out of order (did I mention that already???) I’m going to go ahead and do it.  Throw caution to the wind.  Mostly because I’m sure Emma’s dying to see a few pics and Russ is a fellow photog and Emma a wedding coordinator so how could I not?  

Russ and Emma had a wonderful wedding at the Old Kent Barn near Canturbury.  It was such a treat for me to go shoot in England!  (And I have to say I had the most amazing Mojitos I’ve ever had at the hotel where I was staying and a fun restaurant called The Cuban.  If you’re ever in Canterbury be sure and check them out :) )  Russ and Emma and their friends and families were just wonderful.  Made me feel so at home and apprectiated.  Russ embarrased the hell out of me during a speech by point Ted and me out as the most important people at the wedding – yikes!

So a great big congrats to Russ and Emma!!! And thank you so much for choosing me to be your wedding photographer.  I had a blast and miss everyone I met over there already.  I loved every minute of it!  Wishing you the best!  And here’s to the most pics ever posted on my blog at one time.  And this is just from the wedding.  Day after coming soon :)

Emma’s dress was stunning.  Apparently she picked this out on about the 3rd date with Russ.

A few of the guys stopped by to learn how to tie their ties.

For a moment I thought I was back in California.

Chutney waiting for Emma too.

This is one of my favorite images of the day.  Both moms leaning out, excited to see Emma come down the aisle.

Chutney watches the ceremony. 

Russ gives me the A-OK.  I think anyway.

Tea…..with booze.  Gotta love that.

Russ and Stuart.  A great big thanks to Stuart for picking me up at the airport in London and taking me to Canterbury.

Kim and Ted of Inner Meet Me Images .  Kim was my mojito buddy Friday night.  Woo-hoo. And Ted my fellow photographer Saturday.  They are both great!!! And a big thanks to them both for hauling my ass back over to London after the wedding.  To Ted for taking me and to Kim for letting him ;)

Russ found this field,  Russ found this field,  Russ found this field… hey Russ like how I gave you credit!

Skies like this are rare in Cali.

This story has something to do with Russ losing a car that was last seen drifting in the sea towards France. 

Look at Ted ruining my photo.

I so wished I’d been about a step back.  But I still love the look on Emma’s mom’s face.