Karen Leah Photography | Weblog

Malibu Wines Event Photography ~ Penny Lane Centers

Karen — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:17:14 +0000

I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to volunteer with Penny Lane Centers, a center providing a multitude of services for children, for the last year or so and every single one of their fundraisers seems to top the previous one. The Penny Lane Center has an incredible team that spends months putting together fundraisers and it shows. This year, the “Cheers for Charity” event at Malibu Family Wines was a little different-there was no set program; just a lovely afternoon of wine tasting at Malibu Wines, and silent auctions (with some amazing prizes). For more information about the services that Penny Lane Provides, or, how you can help, please see their site here.

Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer ~ Canary Hotel ~ Ryan and Michelle

Karen — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:55:10 +0000

Talk about trust: I met Ryan and Michelle about 2 hours before their wedding day-we did everything online: Album review, consultation, timelines, scheduling-and they day went off beautifully. Every detail was LITERALLY designed and made by Michelle and Carly (and her team) from Eventful Planner. The rooftop wedding at the Canary Hotel was intimate and beautiful, just as Michelle envisioned. They had their first look at El Capitan State Beach and despite how busy it was, you would never know it-Michelle and Ryan seemed to close out everyone around them and just focused on their time together. It was an amazing thing to be a part of.

Tivoli Too Wedding Photographer ~ Leah and Lisa ~ The Wedding

Karen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:56:47 +0000

I have been dying to share this wedding but wanted to wait until the publications were done and their album selections were final. Lisa and Leah’s wedding was published on Offbeat Bride and On A Bicycle Built for Two. I could go on, and on (and on) about these two; but I think what I wrote (after Leah’s blog portion) sums it up perfectly.

There were a lot of vendors that helped make this day incredible (and Lisa and Leah, people that they are, actually had a FRAMED SIGN thanking all of us):

Photography: Karen Leah Photography
Venue: Tivoli Too
DJ: American Mobile Music
Makeup: Makeup Artist Stacey
Leah’s Custom Corset: Starkers
Cake Topper: Butterfly Baazar
First Look: Bluebird Park

Knollwood Country Club Wedding Photographer ~ Matt and Reanna ~ The Wedding

Karen — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:09:15 +0000

There are many reason I love this time of year: meeting new couples, engagement sessions, and album designing-especially when I like a couple as much as I do Matt and Reanna. Designing albums allows me to relive their wedding day. It was a perfect day at the Mission San Fernando for their wedding, followed by a fantastic portrait session and reception at Knollwood Country Club (which says a lot about how fabulous Knollwood is; Matt is a golf pro and knows Southern California golf courses inside and out-and Knollwood was one of their top choices). Matt and Reanna, I enjoyed every moment of working with you two; thank you!

Valencia Country Club Wedding Photographer ~ Jessica and Kevin ~ The Wedding

Karen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:17:13 +0000

I loved every second working with Jessica and Kevin during their Engagement Session. They were so sweet and a lot of fun just to watch-their natural interaction with each other is just beautiful. While I was off shooting another wedding with the always lovely Diana MacDougall, Brian and Courtney were at the Valencia Country Club photographing Jessica and Kevin’s wedding. I’ve been waiting to share this wedding because I knew the photos would look amazing in their album-I loved their choices; going through the photos was so much fun-it made me feel like I was right there with them.

UCLA Wedding Photographer ~ Jennifer and Alex ~ The Engagement

Karen — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:05:41 +0000

When a couple tells you that they were engaged at a specific spot (this spot being the “500 Days of Summer” Bench on Angels Knoll in Downtown Los Angeles), there was no other place for their session! Not only was it the perfect day for a session, but that bench, and only that specific bench, was open for them that afternoon! I had so much fun with Jennifer and Alex. If this session was any indication of what their summer UCLA wedding will be like, I’m even more excited for it now than I was when we met! (Which was pretty excited, I have to say).

Estrella and Casey ~ The Engagement

Karen — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:36:14 +0000

Normally, we’ve been posting all of our engagement sessions on Facebook, but I really wanted to share this one. I was looking forward to meeting Estrella even before our actual meeting-she was referred by Kelly of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, one of my favorite coordinators ever-and everyone I’ve ever met through her has been SO sweet!!

Estrella was no exception; we chatted for ages before we even started talking about her wedding! And their engagement session was exactly what I tell all my couples-whenever possible, pick a place that means something to you. Since they both went to CSUF, the Arboretum and campus were natural choices for their engagement session.

Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award

Karen — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:52:25 +0000

For the 4th year in a row we’ve won the Bride’s Choice Award!!! THANK YOU so much to all of our couples who gave us our 5-star reviews and helped us earn this award-we sincerely appreciate the time you took to leave us a review. It means a lot to us that you had us as a part of one of happiest days of your life.

Check out all of our other reviews on Yelp, WeddingBee, Wedding Channel, and of course, Wedding Wire:

Happy Valentine’s Day (Wait, no, not like that)

Karen — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:19:28 +0000

Let me just start by saying that I love Valentine’s Day, but not for any sort of romantic reasons. Unfortunately for Brian, we started dating at that awkward period right before Valentine’s Day – so I immediately and clearly told him that I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. He looked kind of confused by this statement, like, it was a test and he would get in trouble by not doing anything. Subsequently, he chooses to ignore this every year, which both annoys me, and makes me smile to no end.

Valentine’s Day reminds me that not only do I love everything of the schmoopy (that’s a word and I’m sticking to it) variety-pink, sparkly, floral, hearts, rainbows, and the lot; but, this day reminds me that there are many different kinds of love other than the romantic kind.

This morning, I wished a Happy Valentine’s Day to my friends, tried to make a valentine with my son, gave my cat some extra treats, (and wished my fabulous husband a happy Valentine’s Day somewhere in there). This is the kind of day that reminds me of the conversation hearts we would exchange as kids; of the overly sweet, sticky red, heart-shaped lolly pops we hoped to get from our childhood crushes with our cards. This day always reminds me of the adorable shoe box greeting card holders that my mom used to painstakingly make with me; how she made sure that I made a Valentine’s Day card for everyone in class, and would always give my sister and I adorable heart-shaped chocolates that made any disappointing Valentine’s day better; and made any good Valentine’s Day just perfect. Even though my job is to be surrounded by romance, this is the day that reminds me to celebrate all kinds of love in the world.

So, to not only my husband; but to my mom, sister, son, friends, derby sisters, fellow photographers, and my lovely clients who had us (or are planning to have us) with them during their celebration of love: happy Valentine’s Day.

Facebook

Karen — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:42:07 +0000

Have you checked out our Facebook page yet? We not only post the most latest announcements and specials, but all of our latest sessions and weddings are posted there, as well! Check out some of our recent favorites:

One of my favorite families ever: I ADORE seeing these two grow up:

And meeting new families is always a bonus!

And meeting the beautiful children of my former brides and grooms is so special to me:

And as always, shooting the Penny Lane Centers charity events is always an amazing thing to be a part of (recognize some of these faces?):