Karen Leah Photography

Karen and Brian were the photographers for our wedding in 2012. We had engagement photos taken by them as well. THEN, we asked if they would photograph our 18 year old daughter who was graduating high school. I think I would ask these folks to photograph the grass in our backyard. They are the best. Not only as photographers, but as people.
I highly recommend them. They rock!

Karen did a family holiday session for us and it turned out better than we could have ever imagined! She recommended the perfect place (Griffith Park), gave us previews of the photos along the way and made sure my second chin was no where to be found! ;) We received our digital images faster than expected. Her professionalism and outgoing personality made for the perfect day!

Karen was the consummate professional at my wedding. She arrived early for every appointment prior to our wedding was super early the day of the wedding. When I asked her how she felt about shooting a bunch of midwesterners mixed with Cubans, Sicilians and a bunch of women who would micro-​manage her, she simply replied «I can herd cats.» And that my friends, she did. To give an example of how amazing she was — right in the middle of our group shots, the youngest relative burst into tears. I don’t know what happened but Karen pulled the little girl aside away from everyone, whispered in her ear and the little one wiped away her tears, started to smile and got right back in the group shot.
Some of my favorite photos are of my aunt with Parkinson’s who got up out of her wheel chair to dance with my uncle — they’ve been married 50+ years — the photo is priceless to me.
Our families were all over the place — bossy & laughing and definitely not paying attention — Karen and her lovely husband took beautiful candid shots of two crazy families.
Did I mention how personable she was? Quick? YES. Dependable? YES. Approachable? YES. Professional? YES. Whip Smart? YES.
And here’s one for the books — we didn’t know it but Karen was 5+months pregnant while shooting our wedding and never complained once about being tired.
THUMBS WAY UP! Please contact me if you have any questions, I’d be happy to discuss our entire process. Thank you Karen, you rock!

I hired Karen to do my professional/​business head shots. What more can I say than they came out fantastic, and she was super easy to work with: patient, enthusiastic, and creative. I very highly recommend Karen Leah Photography.

Matches Made In Heaven
We are so thankful to have been referred to Karen (and her husband, Brian). They are wonderful, hardworking and loving people. The moment we met Karen at our first meeting to discuss what she offers we knew she was the ONE. We are forever indebted to Karen and Brian because we got much more than what we paid for.
Initially, we did not want to have an engagement session; however, Karen insisted that we have one so we could get to know her and get use to her style/​positioning. We had a blast! On the day of our engagement session (in Pasadena, CA) Karen and Brian arrived an hour early to get the lay of the land, which by the way is their style… to get to the location early to get comfortable, get ideas, etc. They put a lot of effort and pride in to their work and its shows. The engagement session lasted just over an hour but it flew by because we were having so much fun. Karen takes the main shots she wants while Brian takes action shots of the process. Let me stop here and say… Karen and Brian love each other and have a great time working together. You cannot help getting energized by their love. The engagement photos were amazing. We highly recommend an engagement session.
During the months leading up to the wedding Karen was in constant contact with us. When we came up with photo ideas, or she did, we would email back and forth. About a week prior to our wedding, Karen went to our wedding location to scope out different areas, look at the lighting, etc. She is truly invested in her work and does what it takes to create a great finished product.
On February 6, 2010, we were married at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Everything was perfect and went according to plan. When we look at the photos Karen and Brian took it brings tears to our eyes because they captured the energy, excitement and love throughout the entire night. We were having so much fun that time was flying by… we decided at the last minute to add two more hours of photographs and Karen and Brian were kind enough to stay. They capture some great night photos.
Finding each other was a match made in heaven; finding Karen and Brian for photographers was a match made in heaven; and Karen and Brian are a match made in heaven. We highly recommend hiring Karen and Brian. You cannot go wrong with them.
Christine and Chaz,
Fans of Karen Leah Photography

I got married in December and Karen was our photographer. I am very picky when it comes to photography and one of my main duties for our wedding was to pick out the music and photographer for our wedding. My wife found Karen online and we met with her on Saturday morning. All it took was one meeting and a look at her work, with that I had a gut feeling she was going to be good. She wasn’t good though… She was AWESOME!!! She took great picks and was very reasonable on pricing. I recommend her for any special occasion you may have in your life. I know I will be using her for many other occasions.
Karen’s work is passionate and she loves her job. She knows exactly when to take the pic and not rely on posed and staged pictures. She captures the essence and the natural feeling of an event. Her photos are taking in their natural state throughout the event and she has a gift of taking a picture when it counts.
She works with her husband and he is also great. They work splendid as a team do a great job as a pair. He took guys pictures before our ceremony and he took excellent pics. He like Karen loves what he does and is an awesome photographer. TRUST ME!!! YOU GET 2 photographers for an awesome price. Take it from a person who loves photography.

Working with Karen & Brian for my wedding was a wonderful experience. Choosing the right photographer was very important to us, and we have no doubts that we chose the right team. Karen was so creative in helping us «pose» so that we didn’t look «posed» and she took lots of great candids. Having lots of photos of our friends and family that traveled for our wedding was very important to us, and Karen delivered.
She gave me over 1500 wedding pictures to choose from, and they were all amazing so selection them was an easy task. The best part was that we have wonderful photos that we did not have to break the bank for. Karen is DEFINETLY worth the money… which is not enough if you ask me. She was sooo affordable!!!
I would recommend her to any of my friends and family for their special day, and I look forward to having her take our family photos through the years!!!

We wanted early engagement photos for our Save the Dates and Karen and her husband were totally accommodating! We had no idea where we wanted the photos taken and they were full of suggestions. On the day of the sitting they were incredible-​they were energetic, enthusiastic, and Karen would, very nicely, tell me what was flattering and what wasn’t-which I really appreciate. We ended up with a lot of photos to choose from and we’re so glad they’ll be doing the wedding.

I just got back the photos from my wedding… They are unbelievable. Karen was the most dedicated photographer — and she has this adorable repoire with her husband, Brian, who serves as a second shooter. The portraits were so good that I looked like I could have come out of one of those bridal ads. She edits every single photo herself and isn’t content until you come out looking completely blemish free. Her candids captured my guests laughing, and she actually got my always-​grimacing mother to smile.
We had our wedding at the LA Athletic Club and she was able to use the old unique venue to her artistic best. She used the wood paneling and the beautiful natural light to complement us and our families. The pictures with our wedding party were so much fun and so terrific — we went up to the roof of the club and there are these great city-​scape photos. I should mention it was really windy and everyone’s hair was blowing everywhere, but you can’t notice that in the pictures…
We were really pleased as well with her professionalism and her commitment to making our day special. She decided to stay an extra hour without charging us just as a «gift» because she loved watching the wedding so much — this is someone who actually was born to be a wedding photographer and do weddings — I kid you not — she is a true romantic. But she also handles messy family situations really well and still take great photos which is also an amazing attribute.
I should mention that she did our engagement photos as well. Once we saw those we knew that we wanted her for our wedding. Downtown LA is really important to us, so she spent the afternoon with us (along with Brian, again as second shooter) going all around downtown just finding neat spaces to photograph. She didn’t care about time — it was all about finding great shots so we could send terrific pictures to our family and put together a great photobook for ourselves. She did a great job editing and even manged to capture our adorable puppy in some of the shots (family photo, I suppose)…
Such a positive, great, wonderful experience with a true professional. She worked really well with other wedding vendors — from the florist to the DJ to the wedding coordinator at the club. She had tons of helpful wedding advice. She knew how to stick to a timeline — and helped us create ours. She met with us beforehand to get a sense of the kinds of shots we wanted and really worked with us to stay in our budget. All around an amazing experience.