Recently, I got a question from one of my couples that made me pause for a second:

What's your husband's name?

I forget sometimes even though we'll be spending tons of time together on one of the most important days of your life-we don't know that much about each other.

I haven't used this blog for too many personal things (yet) but would eventually like to start and there is no better time than the present.

For our Wedding, Brian made these Candy Bags (yes- Brian -while I'm editing he's cutting, pasting, printing and coming up with favor ideas; and doing the dishes and laundry but that's for another time) with 25 facts about each of us. One fact per bag and here are some of my favorites:


1. Brian believes that the TV show "Most Haunted" is based on fact.

2. Karen *knows* that the show "Most Haunted" is completely fake.

3. Karen is now an Arsenal Football fan... :-) (uh, I *did* mention that Brian was left alone to do these, right?)

4. Brian has supported his football team, Arsenal, Arsenal Football Club since he was 6 yrs old.

5. Karen spends far too much time and money at Lululemon

6. Karen is addicted to wedding shows. (Seriously, I am completely and utterly addicted to everything and anything wedding and am beyond Jealous of Brian for getting to be on one for a Celtic wedding he did. It was on TG4 however; please don't ask me for the name yet; it's in Gaelic...I'm still looking for an accurate translation.

7. Brian's most recent purchase was a BeerTender...best buy ever. (OK, at this point, his most recent purchase was a pair of soccer shoes. But, yes, I let him get a Beertender, BECAUSE-and this will totally make sense to any bride-if it was on the registry, and someone got us one, and not, say my/our Cuisinart grill-I would be sad. And therefore, Brian would be sad. :-) )

8. Brian is proud to come from the largest town in Ireland- Dundalk (Says Brian. He has randomly roaming horses in the backyard belonging to the neighbor, and it's the kind of town where it's OK to use your friends backdoor to enter the house; which is probably unlocked anyway, and not tell them).

See, I totally wasn't kidding about the ponies:

Karen Leah on 07.23.09 @ 11:13 AM PST [link]

OK, so, I don't normally do teasers...in fact, I never do them. I'll privately send clients samples; usually before the blog goes up; not always, but I try.

But even my *Mom* liked these photos.

When I'm super thrilled with how an image looks I always email it to Mom for one of two reasons:

1. She's a Jewish mother-so, if something needs to be fixed she'll tell me-and then follow it up with how much she loves me.

2. She's a painter (no, I did not get this trait-sadly, I can't even draw a straight line) so she has a different perspective, and if something isn't "quite right," she'll tell me.

She liked these photos. Really, really liked them as much as I did.

I think this happened once when I was about 27.

So, Jessica and Milton, thank for for not running and screaming for the hills when I looked up and said "hey, you see that rock over there-the really tall one in the water with the waves splashing behind it...?"

And thank you, thank you, thank you-for starting to roll up your jeans before I could even finish the sentence and being willing to climb that massive rock, get soaking wet, and trust these images would turn out...

...because even my Mom liked these photos.



...and this was from Brian's point of view (and if you guys end up picking one of his...it's OK, really, really, it's OK...really...[and repeat] :-) )

Karen Leah on 07.20.09 @ 06:50 PM PST [link]

I want everyone to scroll down and look at the amazing flowers...I know it's a little unusual to call attention to the flowers first-but you have got to look at them. Less than two days before Mayra and Miguel's beautiful beach wedding at Torrance Beach their florist completely flaked on them. In addition to everything else that people have to do 2 days before a wedding, Mayra now had to design, purchase, and create all of the flower arrangements and decorations...which turned out stunning. And, despite all that, she was still a cute, super bubbly ball of energy. I felt so lucky to be able to capture the sheer joy between Mayra and Miguel-I love the way these two just look at each other! From their engagement sitting to their wedding at Simon's Banqquet Center I feel so lucky to have met you two! It was really hard to narrow down the photos-so, this entry is kind of long (just wait until you guys see the rest of them). Thanks again, you two!

Karen Leah on 07.18.09 @ 02:50 PM PST [link]

I am so excited! A few months ago I photographed the wedding of Nikki and Shelly at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and I just got the album proof designs back.

I am ecstatic! I love how it looks; the different feelings from all around the Athletic Club (which, if you're ever nearby, is a classic, beautiful building-definitely worth checking out if you're in Downtown Los Angeles) and the emotion of the day. (And that hat is fantastic...scroll down, you'll see what I mean).

Karen Leah on 07.07.09 @ 07:48 PM PST [link]

Kim is so adorable. When I met her at Middle Ranch Equestrian Center before the wedding, she's sitting in the bridal changing room, calm as can be. We started talking about how surreal it is when everything you've put all of your time, effort, and emotion into planning comes together so perfectly. She remained calm and collected-until the dress went on. :-) Then, Kim started getting this cute nervous grin and her hands started shaking-she just couldn't stop smiling!

And it really was a beautiful day. From her stunning dress and flowers to the wonderful reception put on by Middle Ranch and the WONDERFUL dinner catered by Cynthia Brooks Distinctive Catering; Kim, I really hope it all came together like you planned because from where we were; it was fantastic.

Karen Leah on 07.04.09 @ 11:32 AM PST [link]

Woefully behind on blogging usually means one of two things:

1. I'm on vacation (HAHAHAHA)

2. It's wedding season.

I've got a few amazing (if I do say so myself) weddings to blog in the coming weeks; but, for now...

So, I got a thank you last week from one of my clients, and in it, she said that I must have been born to be a wedding photographer... I was so touched.

I love weddings; I really do. From the dress, to the shoes, to what type of ribbon is used to tie flowers to the little personal things that each couple does in their ceremony-I love weddings; even before I got into wedding photography, I've always been involved in weddings in some way shape or form.

Last night, I was a guest at the wedding of a good friend of mine and she had...a photobooth. I'm always too shy to get into them when I see them at the weddings I shoot, but last night, and waaaaay too many prints and props later I made up for lost time. :-)

Brian and I danced, took photos of each other overlooking the beach, had wedding cake; and I loved every single minute of it (although I'd still probably be way too shy to step into a booth at one of my weddings). :-)

Here's one of the MANY images from last night (and a wedding entry is on it's way in the next day or two):

Karen Leah on 07.03.09 @ 01:34 PM PST [link]