Esther and Josh!

I love the whole "early-20th-century" era. When I was nine-years-old I watched a little clip of "Grease" and was totally wow-ed by the poodle-skirts, cute little blonde curls and the upbeat music.
My favorite American-girl doll was Molly, who "lived" during World War 2.
In middle-school I begged to learn about The Great Depression.
Early in highschool my history class learned about the Industrial Revolution and we did a fake-radio show - including The Andrews Sisters ("in the mood Ba-DA!"), Fireside Chats with FDR and commercials for deodorant and soap.
My job was to give fashion updates and wrote a whole paper just on clothes of the 1920's - 1950's.
Later on I studied American Literature and was captivated by "The Great Gatsby" - it was one of my favorite books I ever read in school. I also loved "My Antonia," "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Cheaper By The Dozen" - which all take place between 1915-1930.

During Senior year history we studied "this" era almost exclusively. Papers upon papers where written and read concerning Louis Armstrong, Big Band, The World Wars, art, entertainment, poets and presidents. And I completely loved it.

In our area, there is a little town called "Glen Echo." Right in the middle of Glen Echo, is Glen Echo Park, which open in 1891 and closed in the 1960's.

Back in its golden years, it was an amusement park. It also boasted a swimming pool, candy shops & soda fountains, and swing dances held nightly. It was colorful, it was happening and was, I am sure, so much fun. Though the amusement park is closed, the park is still in operation. The Spanish ballroom still has swing dances on Friday nights, the Bumper car pavilion and arcade can be used to hold events and the "1921 Dentzel three-row menagerie carousel" rides every day. You can see little hearts carved up high in trees that say "Sammy + Janet" or "Bill + Carol" and I like to pretend that they have been married for years and are now happy, old grandparents.

I have been absolutely dying to do an engagement shoot here. And I finally found the lucky couple! Not only do they happen to love old, classic, music but their personality's fit the park perefctly! Esther and Josh are an amazing couple and we had a blast running our Glen Echo together (even though everything was closed. wups.)

We sat in front of the carousel, someday I'll go back and actually ride it!

LOVE this one!

The sun was sure perty :)

This little area is right outside the ballroom...

We were playing "Beauty and The Beast." I sang "Tale as Old as Time," Esther pretended she as wearing a big princess dress, and Josh was a complete gentleman. We could have been in a play! haha

I think this was my favorite from the day. I asked them to pretend they had a crush on each other as middle-schoolers. I love it!

So peaceful :D

Here's the slideshow!

I can't wait for your wedding - you two are so awesome!

" The only thing I wanta do
I wanta love somebody,
Love somebody like you "

So, before we go any further, I have to brag about my backyard. I can't take too much credit for it, since my parents bought the land and God made it so pretty, but man, its an amazing place to take pictures!

Ok, Jen and Nathan :) This was a shoot was a gift that Nate gave to Jen when the first started going out... two years later they are actually doing it! Nate is leaving for California soon (internship, I think...) and they wanted some pictures together before he left.

Now, this was only a boyfriend-girlfriend shoot, BUT, don't be surprised if you see more of those two in future posts :D


I love how obvious it is that Nate loves to just be with Jen. He is so, so, so happy being with her!

I have no words...

This picture reminds me of the lyrics "Dancing in a burning room..." The sun was just amazing last night!

Oooo artsyyy

One of my faves!

I told them to do whatever pose they wanted. "Make it up! Be creative!" Well, Nate "hearts" Jen :)

So stinkin' cute

:D :D :D :D just smiles :D :D

And, to top off their awesomeness, they asked for Keith Urban for their slideshow! Yaaayyy! I have been dying to use country music! So, here you go guys!

The Harris Family

Last night was arguably a perfect summer night. Though it had been cloudy all day, at about 6:30 the sun started to shine and our little town was boasting warm, cozy sunset light. Andree (friend and photographer) and I had the joy to shoot the whooole Harris family!

You may know Josh from his best-selling books (namely, I Kissed Dating Good-bye), or his brothers, Alex and Brett from their ministry "The Rebelution" and book "Do Hard Things" or you may know of their dad, Gregg and his huge role in the Christian homeschooling movement.

All of these men (and their families) are such examples - they are working so hard to bring glory to God in their lives! I respect them all greatly!

I love this picture of the great-grand-kids. Hahaha Boys will be boys....?

And Josh's youngest, Mary-Kate, has unbelievable eyes. She is so beautiful!

Oh! And cutie-pie Elena - she is such a little poser and did a great job working the camera :D

We got some super pictures of the whole family, but I loved this one :) Mary-Kate did her very best :D

Aw :) They have a pretty cute love-story... it's in Josh's book, if you want to hear it!

And this is a woman I greatly admire. Kimi's & Joel's first daughter died when she was only a few weeks old. She has been through so, so, so much at such a young age. Instead of hating God, she has clung to Him! What a testimony! And now she is blessed with her adorable, sweet little lady, Elena :D

I love the picture of Mrs. Harris's mother. So lovely!

Ok, so, they are kind of homeschool, Mac geeks... no big deal :D

This is a shot Dre took - I absolutely LOVE it!

And a bit of sun flare, just for kicks!

Enjoy the show!

Nia and Kenan!

"I fell in love, in love,

With you suddenly.
Now there's no place else,
I could be, but,
Here in your arms "

Yesterday was just a beautiful, beautiful day. I had the absolute, complete pleasure of working with Samara of By Design Events. She blew me away once again! Seriously, brides, hire her!

Ok, Nia and Kenan! I arrived at the hotel where Nia was getting ready, and I knew that the day was going be fabulous. She was more than glowing. I think I new word needs to be invented to describe "that" look a bride has. It seriously hard to stop looking at her! (This shot is the famous David Jay shot - I finally got one I liked! haha)

I had to post this again :D

Her dress.was.gorgeous. And it was made by my favorite designer Justin Alexander!

A happy, casual portrait :D

Looooove this one! It's about the real moments, ladies and gentlemen :D Sometimes you do what you gotta do haha

They had a wonderful little group playing the music. It was stunning!

She was telling us that she was just "a very little bit nervous" :D aaaw!

Oh hello happiness!

This is a sweet moment from the ceremony. It was like no one else even existed at that second.


Congratulations you two! Thank you for having me on your big day! Enjoy the show :D

ps: oh! I like this one too :D It's fun when the guests are "snap-happy" hahah

New things are on the waaaaay!

So. as you can see the blog is looking a little different.... it's getting ready to match the new website that officially has a launch date! August 20!!! Which also happens to be someone's birthday... hmmmm.....

I have been working hard on branding, web design, products & presentation as well as booking some awesome clients! I think this next year is going to be awesome! I can't imagine a better year than this past one, but it looks promising!

Oh goodness, what is this? It's so hard to see.... ;D

In other news, I received an email from blogged.com congratulating me for my high score after their editors review! I know it means nothing, cause I am sure they send it out to everyone, but I was pretty excited :D



To cap off this little post, here is my favorite picture from yesterday's wedding! The slideshow and rest of the pictures will be up tomorrow!

Alathea and Abby!

This post is a little on the short side (hahah that was a pun). Anyways, I am leaving for the day - in about three hours - and I was determined to get this post up before I left!

Alathea and Abby are two of the cutest girls God has ever made. You may remember Alathea from last year (the post is here) and I was so excited when her mom called me again this year! Here are some favorites :D
This one is probably my favorite from the whole day :D I love her little strap falling off her shoulder, and her big baby head and her fat little legs. And don't even get me started on her hand-sucking. Babies are the best :D


And here is the show!

Kristin and Jon

"My heart is poundin'
yes yes yes...
My love is so articulate
But I am such a mess"

Yesterday evening Kristin married Jon in an elegant, romantic ceremony held at our church.
There were so many little details that made the day special to me. One of the "special moments" was when I arrived at Kristin's house, where all the girls were getting pretty :D I went into her bedroom. A typical, college-girl, athletes room - trophy's and plaques from swimming, magazines, pictures of friends in frames, shoes, backpack, shopping bags. Oh, and a wedding dress. No big deal :)

Though I have never been close with Kristin, I have known her my whole life. Actually, 7 years ago to the day, she was in a wedding of a close family friend. She was 14 and a junior bridesmaid. I was 12 and a guest. I would have never, ever dreamed that I would be photographing her wedding that very day a few years down the road!

Oh, did I mention that Kristin is beautiful? Model-beautiful. But probably the most humble and gentle human you could meet! Another high-light of the day was seeing an all-time-favorite bride Val (her wedding, her first engagement shoot aaand her second engagement shoot). Val is second to left in this picture:

Hahaha oh the boys. Groomsmen are always great fun

Yes, I know. I used this wall again. It's just that good :)

Aaaaw. Aaaw. Aw :) I've said it before, and I'll say it again my favorite part of the wedding is right before the bride walks down the aisle. She is usually bouncing up and down laughing or looking away determined not to cry. The dad is all emotional and sweet holding his daughters arm. The guests are waiting, the music starts to climax. The groom is waiting, and sweating, and swaying in his rented shoes. The moment is here - literally seconds away. I love that part :)

"You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know? The pure love there."
-- Jane from 27 Dresses

Aaaagaah.
[that's the sound I make when I get lens flare inside.]

Yay! They are marrrrried!

And one last note: Kristin's mom and the team of volunteers who decorated did an absolutely OUTstanding job. I have been at many, many, many (probably too many) events in this gym. Yes, this big humongous, basketball gym. You would never guess that this is a sports venue - it looked like a hotel! Or better! Wonderful job!

Danielle and Michael!

Phew! I am finally blogging this wedding from a few weeks ago! Sorry it took quite a bit :(

Danielle and Michael were actually celebrating 10 years of marriage with a vow-renewal ceremony.


The event took place at a beautiful old house behind Georgetown. I was speechless. It was incredible!




Ten years of bliss!

Click here for the show! I hope you enjoy it!

Monica and Milton!

You may remember the beautiful 25th anniversary party in Mexico I had the honor to shoot back in April. Carlos and Kena have been married happily for 25 years, and just a few weeks ago their daughter Monica got engaged :D I knew I was going to be in Mexico for the missions trip, so I jumped at the chance to do an engagement shoot with her and her fiance!

**Edit** Check Monica's older sisters blog, Ana Rebeca Photography, to see some awesome shots she grabbed!



There is a bit of a dangerous war in Mexico right now, and because of that I was not allowed to leave the orphanage we were staying at. Monica and Milton happily met me there and we had so, so much fun running around!

If I could take the light from that hour and bring it home, I would. It was simply unreal. Plus, these two little love-birds were a piece of cake to shoot!


Oh Mexico. Thank you for being so beautiful. Can you give Maryland a quick lesson?

I love, love, love, love colors.

Annnd here is the slideshow!

Oh! This a fun little tidbit from Memory Lane: two years ago when I was on the missions trip, a group of us built an over-hang outside the childrens room.

I think it makes an excellent backdrop for pictures :D Pretty much every single piece of wood you see was measured by me. And it hasn't collapsed yet! Yay!


Congratulations Monica and Milton! I am so excited for you and all that the future holds!

Missions Trip 2008

Psalm 96

"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!"

"Bless His name,
Tell of His salvation from day to day"

"Declare His Glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all peoples!"

"Splendor and majesty are before Him!"

"Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary"

"Ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength!"

"Ascribe to the Lord, the glory due His name!"

"Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness!"

"Tremble before Him, all the earth!"

"Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns!'"


Well, I kind of disappeared for a bit - I meant to do a little post before I left, but that was one (out of quite a few) to-do list bullets that didn't get done. But, I am here now. And I am here to tell you about where I went :D

{photo credit to The Glabs, who "live-blogged" in Mexico if you would like see!}
Last Monday I left with our church youth group for Guadalupe, Mexico to be a part of a Missions Trip. I was part of the "Kids" team and we led Vacation Bible School for the orphans. I have been a couple times before as a youth and the trip always proves to be hard, humbling and amazing. This year was no different, except maybe harder, more humbling and more amazing then past years.

I have so much to say, so many memories, so many stories, and so many ways I could tell you about how good God is. It feels silly to try to blog about a trip like this. I wish I could get everything that's running through my brain into a nice, meaningful little paragraph, but that is just not going to happen. So, watch the slideshow and may it draw you to think more about God and His incredible kindness, love and glory!

And even though I don't know where to start, I do need to honor certain people!
First, the two pastors who led the trip, Matt and Adam (left and middle). THANK YOU for sacrificing time from your family, your work and your regular life to serve and lead us! I deeply respect you!
And Dean, (right) who runs the Ranch where the kids live. I honestly am left speechless and humbled by you and your family. It is an honor to meet and know you. (And Jeremiah [bottom]. thank you for wanting to be a "fisher of men" like your daddy! Even if you wouldn't have rescued me, if that buffalo attacked ;D)

And to the people who led VBS - Ally, Neal and Julie. You three blew me away with your servants hearts, genuine love for the kids and incredible work ethic. You have no idea how much I learned from just watching you this week!

Ally and Chris, you guys also get a special thanks :D Thank you for bearing with teasing and for doing so much to join this trip and serve! The rewards are eternal!!!


Speaking of teasing... ;D


Look forward to an engagement shoot in Mexico, as well as a wedding from before I left and a family shoot! Woot! This blog is going to be busy this week!

The Little Fighter

I was in Santa Barbara, just waking up this past February. My friend Natalie got a call from Jen, our youth pastor's wife and friend. Natalie got off the phone, obviously serious. "Sarah has cancer." Little Sarah had been having trouble walking and after a myriad of tests, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma.

News like that is terribly sad, difficult and could be devastating. But, I have watched Sarah's parents absolutely cling to God in this time of need. They have such hope - not in doctors, or medicine, or healing - but in their Savior, who has knit Sarah's body together and given her life! Jen posted about "how they are doing" on her blog. It is just so encouraging to read!

I don't know all the medical terms and whatnot, but I do know that Sarah's surgery went well and so are her treatments. As far as I know tumor is gone, and she is still on semi-long-term treatments to help have a full recovery as well as not allow the tumor to grow back!

Even though a her coordination isn't very good, she is doing SO much better than a few months ago! She really could only lay down and try to focus her eyes... last night she was talking, laughing, playing and walking up a storm!

I love how all the other kids adore Sarah. They are very gentle and helpful with her :D



Alathea is the oldest - and reminds me a lot of me :) haha

Mikaela is next and she is very mature for her age!

Caleb is the funniest in the family. Practically everything he says makes me laugh!


Hello little toes :D



I let the kids each take three pictures with my camera, and there were some I actually REALLY liked!
Alathea took this one:

Mikaela shot this:

And Caleb took this!

Oh, and another of Mikaela's I liked:

I also let the girls take a few more when we had our "spa treatments" before bed ;D






And they are out! Gooood night :D

Oh, and here is a little video of Sarah playing - she LOVES to see herself on video. It's pretty cuteee :)

It's just excellent.

I am working hard on the "new" Kristen Leigh Photography. Yesterday I went through roughly 50,000 pictures for the site. I was honestly overwhelmed - in a good way! My heart was racing, even a little jittery. It's amazing, amazing, amazing to look at the lives God has weaved together just in this past year. And to see how magnificently happy they are together. It takes my breath away!

This show is a compilation of the year, and is a little sneak peek to the new site :)
It's long, I know, and if I were on someone else's blog I probably wouldn't watch the whole thing. But there is something about sitting there and watching picture after picture of couple after couple that just touches me. (I love the song to - I have been saving it :D haha)

Enjoy!

Alycia and Will!

"I don't quite know how to say
How I feel
Those three words are said too much
They're not enough"

Will and Alycia were married on Friday. The wedding was so lovely and so God-centered. I totally cried.
:)

Chavia, from Chaviagraphy! (the bride's sister!)





I really like this one :)



A nice "yummy" portrait :D

This feels very "Sarah, Plain and Tall" -ish to me. I don't know why, but I really like it!

Had to sneak this cutie in!

Oh, these last few moments...

How beautiful is that???


The bride's brothers are part of Zelos, an awesome band, and played songs during the ceremony. (The whole family is just talented, ok?) Definitley check out their stuff!

The happy party!

And a few of the husband and wiiiife!

It had just stopped raining when we went out to do pictures, so we ended up with some hazy, humid Maryland summer light :)

Cheryl and Matt

" I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on
forever "

Cheryl and Matt's wedding was very emotional. The wedding plans were all going along as normal, just days before the wedding - excitement was building and all the last minute details were being taken care of.
And then Cheryl got very, very, very sick. She was on medicine and antibiotics, enduring tests and laying in the hospital. Matt was right by her side the whole time - I can't tell you how many people raved to me about how delicatley and lovingly Matt cared for Cheryl. The night before the wedding Cheryl went home, and the day of the wedding (minutes before I arrived) she received a phone call from her doctors saying all tests were negative! Prasie God! But, man, how stressful!

The walk down the aisle was amazing. Magical.
Matt's reaction was practically perfect. He was so anxious waiting for her. Fumbling with his hands, wiggling his feet, playing with his collar. And then she came around the corner, and he gasped out loud and just beamed. He didn't take his eyes off of her once. It was adorable :)

And this just makes me smile :) That little dog is craaaazy!

And I also had to post this one of Cheryl and her son :D She was so proud of him, and they have a very sweet relationship!

Congratulations Matt and Cheryl! I hope you have a ridiculously relaxing honeymoon!

Joe and Bethhers!!!

" say it again for me
cause i love the way it feels
when you are telling me that i'm
the only one who blows your mind "

** special thanks to the amazing peter bang who shot with me!!! **

The now semi-famous "grocery store" couple, Joe and Beth, got married on Sunday night. They have become good friends and practically everyone I knew from church was anticipating this wedding. Word on the street was that it was going to be CRAZY fun.

The beginning of the day was very fun :)

Beth was a nervous/excited little thing, though. She was playing with her toes - and I thought it was very cute.

And she also sang her little heart out! That made me mighty happy! haha

I asked Beth to tell me "their" story while she was getting ready. Basically, they were great friends but he never really thought of her as anything else. Until, one Sunday (I quote) "He saw me singing on stage and thought 'What on earth am I doing without her???'"
Gaaah. My heart dripped like a melting ice-cream cone. SO sweet!



The grooms sisters, Naomi, was celebrating her birthday on Sunday, too! Happy Birthday, again, Ni! I like to tell people I have two "secrets" to getting weddings: my blog and Naomi. She has referred me to SO many people! Thanks, Princess :D

Ooooh la la

The final product! She was honestly breath-taking.

Ok, so, some boy stuff. Apparently, this little "Best Man" patch was Joe's favorite part of the entire wedding.

Looking sharp!

They all wanted to do a picture "prom" style. This is SO Joe's sense of humor. I was dyyyying!!!

Meanwhile, Beth was getting final touches done! It was impossible to catch her without this face:



I love this one:

Hello cute face!

Aw :) :) :) This almost makes me cry :) She was trying so hard to hold it all together!

There was lots of laughing during the vows, of course.

{Photographers: I was quite thrilled to get this lens flare. Not my favorite picture ever, but, um, the lens flare practically killed me with happiness!}

Yay! Kisses!
I would like to thank their pastor, Bob Kauflin, who remembered to step out of the picture so that it would look great! haha

This is another funny moment I just had to post. I started taking pictures and was like "Joe, you are scrunching down all weird!" The entire bridal party burst out laughing - they tricked me, and this is Joe's brother (who looks a lot like him, in my defense)

Time for the limo! This ride was a crazy ride of laughter, singing and all-around chaos

The super-elegant party

How fun are they? My job is the best.



Aw!







Oh, you two, I love how you love each other!

I have to stop picking pictures to post, but I really had to include this. They had a very, very touching video of Joe's older brother in Iraq, who couldn't be at the wedding. Makes me so grateful!

And, there are so many dancing pics (and the party was as awesome as it was hyped up to be!) but here are a few!




Hey hey! Look who made it into some songs! Beth told me I could only do her pictures If I promised to dance some :) Deal!
Thank you, Peter, for rocking the dance pictures!

This is one of my favorite all-time wedding pictures. Ever.
And I have no idea what happened to Joe! Did he fall? I really don't know.

Congratulations Joe and Beth!!!

" All summer long, we sang a song
And strolled on golden sand
Two sweethearts, and the summer wind "

On Friday afternoon I got to meet up with the lovely Thomas family in DC! They are from North Carolina (luckies!) and happened to be in my area and wanted to get some family pictures done!

They are so cute :) Just the picture perfect little family, I think.





They are some goooorgeous ladies in the Thomas family! Let me tell ya!




I was actually light-checking here, but when I got home and saw this one on the computer I instantly loved it! I love that its out of focus, I love their faces. I love the light. I think this is what my dreams are like in my head.

What is the point of doing pictures in DC if you don't have proof you were there?!?

Special thanks to Lyds for giving me the idea for this shot. She commented to me "Can't you just tell what they are each like by looking at their feet?" hahah And it's so true!

It was lovely meeting your family! I hope you have a safe trip home :D

My not-favorite

One of my least favorite parts of life is when my family is not around. This weekend they were all gone for a short trip to the beach... without me :(

Don't feel too bad, because I did have three jobs while they were gone, and a handful of them came home early to watch the Celtics. BUT, still, I don't like it when they are gone. My house is so empty and quiet. And I really don't know what to so with myself. I think I thrive on activity and noise.

One afternoon I just played singing-super-star in my room :) 
You at least have to watch the 35-45 second mark... It's phenomenal.


I shouldn't be left alone :)And I am very glad all these faces are back with me!

Why would you ever want to wake up to silence (albeit peace) when you could wake up to this?!?!

It's been a good day :)

I forgot.

The man made spaghetti sauce
In the kitchen he is boss
Kind of like a dance party
His red treat was spicy & hearty
Pretty much the best ever
I want to eat it forever
I ate a ton
Thank you, Preston :)

My friend Brienne's husband made some awesome spaghetti sauce back in February. I wrote this poem and never blogged about it, like I promised :(

Oh My :)

" I am walking on sunshine!
And don't it feel good!
Hey! "

It has been way too long since I have done a shoot with children. I didn't even realize how much I missed it until Monday morning.

Bright and early Riley (check out his flick here) and I met Ben, Clark, Rhett, Ashlyn and Joey. They looked like little J. Crew models! Aah! I was in heaven :)


OooOOooooh! Oh my... this little face!!!!

And this one!!! Oh MY gosh!

I just need to be warned when I am going to be with such precious-ness! I can just hardly stand it!



Oh, to be young and carefree..... :)

(I would like to welcome my first texture to the blog... round of applause please!)





This is one of my favorites. If you look from left to right: Clark's extra happy face, Rhett & Ashlyn holding hands, Little Joey with his hands clasped and the hand in the pocket for Mr. Mature Ben :) It's classic

Working the cammmera!









You guys were the best!

Tashy and Kyle!

I got an angel
She doesn't wear any wings....
She wears a smile
That makes you want to sing

Tashy needed Kyle's ipod while she was getting ready. Everyone was a little frazzled and a single hotel room was where 9 bridesmaids, mother of the bride and the bride were getting ready. It was very packed.
I went down the hall and grabbed the ipod.

"Please put on some Jack" Tashy asked.
I happily clickclicked the ipod to the "J's" promptly found "Jack Johnson" and then my little heart skipped a beat. 104 songs???? She has 104 Jack Johnson songs???
I knew that the day was going to be amazing right then and there :)



The grooms family is from Hawaii, and his mom did all the flowers and cake! She was amazing!
And the whole wedding had a very chill, island-y feel to it.
You know how I much I would hate a laid-back, beach wedding ;)

Looking niiiice!

I think pretty people flock together hahah The ladies looked just beautiful :D

There are no words.


Hello happy face!

But even such a calm, collected beauty can lose it moments before "the walk"
He cried :) :) :) :) eeeee! :) :)



This was adorable. When the pastor said "Tasheia, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband" she yelled "I do!" before the pastor could finish :) hahah EVERYone burst out laughing and it was so perfect.
The pastor was like "Great, I am glad! Now, lets finish! To have and to hold" etc



Woohoo! They did it!

A fun group shot:

Oh, the pure bliss :)

Sometimes my sister will hear really, really sweet songs and say to me "Kristen! Can you believe that someday someone is going to feel that way about YOU! It's so crazy!"
That picture above makes me think that - "Man, that is the way every girl should feel someday"


HeLLO!


Ok, so, let me tell you... these Hawaiians can DANCE! Oh goodness, they were crazy!

First dance to "Angel" by Jack :)

Oh! And I thought the back of her dress was so elegant!

Congratulations you two! Your wedding was amazing!