Originally from Macon, Georgia, Leah visited Wheatland, Wyoming in July 2009 to photograph a Georgia-based rancher for a business magazine. During her visit, she shot over 1,500 photos of nature, ranch life and the cattle business – her creativity fueled by the endless beauty and diverse terrain of the area. The big sky captured her heart and less than a year later, she re-located her life and photography business to Wheatland, where she now resides.

Leah's love of photography led her to work as an assistant to veteran commercial/industrial photographer Ken Krakow whose Southeastern clients include Boeing, the Medical Center of Central Georgia and apparel catalogs distributed throughout the country. It was Ken who instilled her work ethic, where 60-hour workweeks full of lights, camera bags and photo rendering are part of the professional norm.

Realizing Leah's natural talent, Ken encouraged her to begin building her own client base as a full-time, professional photographer. She began her work in the local arts and culture scene, photographing events for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Theatre Macon and the local arts and culture alt-weekly The Eleventh Hour. In 2003, Leah also co-founded the photo-journalistic style online music column called Concert Sutra which has been featured in several online magazines, but is now its own website. She soon caught the attention of ad agencies and began shooting statewide campaigns and commercial photography. The Athens, Georgia Convention and Visitors Bureau have used Leah’s “Life Unleashed” series of bulldog photos for over two years (visitathensga.com).

Leah began shooting as Mercer University’s primary photographer in 2003. She had an opportunity to shoot a wide range of special events from the University’s 11 schools and colleges in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah, including student life, lectures, awards and commencement ceremonies, sporting events, portraits, dignitaries, music, choral and theater events. According to Janet Crocker, Marketing Communication Coordinator for the University, “Leah developed powerful images to promote the university and took our publications to a whole new level”.  Mercer’s alumni publication The Mercerian featuring Leah’s photography, won the 2009 Georgia Press Association’s “Best In-House Publication” award. Previous academic clients also include Macon State College and Georgia Tech.

Leah’s work and artistry has earned her recognition and respect with her clients and her colleagues. In her 2007 gallery exhibit “Portrait of Pendleton: A Black and White Photography Exhibit” she captured the spirit of an impoverished area of Macon and earned a “Mosaic” award for promoting cultural diversity by the American Advertising Federation. Leah’s 2008 series “In My Frame,” hosted by the Macon Arts Alliance, featured images from her trip to Greece. The images, framed in reclaimed wood, made a dramatic presentation and garnered wide acclaim in the Central Georgia community. Selections of Leah’s Greece prints are currently on display at Gilchrist Gallery in Downtown Wheatland.

Her new life in Wyoming has inspired her well-received blog “Uprooted Magnolia,” (leahyetter.wordpress.com) which features her latest work and favorite subject – life, which she strives to capture in every photo, from dragonflies and bucking broncs to tools of the trade and spirit of the moment.