Photographer Leah Yetter has worked as a solo freelance artist for almost two decades. Her portfolio covers a wide range of interests from personal family portraits and artists' headshots to industrial, academic, corporate, and commercial photography used in magazines, trade publications, and newsletters distributed throughout the country.
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 all over the United States. It was Ken who instilled her work ethic, where 60-hour workweeks full of lights, camera bags, and photo rendering were 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 has used Leah’s “Life Unleashed” series of bulldog photos for over two years (visitathensga.com).
Leah also 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. This includes 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, regularly featuring Leah’s photography, won the 2009 Georgia Press Association’s “Best In-House Publication” award. In addition to photographing regularly for Mercer, she has added the Trinity School of Medicine to her client list. Previous academic clients also include Macon State College and Georgia Tech.
Leah’s work and artistry have earned her recognition and respect from 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 exhibition “In My Frame,” hosted by the Macon Arts Alliance, featured images from her incredible trip to Greece. The images, framed in reclaimed wood, made a dramatic presentation and garnered wide acclaim in the Central Georgia community.
Leah visited Wheatland, Wyoming in July 2009 to photograph a Georgia-based rancher for a business magazine. During her visit, she took 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 relocated her life and photography business to Wheatland. Her life in Wyoming inspired her well-received blog “Uprooted Magnolia,” which features her work and favorite subject – life, which she strives to obtain in every photo, from dragonflies and bucking broncs to tools of the trade and the spirit of the moment.
In 2011, Leah took first place in the Professional People Portrait Class (No Controlled Lighting or Background) for her image, "Daybreak", a silhouetted cattleman riding into the horizon. That same year, she took second place in the Professional Wildlife Category for her portrait of a snow-covered bald eagle. The same cattleman photo later earned her second place at the 2012 Platte River Photo Show. In 2014, the Wyoming Press Association awarded her second place for her cover photo in the WREN magazine of "Posi-Close Planter Wheels", second place for the "Brian Schlagel" photo in WREN Magazine, and the "Neal Wurdeman" photo in WREN won third place. In 2015, she once again placed second in the Platte River Photo Show with "First Saddling".
Once a seasoned resident of Wyoming, Leah grew her portfolio and client base throughout the state. Along with photographing personal family portraits, senior portraits, and weddings; her commercial clients included the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Linden Publishing of Colorado and Wyoming, Wyoming, Inc. agency in Lander, TJ Honey, and the Fort Laramie Bed & Breakfast.
While she adapted to extreme temperatures, earned her stripes during calving season, and mastered the balance of life as a photographer and cowgirl, Georgia has called her back down south. Macon is where she calls home and she is excited to get back to her southern roots.
