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Sidney Leigh
Sincere Candid Emotion Through Fine Art Photography
Fine art wedding and portrait photographer Sidney Leigh not only encapsulates how striking you look in your wedding dress or suit, but how radiant and in love you feel on your special day. Her sincere style is film-inspired; residing where editorial meets documentary and lending a timeless, light-filled textured aesthetic.
“With my whole heart, I believe there's something about the way light gets caught in a photograph, in the way that it wraps you in its warmth and holds you in that second for years to come,” Sidney says.
Sidney grew up in the Shenandoah Valley and graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor’s of Architecture. Working full time in Baltimore for an architectural form, she used cameras to document building projects and expectantly ignited a deep interest in photography. She began shooting friends’ weddings, traveling from Baltimore to Charlottesville every weekend and, in 2013, she launched Sidney Leigh Photography.
“When compared to serving couples and being a part of really joyful days, it felt weird to go back into the office on Monday and work with contractors who are just money focused,” she says.
Sidney’s couples value design and creativity and are typically seeking photography that becomes generational. Candid emotion shines through in each of her intentional photographs as she seeks out the intimate and authentic. She taps into her affinity for all things design — poring over the latest issues of Architectural Digest and _Vogue _— and always encourages and includes an engagement photography session for couples.
“It’s a way for us to get comfortable working together and read one another before the wedding day,” she says. “I’m there throughout the planning process, serving, acting as a sounding board, cultivating a timeline. The end result is imagery that becomes a part of their story, not just documentation.”

Real Talk with
Charlottesville Wedding Photographer Sidney Leigh
The best weddings are…
Not forced. Organic. They’re natural. A celebration throughout the whole day. One wedding I recall in D.C., it was the 11th anniversary of their relationship; they got married in the spot where they met. The whole day was so joyful. No stress. Two families were coming together. And that was the whole focus. Everyone was elated that this couple was finally getting married.
My biggest piece of advice is…
keep communication open. Be super communicative about the things that you love and want. You need ten minutes alone on your wedding day to take it all in together? Communicate that to your team. We’ll make space for that to happen.
I always have…
Liquid IV and a toolkit. I’ve had to makeshift sew a couple of bustles. And I’ve become a professional at taking veils out and putting them in.
The shot I love to get is…
the couple looking at each other as they process down the aisle at the end of the ceremony. Purely seeing what they’re feeling at that moment.
My favorite special wedding moment is…
the** **first look with the father. His reaction is always special.
The photographs of your wedding day are so intimate, so authentic, and so timeless. These are the memories you will relive a million times over that remind you of the foundation beneath you and the promises you made to keep, and to be a part of that is so sacred to me.