5 out of 5 stars and 24 reviews Best of Weddings (2x).
5
(24)NYC, Tri-State, Hudson Valley & Worldwide
About this vendor
You have a story, and I want to tell it. Whether you’re having an intimate ceremony overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge or a rooftop party with all your friends and family, I’m down for the count. I’m not your traditional wedding photographer. My goal is to give you an experience, while creating meaningful images you can treasure forever. Love is one of those good things in life, and I’m here to capture your day authentically. And trust me, even if you think you’re awkward in front of the camera, you won’t even remember it’s there by the end. Check out my website and shoot me a message! Let’s grab coffee.
Details
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Day After Session
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Photo
- Second Shooter Available
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
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5
out of 5.024 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
It has been a year since our wedding day and I still look through my wedding album and find new little gems. Hiring Rachel as our photographer was the best choice we made. Rachel h...
erself has such a relaxing, beautiful, and cool energy to her that made us just want to simply hang out with her. When we made the choice to have Rachel as our wedding photographer, she also did an engagement shoot in our Brooklyn neighborhood that felt sweet, calm and even a little romantic! It was easy to communicate with Rachel and she was great at providing direction, especially with all of our extended family. Additionally, she is creatively flexible as it ended up heavily raining on our day and she navigated the original outdoor picture plan to be beautifully indoors. We highly recommend Rachel to be your photographer!
Hiring Rachel to capture our wedding day was one of the best decisions we made in planning our wedding. I had followed Rachel on Instagram for years and it was dream come true of m...
ine for her to be our photographer, and she lived up to everything I imagined and more! She was a pleasure to collaborate with during the wedding planning process, and was so professional and efficient on the actual day of our wedding. Her photo style is incredible and unique, and she delivered both our highlights and our full album in the expected time frame. I cannot recommend her more highly!
Rachel is the best of the best. If you want your wedding photos to capture authentic, real emotions AND get those classic shots, Rachel is IT! Not to mention her warm, joyful perso...
nality helped our families feel at ease throughout the day as well. Her talent and warmth made our wedding feel like a breeze. Photos are a HUGE part of any wedding, and we had so much fun taking every single shot. Rachel was not only our wedding photographer, but a friend. We love her and can not recommend her enough!!!
We found Rachel through Instagram as I was looking for a very particular NYC style. When we spoke she quickly understood exactly what we were envisoning for our wedding and engagem...
ent shoot! We met in June for our engagement shoot in the West Village and Yankee stadium! She really put my husband at ease and the photos were epic! Flash forward to December and our vision for a chic unique soho dinner with family and wedding in gramercy was a dream. She brought a second shooter who had a focus on fashion knowing that is important to me! The photos are unreal- we keep receiving so many compliments and most are "these are the best photos I have ever seen". Rachel will certainly continue to be in our life!
Reflecting on our memories of 2021, our engagement photoshoot with Rachel was one of our top memories! Rachel made us feel so comfortable and ourselves, we were able to create new ...
memories as a couple through a photoshoot that completely represented our past six years as a couple. Rachel listened to our vision and completely blew away our expectations for our engagement photos. She achieved the image we had in our heads times a thousand. She is truly an expert in her craft and her creativity, professionalism, innovation and personability is felt from initial email to photo delivery. We cannot wait to work with Rachel again in the future, we will cherish these photos forever!!! XO J + B
We won the lottery in being able to book Rachel Leiner as our elopement photographer, and for good reason—her work is stellar, hot as the sun, magical and full of love. We had a vi...
sion of a classic Hollywood 1940's feeling of romance in the moment, and Rachel instantly zoomed in on EXACTLY what we were going for. Her work is stylish, bold, and brimming with the emotion of the moment. She's basically a wizard, able to conjure poetry through her images, and even in just the preview shots we've seen so far we feel so fabulous. We had a few video calls before the shoot to hammer out the details, and she was game for whatever we through her way and absolutely charming and delightful throughout. On the day of she was a shooting machine, a one-person whirlwind capturing images we weren't even aware of participating in, and very communicative and funny and charming throughout. Though we couldn't have our friends and family there with us, Rachel instantly felt familiar and calming and like we'd known her forever. We cannot say enough great things about Rachel and her photos and ease to work with, but in the interest of winding this down, here's one last thought: when we got our first previews, my mom said that looking at these photos made her feel like she was there, which is probably the greatest compliment we can think of.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about this one woman show. Rachel is so calm and helpful that working with her was a breeze. As any bride, I had a million questions of whi...
ch she answered quickly which helped put my mind at ease. She also helped us tackle any and all unexpected hiccups that came up on our wedding day, we really couldn't have done this without her. She is so nice and friendly, working with her was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding.
Rachel was the perfect photographer for our wedding! She took time to get to know us ahead of the big day, was always super responsive to emails, and has an amazing style of photog...
raphy. The day of our wedding, she kept things relaxed, while also moving things along to ensure we were on schedule. She was able to pivot last minute and capture some amazing moments, even as it poured rain. Rachel is who you want to hang out with on your big day--she keeps things chill and fun, while also producing beautiful work. I cannot recommend her enough!!
Rachel is the kind of photographer who loves love and it is evident in every aspect of her work. We hired Rachel to travel with us to Olympic National Park to capture our elopement...
and it was the best decision we could have made. This girl has RANGE! Whether it be the streets of Brooklyn or a rainforest in the PNW, she creates absolute art. When we first received our gallery, we spent hours in complete awe. The photos she captured were so raw and authentic that looking at them makes me emotional in the best way possible. In addition to her talent, she is a stellar human. Her bubbly and sincere personality instantly made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. If you want your own personal hype-woman, hire Rach immediately! We will exclusively be using Rachel to photograph our family's milestones.
Rachel is both an incredible photographer and human. She made the trip from Boston to Philly for our engagement shoot on a Saturday while she was still in school. She is so sweet a...
nd made us feel 100% comfortable as we both were a little awkward in front of the camera at first. The end result came out amazing and she captured exactly what we were hoping for. She has such a positive and easy energy! We had to postpone our wedding due to covid and she has been so understanding and accommodating throughout the process. We have kept in touch here and there, which only makes us happier that we chose her to be a part of our wedding and lives. She is an all around gem of a human and we can’t wait to (fingers crossed) see her again in May. Thanks Rachel!!
EDIT 03/18/2022:
Rachel photographed our small summer wedding in August 2021. Our wedding was originally booked for October 2020, but we had to delay/cancel due to the pandemic. Rachel worked with us through the many changes and was so kind, gracious, and positive. She is based out of NY, (our original location) but she worked with us to find a new date and drove down to our hometown in Philly. She is incredibly sweet and easy going, which put everyone at ease during some of the chaotic parts of the day.
We are so happy with our photos! Rachel is truly skilled at capturing natural emotions and moments. We have the best memories that we will cherish forever. Thank you so much Rachel for just being an all around kind and talented human! We are so grateful!
I can't even express how grateful I am to Rachel. She is ABSOLUTELY talented and amazing to work with. Marrying my husband on the day of elopement was the best thing that happened,...
and Rachel was the next! She made the entire elopement process so enjoyable and seamless. Our original date was April 21st, due to COVID we had to postpone it. Rachel was so communicative and accommodating throughout the entire process. On the day of elopement, Rachel was a blast to work with. Her enthusiasm and energy made the photoshoot so magical. The photos turned out ABSOLUTELY STUNNING - exceeded all my expectation! I would 100% recommend Rachel to everyone, and will be booking another shoot with her soon! She is not only your photography but your hype girl and best friend of the day.
Where do I even begin...! When it was time for us to pick a photographer for our June 2020 wedding, I took one look at Rachel's portfolio and immediately knew I had to hire her. It...
's safe to say that I instantly fell in love with her photographs and her ability to capture candid, genuine moment in the most beautiful way. When we were hit by a pandemic, forcing us to abandon our original wedding plans and opt for a super intimate thing, Rachel showed that she's not only an incredibly talented photographer - but also a true professional who genuinely cares about her clients. Not to mention her AWESOME, funny and sweet personality - everyone at our mini wedding said the exact same thing "Rachel fit right in with all of us!". We cannot wait to have her photograph our 1 year anniversary party next year! :)
I am SO happy we found Rachel. From the minute she connected with us - it was smooth, professional, and easy. Rachel has a fun, loving attitude and down to earth personality that m...
akes it so wonderful to have when you're shooting pictures. She was helpful through every step and on the day of came prepared and organized. She led us through Brooklyn Heights and found the most amazing areas that were our style (if someone asked what my "perfect" engagement shoot would be - this would have been it!). The entire shoot passed by so fast because we were laughing and talking like we'd been friends for ever.
Thank you Rachel for making us feel like us and nothing more or less. We are so happy with the outcomes and even more for the memories we got to create that day.
(PS: this review is coming a little late since we did our shoot in back in October but just shows how AWESOME this lady is that I still remember and am SO thankful for her and her amazing talent in capturing one of the most special moments of our lives)
From the moment I sent an email inquiry to Rachel and got a response back, she made me feel like we were already the greatest of friends. My fiancé was in town and since most of ou...
r engagement would be spent here in the city, I wanted to take some photos to remember this special time of our life. I was nervous about finding the perfect location, perfect outfit, etc. and Rachel made the whole process extremely smooth from start to finish. Let it be known that the date we picked happened to be the hottest day basically in New York history with an intense heat wave that went through the city. Despite the fact that we were all melting, Rachel still kept a smile on her face and made the whole shoot so much fun. She is naturally a people person and is extremely creative when it comes to posing her clients. She has a way explaining the poses in in a way that is easy to understand and in the end results in a very candid look which is what I love most about her style. She also isn’t afraid to be goofy to make us laugh and get the perfect shot. We really felt like Rachel was already one of our BBFs by the end of the photoshoot. Overall, it was an incredible experience and our hour mini shoot felt like 10 minutes from how much fun we were having all together (Rachel included). The pictures came out so beautiful — she knows how to capture light in a way that makes the photos looks magical and straight out of a fairytale. I can’t wait to print the photos out and share with our family.
My fiancé and I aren’t exactly comfortable in front of a camera, so when we set out to find a photographer, we wanted someone who knew how to coach couples to move past the awkward...
ness and get those cute candids everyone so desires. Rachel was perfect for lightening the mood and making us feel like we were doing a good job posing. She laughed with us - not at us - when our ideas for a good shot were stupid and she expertly positioned us in ways that made us look effortlessly ~*in lurv*~. She has an amazing eye, was able to spot locations with great light, and led the session with such confidence and poise that it was easy to follow along. I was a little concerned that my fiancé and I would be charged with directing our photographer to the best areas, so we were very pleasantly surprised by all the scouting homework Rachel had done and impressed by just how well she knew the ins and outs of NYC.
If you’re looking for a photographer who can capture your relationship, from the tiny expressions in your eyes to the subtle body language between a couple, Rachel is for you. Not everyone has this talent!! (I’ve seen way too many great landscape pics where the couples look awkward as heck - it’s not worth it).
If you want creative, authentic, and beautiful photographs that you will LOVE HIRE RACHEL! My husband and I still talk about how much we love her! First off, She made us feel so co...
mfortable and her presence is so calming and joyful. She really creates a space for her clients to be their true selves and she captured our love so genuinely! Her editing is so rich and beautiful and she really went above and beyond for us! I’m a photographer myself so I’ve worked with other photographers more than most people and Rachel has really set the bar in every area including the experience that she provides, her posing technique, and the final product. I look back at our photos all the time and they are literally my favorite pictures ever. Love her!!!!
Rachel really has something special about her! Not only was she effortless to work with throughout the entire process, but she also makes such a genuine effort to get to know you. ...
My boyfriend and I met her for coffee prior to the session and it felt like we knew her for years. It made our actual photo session just that much more comfortable for us since we never had any professional photos taken before. The final photos blew us away. Rachel captures moments that feel like the perfect reflection of who you are as a couple. They are so naturally breathtaking and that's the thing we will cherish the most, that when we look at her photos it brings us right back to that moment and the emotion. We feel so lucky to have gotten to work with Rachel and hope to do so more in the future!
Ladies, gentlemen, just do yourself a favor and book Rachel. Dirk and I decided to bring Rachel with us to our destination wedding in Tuscany, and honestly we couldn’t have been ha...
ppier with our choice. Rachel delivered about one million edited photos that looked super natural and candid in the most beautiful warm tones. Her aesthetics perfectly replicate the beauty of Tuscany, you’d think that she had been shooting there for years! And I can’t forget to mention that she brought an incredible second shooter with her enabling them to capture many single moments from multiple angles. Oh, and she delivered the entire gallery in about 3 weeks—mind blown! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING RACHEL! You’re now stuck with us for any future photography needs....
Wow... is the first word that comes to mind when I talk about Rachel's work! She did a phenomenal job - from the initial point of contact throuh the photo delivery she was very ea...
sy to contact, extremely responsive and acted with the utmost professionalism. On top of the amazing customer service Rachel's work was gorgeous! She made my fiance and I feel incredibly comfortable... as if be photographed by a good friend. The quality of the images and attention to detail was superb and we will truly cherish the photos forever! If you have any doubts about hiring Rachel throw them out the window- she was a dream!
Could not have imagined our special day without Rachel! Not only is she beyond talented but her positive attitude and energy made the day so much better! She was extremely profess...
ional and communicative throughout the entire experience. My wedding photos til this day are my favorite! Anyone would be lucky enough to have her photograph their wedding.
Rachel photographed both our engagement shoot and wedding, and we are so in love with the photos!! She was very professional and helpful during the planning process, and has a way ...
about her that really puts you at ease. Not to mention, every photo is stunning! We are so happy we chose Rachel to capture our special day!
Rachel is by far one of the best photographers to work with! She’s super sweet and thoughtful. She took her time in getting to know us as a couple prior to our wedding day which ma...
de it an even better experience for our big day. It was like we were inviting a really long time friend to capture moments we’ll have to share forever. I would totally recommend Rachel again and again, oh and did I mention again! Lol no seriously it was such a fun experience. Suppppper relaxed and absolutely no pressure. I’m actually pretty shy/awkward in front of the camera but Rachel was able to guide me through the process which resulted in some really cool picture bringing out my personality! My husband was a natural so I had a lot of catching up to do. She’s on fire!!!!! You shouldn’t think twice to book her... Actually you should book her twice and book her two more times.
Rachel is so wonderful to work with! She has such a graceful and fun presence about her. We initially met for a coffee date and I knew I had picked the perfect photographer. My fia...
ncee' and I had never taken photos together before so I was nervous we would be stiff and awkward. Rachel did an incredible job at making us both feel so comfortable and at ease with her lively personality! She even brought a speaker to our session to help with nerves. We just received our gallery and are in awe of how genuinely she captured our personalities and relationship. I cannot recommend her enough! Not only is she an incredibly talented photographer but she's also a lovely human!
Rachel was our Engagement Shoot Photographer and quickly became a close friend because of how wonderful and easygoing she was to work with! The entire experience was absolutely so ...
fun and my now husband and I connected, laughed and enjoyed every moment of it. I think the best part was that Rachel guided us to do what we thought were the most silly moves to then find out they came out as AMAZING poses on the photos! Such a fun gal to work with and will definitely be working with her again in the future! :)
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