Mother's Day (A couple days late)

So we woke up on mother's day and I made some killer buckwheat pancakes, rasberries, blackberries and strawberries with whip cream, bacon and eggs with cheddar. MMMM MMMM. It was tasty! We had a great breakfast and then headed to church. In the afternoon we went to my Mom's house for a barbeque. Delish!!! My Mom is moving to Virginia in July :-(. We are sad, but happy for them too. My step-dad, Tom, got a new job there and they have a great opportunity ahead of them. They just bought a beautiful townhome and are getting excited!

I wanted to post a few pics of my mom and her mom (MaMa) that we grabbed the other day. Beautiful ladies! Don't my mother and I look alike???

Mom and Me


Mom, MaMa, Me


Bridget, MaMa, Mom

Karen and Ray - Engagement

Saturday afternoon I headed down to Phipps Conservatory and Schenley Park to hang out with Karen and Ray. Karen and Ray are getting married September 22 (Bridget's Birthday!). Their reception is at a beautiful new reception hall, Bella Sera, which happens to be minutes from our home. This helps not having to drive very far after a long day of shooting and fun!

We had a great time on Saturday. We walked around the inside of Phipps and found some great locations for some shots and eventually moved outside to create some more. Towards the end of the day, I was in search of some beautiful backlighting and we did score! Karen and Ray are a great couple! We laughed so much and captured many great moments. I can't wait for the wedding. It will be a wonderful celebration! Thank you Karen and Ray for including us in your lives!!! Here are a few shots from the day.

Laura and Nick Engagement

Wedding season is well underway here at David Burke Photographers! This also means that Engagement sessions are in full swing. Each session I do makes me enjoy what I do, more and more. What a blessing this has been for me, to be able to do something that I truly love! Amen to that...

Tuesday, I spent the early evening with Laura and Nick. Their wedding is right around the corner on June 9th. We headed down to a special location in South Park, where they were engaged. Again, we had perfect light for the shoot. There were many locations that we were able to use for portraits. The location of the sun really helped for my favorite kind of lighting... Back Lighting. I love the way it throws a glow around my subjects. Tasty!!

I am looking forward to June 9 for the wedding! It will be an awesome day. These two are very much in love and lots of fun to be around! Thank you Laura and Nick for having me along! Check out a few of my favorite images, below.

Erin and Sean Engagment

Monday evening, I got to hang out with Erin and Sean on the Northside of Pittsburgh and Mt. Washington. It was a great night for light! The Northside has so much character for photography! I love the urban settings. My favorite was the Graffiti wall down at the Swap Meet. Sweet! Anyways, these two are getting married June 30 and their wedding is going to be awesome. A small intimate gathering at an incredible location on the Northside. I cannot wait! We had a marvelous time and laughed the whole time we were shooting. These guys are hilarious and in love. What more can you ask for? See for yourselves, below. Thanks Erin and Sean, I am looking forward to your big day!

Eld family

Sunday, I had the pleasure of working with the Eld family. What an awesome family! They are so tightly knit. It is so wonderful to see. Their home has so much history. There is a farmhouse where Linda's grandparents once lived, their own home and Linda's parents home is next door. They have many acres of land and some really cool tractors! The Ford tractor in the images below is from 1952. Tom used to ride it as a boy! It will continue to be passed down through the generations. Thank you to the Eld family for having me out to capture your family!!! Here are a few from the shoot.

Christian's First Baseball Game!

After all of the rain cancelled practices and exhibition games, Christian Finally got to play baseball! Each time the coach would call to cancel practice (due to poor weather), Christian would get so upset. It was heartbreaking. He just wanted to play ball! I have never seen a boy have more passion for something at such a young age. He is so determined to get out there and play. These young years in the game are absolutely priceless!

Last night he had his official debut and he did not let us down! He got two fantastic hits, scored runs and even made some plays while at second base. His expressions and excitement could be felt by us all. What a gem! Here are a few choice images from his big day at the ballpark!

First Glimpse at Baby Burke!

This morning, Bridget went to have an ultrasound to make sure all is well and she brought home our first baby picture of our little 'bean'. He/She is so tiny right now, that it is difficult to make things out. I put some labels on the image, to help you out a bit. The heart is beating strong at a rate of 167. Everything looks great!

I could not be there this morning, which was a bummer. But hearing Bridget's voice on the phone, telling me all about the picture and the hearbeat really made it 'REAL'. !!! We are so excited. I got all choked up on the phone with her. It is so awesome!

So, debuting for the first time.... Lil Bean Burke.

Destination Wedding - Corrine and Nick

What a weekend! I headed down to Daytona Beach, FL for a fabulous destination wedding. I met Corrine and Nick, last year at Stephani and Jayson's wedding. We hit it off right away. When Corrine contacted me for their wedding, I was more than happy to meet with them! When she told me it would be a Destination wedding, I was certain that is was a perfect fit.

It was nice getting in early on Friday morning, because I had the chance to meet all of their family and friends. Everyone made me feel so welcome and comfortable. Friday night was the planned Rehearsal dinner, for the outdoors. Unfortunately a storm rolled in and prevented us from being outside. There was never a moment of Panic. Nick handled it so gracefully and within the hour they had everything moved to the indoor reception area of the hotel.

Saturday, was absolutely gorgeous! All of the details and moments happening around me were more than enough to keep me busy. I shot this event alone, so I was really steppin it up a notch to cover all of the angles!!

The event was held at the nicest resort in Daytona. The Shores has beautiful rooms, bar, patio, pool, hotub, etc... We got to enjoy all of the amenities. The ceremony was held outside overlooking the beach. After the ceremony the bridal party and I headed down to the beach to have some fun. Everybody was into it and we had a blast. After the beach, we hit the cocktail hour for some shrimp, oysters, fruit and drinks. Finally we ended the evening on the top floor of The Shores, for the reception. It is a beautiful room with all windows over looking the Atlantic Ocean.

I can not thank Corrine, Nick, their families and friends enough for their hospitality. I met so many wonderful people that I look forward to seeing again someday.

In the meantime, enjoy the reception slideshow (Click on the Image).

Headed to Florida!

I am headed to Daytona Beach, Florida for a Destination Wedding this weekend. It will be nice to see the sunshine! Pittsburgh has been so cold and dreary this month. I am really excited about this wedding! A super cool couple and an awesome location. I will be out of the office until Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone! Will post some images when we get back.

Photo Mechanic - Workflow Tools

I am always looking to improve my workflow. Part of this process, includes finding tools that can help me perform all of the tasks necessary, very efficiently. I also believe that Less is More. I like simple software solutions. I do not really want to load up my machines with a ton of software that will not get used.

Staples in my workflow, that I can never do without are Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS3. Photoshop is a standard among professionals. Lightroom is really picking up steam to be the preferred image adjustment tool. (Apple Aperture is still out there too, but does not fit my workflow as well as Lightroom.)

Recently, I found a new piece of software that is worth a look. I was reading another photographer friend's blog Becker's Blog, when he posted about Photo Mechanic. He has been using iView for years but is now using Photo Mechanic for shear speed. He suggested downloading the demo, so I did. Holy Cow!!! Talk about Fast!! The last thing I really wanted to do was to add another software component to my flow, but I have no choice. This software ROCKS!!! I am basically using it to flag keepers, blog worthy or portfolio images. Once I have them flagged, I copy them to a new folder and then open in Lightroom for additional proof tweaking. It works just as fast with Jpeg or Raw files. I was using Lightroom totally for picking keepers, but Photo Mechanic makes it so much faster! I like to sit in front of the computer as little as possible.



I am sure this tool can do other cool things as well, but for now it is by far the fastest way to plow through thousands of images. This will also come in very handy when flagging images for slideshows at wedding receptions. Both Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Bridge have worked OK for this, but I am looking forward to using Photo Mechanic this weekend's wedding in Daytona Beach, FL!! Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Engagement Session - Washington D.C.

I had the opportunity to do an engagement session this past weekend, down in Washington D.C. Brooke and Michael were engaged at Jefferson Memorial, so they thought it would be fun to have our session there. I totally agreed! We originally had it scheduled for last month, but a last minute snowstorm came through and we had to reschedule. Of course we scheduled on the weekend of this Fabulous Noreaster Storm!!! It was crazy! It rained non-stop the entire session. The wind was blowing, the rain was coming down, sideways and every way. We were determined not to let it hamper our time. We had lots of fun and challenges!!

I brought my Dad along with me and I am so happy that I did. He was my right hand man, trying to keep me as dry as possible while I was shooting. He said he felt like, 'Michael Jackson's umbrella holder guy'. I wish I had a picture of us together! Thanks Dad :-) Also, I have to give a shout out to Nikon!! My equipment is weather sealed for minor conditions... Well, I REALLY put it to the test yesterday. It got SOAKED! I was nervous, but it kept on working flawlessly. As soon as we got to the car, I was able to get it dried off properly and let it air out. I hooked it up today and it works like a charm! Thanks NIKON!

I really want to thank Brooke and Michael for having us down to DC for this fun! It was so great to work with them and I am really looking forward to the July wedding. It is NOT allowed to rain! It rained enough yesterday for the rest of the year.

Here are a few shots!