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!

1st Holy Communion

Saturday, I had the pleasure of photographing a lovely young lady in her first holy communion dress. How beautiful she is! This family was wonderful to work with and I hope to work with them again in the future. We lucked out with the rain on Saturday, and headed over to the beautiful country club across the street from their home. The overcast skies lent for some fantastic colors. We took a few family shots and then quite a few portraits. After the shoot, I was on my way to Washington DC for an engagement shoot on Sunday (will post about this adventure, later). I was sent on my way with some fresh brewed Ugly Mug Coffee which was super tasty and a baggie filled with some Pretzels for my trip! Thank you all so much for your graciousness!!! I will talk to you soon.

In the meantime, here are a few shots from the shoot.

Anthony and his Kart

My good friend, Bill Reed, spent the past winter months building a killer racing cart for his son Anthony. Typically, you can find these two on the baseball field, this time of year. This year, however, they decided to go all out racin! It looks like so much fun! Bill asked if I could take some shots of Anthony and the Kart, so of course I had to oblige :-). While we were there, we talked about how much fun it would be to have bigger versions of the Karts for us. That sounds like a great idea to me! I love Racing!!!

We are wishing Anthony (A-Train) the best of luck this season! Tear it up and BE SAFE! Have fun buddy...

Andy Peterson and Studio 563

I would like to introduce my good friend, Andy Peterson. We met at the Mike Colon workshop in February and then hooked up again in Las Vegas at WPPI. Andy and his wife, Andi have 4 lovely children and reside in Austin, TX. Andy has a business partner, Craig Davis (who deserves his own blog post) in Houston. Their studio is Rockin (They are NIKON shooters too!)! They are two wonderful people, photographers and businessmen. Andy has been inspirational to me and is already giving me advice on having 4 children and running the family and business. It is great to have friends in similar situations. Check him out!

Nice Headshot


If you look closely at the next image of Mr. Corey McNabb and myself, you can see Andy's hand as well. :-)

Hockey and Easter Fun

When I was younger, I loved Hockey. I played for a few years and loved it. Since I have been a father, I have always hoped that someday, one or more of the boys would want to play hockey. I tried to get Damon involved a few years ago and one quick drop on the ice, turned him away for a while. It hurts, when you fall with no padding! We stuck with baseball, which he did very well with. Then to my suprise, Damon has been bitten with the Hockey bug! I think I was the same age as he, when it happened to me. I am so happy to see the passion in him! Needless to say, I signed him up for the first available clinic. I grabbed a few shots this past weekend. I will definitely be taking more as he progresses, check him out below.

On Easter Sunday, we pretty much kept it low key. We went to church and then came home to a fabulous lunch that Bridget started preparing in the morning. Ham, Potatoes, Corn Suffle, Salad, etc... It was soooo good! We had the boys dressed and it is rare for them to be together and all look pretty sharp! I tried to get a few formal shots, but that never works out. hahaha I have attached a few of the shots I did manage to grab. They are so much fun!

Robert Trent Sr.

We just received the most beautiful, 'Thank You' card yesterday. It was from Erin and John, who were married last May. Their wedding was one of the most emotional and love filled event, we have witnessed.

One of the reasons it was so special, was that Erin's father, Robert, had been fighting Lymphoma for years. He was glowing with joy that day! There were priceless moments going on around us all day long and Robert was a big part of those moments.

In our thank you card, we learned that Robert lost his battle with Lymphoma, this past January. We are saddened beyond words and honored that we got to meet him. The kind words from Erin, John and their family were very touching. We are so happy that we were able to capture their day and provide these precious memories for them, forever.

Our love and prayers go out to the entire family. Thank you for having us there and letting us know the news. I would like to post a few photos of Robert as a tribute to him. Seeing the happiness and pride on his face will be with us forever. Rest in Peace my friend.



This has always been one of my favorite images. Just a quiet moment of a Father admiring the beauty of his daughter.

Happy Easter!

Just want to wish you all a Happy Easter! Enjoy this weekend, take time to relax and enjoy family. I hope you also take some time to reflect on the true meaning of this Holiday. My friend, Dane Sanders, summed it up pretty well by saying what this weekend symbolizes for us all, "nothing short of grace breaking into a world that’s never needed it more." Awesome.

Megan and Gary Engagement

Megan and Gary were referred to us from our friends Susan and Michael. We are so fortunate to know them! We hit it off immediately and are looking forward to growing our friendships! They are getting married this September. We met at Megan's parents' home on Mt. Washington to start the shoot. The home is out of this world! The view, the embelishments, everything. Both of their parents were there and they made us feel very welcome. Megan and Gary are so in love and so much fun! We are really looking forward to the wedding. We started off with a few formal family shots and then went out on our own for some fun shots. It started to rain for a little while, but we had no worries. We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time too! They were so much fun to work with and easy to shoot. See you guys soon!

Check them out.

Maternity Shoot

Now that I am getting caught up, I wanted to blog about a maternity shoot I did a couple of weeks ago. This is Dawn and Tony. We did a shoot with them last summer and told them to call us when they were ready for a maternity or baby shoot :-) Obviously, the time has come. Dawn and Tony have helped us tremendously with our business. They tell everyone they know about us and have really evangalized for us! We love you guys!!

I believe that they are due in less than 4 weeks!! Such exciting times. We had so much fun during the shoot. They are awesome in front of the camera. Here are a few images from the session.

Baseball is Back!

Today, Christian had his first-ever baseball practice! It was so much fun to watch him in action. Christian has loved baseball from Day 1. He has gone to all of Damon's games and has always wanted to play. His arm and hitting have been incredible since he was a baby. (Bray is doing the same!). We are all so proud of Christian. Check out a little slideshow here.

Listening


Running


Bray showed up to, to let you know that he is doing great!

Stephanie and Jeremy Wedding

A few short weeks ago, I did the engagement session with Stephanie and Jeremy. That session was wonderful, but the wedding was even better! Meeting their families and friends was a treat to say the least. There is so much love coming at them from both sides of their families. This always makes a wedding day beautiful!

The day started off in a few hotel rooms, progressed to the church and then back to the hotel for the reception. Bridget and I had a few minutes alone with Stephanie and Jeremy to create some wonderful images of the two of them together. It was a lot of fun! The reception gave way to some emotional toasts and dances.

Stephanie and Jeremy are both hair stylists for the Geno Levi Salon (I cannot find a website to link to, but it is an AWESOME salon!). It was so cool to be at a wedding where Everyone had Great Hair! haha...

We want to thank you all for welcoming us into your families for the day. We had a great time meeting you all and documenting your day. We can't wait to see you again. Enjoy your honeymoon!!!

I am going to post the slideshow that we played on our Apple Macbook Pro while we were at the reception. Stephanie and her mother requested that I post nothing new, because they want to see the images for the first time, together. I think that is such a wonderful thing! The love that the two of them share is incredible. So, please enjoy the show!

Click the picture to watch.