A morning at the park

I love October! We really lucked out yesterday, Sunday Morning, with the weather. It was Sunny & Warm... A perfect day for a shoot. The leaves have already started to fall here in Pittsburgh, so we had some really great warm colors as well!

I met with Lynette and Cameron at a local park to capture Cameron and his Mommy. Lynette told me that it is impossible to get him to stay still. This actually works great for me, because I love capturing kids in true form. She didn't lie!! I was exhausted after running around with him for an hour. I had so much fun following him and trying to get in front of him when he set his sight on something new to run after.

I also was able to capture some incredible moments with Lynette and Cameron interacting with each other. There is nothing more special to me, than seeing the love between a mother and child.

Thanks for the great morning! It was a wonderful way to start off my day.

Here are a few from what I saw:

Let go Mom, I wanna run:


Watch me go:


I always come back:


Tickle Time:


Swingin:


What can I do next:


Spinnin:


Running again!:


Alas!! He stopped... for a second and gave me this! (My Favorite)

claire + marcus 10.07.06

Saturday was such a beautiful day! I started the day off by doing a charity shoot for the American Heart Association, which was really nice. It was great to see such a turnout for the Heart Walk. Hopefully I will be able to post some images later.

Then the day progressed to the wedding of Claire and Marcus. This couple is so much in love! Marcus and I go way back, so it was a joy for me to see him so happy. Claire is from Ireland. They met in the summer of '05 and immediately fell in love with each other. Unfortunately, Claire's visa was just about to expire when they met and she had to return to Ireland. They stuck it out and their love grew stronger during their 1 year separation.

It was awesome to see it all come together on Saturday. The love from both families and all of their friends is incredible. I had such a great time spending the day with everyone.

The ceremony was held at St. Francis of Assisi in Finleyville, PA and the reception at Peter's Place in Bridgeville. Everything was wonderful. Claire and Marcus, we wish you many many years of happiness and love. Thank you for letting us be a part of your day!

Here are some of the things I saw throughout the day.

The Bride:


Having some Fun:


All of the girls:


The Groom:


Sittin pretty before the ceremony:


The church (This image has not been enhanced. The sky was really that blue!)


Marcus sees Claire for the first time:


I love the motion here on thier exit:


A few casual moments:


Fun Portrait:


The Dance:

Charity, Wedding & Family Shoot Weekend.

I am off to start a very busy weekend this morning! Firstly, I am doing a charity shoot for the American Heart Association. My friend Dr. Tyson Swigart (the BEST Chiropractor around!) of Soutpointe Chiropractic asked me to take photographs for the Heart Walk he sponsors and organizes. I think giving is such an important part of our lives. When you give and expect nothing in return, the rewards are priceless. I am looking forward to it.

After the Heart Walk, I have just enough time to run home, download and double back up the images, charge some batteries and head out again for the wedding of Marcus and Claire. Looks to be a beautiful day today too!

Tomorrow morning I have a family shoot and then the rest of the day is to just enjoy my family! We are going to hang out and go to a Pumpkin Carving Party hosted by Heather.

Looks to be a great weekend, I am looking forward to getting started. Have a great weekend yourself!!

Get Pampered!

Our friend, Sally Kay Hunter, is hosting a Pampered Bride Clinic on Saturday October 14. If you are a bride to be, you should try to attend! The Clinic will feature Mary Kay Products and will demonstrate how you can achieve that beautiful glowing complexion. You will learn how to use the best makeup colors to bring out your natural beauty. Have you ever noticed how beautiful Bridget's skin is??? ( I notice everyday :-) ) That is because she only uses Mary Kay products. To be completely honest and let down some of my masculinity... hahaha I am a long time user of Mary Kay products as well!!! My sister, Amy, introduced me to Mary Kay products about 10 years ago. I used to say, 'I could be a spokesperson for MK!' I truly could not believe how good they made my skin feel. So, 'YES' they are great for guys too.. In the past I used 'Skin Management for Men' products, however they were discontinued so now I use a newer face-wash and lotion. Shhhhh don't tell my buddies! haha

It should be a lot of fun!

Check out this link to a downloadable pdf file for more information. Here is a link to Sally Kay Hunter's Site.

We also have 25% off gift certificates, so please send us an email to info@davidburkephoto.com if you are interested.

Proof vs. Finished Image

One of my favorite things about photography (especially Digital Photography) is finishing an image for Print. When we shoot a wedding, we typically shoot around 1500 images and narrow that down to the best of the best. This usually brings us to between 400-500 images to deliver to our clients. What we deliver are "proofs". Proofs are color corrected and are totally ready for print, however if an image is purchased for print, we put a little 'icing on the cake'.

This is where the Editing and Finishing process comes in. Any image that is purchased for print or placed in an album goes onto the Editing and Finishing Process. The reason that we do not 'Finish' 400-500 pictures for proofing is that it would take hours and hours to accomplish. Plus, it may be a waste of time to finish images that nobody wants printed.

When we look at an image, we have a vision for what it should look like when we are done. The image below (I used my son Damon :-) ) could be edited a number of different ways...

Proof:


My Favorite Finished Image (there is a lot of contrast in this image, so I chose to go B&W with a hint of blue tone.)


Lower Saturation, bump Contrast & Crop


Grainy B&W & Crop


Cross-Processed @50% & Crop

Laurie + Bill

This past week was not nearly as hectic as the few previous weeks, which was welcome :-). I shot a Greek Orthodox wedding with Heather on Saturday. It was my first Greek Orthodox wedding, so it was really nice to experience. Their reception was held at a club along the Allegheny River in Oakmont. Jessica and Rob are a great couple! Check out Heather's blog, later for some pics from the day. (I don't have any to post because I used Heather's memory cards to shoot!)

Sunday I met with Laurie and Bill at Schenley Park for an engagment session. They are getting married December 8, 2006. We had a great time and even fought off a little drizzle. The day, overall, was beautiful. Partly Cloudy, Partly Sunny, cool air and lots of laughter. Laughter always makes everything better!

Here are a few:

If you look closely in this pic, you can see a few rain drops...

headshots, e-session & senior

We had all kinds of things going on last week! My favorite thing about our photography business is meeting all of these different people. It is always a pleasure meeting people and getting to work with them. Most often we get to see them smile and make them laugh, which even makes it more enjoyable. Our photos are all about the people in them, so we strive to make it a fun experience.

Last week we did some headshots, another e-session on Mt. Washington and a senior shoot (with action shots!): Meet Kaori, Liz & Jim and Grant. Thanks to all of you for working with us! It is our pleasure...

Kaori:




Liz and Jim:




Grant:

Happy Birthday B (Bridget)!

Friday, September 22, 2006 was Bridget's bday! We had some friends and family over for a cookout, which included Beer Can Chicken, Chicken Breast, Ribeye, Corn on the Cob, Seasoned Potatoes and of course Cake and Ice Cream. Bridget's father, Dave, and his wife Judi were in from Florida for the weekend, so that made it extra special for Bridget. We all ate until we could eat no more, sang and had cake and ice cream and then made a fire in our fire pit outside. We had the iPod cranking out great tunes all night while we hung around the fire. It was an Awesome 1st night of Autumn. It was great to relax too, because we were very busy with shoots last week. I will post more on these later.

Anyways, here are a few shots from the evening. Happy Birthday b! I love you.

The cake


The Grill


Bridget, Dave and Brayden


Mommy, Christian and Brayden


Pap Pap, Brayden, Bridget, Christian, Grammy


Damon, Alonzo and Stonepa during the singing of Happy Bday!


Make a Wish

Jamie and Nathan - The Album

Whooooshhh... That is the sound of this week. We have been extraordinarily busy this week with different shoots, print orders, album orders, appointments, etc... It truly is a blessing. We are so thankful for all that has been going on with our business.

An area that we have been focusing on is the importance of a Wedding Album. When we first started our business, we did not put too much thought into albums. Then after putting a few together, we realized the importance of them. An album is a true documentary of the day. We also really want our work to be presented in a way that can be cherished forever, so it is a win win situation!

Since Jamie and Nathan were married last Saturday, we rushed this one to the top of the list while they are still in everyone's mind! We have also started work on a few other albums, so check back often for the slideshows.

This slideshow is a 10x10 flushmount layout. Enjoy!

Click the picture to watch the show:

E-Session @ Station Square

On Sunday we had a great engagement session with Susan and Michael at Station Square. Their wedding is on October 21! This was the first opportunity we had to meet Michael. After knowing Susan, I had no doubt that he would be a great guy. He verified that. As you can see from the images, that these two are Naturals in front of the camera. I always tell my couples that the images look best when they do not look contrived. I try to find an area with good light and tell them to forget I am there! Sometimes it is hard :-) when you look up and I am across the way with a big zoom lense on. haha.. After the first few moments though, they get the idea and it 'just works'!

At one point, I had a man say, 'Excuse me. Is that couple truly in love or are they just models?' I laughed and said, 'Both!' Haha, they are not really models, but they absolutely could be!!!

We are really looking forward to the wedding now! Thanks for coming out with us!

A few from the day: