Welcome to our Blog! We will post recent shoots, tips for photographers as well as personal ramblings. Over
the years, this blog has been such an excellent tool for keeping in contact. You are able to view our wedding and lifestyle portfolios by using the navigational menu above. Please stop by often and tell your friends too! Thanks for being here.
Hey Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the Steeler's 6th Superbowl win!!! I know that I have :-)
This is the time of year where (if you live in Pittsburgh) it is easy to fall into "Seasonal Depression", because it is so darn gloomy out there. It takes a little extra effort to be motivated and to stay focused. I think it helps to surround yourself with positive people and great relationships to keep going.
I would love for this month's Shoot N Learn to be just that. Let's have a round table discussion about everything and anything - (photography related of course ;-) ). Would you please join us:
I really look forward to these gatherings! We will all take new things away from this meeting.
Also, please stay tuned for my first Full Day Workshop I will be announcing soon!
Of course I cannot complete a post without an image. I had the pleasure of Second Shooting for Beth McHenry this past weekend. We documented an intimate ceremony and of course enjoyed ourselves. Keep your eyes out for Beth, as you will be hearing a lot more about her...
I love the anticipation of the Bride, peaking over her Matron of Honor's shoulder.
If you are a bride looking for a fantastic makeup artist, meet Julie Marckisotto.
Julie is an amazing person as well as a makeup artist. We spent some time last week creating some head shots for her brand. We had an excellent time and really captured Julie's character. I think great head shots are very important for our business. Come to think of it, I need some new ones! First I better decide what I am going to do with my mop of a hair style right now. LOL.
I met Julie last year and can say that I am so happy that I did. She has been so great to Bridget and me. I am honored to help her take her business to new heights. She is getting ready to open her own studio for consultations and trial runs. Please look her up on the web if you would like to meet with her: Julie Marckisotto
Friday January 2 kicked off our wedding year with Brittany and Josiah. This was a special wedding because, Brittany is our Pastor's daughter. It was an incredible honor for me to document this event. Everything was held at our church South Hills Bible Chapel and was coordinated beautifully.
Brittany made a stunning bride, as you will see in the slideshow. Josiah too, made a handsome groom. They are both very fit and love to run. (Gave me incentive to exercise more!)
Beth came along for this one a big thanks to her :-)
Brit and Si, we had a great time on Saturday and can't wait to show you all of the images. Enjoy your honeymoon!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a blast with the kids. We are still enjoying everything :-)
Saturday, the 27th, I was honored to document the wedding of Jessica and Grant. It was a glorious December day in Pittsburgh. To the tune of 68 degrees and Sunny.... Unbelievable. It was a wonderful day. They were married at St. Winifred's Church in Mt. Lebanon and had the reception at Hilton Garden Inn @ Southpointe. I love the Hilton Garden Inn, because it is 5 minutes away from home!
I met with Jessica and Grant over a year ago, so it was nice to see the day finally arrive. It was a bonus Christmas present to be shooting this past weekend. My good friend and photographer, Dan Speicher came along to assist and shoot. Thanks for your help Dan!
Instead of posting a bunch of pictures I put together a slideshow. This is something that I have gotten away from, but am eager to get these rolling again. They are so much fun to make and more importantly for you to enjoy.
Thank you Jessica and Grant! Enjoy the honeymoon!!!
The past few months have been a whirlwind due to travel, weddings, shoots, business planning and lots of family stuff!. All of the excitement has taken a toll on my blogging abilities. I am so far behind blogging the many wonderful shoots I have had over the past few months. I am taking some heat from some folks, because they have not appeared on the blog yet (I will not name you... you know who you are! LOL!!!) Stay tuned, as I promise to get you all on here!
In all seriousness this year has been unbelievable for us. We have met so many wonderful people and have made so many friends. The work continues to come and we feel nothing short of blessed and honored to be a part in all of your lives. Thank you all! We have been smiling and groaning as we feel growing pains throughout our systems. We are working "on" these systems as much as we are "in" them, so going into next year we will continue to polish and improve. Thank you for being patient with us as we continue to work and improve everyday.
In the meantime look at this lovely image. I want to feel like this every day, don't you???
First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! It is hard to imagine that 2008 is almost finished!!! I hope you all had great day and a great night sleep after your Turkey induced Coma.
Onto the wedding of Courtney and Danny in Los Cabos, Mexico. I got connected to Danny and Courtney through my sister-in-law and her husband, Brooke and Michael (Thanks guys!). Kenny Kim (Kenny you are awesome! Thank you for all of your help and wonderful images. Goodtimes as usuals!) and I had a such a wonderful adventure to Mexico last week. We photographed for 3 days straight and can tell you that there was never a dull moment. The people, the surroundings, the music (man the music! I have to score some of those playlists!!), the details.... It was so much fun. Immediately we felt loved and part of the bunch. Everyone was so gracious and welcoming to us. There was a Welcome Party, Pre-Rehearsal Afternoon Party, Rehearsal Dinner Party and the Wedding Day. I don't think anyone stopped smiling the whole time.
So thank you Courtney, Danny, Family and Friends for creating such wonderful experience for us to document. We can't wait to share the images with you. In the meantime, here are a few from the wedding day. I also want to give thanks to Sergio and his team at Cabo Azul. If you want to have a destination wedding in Cabo, do not hesitate to contact Sergio.
Enjoy! While the girls were getting ready, the guys played Volleyball.
A shot of the resort from the other side of the infinity pool.
The dress and shoes
Courtney getting her hair ready
Danny and Daylen chillaxing.
The veil
Finishing touches with the suit.
First Kiss
Little stroll on the beach, post ceremony
The Horse... (I have behind the scene footage of Kenny here! LOL)
Little off camera lighting look
The sky was gorgeous for this silhouette
David Burke Photographer - Wedding Los Cabos - Cabo San Lucas Wedding
Kenny and I are in Cabo San Lucas enjoying the wedding festivities of Courtney and Danny. First I have to say what a wonderful couple they are! This is the first time we have met and they have made us feel as though we were friends forever. We shot for 2 days before the wedding and shot the wedding yesterday... I will blog more on this once I return home. One word = Awesome.
The wireless connection in our hotel is hit or miss, so I have been unable to blog as of yet. Kenny was able to, so you can check out his blog.
So now that I can finally post a few, Here are some from the first day/night. It was a "Welcome to Cabo" party that Courtney and Danny planned for early arriving guests. It was so gracious.
Enjoy!
Meet the couple (wait until you see the wedding images!)
Wrapping up October 2008 with the wedding of Amanda and Lou. What a fantastic day they had! We started at the Omni William Penn Hotel for preparation shots and the rest of the day was spent at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Originally the ceremony was to be held outside, however the weather was being a bit fickle so a decision needed to be made early in the day to move it inside. This did not damper anything. It was beautifully done! We did get a bonus after the ceremony when the Sun came out for a bit and we were able to use the light for formals and some portraits. It was a win win all around!
The Metropolitans provided the entertainment and they rocked it! This wedding was a perfect fit for my style of shooting. We were literally in the shadows just documenting the day. It was great because no one paid attention to us :-) We captured so many fantastic moments!! Week in and week out this year we have been blessed. Thank you to all!
Amanda and Lou thank you for having us along on your day. It was perfect. Enjoy Cabo and please let me know when you return, so you can give me some tips! My next wedding stop is in Cabo!
Enjoy some images from the day. Emotions after getting into the dress.
Capturing the mood entering the elevator
Amanda's gown is gorgeous
Amanda and her father. Priceless.
Lou looking GQ
I love this image of Amanda's father :-)
Taking advantage of the few sun rays we had available
David Burke Wedding Photographer - Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Wedding - Omni William Penn Wedding
Kimberly and Jim were married last Friday during an evening ceremony. It was intimate and perfect. They held the celebration at South Hills Country Club and offered countless Hors d'oeuvres and desserts. De-Lish!
Because the ceremony would be held after dark, we started a little earlier at the country club, so we could get some images beforehand. Kimberly and Jim decided not to see each other beforehand though, which is awesome!
During our photoshoot with the guys we had nice even overcast lighting. When the girls arrived, however we were blessed with a little sunshine for some killer backlighting. We had a blast!
Thank you Kimberly and Jim for having us be a part of your day. Enjoy Mexico and see you soon!
The Guys
The Girls
Kimberly is great in front of the camera!
Post-Ceremony portrait
This image really captures the adoration these two have for each other. They smile like this all the time!
Last Saturday was another glorious day! Definitely the peak weekend here in Western, PA for the fall colors. Patty and Adam were blessed with this fall beauty. I had not seen them since their engagement session in April. It was great to finally see them again!
Patty and Adam are so sweet. They were so happy to getting married to one another. They chose to have their reception at Shakespeare's which was an absolutely gorgeous backdrop for us to photograph upon.
The wedding season is definitely coming to end for us, and I could not be happier with the way things are ending. It is always amazing to me that each wedding is so unique and each couple is perfect for each other. Meeting all of these wonderful couples and families is the highlight of my job. Being a part of it is truly and honor.
Patty and Adam, I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon and we will talk soon!
Here are a few from the day. A big thanks to Beth for assisting me on this one!
I love this image of Patty, her nephew and mother looking on.
Friday October 10 was a gorgeous day for a wedding. Jessica and Ed were happy that this day was chosen for them!
It is not too often where we have a double wedding weekend, but to have both Friday and Saturday be PERFECT days, was incredible. I will be blogging Patty and Adam shortly. Can't wait!
So Friday we made our way to St. Vincent's and Greensburg Country Club for Jessica and Ed's wedding. My friend Greg assisted and grabbed some great images as well. It was fun because we both shoot the Nikon D3 :-). It made processing the files easy as pie too!
Jessica discovered me from a wedding that I shot a few years ago and told me "I knew then that I wanted you to capture my wedding someday." That was the sweetest thing she could have said to me.. So needless to say "She had me at Hello!" LOL! Thank you Jessica for finding me and including me in this Incredible day!
We had a great day and I look forward to sharing all of the images with Jessica, Ed and family. Here are a few favs. Enjoy!
Hi All, I have a new Portfolio site that I am excited to share with you. I had not updated my main website in such a long time, because it was so cumbersome to update. I finally found a great solution to host my portfolio and could not be happier! It is so easy to update, so I will update often! I promise!
The actual site is hosted at http://davidburkephotographers.com but is accessible from http://davidburkephoto.com by clicking on Portfolio. I want all of my sites to be accessible from my main domain of davidburkephoto.com. It is still a work in progress, but we are getting there!
This new Portfolio will showcase my Wedding and Engagement work only. I may launch another site in the near future to showcase my other work. Since Documentary Weddings are my primary focus, they need to be separate.
Since my goal as a Wedding Photographer is to be Real, Classic & Timeless, it was important that my site be clean and simple. I did not want anything too flashy. I also decided not to use music. I always find myself turning the music off when I visit websites. What do you do? I would love to know. If you like music on sites, please do tell ;-)
I am working a lot on my brand and have a lot of things coming down the pipe so that I can continue serving my clients with the best of me. I look forward to sharing!
Saturday was the day for Elizabeth to marry Jason. What a day it was. Elizabeth had all of the details aligned and the entire day flowed perfectly! We started at La Pompanee and then headed over to their home. Elizabeth's gown was custom made from Tomasina. Absolutely gorgeous and perfect for her!
They were married at St. Bernard's in Mt. Lebanon and held the reception at Hyde Park, which was excellent for an intimate gathering. To top it off, it was Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary! We were blessed with an amazing fireworks display to end the night. This day could not have been planned any better. I also had my associate, Jen on hand to capture moments as well. It is always great to have another pair of excellent eyes on hand ;-)
Enjoy your honeymoon! Thank you all for your generosity and hospitality on Saturday! Here are a few of my favs.
This post is long overdue! A few weeks ago we had the distinct pleasure of spending the day with Kerry, Gene and their families. What a great day it was! The weather was perfect. It was a great wedding to document and be a part of. They held their ceremony and reception at Chartiers Country Club which was gorgeous. The late afternoon sun backlit the ceremony and provided beautiful lighting for the family portraits. I can't wait to share all of the story with Kerry and Gene. Thank you all for having us and being so hospitable!
This past Saturday we were at the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh and the Southpointe Hilton Garden Inn for the wedding of Elizabeth and Donny. We actually started the day right next to our studio at La Pomponnee where Elizabeth and the girls were getting makeup and hair done. La Pomponee is an outstanding Spa for women. They also have the Bec Barber Spa for men, so we can spoil ourselves too ;-)
Their wedding was filled with laughter, love and excitement! We captured so many great moments throughout the day, including a quick stroll to the University of Pittsburgh Panther in the pouring rain. It only added to the fun!
Thank you to Elizabeth and Donny's families and friends for making us feel at home. Enjoy Jamaica and we look forward to showing you all of the images.
Meet Jason and Elizabeth. We did their engagement session a few weeks ago and were blessed with gorgeous light. They are so comfortable with each other and ended up being pros in front of the camera! Side note: I love when couples say they are uncomfortable with the camera and don't photograph well, etc... I love the progression of being shy to being comfortable. By the end they are all super models.
They are getting married in a few weeks and we also have a gown fitting shoot (Jason will not be able to see the pictures until after the wedding!) scheduled for next week at Tomasina. Tomasina is an amazing bridal gown boutique next to our studio. If you are looking for the perfect gown, Tomasina is the place ;-).
Can't wait for the fitting and the wedding! Enjoy a few pics:
David Burke Wedding Photographer - Engagement Pictures Pittsburgh
Liz and Tim's Wedding finally arrived on 9/6/08! We decided to work together over a year and a half ago, so needless to say we were really excited for this day to come! We did their engagement at the end of Summer '07. Fortunately we got together a few times in between there to keep in touch. That is always fun!
Everything took place down in Oakland, near the University of Pittsburgh Campus. They were married at St. Paul Cathedral and held their reception at Carnegie Music Hall. We started at the Holiday Inn where the wedding party was getting ready and then headed right over to St. Paul's. St. Paul's is Gorgeous! The lighting is great compared to most churches in the area. I was excited that I did not need to use flash for the processional, thanks to my Nikon D3. (*Techie Geek Speak ISO 3200 Color images are INSANELY gorgeous)
It was beautiful when Liz's parents walked her down the aisle and gave her away to Tim. I love these types of moments!
After the ceremony they had a parade, complete with a Saxophone Player, walking from St. Paul's to the Carnegie Museum. It was priceless. We captured so many great images at this time.
Once the reception was kicking it was an all out party all night, thanks to Jeremy Ganss. If you ever need a DJ, Jeremy seriously rocks! I asked him if I could hire him just to come to my studio and mix all day. LOL!
Thank you Liz, Tim and Family! You guys are awesome and I can't wait to see you again! Enjoy Italy!
If you have emailed us in the last 48 hours, we have not received. We are still moving hosting companies and things are taking longer than expected. If you need to reach us in the meantime, please send mail to davidburkephoto@gmail.com. We hope to be back up and running soon. Thank you for your patience.
OK, so right before we left for vacation, we had one more wedding to shoot! Jill and Joe's day finally arrived August 16 and it was totally worth the wait! God smiled down with his sunshine and puffy clouds. They were surrounded by their loving families and friends as well. Jill put sooo much thought and planning into this day. There were so many great details to capture!
I knew the wedding would be amazing. I could not wait to be there for them. It was a very colorful day that went off perfectly! They are now enjoying two weeks in Hawaii! I begged to be the honeymoon photographer, but they wanted to be alone... Imagine that! LOL.
Here are a few images and the reception slideshow we ran. See you two soon! Enjoy.
This is one of my favorite bridal portraits ever! Jill was so happy to be marrying Joe!
Jennifer Palermo - Makeup Artist Duquesne University Chapel - Ceremony Pittsburgh Marriott North - Reception Carrie Powell - Flowers All Pro USA - Entertainment Oakmont Bakery - Cake David Burke Photographers Duquesne University Chapel Wedding - Pittsburgh Marriott North Wedding
Just a quick FYI. I will be out of the office until Monday August 25. I have very limited email and phone access as well. I will return calls/emails as soon as I can. Thank you!
I traveled down to the Washington DC area this past weekend. I documented the wedding of Shannon and Peter! I traveled earlier this year for their engagement. When I met them, it was very obvious how important they are to each other. Their wedding was no different! They were both overjoyed to be marrying each other. It was so awesome ;-)
I had two of my friend and fellow photographers from the area assist and shoot with me. Peter Bang and Armin Defiesta are two fantastic people and photographers as well. I can't thank them enough for helping me out.
Shannon, Peter and Family. Thank you so much for having us there and your hospitality! We cannot wait to show you all of the amazing images we captured throughout the day. Enjoy your honeymoon!
Here are a few quick picks: Ceremony
A little moment on the swing
First Dance
Look at the cake pieces falling! Peter was into it. You should have seen the next image!
Shannon and her father
The sendoff complete with sparklers
Click here or push play (below) for the slideshow we ran at the reception.
David Burke Wedding Photographer - Whitehall Manor Wedding
I headed up to the Buhl Mansion on Saturday, for Charlotte and Ted's wedding. Once I stepped onto the property of the Mansion, I knew that it was a perfect fit for these two. Upon arriving I was greeted by the wonderful staff of the Buhl and led into see where Charlotte and her girls were getting ready. It was so exciting to walk into the room ;-) You could feel all of the positive energy swirling around, so it was impossible not to smile!
Once I was settled in, I took a tour of the Mansion to find some locations for portraits and detail shots. Opportunities were everywhere! Shortly, my friend Greg arrived and was off shooting some details of the venue.
Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day for the most part. We were blessed with a teeny shower during the outdoor ceremony that was handled with grace and smiles. See the slideshow for some umbrella pics!
Charlotte and Ted are a beautiful couple and I am happy to have them as my friends. I love my job and am so grateful for all of my clients/friends that I get to share with. Enjoy your honeymoon!
In the meantime here are a few images and a slideshow that we ran at the reception.
Once again, Bethel Bakery sculpted a beautiful and tasty cake!
I will leave you with this photo. We decided to take a quick trip around the house and create some portraits. We couldn't resist having extra fun. This image really captures who Ted and Charlotte are! You guys rule!! LOL
You may remember Angela and TJ from their Engagement Shoot Last Summer. Time goes by so quickly! It was so great to see them again.
They were blessed with a perfect day for their wedding. I had Beth and Jen with me for this event and I am so glad they were. There were approximately 500 guests! The day went by without a glitch and everyone had a wonderful time.
Angela and TJ are such a fun loving couple. It is so obvious why they are loved by so many! I want to thank Angela, TJ and their families for having us there and providing all of the hospitality.
The Wedding was held at the Immaculate Conception church in Washington, PA, which is a beautiful church. We then hit Mt. Washington for some photos and onto Sheraton Station Square.
Every detail was carefully planned and executed. The vendor choices were perfect!
I just got home from a fantastic wedding! You will remember Adrienne and Chris from their engagement session. Today was their wedding and it was beautifully planned. It was also executed without a hitch.
Today I had Beth and Kristen with me to assist/shoot. We had so much fun :-)
I met Adrienne and Chris through Rebekah and Ryan (married October 13, 2007) so I knew it would be a great wedding. Their families are wonderful. It is so nice to see the love and connections with them. It was a joy to see so many familiar faces again.
The wedding ceremony took place at Ruthfred Luthern and the reception was at Southpointe Golf Club. We made a quick stop on the course to take some photos and have some fun. It definitely paid off.
Thank you Adrienne and Chris for such a wonderful time! Enjoy the honeymoon and we will talk when you get back!
Enjoy the images. Love this shot on the way to some formals
Adrienne is so elegant!
Chris is cool :-)
Rings with the Macro
Adrienne's Uncle walked her down the aisle
Candid from Beth!
Candid from Kristen!
Kristen saw these Good Times! (This is for you Kenny Kim!)
Clean. Simple. Portrait.
Chris loving his bride!
Thanks to Beth for Grabbing this LOVELY shot!
Shot this with the 85 1.4 wide open Available Light. I love this lense.
Kenny Kim and I had an incredible day yesterday! We are exhausted and on the way to the airport now! I gotta get home to my wife and kiddos for Father's Day! Maybe I can relax??? LOL
I don't have images ready for posting yet, but Kenny posted up a few, check them out.
OK, I admit it. I am a Blog Slacker. I will be back in full force soon. We are so busy shooting & working on the new studio. It is all going to be worth it. In the meantime, Here is one of my favorite recent shots.
It doesn't get more timeless than moments like these. I love my job!
Hi all! I am sorry I have not updated in so long. We have been super busy on a number of projects here. One is HUGE and I cannot wait to share.
In the meantime, I have been shooting tons and meeting a lot of wonderful people. I will be updating the blog with some images soon, but I have to run for now.
But I can't leave you without any images, so check this out and then be sure to check my friend Heather Lahtinen's Blog for more. I shot a beautiful wedding with her on Saturday and as usual we had a wonderful time! She is awesome! This is an image I created that she posted on her blog.
And, if you get the opportunity to shoot with friends, DO IT. Enjoy It. You will grow.
This past Saturday, my assistant, Jamie and I traveled to West Virginia to document the wedding of Karyn and Chip! Karyn and Chip were the winners of our Free Wedding Photography Contest. It could not have went any smoother! There was so much love and great relationships going on throughout the day. Karyn and Chip are so in love and were such a pleasure to work with.
Karyn's sister could not attend, because she is on bedrest due to a pending due date for her baby. They had a live webcam set up for her to view the ceremony and afterwards, Karyn and Chip got to talk to them via the webcam. Technology is sweet ;-)
I am so happy that we got to meet them and that they were the winners! It was a wonderful day and I will always cherish this day. Thank you Karyn, Chip and Families for having such a great day!
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding at the Carnegie Music Hall with two of my great friends, Joanne Bartone and Heather Lahtinen. If you haven't checked them out, be sure to do so. They are such wonderful people and fantastic photographers.
Joanne called upon us to assist her on this fabulous wedding.
I put together a little slideshow of some of my favorite captures of the day. I LOVE being a second/third shooter. I get to play a bit. This wedding allowed me to be completely Organic and capture everything realtime, just the way I love it.
This wedding was filled with great people, fabulous details, excellent location and was topped off with an after party, complete with a Martini Bar and hand rolled cigar table. So cool!!!
Please check out the show and let me know what you think! To see it BIG Click Here
Details: 1. Please email stories and recent photo to info@davidburkephoto.com with subject of Free Wedding Photography 2008 (Wedding can take place anywhere in the United States) 2. Couples must have date and location selected for wedding already (subject to our availability as well) 3. Package includes 8 hours wedding day coverage, 20 page 10x10 Leather Album, Online Hosting of Images, travel expenses and a DVD of High Resolution Digital Negatives (once your album is delivered) 4. Our panel of judges will go through the stories and vote. Most votes for the couple wins. 5. ENTRIES IN BY MONDAY 1/14/2008 6. WINNER ANNOUNCED MONDAY 1/28/2008
Still behind on blogging, but wanted to get this last wedding of the year (for us) up there! Saturday we shot the wedding of Laura and Mark. What a gorgeous day. Laura and Mark were married at St. Bernards in Mt. Lebanon and had their reception at the Heinz History Center. What a stellar location for a reception! All in all the day was wonderful. Thank you Laura and Mark for having us along to document the day. Enjoy your honeymoon!
While shooting Nicole and Blaine's wedding, in Charleston last week, Kenny and I decided we wanted to make a little video of our adventures. This was the INTENTION. However, we were so busy shooting and having fun, that we never shot any more video! I guess we need to hire someone to bring along and do this sometime...
What a weekend! We had an incredible trip to Charleston, SC for Nicole and Blaine's wedding. We could not have asked for a better group of people to spend our time with. My good friend and great photographer, Kenny Kim, accompanied me on this adventure. I could go on and on about this weekend, but I am now trying to catch up :-). I will sum it up with Wow! Nicole and Blaine both come from very good families, that are very loving and welcoming. We were blown away with the hospitality. Thank you everyone!
I also want to thank Corrine and Nick George for the referral! It was great to see you again too (Kenny snapped a shot of the three of us below).
Hey there! I just wanted to give you a heads up and let you know that I will be out of the office for the next few days. I am headed to Charleston, SC for a destination wedding! It should be a wonderful event. Nicole and Blaine are a great couple and I can't wait to spend the weekend with them. I am bringing my good friend, Kenny Kim, to second shoot and have fun with! Kenny spent last weekend in the Bahamas! He is loving it.
I will have limited access to email, if there is anything urgent, please email my office manager, Erin, at erinschumacher@davidburkephoto.com. She is the best!
You may remember Shelly and Chris from their engagement session this past summer. Well this past weekend they got married and got married in style! We had a beautiful October day! This weather we have been blessed with is incredible!
We started and finished the day at the Southpointe Hilton Garden Inn. This is a great venue and very close to home for me (so I like it a lot!). The details of the day were very carefully planned. Shelly had these Pink Lights installed for the reception. They added so much ambience to the party. Little details like this really make a difference.
Thank you Shelly, Chris and Families for having us there with you. We wish you the best and have an awesome time in Cabo! Talk to you soon.
After working a great wedding on Friday, with my friends Heather Lahtinen and Joanne Bartone (see Heather's Blog for some pics!), I headed out for another great wedding on Saturday, with my assistant Jen.
Rebekah and Ryan (engagment pics here) tied the knot on Saturday in beautiful fashion. We started at Rebekah's parent's home and went to the Church in Bethel Park to get some of the story with the guys. After the ceremony I jumped on the Trolley and rode down to the Pittsburgh Athletic Association with the Bridal Party. We had a blast ;-)
The reception was awesome, with a special DJ coming up from Louisville, KY. I asked for his card and he said, "I love doing this, but I won't be coming back up here to Pittsburgh anytime soon." haha. Lugging all of the equipment was no easy task. He was wonderful though.
Rebekah and Ryan and family, thank you so much for the great moments. We captured so many. Enjoy these few sneak peaks to hold you over.
Jen grabbed this great ring shot.
Getting ready (our good friend Holly is doing Rebekah's hair)
The Groom
Getting the dress on
The Bride
What a Cutie
Proud moment
The Trolley
Captured by the Paparazzi
First dance
Father and Daughter (I love this image)
These boys are doing the 'Superman'
Here is their mother and aunt Rebekah's reactions.
Saturday we headed up to St. Vincent's College (where the Steelers hold Training camp :-) ) for Christie and Jason's wedding. For October, it was HOT!! We are not complaining though, because it was gorgeous. They could not have picked a better day to get married. They held their reception at the Pittsburgh Marriott. You may remember their engagement session here.
Everything was gorgeous. The dresses, the flowers, the Hummer Limo, the cake & the food was delicious! They were surrounded by so many friends and family that really loved to dance. Christie had the best Bridal dance I have witnessed! It was so much fun packed into such a short period of time. She was dancing with her two fathers when Jason finally broke his way through the crowd (see the last picture).
I would also like to thank my assistant, Beth for helping me out. She did a great job :-)
Thank you Christie and Jason for having us along! We had a great day and will talk to you soon!
Saturday we shot the wedding of Karen and Ray. You may remember their spring engagement session.
What an incredible day we had! It was a beautiful September day, which also happened to be my wife's (Bridget) birthday! She was actually in Orlando, FL for the annual MOPS meeting. She is on the steering commitee for the MOPS group at our church. So happy Birthday to my B! I love you!!!
Back to the wedding. We started at La Pomponnee in Mt. Lebanon. What a wonderful Spa and Salon. We had a blast shooting there. Then we headed over to Ray's to grab some getting ready shots of the guys. They were married at St. Bernards Church in Mt. Lebanon. This is an absolutely beautiful church.
Quick sidenote, their ceremony was at 2PM and my good friend and fellow photographer, Heather Lahtinen was shooting a 4PM ceremony there! What are the chances? We got to run into each other briefly and snapped a shot of each other in action. How fun! I will post my shot of her down below.
Finally we headed to the fabulous Bella Sera where Nick coordinated a killer event. This place is off the hook gorgeous. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is perfect for a wedding. Obviously Karen and Ray did their homework on vendors and locations. Great Job!
Thanks to my assistant, Jen for helping me out all day too! To Karen, Ray and family. Thank you all for the wonderful day and hospitality. God Bless you all and best of luck! We will talk soon.
The one and only, Heather Lahtinen. She is about 1 month behind Bridget in her pregnancy! That makes her about 6 months. Congratulations to her, Craig and big sister to be, Ella!
Sunday September 9, was the wedding of Jamie and Doug. We had a fun engagement session in South Park, which you can see here.
All I can say is Wow. Their ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful and intimate, Hyehold Restaurant. Such a beautiful venue for an intimate affair. The grounds and the architecture inside are fabulous. If you are ever planning a small wedding, I highly recommend checking the Hyehold!
Back to Jamie and Doug. These two are hilarious. Always smiling and laughing together. It was such a joy to capture the two of them together. Their wedding was extremely unique and elegant. The details were very unique and the cupcakes, in place of a wedding cake were fantabulous! Vanilla Pastry Studio created the cupcakes, and according to the post-gazette, they are the best in town! I concur.
Thank you Jamie and Doug for letting us be a part of the fun. We had an awesome time and look forward to showing you the end results! Have fun on your long trip.
Megan and Gary were married on Saturday September 8. You will remember them from their e-session here. They are also the fun couple that agreed to be in our little promo video here (Click on 'David shooting an Engagement Session).
The day was awesome! Megan got ready at her parents home on Mt. Washington. It is a truly incredible place. The lighting alone is perfect. I even said that I would like to rent out a room for my natural light shoots with kids and seniors. haha
Megan and Gary are such fun loving people. This goes for their families as well. They both light up a room, when they walk in. They continually have ear to ear smiles. This is even accentuated, when they are together! Every detail was perfect and the day flowed flawlessly. They were married at the Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh and the reception was held at the Duquesne Club. (which happens to be the largest private club in the country!)
Thank you guys so much for trusting in us to document your day. I know you will LOVE the results. We had so much fun and look forward to seeing you again. Have a great trip!
Before we head off to the beach, for a long awaited family vacation, I want to post about the wedding I shot today. Heather and Mike were married today, August 3, 2007. You will remember them from their engagement shoot.
It was a HOT one today, all around. The Bride and Groom made it extra Hot ;-). They were married at Heinz Chapel and the reception was at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. The wedding was extra special because they both wrote their own vows. Talk about touching! There was not a dry eye in the place. They are so cute together!
Once we got to the reception, The one and only Jeremy Ganss, was cranking out the best tunes! If you need a DJ, look no further. He is incredible. I said to him, 'You are not a DJ, but an Artist!' I truly mean it, check him out.
The reception was really unique because dinner was not served. It was filled with tasty deserts and a beautiful wedding cake by, Cakes by Cheryl. Again an excellent vendor choice when you are looking for a beautiful and delicious wedding cake.
Thank you Heather and Mike, as well as all of your family and friends, for welcoming me and having me along for the day. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Enjoy your honeymoon!
You remember Brooke and Michael from our rainy, but Awesome, Washington DC engagement shoot. Well back then we said No Rain for the wedding!! We were blessed, however prepared! There was a big purchase of polka dot umbrellas, just in case. Awesome!
We had a beautiful day on Saturday and had a great time. I had my assistant, Jen, come along with me on this wedding and she did a wonderful job! Thank you for all of your help!
Brooke and Michael are such a sweet, sincere couple who are very much in love. The details were beautiful. So much thought and heart went into them all. We even saw Brooke's christening gown. So sweet. They were married at St. Louis de Marillac church in Upper St. Clair. The reception was held at the Radisson Greentree.
The flowers were done by the amazing Tutto Bella Florist. Amy and her team always do and amazing job!
We wish you too a long and happy marriage! Have fun on the honeymoon and we will talk soon. Thank you for having us!
This past weekend's wedding was a special one for our family. Bridget's cousin, Crystal, was married to Ryan at South Hills Assembly of God and the reception followed at the Bradley House. It is always a joy to document family affairs, because everyone is relaxed with the camera. It was great to have Bridget's family together for fun and celebration. We all had a blast! The wedding was fantastic and the day was absolutely perfect. This unseasonable cool, but beautiful July weather is incredible.
We started the day at Grandma's house (Crystal and Ryan live in Florida) while the girls got ready. Crystal had her mother as her maid of honor and Grandma gave her away. It was very touching for everyone. Ryan's best man was his buddy, Adam and Ryan's daughter Emily, was the flower girl. A very small bridal party which makes coordinating formal shots, very simple :-).
After the wedding, we stopped for some shots at Jefferson Memorial (always a beautiful backdrop). Onto the reception after that. The party was great! Everyone was Dancing and having a great time. At one point, Crystal & Bridget's cousin, Danny, got up and sang Young M.C.'s 'Bust A Move.' It was awesome! You will see him in action, below.
Thanks everyone for having me along! Thanks to my buddy Trevar for assisting and shooting with me!!
Enjoy!
Crystal doing Grandma's makeup
Crystal zippin up mom
Crystal
Ryan
Uncle Steve did the ceremony
Ahhh, my favorite lighting.
First Dance
That is Bridget and my sister-in-law Erin. (two pregnant girls tearing up the dance floor)
Saturday June 30 was the wedding of Erin and Sean. You should remember them from their engagement session here. I knew when I first met these two that their wedding was going to be awesome. Their love for each other is beautiful. Plus they have a blast and are always smiling!
Fine dining is an understatement. The the executive chef, Doug Ferraro, prepared incredible dishes for the guests. The event was managed by Thom Naylor who is an expert in hospitality. If you are planning a small to medium sized engagement, or just want to have a fabulous meal, you definitely need to check out this place! Ask for Thom.
Erin and Sean's family and friends are all very loving people and a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone for hosting such a grand event. We had an awesome time!
First off, Happy Father's Day out there to all of you Dad's! Especially my Dad (and all of the other Dad's in my life!!). We had a great Fathers Day. I will post some pictures later.
In the meantime, yesterday we shot the wedding of Chandra and Anthony at Beaver Lakes Country Club. My usual partner, Bridget, was unable to accompany me yesterday. I had the good fortune to bring along two great friends/photographers. Bob Fritz and Marcus Lang (Get that website goin Marcus!). It was GREAT having these two guys with me. A) We had a lot of fun! B) We captured many amazing images!! Below you will see a mix match of our shots together. I can't thank you guys enough for coming along!
This wedding was awesome. Chandra, has wonderful taste and provided so many details. The best thing about the details was that she created them all! It is always a treat when there are so many little things that make up the big picture. We were shooting details all day/night. The ceremony was outside overlooking a huge pond with a fountain in the center. The reception took place in the ballroom of the clubhouse. Thank you both for having us there! We had an awesome time. Enjoy your honeymoon!
Saturday, Bridget and I drove up to Old Stonewall Golf Club for Donna and John's wedding. It was a beautiful day for a wedding! The location was stellar as well. Donna and John both come from great families and their friends are awesome too. The entire event took place at the Golf Club, which made it very nice. They were married on the back patio overlooking the golf course. What a view! We did struggle with the wind a bit on Saturday, but it created some fun moments too (you will see below).
One of the coolest parts of the day was that Donna's, best friend, Ing, was her maid of honor and the officiant! Ing is a Baptist Minister. The ceremony was so touching and unique. What a wonderful friend! It was so sweet.
We had a really fun time on Saturday and wish Donna and John the best on the beginning of thier journey as husband and wife. Enjoy the next two weeks in Hawaii!! Thank you and your family and friends for making us feel so welcome. We enjoyed being with you all!
Here are a few moments from the day:
I mentioned the Wind earlier. We had Donna and John for some alone shots. So we were shooting along, having some fun and using the wind to create some drama with the veil. We ended up getting more than we asked for! The wind swooped in and took the veil up the side of the castle and onto the roof!! We did eventually get the veil returned, thankfully. Donna was so calm and relaxed when it was happening. This is the first I have seen something like this happen :-)
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).
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!
