Visual Impact vs. Perfection

I read and interesting article this morning over at Chase Jarvis' Blog, focusing on Stock Photography. It got me thinking about pictures, in general.

What do you like about a picture? Is it the content, composition, shadows, highlights, emotion, perfection, noise (or lack of), the "effect", etc... ??

Think about it.

For me, sometimes it is the Imperfections that make it more pleasing and create a better visual impact.

Here is an example of one of my favorite photographs, I have made. I have a 20x30 canvas in my studio of this photograph. There are imperfections about this image (ie, the baby's head is cut off, LOL!), but I wouldn't change it for the world.

(Image captured in black and white, contrast and noise added in Post Production)

A few new books for Inspiration

I love photography books! Recently I added a few to my collection, for inspiration. 2 are filled with images and one is more of an explanation of the process by shoot.

1. Annie Leibovitz at Work

Annie is a living legend, :-) She is one of my all time favorite photographers. Both her portrait setups and photojournalism are fantastic. This book explains how she thinks when shooting and takes you through the process of creating the image. So far, I love it.

2. Mario Testino: Let Me In!

Another highly sought after photographer is Mario Testino. Mario has such a raw style of shooting that I can't help but be drawn to it. His imagery is powerful, simple, fun. I think a lot of the impact (even with Leibovitz) has to do with who is in the photograph. (I would love to hear comments about this.) I sometimes think that if I were to take shots like this of the average Joe, they would not be as powerful, simple and fun. At any rate, I still love the images in this book.

3. Vanity Fair: The Portraits

I have always been drawn to the imagery in Vanity Fair. I guess it is no suprise since Leibovitz and Testino both have had many images throughout the magazine. Actually Annie has a long term contract with Vanity Fair, so her imagery is always in there. This book has portraits from the past 100 years. The book is huge and heavy. This equals Huge, Beautiful Portraits to view. I love this as well.

Please leave some comments to what Photography books inspire you. I like to get 1 or 2 every few months. I have also started cutting images from my favorite magazines and putting them on my office wall, so that I can always see them and be inspired before I go out and shoot. It is a great way to keep pushing your abilities.

Have a great weekend!

One Image

Every once in a while I make an image and just love it. This is one of those images.I won't ramble on here with words, I hope you like it too!

Catching up...

...is hard to do!

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???

Bryleigh - 1 Year

Well Bryleigh will officially be one year old on November 21, 2008, so I am a bit premature with this post... Since I will be out of town for her actual birthday I wanted to post now.

To say it was a great year would be an understatement. We have been blessed with the sweetest little girl. She is so calm and happy. There may have been 1 or 2 days throughout the whole year where she wasn't her typical smiling self. Even when she had a 105 degree fever (due to a UTI), she was smiling. We all love her sooooo much :-)!

Having a daughter has definitely changed me, for the better of course... Having boys has been a wonderful experience, but having a daughter has been extra special. Firstly, we found the name Brylee, but decided to change 'lee' to 'leigh' to honor the memory of my first daughter, Jourdan Leigh. Secondly, having a daughter has made me want to be a better man. It want to be an example of the man I would like her to be with someday. It is so easy to sit back and be worried/concerned for her future, but I am choosing to be a better example instead. Easier said than done somedays!! I know I am not perfect and have my shortcomings but I sure am making the best of it.

With that being said, I just want to wish Bryleigh Teresa Burke a Happy 1st Birthday!! Thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives. Thank you to Bridget (Mommy) and her 3 big brothers, Damon, Christian and Brayden. We all love you so much! Just think, next year at this time YOU will be a big sister too!! We love you baby girl!!!

Bryleigh at birth...


Bryleigh at 1 year....


**About the 1 year picture - I made this portrait yesterday 11/16/08 and decided to mess with Photoshop a bit. This image is way out of my comfort zone, but I am liking it. It is very rare that I extensively edit an image, but I think it is important to try new things and grow. Not sure if I will do any more like this soon, but it sure was fun! Hope you like it!**

Shoot N Learn - December & Miscellaneous

Hey all! So we are mid November and I realize that I am not going to be able to have a SNL this month :( The good news is that we have been extremely busy/productive here and things are going great. I have also scheduled the next Shoot N Learn for Tuesday December 9, 2008, 6PM @ my studio. We will be SHOOTING this time! We will work in the studio, shoot, learn & have fun. Sound good? I hope to see you all there!!

In other news we have been shooting like crazy, editing, doing albums etc... Please bear with us if you are on our list.. We are getting to you soon ;-) We have experienced some growth lately and have been granted some incredible opportunities. Life is Good! I am headed to Cabo next week to shoot a wedding and am bringing along my good friend/photographer, Kenny Kim. Good Times for sure!

Home has been fun! Bryleigh will be 1 next week! I cannot believe it. She is so stinking cute! She smiles, 24/7. She is so smart and tries so hard to have a conversation. She will sit with me and just hang out for hours. She really loves her 3 older brothers too (and of course Mommy!). Each time one of us walk in a room, she lights up like a Christmas tree with Joy. She reminds me of how WE need to be. Much like the behavior of a dog that is unconditionally happy to see his owner, always! Please keep Bridget in your thoughts and prayers as she has not been feeling very well this first trimester. Hopefully she will be out of the sick days soon and be her happy self again. We love her no matter what! She is my hero for being able to maintain a household, keep the kids in line, keep ME in line all the while being sick constantly. I am the luckiest man around!

The more I think about having 5 children, the more excited I get. Each day I learn what is "Really" important and things that "Really aren't" important. Lots of fun.

OK, sorry for the tangent there. I need to blog more. I need about 24 extra hours a day. Thanks for letting me chat for a minute!

Can't post without a picture. Here is one from a recent family session.

LaMarr Woodley #56 Pittsburgh Steelers

I recently had the distinct pleasure to work with LaMarr Woodley of the Pittsburgh Steelers and his publicist Carmella Rackham of 5000 public relations in New York City.

When LaMarr walked in, he said, "What's up David?" I said, "Hi LaMarr. I figured we would be about the same size..." Insert Laughs here! He smiled and said, "Same size, huh?".. It was a good ice breaker. LaMarr is every bit of 6'2" and 265 lbs. Pounds of Muscle that is. Giant.

LaMarr Woodley is one of the hottest Linebackers in the NFL and was named NFL Defensive Player of the week for Week 7 this year. He also had an incredible college career with The University of Michigan. He is such a personable man and photographs extremely well. Working with LaMarr and Carmella was a joy and I look forward to working with them again in the future.

Here is one of my favorite images we created. This image is used with LaMarr's permission.




Keep your eyes out for LaMarr, he is doing great things!

David Burke Photographer Pittsburgh Steelers LaMarr Woodley

Shooting Lots

I have been shooting a lot lately and enjoying it tremendously. I have been working with such wonderful people. I am sooo far behind on blogging these shoots, but I wanted to drop a few recent images (that are a little different than what I normally shoot) and say Hello... So... 'Hello World!' Please tell me what you think!

Pics:

The White Sessions

I love the clean simple portraits and I love Black and White. I have decided to do a few signature sessions for a limited time in the studio. The first of these sessions is The White Session. We are doing the White Sessions November 13-15 here in our studio. We have set times right now, but may expand the timeframes if needed.

The goal is to create clean, simple portraits of individuals, couples & families (1-4 max) while wearing white. We are working in 20 minute mini sessions on a grey or white background. Bring along your personality :-) Happy, Mad, Sad, Goofy. The choice is yours. We will have fun!

These portraits make great gifts for those that love you!

Please follow this link to the PDF and contact us if you would like to set up a session. I look forward to seeing you here at the studio!

A few newborns!

Babies abound! I have been shooting a lot of newborns lately and have enjoyed it tremendously. Two of note that I would like to share with you involve some new clients and some older clients.

First the new clients. Heather and Matt were referred to me through a previous client (Thank you Mary Ellen!), when they were looking for maternity images. I had the opportunity to meet them and shoot the maternity session, two weeks before baby A was born. Baby A is here now and he is beautiful!

Heather and Matt before Baby ;-)


Baby A


I love his little lips!


Secondly, My wedding clients, Karen and Ray, recently welcomed baby E into this world and could not be happier. It is such an honor to watch my clients and their families grow. As you can see Baby E is beautiful!

Baby E = Precious


The Family



I have said it before and I will say it again. Newborns are so much fun to photograph! I think there is something in the water lately.... I know a lot of pregnant women out there ;-) Please give us a call when you are ready for some pictures!

New Life...

Lots to catch up and post about, but could not resist posting this image showing interaction between a newborn baby girl and her mother, softly comforting her. I knew when I pressed the shutter that this image was going to speak volumes (at least to me).

Being the softy that I am, I cannot help but marvel at how perfect and precious a newborn is. When I look at newborns, I see nothing but Perfection. I am so fortunate that I have these opportunities to Document Life at its Best.

Here is baby A and mom. Don't ya just love her???


More posts to follow!

Look at Miss Avenue

I had the recent pleasure of shooting this lovely young lady (Miss Avenue ;-) ) in an effort to create some headshots and full body shots. We did both studio and location work. I am so happy with these images and thought you all would enjoy too.

Check her out!

Silhouette on White Seamless

I had an assignment to create a Silhouette at High Noon on a Sunny Day... I thought things through and decided to go for it in studio instead. We were Very Excited with the results! Here is the shot we chose. What do you think?



I used to think that I would not like Studio Photography. I feared being boxed in and forcing images into a cookie cutter shape. I am finding more and more, how wrong I was. I am loving the options I have. Actually shooting more studio images lately, has been a blessing for me. I am starting to see things entirely differently. This can only help my vision going forward, on all of my assignments. I am having too much fun!

Out of the Office :-)

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!

David

Fun Times with Lil J

I have had the privilege of watching Lil J grow up for the past three years. It is always fun to be around him. We met last week and did a shoot for his 3rd year. He even brought his own camera to shoot me! God Love Him!!

Here he is with his big blue beautiful eyes!




Him shooting Me

Newborn Twins Shoot

Every time I have the opportunity to document a newborn, I am completely honored. New Life is so exciting and precious to me! This week I was blessed with capturing twin girls! My oh my are they adorable! Baby N and Baby A were absolute angels. We had a wonderful shoot and I cannot wait to share the images with Mom and Dad! Thank you for having me over and I look forward to seeing you soon! Here are a few for a sneak peek.

Happy 1st Birthday!

We had a lovely little lady (along with all of her brothers and sister) in the studio this morning for a very fun 1st birthday photoshoot! Mom brought a cake for "H" to make a mess with. Although she didn't tear it up as much as we would have liked, she still had a great time. We all did! What a great way for us to start the day. I can't wait to show the rest of the images to the family.

If you are interested in bringing in your 1st birthday girl or boy please give us a call :-)

Here is a sneak peek:

Family Session

Still playing Blog Catch up!

I shot a beautiful family a few weeks ago at a local park. 3 beautiful children along with a beautiful mom & dad! It was a HOT morning, but we had a great location and were having lots of fun! Sadly for us, this family is moving away :-( It is great news for them because they have a wonderful opportunity ahead of them. We will miss them!

Enjoy a few images from the shoot:

Bryleigh Sitting up.

Our lovely, happy, cuddly and chubby :-) little girl is finally sitting up! I took her up on the hill last night and grabbed a few pics.

Don't you just want to squeeze her up? I love her!


David Burke Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

Precious Newborn

I am really loving shooting all of these newborns!

Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer - Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

Newborn Sneak Peak

Really quickly, I could not resist posting this. I had another wonderful newborn shoot the other day. I will properly blog this later. This image just grabbed me and I wanted to share.

This is life at its finest.

Bryleigh @ 5 months

I was also told that I would be hit over the head if I did not start posting pics of my own kids too.

So as I was feeding Bryleigh some sweet potatoes, I could not resist a few snaps.

Here is one. I just want to eat her up. She is so adorable!

Family Session

Earlier this week I was introduced to a fabulous family in my area. I am so happy that I got to meet them and know them better! They are a such a happy family :-) Mom, Dad plus 4 girls and 2 boys! The love that keeps this family tightly knit is so apparent when you meet them. The children are all so well behaved too. We had an awesome shoot! I cannot wait to present the rest of the images!!! I am so blessed to be doing what I love... Documenting life is such an amazing privilege.

In the meantime, here is a sneak at what we captured. Thank you for having us over and see you next week!
The Gang


Mom and Dad


Oldest to Youngest

Lots Of Kids!

Had a really fun shoot with 7 children last week. They were all so great to interact with. Our goal was to get a non-traditional group shot and individual shots of each. It is always a challenge photographing multiple people (especially children :-) ) at once, but we pulled it off nicely.

Once we got some of the group shots we just observed and took some random shots as well. Once the children were rested enough, we moved into individual portraits. I love the individual portrait time with kids!

**Shooting Tip**
It is so great to be on their level and find things that we can connect with, such as cartoons, food, school, bikes, sports, etc... When I am shooting portraits of children, I talk and talk to keep that connection going. This is a very important component of my children's photography, because it breaks them from the "mold" of "say cheese" or "sit this way, do this". I love natural portaits, so this is one of my ways to achieve the best results.

Here are some images from the shoot:
















Had a really fun shoot with 7 children last week. They were all so great to interact with. Our goal was to get a non-traditional group shot and individual shots of each. It is always a challenge photographing multiple people (especially children :-) ) at once, but we pulled it off nicely.

Once we got some of the group shots we just observed and took some random shots as well. Once the children were rested enough, we moved into individual portraits. I love the individual portrait time with kids!

David Burke Children's Photographer, Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

Lifestyle Session - The Bowers Family

I LOVE Lifestyle Family Sessions! Especially when my clients love them too ;-)

Monday evening we had a great night for the shoot. The girls were soo cute and fun to play with. We had an absolute blast!

Thank you all for having fun with me. Here are a few images as a sneak peek for ya!

Newborn Session to Maternity Session

Last week was a crazy week. With Brayden being sick, I had to line up my priorities accordingly and he came in first place. Everything else fell behind and we are now just about caught up.

Thankfully Brayden is now back to 100%. I tried to get him to make a video this morning to thank everyone for prayers and happy thoughts, but it did not work out too well. haha. I am going to post at least some happy face pics of him.

Friday I was able to shoot a newborn and a maternity session. Sweet.

Baby G is gorgeous and cuddly. Don't ya just want to eat her up? She was born to Amy and Chris ( you can see their maternity images here). I love her hair! Thank you Amy and Chris for having me over. We created some fantastic images that you are going to love! See ya soon. Here is a sneak peak.






In the early evening I had the fortune of hanging out with one of my favorite couples, Stephanie and Jeremy. We documented their wedding last March 31, 2007. It was so great to see them again and this time, with baby on the way! These two are so perfect together. I cannot wait to meet the new addition.

We had so much fun taking some images. Here are a few for a sneak peak. Enjoy and I will see you soon! (Aren't they beautiful??)
**Update Forgot to blog this one. My favorite!**

Senior Pictures

Had a great senior shoot the other night. Beautiful subject and lots of different lighting to play with. We had overcast, hard sunlight, darkness, off camera lighting and open shade. I call that Options! We will call her "J". She was awesome to work with and we know that she is going to love the images. Here are a few for a sneak peak.

Amy's Maternity Images

This evening I shot an awesome maternity session. Amy & Chris are expecting their first child (It's a Girl!) within two weeks. This is such an exciting time for them!!

I set out to do something a little different this evening and I am very excited with the results. While I was heading out the door I decided to grab my 28" softbox and lightstand, just in case we would not have enough available light. I am so glad that I did and will not leave home without it again ! For the most part, we had plenty of light, but I decided to do something different. We went into a room and got rid of the available light and used the One Light setup. It was so rewarding to come out of my comfort zone!

A few of these were available light and a few were the "One Light" setup. Can ya tell which ones? It truly is amazing what you can do when you have your settings dialed in and move around the subject or move the light. The options are endless. We kept it super simple and created killer images.

No Photoshop required (Except for the Keyline Frame around the images and slight burning on one of the images). Aperture 2.0 was used for the edits.

Ok enough of the technical jargon and onto the pics.

Thanks Amy & Chris for having me over! You are going to LOVE the images. Here is a little sneak peak.

Home from Vegas and April Children's Special!

Hi Everyone,
I am home from my Las Vegas trip and re-energized. It is so Awesome to be home with my family. I missed them so much. I did have a great time, reconnected with friends and met a lot of new friends. WPPI is such a fabulous community! If you are a photographer and never attended WPPI - Vegas, I suggest you do so. Next year it is Feb 14 - 19 at MGM. It will be fantastic.

I got to see KA - Cirque du Soleil. Amazing!!! One of my album companies took us there for a treat. They are incredible! Thank you KISS ;-)

We also have a lot of things brewing here at David Burke Photographers and have decided to run a Super Special for our Children's Sessions during the month of April. Here are the details:

Here is the skinny:

• No Session Fee! - That's right, we are waiving our normal session fee of $200.00 on our WEEKDAY sessions. This means that your session has to take place between Monday through Friday.


• Subject to our Availability (so if you are considering booking a session, Book Now :-)!!


• Session Location: Your choice. We do all on-location photography. Your home, A park, Church, School, etc... Your Pick!


• View our this blog and Our Portfolio for some samples of our children's work.


• When you call to schedule we will talk to you about the shoot, schedule the shoot & schedule a viewing session to view the proofs. We may even get crazy and have the viewing session on location if time allows.


• Please call us 412.979.7525 or email us info@davidburkephoto.com for more information or to book a session!

If we can help you, please let us know. PS - Tell your friends!!! :)

Here is one of my recent fav's... She is so adorable!

Newborn Photo Session

Our new niece, Julia turned 1 week old today. We headed over for a newborn session. My goodness is she beautiful. As I have said before...God is Good!!







I LOVE her skin tone.


Tech Stuff:
All images shot with available window light
ISO 400-640
f 1.8 - 3.2
shutter 1/125 - 1/250
First two had Kodak Tmax 400 action from Alien Skin Exposure 2 run on them.

Newborn Twins

Today we photographed baby C & E. Oh my goodness are they cute! Big sister M was also there for the fun. We had such a great time and can't wait for Mom, Dad & Grandma to see these sneak peaks. Enjoy!

Newborn and Big Sister

I started the day off with a newborn session and to my delight, Baby R's big sister was there too. I could not resist creating images of her as well! These two are so precious!!!

Baby R was born on January 29, 2008. (Such a special day!)

Enjoy the sneak peak MOM! Thanks for having me over!

New Website: davidburkekids.com

Hey Peeps!
We have launched a new website!!! to showcase some of our children's work. The site has a few portfolios as well as information about David and details about our sessions.

The site will be updated frequently, with new pics and information. The 'Pricing Details' link is not active but will be shortly :-).

davidburkekids.com is an extension of the David Burke Photographers brand that is dedicated to providing excellent service and imagery of David's favorite subjects... KIDS! Maternity to Seniors is what we are about.
Our Galleries are named:
Fresh - the freshest lives. newborns and babies.

Exploring - the toddler to youth years

Leading - seniors. moving on to be the next leaders.

Together - maternity & families. we want to capture the 'togetherness' of people, not just a portrait.

We are SUPER EXCITED to launch this site and are already booking up sessions quickly! Please drop us a line @ info@davidburkephoto.com to let us know what you think!

Without further adieu please visit http://davidburkekids.com

Recent Kids Shoot

Check out these lil guys. We had a blast! This is a sneak peek for mom.

Kids

Starting to catch up.
Check him out.

Golden Light.

I had a kids' shoot this evening and as I was backing up the images, this one really stood out. The lighting was so beautiful at the end of the day. Images like this keep me coming back for more :-) God is Good.

We were waiting for their little sister, so I just snapped this when I saw them.

PS - I am behind on blogging and will be catching up soon. Also davidburkekids.com will be making it's debut VERY SOON!

B's Belly

Wow, only 6 weeks to go for baby girl! We created some fantastic maternity images to remember this experience with!!! We are going to keep them under the wraps though :-) Here is a sneak peak of her belly.



Ok, maybe 1 more.

Greatest Job In The World.

The title says it all. I love my job. I will let the Pics do the talking.

Bray's new knit hat...

We just bought the little guys and girl some new knit hats for this fall/winter. I love these hats! Bray put his on this morning and asked me to take some shots. I figured I would share, because they are so darned cute.

BTW - if you want to get your kids some really beautiful knit hats, check out LaFolie knits. We buy them every year.

Just a quick pic

Had a family session yesterday and wanted to post this quick pic. Isn't she a cutie??

Another Senior, Another Fantastic Shoot

Last night I photographed S. She was awesome to work with! The light and locations were perfect last night. She was so easy to photograph, because she just knew what to do. It was like she has done this many times before. Mom and Dad were a huge help as well (Thank you both!). I will let the pics speak for themselves. Thanks S and I will be in touch soon!

Enjoy

Senior Shoot

Here are a few images of my recent shoot with D. We got a lot of great images but am only going to post a quick few. I had fun with his whole family, including the dog Buzz. Thanks for having me over! I will talk to you soon.

Brooke's Maternity Images

If you follow my blog, you are surely familiar with my sister-in-law, Brooke. Her and Michael came in last weekend for their baby shower. While they were here, we decided to take some pictures of her belly, because I will not see them again until after the baby is born. Cool thing is that I will be in Atlanta when the baby is still a newborn, so we are planning to do a newborn session too!

So, here they are. We did a few in the house and a few outside. These are just a few of my favorites. I can't wait to meet him/her!!

Family Shoot

I had a wonderful time, last night, hanging out with B,A & R! They have a beautiful home and property for shooting :-) We climbed trees, got in a boat (on the pond) and jumped on the trampoline. Fabulous! These kids are so sweet and well behaved. They love the camera too and I can assure you the camera loves them back!

Thanks guys(&girls)!!! I will be in touch soon.

Check them out!

More Senior Shootin'

Tonight I met with J and her family. Again we lucked out with the weather (it was supposed to Thunderstorm) and headed outdoors. Although a bit humid, we made it work. She is so photogenic and happy :-). I met her back in February at the American Heart Association Gala that I covered. Her and a few of her friends grabbed some of the costume attire and then got my attention to take a few shots. We had so much fun! I was really happy when her mother called to schedule her senior pictures with us.

We came across this great field of corn and had some fun with her second outfit. We also were shooting with her siblings, earlier on in the evening. That was a lot of fun too!

This is part one of J's shoot. We have another shoot scheduled in a few weeks, so be sure to check back. Thanks to J and her family for having me along. I look forward to seeing you all again!

Here are a few:

Senior Session Part Two

I had a second opportunity to photograph Sarah last night. This time we headed to a very special place (to us all), our church. Sarah's family is very involved with our church, so she spends a lot of time there. This environment is the perfect fit for the 'icing' on the cake for her senior pictures. Again, we had a fabulous session! She is such a natural and photographs so very well. Thank you for trusting in us to provide you with these special photographs! God Bless. :-)

Here are a few looks:

Senior Session

August is shaping up to be a great month for Senior photo sessions! Last night we met with Sarah for an awesome shoot. We had a great location, perfect lighting and of course a beautiful subject. Mix the three together and you get fantabulous results! We had so much fun and I can't wait to share the results.

We love doing senior sessions, if you or someone you know is interested, please drop us a line @ 724.597.7525 or info@davidburkephoto.com.

Meet Sarah :-)

Evening Shoot

The other night I got to hang out with a great family and create some images! The most important aspect of the shoot was to capture the little guy for his birthday. He is so adorable! He loved the camera and kept pointing at it and chasing me. It was so cute. His two brothers and older sister were awesome as well. We had a lot of fun and we got some great images!! Here are a few teasers. Thanks for having me over! We will be in touch soon!





Every once in a while I am able to capture something that reminds me just how much I love what I do! This is one of those images. He decided he was done and was just walking away into the sunlight. Priceless!


He joined up with his siblings :-) I love the flare and backlighting.

Some Playtime

I had the chance to hang out with lil b & lil s for some playtime at the park. We had so much fun. I love chasing little ones around with my camera!! These ages are so active and fun. B sang me 'Old McDonald' and picked lots of clover, while S ran around, rode the swings, slid down the slide, climbed the wall, etc... Thank you for bringing me a long!

Aren't they cuties??

50 Years for the Spinabellis

July 17 marked 50 wonderful years together for Luigi and Elena Spinabelli. They are just like family to us, so I was so happy to document their anniversary. July 16 we went to the church where they were married in the Strip District. It was so cool to go back to where it started. Luigi's brother and his wife were present too. They originally stood for them 50 years ago. How awesome! July 17 they had a reception at Rolling Hills Country Club for all of the close friends and family. As usual, it was a superb event! We always get filled with Parma Sausage Products (Luigi started Parma Sausage in the strip district in 1954) and other goodies before the meal is served. Great People, Great Food and Great Times! We love you guys! Thank you for having us be a part of your celebration. We wish 50 more wonderful years for you!!!

Here are some random shots from the event ( I got carried away....):

Growing up!

When I was in Atlanta, over the 4th of July, I got to spend time with some of my favorite clients. It is always an honor to photograph repeat clients. It is really a bonus when the client is a young child :-) It is so neat to watch them growing up! I captured this little guy about a year ago and I cannot believe how much he has grown!!! Click here to see him last year.

God Bless you little man! Can't wait to see you again!!!

Big Family Shoot

Sunday, one of my favorite clients had us over to shoot 17 kids for a suprise DVD slideshow for thier grandmother. 17 grandchildren ranging from 6 - 22yrs old. It was a blast. We created some wonderful portraits and captured a lot of fun behind the scenes. I have chosen to show a few of those fun shots.

Also Sue's sister made some incredible cookies that were super tasty!! MM MM MM, we were just missing a tall glass of milk :-). I put a pic of the cookies and one of me enjoying them!

Thanks everyone, I can't wait to show you the finished product.

Funny Faces


Reactions (This is Shawna. She was my righthand girl on Sunday helping us keep the structure going for the portraits. Thanks Shawna, you are the best!)


More funny faces


Cookies!!!!


These are tasty :-)

Kids Post

Man, I have been on a roll lately photographing beautiful kids.

This is the daughter of some very good friends of ours. We saw them on Memorial Day weekend, so fortunately I had my camera and time to play.

Is she a cutie or what? Look at those Shirley Temple Curls. I love em!!!

Such a Cutie!

Check out this adorable little lady I got to hang out with on Friday. Isn't she a doll?

I love doing these sessions with kids! If you would like to have one of these relaxed portrait sessions with your child or children please give us a call @ 724.597.7525 or email to info@davidburkephoto.com

Growing up Fast!

I have had the opportunity to photograph my good friends' (Linda and Craig) son, the past few years. He just turned 2 on May 8 which is just 3 weeks before Brayden turns two. It has been fun watching these guys grow. This Post has some images of him a year ago.

He is a riot. Staying in one place, just is not happening! haha. His vocabulary is out of this world too. He says, 'I am going up the steps now. Oh look, an airplane!' with such clarity. Such a cutie.

It is always an honor to capture kids for me. It sure does keep me young. I am getting back on a roll with kids and will be launching some cool stuff in the near future.

Check him out:

Holy Communion

Yesterday I spent some time with a lovely family at St. Louise De Marillac Church, in Upper St. Clair. This lovely little lady had her first communion a few weeks ago. I was happy when I got the call to meet with them and create some portraits for them. We had a blast! We started with a few formals inside the church and then headed out onto the grounds of the church for some more casual shots. The rain held off for us too, which was great! She had so much energy and really loved to be in front of the camera. At one point she said, 'Are we done?' I said, 'Would you like to be?' Her answer, 'No!'. hahaha So needless to say we kept on shooting.


Photographing kids will keep me young! It is the best...

Check it out!






I Love this shot!


She wanted to make some funny ones :-) So Cute.

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.

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...

Amanda

Hi everyone! I hope everyone in the Northeast is staying warm and safe!

Yesterday, I got to meet Amanda. She is the daughter of a friend of mine. We met up for a headshot session. It was a great session! We had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures! It will be hard to edit them down because they all look beautiful. As you can see, the subject makes the pictures! I could immediately tell that Amanda was totally cool with the camera and is a lot of fun to be around (just like her dad). After the shoot she was on her way to audition for the Pittsburgh CLO. I will have to find out how she did! I am betting that she did fantastic!!

Here are a few quickies for the web. Good Luck Amanda!! Talk to you soon. Thank you!