Slip n Slide + Apple Box

Equals Fun! Check out Damon.


Boogie Board too

Live In Model

I never get tired of Photographing Bray Bray. He gets bored, but he does work it. I was practicing shooting my favorite Portrait Lens (Nikon 85 f/1.4 D Nikkor) wide open at 1.4. Check him out.

Look Who's 2!!!

Happy Birthday to Brayden (Bray Bray)!! 2 years ago, today, we welcomed this little guy into the world. He truly has made it a better place to live. He has an everlasting smile and just loves to be around his brothers, mother and me. We adore him.

Happy Birthday Buddy, We love you!

Enjoy this extended picture post from images we snapped today.

Birthday Post.

Yesterday was my Bday. I am in my Thirty Somethings again! We had a great day. Lots of family and great friends joined us. We had the slip n slide out and the kids had a blast. Click the picture for a few random shots I took. There is even one of me in there!

I want to thank my wonderful, beautiful (and hot of course!) wife, Bridget, for putting this all together. I love you sweetie!!!

Mother's Day (A couple days late)

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

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

Mom and Me


Mom, MaMa, Me


Bridget, MaMa, Mom

First Glimpse at Baby Burke!

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

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

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

Headed to Florida!

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

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

Andy Peterson and Studio 563

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

Nice Headshot


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

Hockey and Easter Fun

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

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

Robert Trent Sr.

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

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

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

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



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

Happy Easter!

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

Baseball is Back!

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

Listening


Running


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

WPPI and GREAT NEWS for our family!

First off Great News (pt. 1), I just want to let you all know that Bray Bray is doing wonderfully! He is all better and happier than ever. He laughs more than any child I know. Everytime he giggles, it just makes me happy to be alive!

Secondly, I was away in Las Vegas for the WPPI Convention. I hooked up with some old friends and made a lot of new friends as well. We had such a blast and very little sleep. I am still trying to catch up! The funny thing about the trip is that, I had my camera, but NEVER used it!!! I only have memories and my friends' blogs to check. I was having too much fun to take any pictures... Thanks to all of my friends for making it such a great time, I feel truly blessed to know you all.

*Edited to Add* My friend Tiffany Aicklen was kind enough to send us all this hilarious shot from the SimplePhoto Booth. We broke the record for the most people in one shot. It was quite a squeeze!



We have been busy the past few weeks, I am really behind on blogging, but will catch up over the next week, I promise! Tomorrow kicks off our 2007 wedding season! We are so pumped to get rockin! It is going to be a beautiful day, so please stay tuned.

Lastly, but certainly not least.... The drumroll please.......

GREAT NEWS!!!



Check back in the Fall of 2007 for a new Baby Burke!!!

Bray Bray

Just wanted to have a quick post about our Bray Bray. He is not feeling well so I asked what would make him happy. He said, 'Blog.' haha Just kidding.

On a serious note, we found out that he has pneumonia. He will be fine, but prayers are welcome! He is still trying to be himself, but he is a little sluggish. I feel so bad for him :( He is taking some antibiodics and should be back to normal soon. Here are a few pics of him (happier times) over the past few months of our little dude.

Ben Roethlisberger and Damon

Saturday, my son Damon, had the awesome opportunity to hang out with Ben Roethlisberger for a mini-camp. Damon told me that Ben threw 3 passes to him, but he dropped the first two. He said that on the third pass, Ben said, "Go Deep Damon, Keep Going Damon!" So Damon ended up catching a 55 yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger! How cool is that catching a bomber from the Super Bowl XL Champion Quarterback? Once in a lifetime opportunity!

He told me that it hurt like crazy, when he caught it! Damon's uncle Nathan, was gracious enough to invite him to the mini camp. Thanks uncle Nathan!! Here is a shot that they emailed me.

Tomas Flint

Today's featured photographer and new friend is Tomas Flint of Rochester, New York! Tomas is a very cool cat that has a brand spanking new website and Blog. After the workshop in Newport Beach, Tomas had the opportunity to take another trip to the Bahamas for some R&R. Tough Life!!! See you soon Buddy :-).

Meet Tomas:
Formal:


Relaxed:

Priscilla O'Sullivan

Today's featured Photographer is Chicago's Priscilla O'Sullivan. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. She also just started a blog! Check it out here. She also just made the switch to Mac!! As you know we adore Apple Products! Now if she would only switch to Nikon Equipment, she would be set! haha As you can see she is well on her way to success, building her business!

Meet Priscilla:

Corey McNabb

Slowly but surely I am posting about all of my new friends I made at the Mike Colón workshop.
Meet Corey McNabb! He is a great guy and a fabulous photographer. He resides in Asheville, NC. Corey and I met online through Mike's blog before the workshop. It was great to exchange some emails before we got there. It gave us both a chance to know someone before we arrived. hahaha

Corey recently won a bunch of awards with the WPJA. He is now a Gold Medallion Winner! Congratulations Corey!!

Check him out at Corey's Blog .

A serious pose:


The REAL Corey: :-)

Element of Love!

Hello People... Thank you Heather and Joanne for a wonderful and creative learning experience! I had a blast and enjoyed my time with you and everyone else!! Thanks to Maria for being an awesome model!! Love, Bridget!!

Today, Bridget attended a wonderful workshop, thrown by two of our good friends, Heather Lahtinen and Joanne Bartone. Together, they created an experience called 'Element of Love'. EOL is a workshop that combines the talents of both of these wonderful artists, business savy, photographers. Bridget came home very energized and ready for wedding season. We are getting ready to kick off the season on March 31!! We are really looking forward to the many weddings we have scheduled.

Bridget met some great people and made some new friends. She said the workshop was filled with extremely valuable information, for the beginner, intermediate and professional. She HIGHLY recommends taking the Element of Love workshop the next time around. Joanne and Heather are very professional and passionate about what they do. They really want to elevate all photographers in all aspects of the business. I think that what they are doing is awesome! It is so nice to have a group of photographers together, sharing information and helping each other out. Gone are the days of keeping secrets from each other and being stingy with knowledge. Life is too short! Share what you know and you will end up learning a lot more than you ever imagined.

Bridget was working the Nikon like a Pro today! Didn't she do great??:










The Dynamic Duo Joanne and Heather

Archer - AJ

I just wanted to give a little shout out to Archer John! Archer (AJ) is the son of two of my very best friends, John and Terry. Archer was baptised this last Sunday and is just about 4 months old. He is such a cutie! Of course I had to bring along the camera and take a few shots. Check him out!

God Bless you little man!

David Burke - The Chef

When I first tried to register davidburke.com, it was already taken. At first I was kind of bummed. The domain was parked. Once in a while, I would check and one day it talked about David Burke the chef. Apparently, this David Burke Chef has done VERY well for himself! He is opening up restaurants all over. Check him out David Burke the Chef. Go David Burke the Chef!! I am happy the domain is going to wonderful use.

He has a new restaurant opening at the Venetian in Las Vegas. So this evening I received an email from Mike Colón's mobile phone. He said that he was impressed I was opening a new restaurant at the Venetian and that I was a man of many talents! He attached the picture below from his camera phone. hahaha This is a great way to get my name (our name) out there huh??? Thanks Mike!

Safely Home

If you follow our blog, you know our friends, The Sarniak Family. We have posted about them here and here. This morning we received the news that their son, Christian, passed away in the middle of the night. Words cannot express our feelings that go out to their family. News like this is never easy to absorb. Even though he was not expected to live a long life, the impact that his little life had was enormous. I pray that God comfort the Sarniaks and all of their extended family. I know that Christian is in a wonderful place and will always be with them.

When I lost my daughter, Jourdan, in 1998, this poem meant so much to me and helped me get through many difficult times.

SAFELY HOME

I am home in heaven, dear ones; oh, so happy and so bright! There is a perfect joy and beauty in the everlasting light. All the pain and grief is over, every restless tossing passed; I am now at peace forever, safely home in heaven at last. There is work still waiting for you, so you must not idly stand, do it now, while life remaineth– you shall rest in God’s own land. When that work is all completed, He will gently call you home; oh, the rapture of that meeting oh, the joy to see you come!

Re-reading this right now, brings back that comfort.

The Bazooka Lens

When we went on our shoots, I had the opportunity to shoot with Mike Colón's Nikon 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor. It is no wonder why it is his favorite lense! Though, not the most compact lense, this thing is a MUST HAVE for serious shootin! It is by far the sharpest piece of glass I have ever used. I was shooting it wide open at f/2.0. I couldn't get over how tack sharp it is. The thing weighs 6.5lbs! You can only use it sparingly on a wedding day, but I cannot wait to get one and take this lense only on an engagement shoot. It will be well worth it!!

Here are a few pics of me using the bazooka (Thanks for giving me the first try for free Mike! hahaha Nikon Loves when you have these workshops!)
Image by Mike Colón


Image by Melissa Rich


Here is one of me shooting on the beach:
Image by Melissa Rich



This is one of Brittany Gebler, one of our beautiful models. Brittany is also a photographer attending Brook's Institute. Brittany helped us out sooo much during the week. She modeled at the beach, on the streets of Laguna and even jumped in the pool with her dress on! It was a blast. Thanks Brittany!! We started shooting her next to this Ferrari and the owner walked over and said, 'Would you like to get in?' This car was insane! Don't you love how she just Pops out of the image? The background goes milky... I love that! I shot this with the 200, 2.0 @ 1600/sec.

Friends

Last week I met fabulous people/photographers at the Workshop. I am going to do my best to post everyone on my blog so that you can meet them too. Today I have selected Mike Steelman and Kristin Shaparenko, both of which are in California.

Mike Steelman has businesses based around photography. One is ScriPics.com and the other is mikesteelman.com. ScriPics is what got him started. He creates images that speak to his heart and adds Bible scripture to the images that fit perfectly with the image. He is extremely talented in this area. When he first showed Bridget and I, we were blown away at the beauty and simplicity of the images. There was one in particular that really spoke to us. I told him that when we got home we were going to order the print. Being the giver that he is, on Monday a package arrived at our home with a gift from Mike. The gift was the image that we really loved, Matted and ready for framing. He also included a custom card with another fabulous image on it and very beautiful handwritten words to our family. Thank you Mike! It was great meeting you and I look forward to seeing you soon! Check out ScriPics.com to add some Light in your Lives!
Here is Mike:


Kristin Shaparenko is one of Mike Colón's assistants. She was crucial to the structure of the workshop and helped in so many ways. Kristin is also a photographer. Her site is Kristin Renee. Kristin is a wonderful person and photographer (see her site and you will know what I mean). Thank you so much for your hospitality, guidance, willingness to share and just being fun! It was great hanging with you all week. I'll see you in Vegas!
Kristin

More Workshop Images

I have a lot of things to catch up on but wanted to quickly post a few images from our beach session the other day. This model is Jasmine Star. She is a photographer too! She is awesome behind the camera and in front of it! (I like to be behind the camera!! haha) Check out her blog Here.

It was awesome working with All the models! Jasmine also brought her husband along on day two for some modeling. Jasmine and JD are two of the warmest people I have met. They are so great to be around! Great to photograph as well. Check them out!

I will be posting as much as I can this week, while I catch up with all of the important things to keep the ball rolling!

*TECHNICAL JARGON FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS*
I am now a JPEG Shooter! I have been going back and forth for quite a while and finally took the plunge last week. I can still see myself capturing RAW when needed, but for the majority of my shooting, I am shooting JPEG. Turns out that I LOVE the straight out of the camera files I am getting with JPEG. I setup 3 of my Custom Setting Banks on the Nikon D200 and started using the K scale for White Balance. I am loving the results. It sure beats fiddling with the Raw files on the computer! I would rather be shooting! Give it a try!!

All of these are straight out of the camera.

Mike Colon Workshop

We returned from Orange County last night. I am still on West Coast time, so I cannot fall asleep! Actually, I worked a charity event for the American Heart Association this evening. It was an awesome event and the images will be published in Whirl Magazine shortly. I will keep you posted when they are published. (This is exciting news!)

Anyways, I can't even begin to tell you all how great the workshop was. I met so many great people and made friends with them all! This experience was incredible and if you are a photographer or know one, TAKE THE COLÓN EXPERIENCE! It was fulfilling on so many levels. Making friends, networking, talking shop, learning, sharing, dining, laughing, etc... We even had a Texas Hold Em Tourney the last night. (I came in second :) ).

Mike is a genuine person. If I could sum him up in one word, it would be selfless (this is also true about his wife Julie). They opened up their home and lives to 13 strangers and made us feel as if we were old friends. It was incredible. The amount of knowledge & inspiration I gained, on the first day, was worth every penny. Getting to know Mike and learning from his experience was better than I could have imagined. What even made it better was the quality of people that attended the shop!

Over the next few days I will be posting about all of the wonderful people I met and hope to continue to work with in the future. I will link to all of their sites to give you a little insight into who they are. We are all in this together. We have many things in common, but two that stand out are that we love people and love weddings!

I will also post more images from the workshop in the next few days. I am going to try and get to bed so that we can go to the early church service tomorrow morning!

Meet Mike Colón


Here are the models:




I have many more of Brittany, but this was awesome! She jumped in the pool with her dress on for us. We had a blast!


Even Bridget Modeled a bit!


A headshot of me:


My headshot was taken by Melissa Rich. She is my first introduction! Melissa is a photographer in Colorado. She started in Las Vegas but picked up and moved to Colorado and is continuing to grow her business. She does fabulous work and expect to see her teaching workshops someday! Be sure to check out her site at:Lotus Photo

Here she is!

Headed to California!

Bridget and I are headed to California this weekend! Just Bridget and I, no kids... Wow, we don't even know what to do! Bridget is very nervous about leaving the boys, especially Bray Bray. I know that they will be fine and we will have some fun. Bridget's mother (AKA - MeeMaw) is coming in from Atlanta to watch them, so they will be in good hands. Please keep us all in your prayers while we travel and the boys are without us for a few days!

The reason for the trip is two-fold. I am attending a workshop hosted by Mike Colon. I have met Mike a few times and I can tell you that not only is he a fantastic photographer and businessman, but he is an incredible person. Mike is one of the most giving, open, honest and respected persons in the industry. He has been named as the youngest Nikon Legend Behind the Lense, is regularly featured in many publications, including having the honor of being the exclusive fashion photographer for Grace Ormonde's Wedding Style Magazine.

The workshop is called 4-Day Intensive Mike Colon Experience. It is filled with information, shooting, editing and networking. I am so excited! I will be sure to post about it and the images I capture.

The second reason for the trip is for Bridget to see California (Newport Beach) for the first time. It is time for her to kick back, relax, read, see the sites, etc... It acts as a little 2nd honeymoon for us too. When we were married we only went away for 2 nights, so this will be an experience that we both are looking forward to!

So we will be out of the office until Monday February 26th. We will have limited access to emails, but no access to voicemail. If you do contact us, please be patient and we will get back to you when we return.

Newport Beach, CA

Winter Fun

Actually we are Enjoying this Global Warming.... hahaha

Brayden has not seen much snow, and I don't think he likes it too much. He pretty much stands still and points at things. We put him on the sled and he did not like it very much. Christian on the other hand, enjoys it a lot! Damon loves it too, however he was not with us today. Hopefully I can get some shots of him enjoying the snow too.

Moments and Kids with Camera

Two weeks ago, I was fortunate to spend the day with two of my favorite photographers. Joe Buissink and Marcus Bell.

Marcus is an award winning photographer located in Brisbane, Queensland and has one of Australias leading photography studios. He is a very genuine guy, totally shoots from the heart and has an amazing business sense. A true artist to say the least. Marcus is one of those talented people that can work a picture up a lot in photoshop, but still makes it look real, just like a print from a negative. Awesome! Here is a pic of Marcus and Me:


Joe is a photographer based in Beverly Hills, CA. He still shoots 80% B&W film at his weddings. He has a master printer do all of his custom prints. Joe is all about the moment! He talks about how there is 'No perfect Image, Just Perfect Moments'. This idea is very apparent through all of his work. Very timeless. He is a wonderful guy to boot. Very caring, giving and passionate for what he does. He has shot numerous celebrity weddings such as, Christina Aguilera, Hillary Swank, Christina Applegate, Brendan Fraser, Jenny Garth, Jennifer Lopez & Jessica Simpson. He has very unique stories about each! Here is a picture of Joe and Me:


It was great hanging out with these guys and talking shop. I am going to start shooting a few rolls of B&W film again to mix it up a bit. There is something about film that I really miss. Shoot, take it to the lab and then pick it up. Editing is simple. Keep the few prints from the stack and move on. What a time saver! ahaha... Don't get me wrong, I LOVE digital, but I think there is a lot to be said about film as well.

On the theme of 'Perfect Moments', I thought this would be fun to post about. Once in a while the kids (Damon, Christian and Brayden) will get a hold of our Nikon Coolpix point & shoot camera and pretty much just hold the shutter down! It is quite funny when we upload the images to iPhoto and discover all of these little nuggets. Most of the pictures are out of focus and you can't even tell what the subject is, but once in a while there is a perfect moment in there! It will be a great progress meter to check against, once they are all award winning photographers! Check out this little slideshow. It is priceless. Click the picture (Brayden snapped this nugget! Also you will need Quicktime to view the show.)