About Us

1000 Words Photography is husband and wife team Tom & Leona (Lee) Burke based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. We are primarily wedding photographers, but do offer all kinds of other photography as well. We've been working together since 1996 and have photographed hundreds of couples weddings. We don't think you can define our style as anything specific, we use a combination of styles to create what we hope is a uniqe perspective. To see a greater representation of our photography be sure to check out the galleries on our website.
Our personalities are loose and playful, we love photographing weddings and really want our clients to have a great time on one of the biggest days of their lives. We work very hard to come up with images that will make you say "I was there and I don't remember it being like that". Wedding photography is different than most other services at a wedding because for the images to look awesome, there needs to be a good working relationship between us and the couple. We're there all day with you so there needs to be a level of comfort and trust. Over the months leading up to a wedding we typically have developed a close relationship with our couples. We still stay in touch with most of our couples and are through the different stages of life (the wedding, children, homes, job changes..). When we book a client many times we are gaining lifelong friends and that is a pretty cool thing.
Thursday, February 24, 2011

Baby Pictures  

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Hi Everyone,
Been a while since our last post. I'm not gonna lie, the economy has been really rough on us. We have focused mainly on wedding photography over the years. When everything fell apart with the economy people started really cutting back on their wedding planning. People are having to make due with less or not at all. While we consistently get comments like "those are the best wedding pictures I've ever seen", "you guys are so professional", "I'm so happy we chose 1000 Words Photography"........our business has been hurt. We can't really complain because we know that there are so many Americans really suffering, and in the end we have been blessed with amazing family and friends. We've had several couples who have been laid off and have experienced the same troubles that so many others have.

So we have begun to branch out into other areas like corporate event photography, baby photography, real estate photography and other areas away from weddings. This post is to highlight a session with infants.
A couple of years ago we photographed this couple's wedding at the Taber Ranch in Capay Valley near Cache Creek. Well.....a couple years later they had twins! Super exciting and the babies are adorable. They were only two weeks old when we got the opportunity to photograph them. It was pretty fun. Lee was a big help with the posing and working with props. It is a whole other world compared to wedding photography. Kind of fun.....we hope you like the images we are sharing her.
Peace,
T&L






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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Blackhawk Country Club Wedding  

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Hey YO............here is a reallly cool wedding. The ceremony was at St. Isadores in Danville, CA. Super nice ceremony.............full Catholic mass.............as a wedding photographer a full Catholic mass makes thing a little easier because we grew up Catholic..............and know the drills pretty flewintly..................we know where to be and when to be there...........by repitition.
But the reception was wehre the part was..........Blackhawk Country Club is an amazing place to work at...........and people came from all over to be there. We are on the West Coast.....and it seemed like most people came from New Yersey and beyond.
Caitlin and Stefan were surely loved by a lot of people............they had something like 200 guests.........CRAZY.....but soooo cool.
Jeff Torres from Amos Productions was the master of ceremonies..........and he totally rocked the house. We get nothing for it............but.....in our humble opinion Amos Productions is the best DJ company in the San Francisco Bay Area. They play the best music....(if you've been to enough weddings you know that the same go-to's are brutal). No chicken dance or anything like that.....just professional &VERY COOL
We think we got some CRAZY COOL shots..........but that is up for you to decide........let us know what you think.....REALLY.
Peace & Love
T&L





by 1000 Words Photography

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Round Hill Country Club  

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Hi Everyone,

Here are a few shots from Melissa & David's wedding we did this past Saturday at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo, CA. The weather has been cooler than usual in Northern California, but the forcast for yesterday was for sunny and hot....95 degrees. As a wedding photographer you always kinda worry that it could be too hot and that out brides and grooms will be too uncomfortable and that it could detract from the photography. Not the case yesterday, it was perfect....yes a little warm...but there was a nice breeze blowing and it was actually very comfortable.
The couple is kind of special to us because we had photographed Melissa's sister's wedding five years ago at the Claremont County Club in Oakland.... add to that we also did their friends Cyndi & Jeff at Poppy Ridge Golf Club in Livermore a few years ago too. It's always nice seeing past clients.....both couples have buns in the oven too....how exciting.
We met Melissa & the bridesmaids at a friends home in Round Hill. It is a magnificent home just up the street from the country club. Everybody was ready when we got there, which is huge for a wedding photographer. Many times if the wedding gets off the timeline its during the getting ready process. After we photographed Melissa & the bridesmaids we met David at his his great uncles home which is right on the third hole. We were able to take the guys out onto the course for some shots. David used to fish in the lake on the third hole as a kid and he wanted to have some pictures with the lake in it.
The ceremony went off without a hitch and was very touching. It was very clear these two really, really love each other. Brian from 21st Century Sounds was the master of ceremonies and did a great job getting the party started and keeping things moving. He's always such a pleasure to work with.
We hope you like the shots we posted here.
Peace,
T&L












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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Thomas Fogarty Winery: Wedding Photography  

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Hello All,

These images are from a wedding we did back in September. The couple is Lindsay & Fabrice and they are a super nice couple. We did their engagement session in Half Moon Bay a couple months previous to their wedding. Their wedding and reception was held at Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside. This wedding venue is kinda tucked away in the hills off Skyline Blvd and overlooks the Penninsula....you can even see San Francisco off in the distance.








Both Lindsay and Fabrice got ready at the winery, for a wedding photographer that is a relief because the more locations that are involved the more the chances of some unexpected event happening goes way up. Getting ready at the same place as the venue brings the stress level way down for everyone and things tend to go much smoother overall. When all the events are in one place its easy for us to bounce back and forth between the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. It's also very easy to get caught up in the anticipation....the countdown if you will.


This September day was especially cold, we were fortunate enough to be able to wear our jackets as the ceremony at Thomas Fogarty Winery is outside. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was kickin'. Lindsay & Fabrice left the wedding with the guests lined up holding sparklers. This is something we are seeing more and more of and for a wedding photographer is a great opportunity to capture a really cool shot.



We hope you like the wedding photographs we captured and a special thanks to Lindsay & Fabrice for choosing 1000 Words Photography to be part of your big day.



Peace,


T&L

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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Clayton California Wedding  

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This wedding happened very close to home for us in Clayton at a private estate. The home was moved from downtown Concord to Clayton and the owner grew up in the home. It was filled with lots of really cool antiques and furnishings from all over the world. It is a very cool venue for a wedding.
Cinthy & Greg were married at this estate and they had the best theme.........Alice in Wonderland. All over the estate were Mad Hatters, Crazy Cats and so much more. It was totally refreshing to have such a cool theme.
Cinthy has nannied for several children and there were lots and lots of kids at this wedding. It was so much fun playing with them. Most of the bridesmaids came in from France to be at Cinthys side. They were the most helpful and sweet bunch of bridesmaids ever. They all had different dresses were gorgeous. Cinthy's parents came in from France as well and while there were language barriers there was clearly a lot of love. Cinthy gave all of the bridesmaids cards that she had written......every single lady was brought to tears by what she had to say......so touching.
Elegant Occasions Catering took care of setting up the wedding and providing the dining for the evening. They are always so great to work with and we really appreciate other wedding vendors recommending 1000 Words Photography to Cinthy & Greg to photograph their wedding.
We hope you like the images we posted here on our blog. It was an absolute pleasure to work with such a great couple and are honored to have been chosen as their wedding photographer.
Peace
T&L

































































by 1000 Words Photography

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Crow Canyon Country Club Wedding  

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This wedding is of Jennifer & Nick, whose engagement session we did back in August. The day started with us going to Jennifer's parents house for getting ready. When we got there, there were very few people at the house and Jennifer was getting her makeup done. It was very calm and there was no pressure. Lee and I scoped out areas that we wanted to take some shots and talked with Jen's parents while we waited for things to ramp up. Little by little bridesmaids started showing up and everyone started to get excited. Anne from Flowers By Anne showed up with the bouquet and it was beautiful......gorgeous actually. Anne is our favorite florist. She does such an excellent job and from what brides tell me is very affordable in comparison to others.
Once the makeup was done it was time to get ready and the pace of things really picked up. There was a lot of running back and forth across the house to get everything Jen neeeded to get ready....but nothing too crazy. Once in her dress we had some time with just Jen and her parents. She is one of the nicest, coolest and strikingly beautiful people we have every had the pleasure to work with. Once we were done at the house we headded to the church to hook up with Nick and his crew. The guys were all there and ready. Nick was in his dress blue's and was sharp as a tack. I didn't pick up on it when we did the engagement session, but Nick is funny as hell. He was so loose and joking around with the groomsmen. Almost all of them serve in one branch of the military, and it was great that they came from all over to be there for Nick.
The ceremony went off without a hitch. We did the formals directly after the ceremony.....that was a little chaotic....but nothing too crazy.
One of the nice things about being a Northern California wedding photographer is the weather. This wedding took place in mid-November and the weather was beautiful. We got to Crow Canyon before the wedding party did and waited for them to arrive. We waited and waited.....I think the limo driver might have taken the scenic route........anyway they got there about a half an hour after we did, so we were not going to have a lot of time before the reception was to start. When they arrived we got right to work, we had a plan had to execute quickly. Johnny from Amos Productions was the videographer and he stayed right with us (stayed out of the way and was helpful). Crow Canyon has a nice lake in the middle of the fairways and we knew if we placed Jen & Nick in just the right place we would have a perfect mirror reflection of them in the water. Lee set them up and Johnny and I ran to the other side of the lake for the shot. There were golfers coming up the fairway so we had to get the shot and get the hell out of there. When we got to our spot the mirror reflection was there and Johnny said to me, "That is Awesome". Got the shot and we all ran up the hill to a safer spot. We went through the rest of the sequences and played around a little with the wedding party and then delivered everyone to the reception.
Chris from Denon & Doyle was the master of ceremonies and did a great job of creating a high energy evening. Jen's dad is one of the nicest, funniest, gentle, brilliant and insightful men I've ever met. He gave bar none the best father toasts we've ever heard. After he was done Lee said, "I want him to be my dad". It was the most thoughtful toasts of all time. After all the toasts and traditional dances the party was on..........and these people came to party. This was our last event of the year and it was awesome. 1000 Words Photography is honored to have been such a nice couple and family to capture their biggest day. We really hope you enjoy the images we've posted.
We've got a lot of events to blog, and will be getting caught up shortly.
Peace,
T&L

by 1000 Words Photography

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

San Francisco Wedding  

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This was a great wedding to work. Jenna & Issac were such a great couple, and so much fun to be around. Jenna got ready at the Mark Hopkins hotel and took a cable car from there to Shakespeare Gardens in Golden Gate Park..........uhhhh and it was frikin freezing....I mean really, really cold. Jenna & the bridesmaids rode the cable car and had to be outside for something like an hour before the ceremony.....they were literally shivering because of the cold. But they totally dealt with it for the sake of the pictures. Shakespeare Gardens is right outside the California Academy of Sciences and is a great place for a ceremony. This was a special wedding to me personally because years ago I used to work with Jenna's mom and I knew a lot of the guests. The reception was at The Exploratorium just outside the Palace of Fine Arts. This is a totally out of the box place for a reception. If you have never been there it is a large building down by the Marina in San Francisco where there are all kinds of scientific displays. It is very interactive and a great place to appreciate science. Most Bay Area school children wind up going there for a field trip at some point in their school careers. Aside from the great displays and complete uniqueness the Exploratorium is a beautiful place for a reception. We've talked about the Palace of Fine Arts on our blog before, but we came across a really great opportunity....just minutes before headding for home. The Palace was fully lit up inside the dome and outside and we had a full moon that happened to be just to the right of the Palace from our vantage point. I love the picture of Jenna & Issac outside the Palace.....let us know if you like this shot too. We hope you enjoy the images we've shared.






Peace,






T&L

by 1000 Words Photography

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