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.
Saturday, April 11, 2009

Palm Event Center  

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This was a really cool couple to work with. Nick is a police officer and Stephanie is a firefighter. We did their engagement session at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay earlier this year, and that was a lot of fun. Nick brought his motorcycle and we think we captured some pretty cool images. So we had some mojo working between us and felt very comfortable around each other....so the wedding was going to be even better.

We met Stephanie at the Rose Hotel in Pleasanton for getting ready shots. It was really relaxed and calm. Ice from Lumitone was there doing video. He's always great to work with, it's kind of cool to collaborate to come up with different creative ideas that we can both benefit from.
Stephanie and Nick were going to see each other before the wedding and get most of their pictures out of the way beforehand. That is good, but there is a very pure, wonderful moment when the groom sees his bride for the first time on the wedding day. We encouraged Nick to wait at the base of the stairs at the Palm Event Center as Stephanie arrived in the limo. His back was turned away from the limo and Steph came up from behind him. (There is a shot of this that I love on this post). When he finally did see her he was in awe....'cause she's AWESOME....it was a totally genuine and great moment.
The wedding was held outside on the lawn with the vineyards as the backdrop. It went off without a hitch. The reception was a lot of fun with a little twist. We've seen creative first dance's before, where the music starts to a nice song and then breaks off to something like Baby Got Back, but Nick and Stephanie took it to a new level. They incorporated about 10 different songs with choreography for each one. Nick has some serious moves and is freakin hillarious. When they were done the whole crowd erupted into a thunderous roar and standing ovation....it was killer. We love it when couples take the time to incorporate themselves into their wedding....and they surely did.
Nick and Stephanie thank you for letting 1000 Words Photography photograph your wedding. Their wedding pictures will be available on our website in about 3 weeks...check'em out.

Peace,

T&L

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Crow Canyon Country Club:Wedding  

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This was a fun wedding with Gina & Josh at Crow Canyon Country Club in Danville. It is definitely one of the nicer wedding venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gina and her bridesmaids got ready for the big wedding at the Marriott in San Ramon. Alex & Ice from Lumitone were there for video coverage and were preparing for their specialty "same day edit", where they edit about 10 minutes of coverage & put it to music and show it at the reception. It's really very cool and I think it goes from getting ready up to the first dance. Guests really like it because they get to see some behind the scenes footage that they had not experienced.

We actually met Josh for the first time on the wedding day because he had been deployed in Iraq. The poor guy only knew a handful of guests because he is orignally from Texas....but he did great.
The ceremony and reception were both at Crow Canyon, and you can't tell from the pictures....it was fffffffffreezin'. Us poor wedding photographers were crazy cold. The ceremony was relatively quick, but we felt bad for Gina, because she still had about 30 minutes or so of pictures before she could get inside and warm up.
Sharon from Crow Canyon is an outstanding wedding coordinator and is a pleasure to work with. She quietly works behind the scenes to make sure that everything goes smoothly, and it always has every time 1000 Words Phototography has worked there.










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Thursday, February 26, 2009

St Mary's College: wedding  

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This was a fun wedding for us because it was the daugther of our dental hygenist. Krista & Erick were more like friends than clients. Our day started at Krista's mom's house at the base of Mt Diablo. From the front door there is a stunning view of the mountain......we're so jealous. All the bridesmaids were there getting ready....and there was no pandamonium...really calm....and everybody was on time. It was fun watching the flower girls wait for the limo to arrive...they couldn't wait to for it to get there and get to ride in it.













From there it was off to St Mary's in Moraga where we met with Erick and the groomsmen. Everybody was loose and ready...we had a great time working with the guys. Erick had to wait in a room next to the altar by himself where he went over the vows. It was then when I think it really struck him that he was getting married.....a surreal moment for him.













The reception was at a new location for us at a place called the Bellevue Club near Lake Merrit in Oakland. This place is really cool...not much to look at from the outside, but the inside has so much character and is a wonderful place to have an event.













It was a great day for everyone involved and 1000 Words Photography is grateful to have been a part of Krista & Erick's big day. Thanks for choosing us!

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Monday, February 23, 2009

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay: Engagement Session  

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This is a session from a really cool couple getting married in April. He's a motorcycle police officer and she is a firefighter. We met at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay and hung out for a while. Nick the groom to be brought his Harley, which I always like in shots. Hopefully you like the shots we posted.

Best,

1000 Words Photography

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

San Francisco Wedding at Hotel Vitale  

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This wedding was unique in that it was held on the roof of the Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero in San Francisco....during Fleet Week. The ceremony was at 4pm after the Blue Angels were done...but before that we were all treated to a great air show. The jets were flying all around us and all of our necks were turning back and forth because you never knew where they were coming from.





Aside from the air show, the setting was beautiful. On the roof of the hotel were views of the Bay Bridge, the Ferry Building, the Embarcadero, the Transamerica Building and more.....absolutely spectacular.





We hope you enjoy a few of the photographs from the day.





Peace,





T&L

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Taber Ranch Wedding of Katie & AJ  

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We got the chance to go back to the Taber Ranch near Cache Creek last month. It's a little drive for us, but we love going up there because it is a crazy cool place with lots of photographic opportunities for us. On top of being a cool and different place to work, Kim and Diane are absolutely great to work with. They make sure your wedding experience is awesome.






The ceremony is on top of a big hill overlooking the beautiful Cape Valley. The ranch has two red Cadillac Seville's that they use to transport guests up the hill.....and they are also used to bring the bride up, which makes for a pretty dramatic entrance.






Katie & AJ are a great couple.....AJ is a freakin' laugh riot....so hilarious. We were a little squeezed on time for pictures...but they were game for anything and made some time for us after dinner for some more pictures. In the end we had a great time working for such a nice couple and working at one of our favorite places.






We hope you enjoy the few pictures we posted.












Peace,






T&L

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