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.
Friday, November 21, 2008

Palm Event Center:Weddings  

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One of the venues that we get to work at more than others is the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton. Last year we photographed 40 weddings and 10 of them were at the Palm....kinda crazy ratio.
It is next to Mitchell Katz Winery and is a great place to work. While it the area around it is a little small there are a ton of opportunities from the driveway to the vineyards and the buildings. A lot of our "homerun" pictures come from the Palm Event Center.
Aside from the really cool grounds, the staff is crazy good. Clay and Monique make your wedding unforgettable....and you don't have to worry about a single detail. The meals are catered by Beets Catering........and if we can say they are the best....PERIOD.....we always look forward to working at the Palm Event Center not only because it is a great place....but the food is fantastic.
1000 Words Photography highly, highly, highly recommends this venue for your wedding.
Below are some shots we've taken over the past year or so from the Palm. We hope you enjoy them.

Peace,

T&L













































































































































































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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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Castlewood Country Club: Kathryn & Jason  

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This past weekend we ended our wedding season with a WONDERFUL wedding. Kathryn and Jason were married in Pleasanton at St Elizabeth Seton church and had their reception at Castlewood Country Club.






This wedding was refreshing because they put a lot of themselves into it. It started with a photo booth that greeted the guests as they arrived. There was a life size cardboard cutout of Kathryn and Jason and all kinds of props....crazy wigs, marti gras beads, sunglasses, hula skirts, glow in the dark necklaces and a bunch of other things. All the guests were encouraged to pose with the happy couple and we took shots of almost all the 275 guests. It was a very well recieved addition and really set the tone........LET'S CELEBRATE.






Then we saw something a little different. You've probably seen the Youtube video of the couple that started their first dance to some sweet song and then all the sudden going into Baby Got Back with the bride and groom choreographing their dance. We've had other couples do that and it is very cool. But this time the whole wedding party took part. Their dance had lot's of layers to it, Kathryn & Jason, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the whole party and more. Aaron from Amos Productions our favorite DJ company played the mix. It was awesome to see and we have to give props to the wedding party....they were up until 2am on Friday figuring out all their moves.






Slowly but surely all the wigs, sunglasses and other props from the photo booth made their way to the dance floor and everybody had something on. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.






Kathryn and Jason are two of the sweetest people you could meet and we wish them a lifetime of happiness.












Peace,






T&L

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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Napa Wedding at Mont La Salle  

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Candice and Nick had a magnificent wedding at Mont La Salle in Napa. Mont La Salle is a Christian Brothers Retreat house in Napa right next to Hess Winery. I believe that the Christian Brothers own the vineyards that grow the grapes for Hess, so the property is huge.










Our day started by getting shots of Candice getting ready. She was so happy this day was here that she was almost giddy. That only got better when a groomsmen delivered a gift from Nick....diamond earings.





The ceremony took place inside the church afterwhich we had all the guests go out to the front steps for a huge group photo. Those are always great to do because as we say, there will never be another moment in time when all those same people will be together.










Candice and Nick were game for just about any kind of pictures we wanted to do so we got a lot...it was a fun day to be a wedding photographer. We should have images posted online by the end of next week. If you want to see all of them go to our website 1000 Words Photography.










The reception was held outside in the courtyard and was beautiful. Candice's dad had come up the day before and ran lights throughout the courtyard, so by dusk it was especially beautiful. Lee got the cool shot on this post of Nick and Candice dancing. This reception had a lot going on from a Jewish Hora dance, to the bridesmaids doing a choreographed dance to "In The Navy" to acknowledge Nick's service....to Nick singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and the crowd singing along. All in all it was a great day.










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Monday, October 6, 2008

Palm Event Center, Stacy & Darrell's Wedding  

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This is one of our favorite weddings for a couple reasons. First, it was at the Palm Event Center, which is one of our favorite venues to work at. Second, Darrell was the best man of a wedding we did a couple years ago. So Stacy and Darrell came to us knowing our work and we felt more like friends of theirs than a vendor.














We started at Stacy's parents house, where things were basically calm....nobody stressing out. Stacy was absolutely beautiful, she had to know it....but she didn't act it. After everyone was ready we headded over to the Rose Hotel to get some shots of Stacy and the bridesmaids.














The ceremony was beautiful with the vineyards of the Palm Event Center as a backdrop. Then it was time for the reception. Stacy & Darrell are friends with Jody Amos who owns our favorite DJ company Amos Productions. Jody served as MC while Josh played the music. Their music selection, mixes and presence really make any reception a BIG party.














In the end 1000 Words Photography had a great time and were pretty stoked by the images that we captured. Their pictures will be posted on our website late next week.














Peace,














T&L

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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Dublin Ranch Wedding of Nicole & Garrett  

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We had the pleasure of photographing Nicole & Garrett's wedding last Sunday at the Dublin Ranch. It is a great venue to work at with a really good staff. Nicole was the first to arrive on wedding day and had plenty of time to get ready. Little by little the bridesmaids started arriving...and can I say that she had the rockinest bridesmaids. They took care of every detail for Nicole...they went and got us golf carts, golf clubs....anything. They were game for just about everything and we had a great time working with them.












Nicole and Garrett are truely nice, good people and it is an honor to work for people like them. They were so calm and relaxed the whole day and everything went very smooth.












One of the groomsmen is lead singer in a band called Jaymes Reunion and their first album should be out later this fall. Their music is kinda like Matchbox 20. Their song Fine is really good and may get significant radio play.












So another great day for 1000 Words Photography . Thank you Nicole & Garrett for letting us share your day with you.

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