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 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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Saturday, February 7, 2009

Yosemite Engagement Session  

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Last week 1000 Words Photography had the tremendous opportunity to travel to Yosemite for an engagement session. The session was scheduled for Friday so we drove up on Thursday to find that the park was pretty much empty. There was snow covering the valley floor, and the weather was amazing.

We met Karina & Chris at the Awahnee and started our session. We had mapped out a bunch of locations beforehand so that it would go smoothly. Karina & Chris we game for anything we through out there and we soooo much fun to hang around with. We spent about 2 1/2 hours with them, which is about twice as long as a usual session.....but hey...they drove 4 hours to get there and were leaving right after the session so we wanted to make it totally worth their while.
The funnest part was when Chris let Karina slam him in the head repeatedly with snowballs.
After the session was over and they headded home....we kept our cameras out and took pictures of ourselves (we have so few).
We want to thank Karina & Chris for choosing us to share in their day....it was one of the best experiences for us.
Peace,
T&L

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Discovery Bay Country Club: Wedding  

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We kicked off our 2009 with a really nice wedding at Discovery Bay Country Club on Saturday. It was Whitney & Justen's big day and everything went off without a hitch. It was one of the rare weddings where everything was ahead of schedule....that doesn't happen. All the bridesmaids and groomsmen were there early, which made the whole day easy.
The ceremony took place inside the ballroom just in case there was some weather to contend with. It rained the day before, but was beautiful on Saturday....little cold...but given the alternative we all felt lucky. The line of the day was given by the minister during the ceremony when he told Justen that he was joining the club of "marrying way over your head".
Jeff from Amos Productions was the emcee and did a great job as always....kind of a recurring theme with our blog posts......Amos Productions Rocks! We love getting to work with them. They are the most professional and play really good music.
This group had a very interesting characteristic...that is during the Anniversary Dance (where the call out everyone married 1 year, 5 years......until there is only one couple left)...Jeff kept calling out numbers and there wasn't a dent made in the dance floor until he got to 30 years. There were a lot of people who had stayed married for a long time.
We hope you like the pictures.
Peace,

T&L

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Monday, December 29, 2008

Poppy Ridge Golf Course: Weddings  

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In this post we are highlighting another one of our favorite venues Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore. Over the past few years we have had the opportunity to work there several times. The ceremony area is a little small on the terrace, but the reception hall is beautiful and the grounds are great.











One really, really nice thing about working a wedding at Poppy Ridge is that the staff really wants the bride and groom to totally enjoy their day. They go above and beyond to make sure your day is memorable. Ulike a lot of golf courses Poppy Ridge gives the bride and groom full access to the course. They drive us as photographers and the bride and groom pretty much anywhere we want to go on the course. We've got some favorite spots that we like to take couples and Becky and her staff are totally accomadating.











Poppy Ridge gets very high marks from us. Please enjoy some of the work we have done there.






















Peace,











T&L

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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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