Pittsburgh South Park Wedding Photography | Kateri and Mark

We have had just a gorgeous November so far…and it was especially so on Kateri and Mark’s wedding day. From the moment I first saw Kateri, she had the biggest smile on her face. The same goes for Mark, too. They are so in love with each other, and it shows in their photos.

As an aside, I must admit that I wanted to hug and kiss them both for allotting a large amount of time for photos. While my style is more “photojournalistic,” I can’t stress enough the importance of giving yourself the right amount of time to take some candid portraits. The last thing you want to do is rush through them…instead, give yourself time to relax and just enjoy the first moments of being married!

Everything was located around Pittsburgh’s South Park area, which made it nice for traveling! The ceremony was held at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, and the reception was held at the Garden Room in South Park. A big congratulations to Kateri and Mark.


By the way, Jay totally ROCKED the camera…love this capture.
pittsburgh wedding photo

pittsburgh wedding photo

Another couple by Jay…
pittsburgh wedding photo

pittsburgh wedding photo

Kateri’s mother made all of the girls’ shawls…
South Park Wedding photos

Jay captured this as I was setting up another shot.

The light was purrfect…(and it was so warm!)

Y’all are too cute.

Oooh..I loved Kateri’s hair-do…very lovely.

A fave…

No one actually caught the garter…so this dude needed some encouragement when it fell to him to claim it.

Love this one of Kateri and her father.


Green Gables Restaurant Wedding | Maggie and Tim » Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer | Birchtree Photography Blog - […] bog readers may recognize the bridesmaid on the left…that’s because I photographed her wedding last November (Hi […]

Strip District Engagement Photos | Maggie and Tim » Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers | Birchtree Photography Blog - […] may recognize this couple from a wedding I shot in November. All high school friends, Maggie was Kateri’s maid of honor, while Tim was one of Mark’s groomsmen. I definitely consider it a huge […]

Ken and Anne Johnson - We enjoyed seeing the wedding all over again–Ken’s first time. Everyone really had a GOOD time. Everything beautiful!!!!

Earl Tucker - This wedding rocks!!!

judi - Kateri’s and Mark’s wedding pictures are beautiful. The pictures seem to capture the love and joy in everyone’s heart that day.

Kevin O'Brien - My favorite was the 10th last picture, the one of Mark and Kateri seated at their table, with the best man (I presume) holding the mic. Great look of bubbly happiness on the couple.

Bill Vondra - I Loved all the shots, But my favorite was the one of Kateri and Mark framed in the mirror on the pillar with the sponteniety of the guests captured behind them! Mary captures the festive mood in all these photos

Ben - What a beautiful set of pictures that I’m sure will be enjoyed and relished by many for years to come.

C Ed Zucker - These photos certainly reflect an extraordinary knack for recognizing the many moments that capture the true spirit of the overall event. And done with such a smooth and unobtrusive skill that nobody noticed how very busy you obviously were.

Janet Zucker - I loved all the pictures of Kateri’s and Mark’s wedding.

kim - aw

AUNT MARY LU - LOVED THE PICS. KATERI YOUR SMILE IS SO CONTAGIOUS. BEAUTIFUL
SETTING. LOVE

Milla - Wow… beautiful pics in the park! That light is amazing!!

Lisa - Mary, great set– I LOVE the backlit one of all the girls in their shawls, the one of the brides hair, the almost kiss with the oof leaves framing it and the shot of the two of them with ya’ll in the comment. The processing is lovely as well– very nice.

My Social Networking Skills Could Use Some Help

The other day I was sitting in a Panera waiting for a client meeting when I needed to look something up online. Seeing as my phone is totally lame and cheap, I don’t actually have “web” access on it. I know, I know…I’m still stuck in 2005. So, I did what I usually do in situations like that–I call my husband Jay. He’s usually in his office by a computer, and what else does he have to do but look up things for me online?

This is how our conversation went:

Me: “Hey Babe, can you look something up for me?”

Jay: “Sure, what is it?”

Me: “First, go to my Facebook fan page…”

Jay: “Your what?”

Me: “My fan page. You know, on Facebook.”

Jay: “Umm…how do I find it? Do I just google it?”

Me: {silence}

Me: “You mean to say you’re not my fan on Facebook?? You’ve never visited my fanpage?? But, but…you’re my HUSBAND. You of all people should be my fan!”

Jay: “I just didn’t know anything about it…do I have to sign in to Facebook to see it?”

It doesn’t get any better from there…

So, how lame is that? My own husband doesn’t even know about my fan page. I can see I’ve got some work to do on improving my social networking skills. Don’t even get me started on Twitter. I’m not even going to try to sign up for that…for fear that only my husb…no wait…HE probably wouldn’t even follow me.

Sigh. In any case, if you would like to connect with me on Facebook, be sure to become my fan by clicking the link below.

Milla - haha… “silence” Love it. I am TOTALLY a fan! ๐Ÿ™‚

Timeless Photography

I recently sat down with a potential client, and as I was describing my philosophy regarding my work, I used the word timeless. I want my photography to not only impress my clients and their family and friends right now but also inspire their family for many generations. Of course, it’s impossible for photos to avoid a “dated” look–but I want my photography to look dated only for the subject matter–not the style.

With digital photography, it’s all that easier to manipulate images–using textures, sepia tones, faded highlights, selective coloring, etc. While I think you can create some cool pictures with these recent trends, I think a lot of the stuff will look very dated in a few years. So, I tend to stick with the basics–beautiful colors, simple black and whites, and good composition. First and foremost, I want people to see the joy, excitement, and emotion of the subjects in my photos. I want their kids to be able to stumble across their wedding album and fall in love with how in love their parents were. Not exclaim–“oh Mom, I can’t believe your photographer used textures on all your photos!”

Speaking of timeless photography, the other day I stumbled across this site My Parents Were Awesome, which is a collection of self-submitted photos of–you guessed it–parents. I immediately thought of a photo of my Mom that I absolutely love. It captures my Mom’s youthfulness and sense of humor long before I was around. This photo is TIMELESS. (She’s the one on the right with the hose).



Laura - LOVE this!