The Burkes – Pregnancy Portraits
Well after the 3 day weekend I am so relaxed that I feel like I’ve been on vacation for a week! Gary and were babysitting our niece Zoe (9) and our nephew Henry (6) since we returned from Montreal last Wednesday so although it was busy and crazy, we returned them on Sunday and it just took us one full day to recover. So now it’s back to work to get as much work done as possible before I leave for DC on Thursday for another marathon work trip.
Anyway, yesterday our dear friends John & Cheri Burke invited us over for a little Memorial Day bbq & pool party (John actually became ordained online & performed our wedding ceremony last October). And although I usually leave my camera at home for such events, this time I had to bring it along since I had promised the Burkes that we would do a little mini session with their 4 year-old son Jack and Cheri’s 8.5 month pregnant belly. And since I’m skipping town, I knew this might be my last chance.
Now Jack is normally a super easy kid, always smiling, always delightful so I knew this one would be easy…we’d shoot for like 5 minutes and they could all return to their guests. But that’s not quite the way it went. The first challenge was just extracting Jack from the pool. I mean, what little boy wants to be pulled out of the pool when 6 of his little friends are happily swimming and playing along with him? Certainly not this one. Once they finally got him out of the pool, he just didn’t want to have his picture taken and even bribery as a last resort didn’t seem to work either. I even teased him and told him that I didn’t want to take his picture anyway. That got a few smiles at least but he’s a smart kid and was on to me and quickly returned to his mini tantrum.
Finally after lots of tears and misery over the whole idea, John came to the rescue to demonstrate how to kiss the belly and for about 3 minutes, Jack seemed to forget why he was so mad and I was able to grab a few images. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not so easy. 
I’ll be in DC from May 28-June 8 and during that time I’m shooting 2 weddings, 5 engagement sessions and potentially one family portrait so I’ll have plenty of blog fodder coming up. Hopefully I’ll be back in time for the birth of Dylan Burke, we are all so excited to meet the new little man in our lives…plus I always need a new baby boyfriend.
Tags: pregnancy portrait
adorable… saw john on a heating pad ad last night!
so sweet. what wonderful pictures for dylan. wishing john, cheri and jack all the happiness they so deserve. what a great family. what great friends.
Hi Justine! I’m definitely your fan here from the Philippines. I’ve been lurking your blog since its release here on your new website and your pictures are awesome! I adore your wedding shots and this maternity pictorial is great! Looking forward for more..thanks..
Beautiful photos of the Burke family!