Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 2:53AM March 19, 2011 was the closest the moon has been to the Earth in 18 years. They call it a Super Moon! Still looks the same to me but it was an excuse to sneak outside for a few minutes.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 4:06AM As much as I dislike the snow it is (sometimes) fun to shoot in. At the start of Kellie and Jesse's engagement shoot it started to rain. About 10 minutes later it started to snow. Typical Buffalo, New York winter weather! It was the big fluffy kind of snow too. Sometimes when the snow is too fine the camera has a hard time picking it up so I was excited and couldn't stop shooting.
Once Kellie and Jesse had an inch of snow on their heads and their faces were completely red I decided to called it a wrap. They were good sports and didn't let the cold weather bother them at all!
Monday, March 14, 2011 at 9:32PM As I said in an earlier post, Amanda and Ryan came to visit us in Las Vegas from Los Angeles! I haven't seen Ryan since we graduated from film school. He and Amanda have been dating for 10 years and they recently got engaged on 10-10-10! They are getting married this summer in Thailand! I had the honor to photograph their engagement shoot in Nelson, Nevada on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
It was quite an adventurous trip. It took us a couple hours to get there. We took the wrong way and almost ran out of gas. We had three different cell phone service providers between the four of us, and none of them worked. Needless to say we were on our way to an abandoned mining ghost town in the middle of the desert! It was the perfect setup for a horror movie!
We had about a half hour of sun light so we had to move fast. I'm happy that we got there and took some great photos for Amanda and Ryan!
Ryan used to be a fire fighter and now he blows things up for a living! Shooting in front of the old firetruck was a must!
Monday, March 14, 2011 at 12:16PM I'm pretty good at knowing my rights as a photographer. The law is trying to keep us professionals from shooting at almost everywhere on earth. Government buildings (which is understandable but they usually have some cool architecture), State Parks (I don't get why?), Public Streets, no tripods in cities etc. But photographers are fighting back and we are winning our rights back to shoot!
So when we were on our way to the Hoover Dam at night I was pretty dam excited! As we approached the entrance of the Dam we ran into a road block. It felt like we were going through customs. Homeland security standing there with AK-47's and police dogs. The one man had told us "Do NOT stop on or around the Dam at all". We had to proceed to the visitor parking overlook and take photos from there.
Here is a shot from the legal spot where we were allowed to take photos from....
I set my camera on a railing, took my 5 exposures I need to make it an HDR. I was happy with it. We stood around and enjoyed the view on the very chilly night and I really couldn't let myself leave without getting a front shot of the Dam. As I sat from this spot I looked across the way. See where the road bends and goes up the hill near the bridge that's nicely lit? That's where I needed to be to take a shot. So we got in the car and I said to my friend Ryan and the girls to pull over and let me out so I can take the shot!
As we got to the spot in the road there were signs everywhere saying "Do NOT stop", "Do NOT get out of your vehicles". As soon as I saw those I said "Forget it, let's go back to Vegas". Well my friend Ryan is more of a risk taker and he said "jump out, take the shot, I'll keep driving and make a U-turn and you can jump back in the car!" Sounds perfect!
I jumped out of the car, found a railing to take 5 exposures for an HDR photo. While the camera is taking it's exposures I notice that Ryan and the girls kept going and didn't make their U-turn! They had to go all the way around the dam again! (mind you it's about a mile long and only 25mph.
I was stranded! My camera was still taking the long exposures it needed to take so I called Ryan to tell him to hurry because it was only a matter of time before homeland security was going to make their rounds and I had absolutely no where to hide!
As soon as I hung up the phone what do you know, a spotlight was shining on me with a voice from a microphone telling me to approach the vehicle nice and slow. My camera was not done taking the last, most important long exposure it needs to make a photo a true HDR. I grabbed the camera and walked to the vehicle thinking that I am going to jail.
After a few "what are you doing here, where is your vehicle etc. questions they just told me to get in Ryan's car when he returns and get out of there!
I was standing there waiting for my friends return and what do they do? They drove past me!!! I ran to them and got in the car and returned safe and sound to Las Vegas. We all had a good laugh about it. The things I'll do to get the shot......
Here's the shot I took. It's not a true HDR because my longest exposure was interrupted! :-) It's a frontal shot of the Hoover Dam at night which I guess is now a "Limited" shot seeing that if anyone else wants a shot like this they have to break the law to do so! Enjoy!
Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 5:00PM By popular demand we have added the entire "Eye Candy" collection to our store. Click on the link above or click here Neal Urban Store
Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 3:33PM It's still in the early stages, it just needs some more cleaning up... But overall not bad for an early draft! I'm just happy I have a nice round head :-) Photo taken by Marc Daul. Thanks Marc!
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:00PM Yes, my New Years resolution was to blog more. I can't believe it's already been a week since my last blog post! But as most of you know we've been busy building wedding albums and had to make a couple business trips to Florida and Las Vegas. But this is my second chance where I am going to say that my resolution starts now! Everyone deserves a second chance, right?
Here's a photo that I took in Nelson, Nevada of my good friends Amanda & Ryan. They met us from Los Angeles while we were in Las Vegas for the WPPI convention. I went to film school with Ryan. He works for a special effects company in Los Angeles and his fiance just got her dream job at a hospital. They have an amazing story to their relationship that's too long for me to write in just one blog :)
Ryan and Amanda are getting married in Thailand this summer. I wish I wasn't already booked so I could go along! But they are doing something completely unique. It's just going to be the two of them getting married by the monks and then they are going back home for their reception party. I'm so happy for them and I think it's going to be amazing!
I had the honor to photograph their engagement session in Nelson, Nevada. It's an abandoned Mining town dating back in the 1800's where it's supposedly haunted. It's a really unique place where they shoot music videos and commercials as well. Ryan, having a special effects, TV, movie and commercial background we all thought it was fitting for them!
Here's one of my favorites, much more to come from this photo shoot!
Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 4:02PM It still hasn't hit me yet of what happened in Las Vegas. The whole trip was surreal. To see my prints hang on display was a dream come true and now to get something in writing tells me that it really happened!
Now that I've settled back in NY and getting back to reality. I am working on new things for my clients. I got to meet and talk with my album distributor in Las Vegas. It's one thing to order off the internet and receive quality albums through the mail but to actually meet the people who work there is great. It immediately felt like family when I saw everybody in person. I am proud that I surround myself with friendly talented artists.
I got to touch and feel new albums. Right now I am creating a new album that I believe my clients are going to LOVE! I will offer it as an add-on to those who have already booked with me. I can't wait to get it in my studio and start showing it off.
Happy Friday everyone! I have a few benefits to attend and some friends I need to catch up with. Wedding season is only two months away so I have to squeeze in as much friend and family time as I can! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 6:15AM Every year WPPI, Wedding & Portrait Photographers International , have a photographer's convention filled with vendors from all over the world as well as print and album competitions. With over 16,000 attendees and thousands of print entries I am so blessed to announce that I was given THREE "Accolade of Excellence" Awards and was displayed with all the other 16x20 winning prints.
This was the first time I submitted images into a competition. It just so happens to be the biggest competition in the world!
I had zero expectations to win anything. I submitted some images to make our trip to Las Vegas a little more interesting and to learn a thing or two.
I would have been happy to win one award but to win three is amazing!!
Here I am with "Peek-A-Boo!" in the "wedding photojournalism" category. I loved standing nearby and watch peoples reaction as they looked at the image. The viewing room was quiet like a library and had a museum feel to it. Whenever you heard laughter in the room it was from the people looking at my image! I got chills every time it happened.
"A Face in the Crowd" in the "Wedding Photojournalism" category. This is one of my personal favorites and I'm glad the judges like it as much as I do!
"Veil in the Wind" in the "Bride Alone" category. Jaclyn did an amazing job dealing with the Hurricane winds on her wedding day. Most Brides would run away and hide into a building, but not Jaclyn! A lot of magical images were created that day and I'm proud that this won!
It was a great trip that I will never forget and I can't wait for next year!
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 11:17AM We just returned from a business/personal trip from Orlando, FL. Looked like it was a perfect week to be there. High of 81 and sunny everyday while we were there. We've only been home for 12 hours and I want to go back already. I took a ton of photos and can't wait to sort through them all. I'll be posting some random favorites along the way. Here are a couple typical shots of the Epcot Center, but with a twist... Cheers!
