THE GROOM AT OLD FORT NIAGARA

Last week we showed you a beauitful image of a Bride (Dana) at Fort Niagara. Here is fantastic image of her Groom (Chad) in his solo!

Their images were done at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. Like I mentioned before, we love shooting here. There is so much history brought into every shot. We can always find locations to do things with the men or the ladies.

For Chad, we found a room that had an amazing old fire place and chair. There were windows to the side, but they didn't let in as much light as the other room Dana had her image in. This was perfect for Chad. We needed to give him a more manly scene. Next to the fireplace was an old, ornate, wooden chair. He actually took it upon himself to sit there while we were scoping out the scene. He did a great job because that's exactly where Neal wanted him. We asked him to sit how he normally would if he was just hanging out.  A casual male cross of the leg! It fit him perfectly. Chad was cracking jokes the whole time too. He had so much commentary during all the photos. But he could be serious right on que when we needed him to be. Neal asked for him to look toward the window and all talking and jokes immediately stopped from him. This shot also had that old vintage feel to it. It turned out really nice for Chad.

The posing for the guys is usually a lot more simple than for the ladies. Most of the time they do not want to be in pictures. Luckily with Chad, he was all about being center stage!

-Danielle

Fort Niagara Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Lewiston, NY Wedding Ceremony - First Presbyterian Church of Lewiston

Niagara Falls, Wedding Photo Session - Old Fort Niagara

Buffalo, NY Wedding Reception - Classics V

WEDDING AT STATLER CITY

Statler City is a wonderful venue for a wedding reception. The rooms are beautiful to hold your special day in! This reception was located in the Terrace Room. There are massive windows along the entire back wall of this room. 

We always arrive at the reception before the guests start to arrive to get shots of the room. They always look better with no one in them to get all the details. We also like to have the Bride and Groom back to freshen up and have a few drinks! While shooting the details, Neal asked if I could grab the Bride and Groom really quick for a shot before anyone arrived. There is a Bridal suite off to the side, so it was easy to find them. To the back of the room, there were giant statue type columns in front of one of the windows. The windows had interesting curtains and drapery. There was also a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. What a great spot for a photo!

Let's bring in the newly married couple. Instead of having them look at the camera, we decided to go with a more artistic pose. We posed the Bride with her back to us, with a slight profile of her face. Then brought in her Groom facing her. We had the Groom bring in his wife just a little. Then had her drop her bouquet to her side. Neal needed a tiny bit of fill light besides the light coming from the chandelier. We wanted a nice glow on them, but keeping a elegant overall feel to compliment the scene.

You can see the giant smile on the Groom's face as he looks at his wife. And even though you cannot see the Bride's entire face, you still see her happy reaction from the side. The couple almost looks like statues waiting to go in for a giant kiss! And don't worry, they did go in for a kiss right after this shot!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony- Christ the King Chapel

Photo Session -  Canisius College

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Statler City

Buffalo DJ - Signature Entertainment

Buffalo Central Terminal Wedding

To get some great shots, we sometimes have to break the rules. I mean how much trouble can you get into when there is a Bride and Groom on site for their wedding day! 

This is what we needed to do for this wedding. The couple wanted to get some shots done at the Buffalo Central Terminal. However, we did not have access to get into the building. It was time to improvise! We did some beautiful images with the Terminal in the background, but we needed more. Off to the side, there was another building where the train tracks ran through. It was very abandoned and a bit creepy. You really weren't supposed to be in there, but everyone was up for it. The worst that could happen was we would need to leave.

We were basically done with photos so this would have been a nice added bonus. The entire wedding party was excited to be off the beaten path. Once we finished with the party, we sent them back to the limo and ventured to the opposite side of the building. That's where the magic happened. Windows were broken and the ceiling was missing. The light was pouring in. It was overgrown with trees and plants (well weeds, but they were so green and bushy, they passed for plants)! We made a safe path for the Bride and Groom to walk and placed them. Even though there were rusty beams in the background, it gave the location such character. With the light and greenery, it balanced out really nicely. We told the Groom to go in for a kiss. The Bride naturally picked up her dress slightly and it worked great for the image. 

Looking back on this image, I love the feeling of abandonment of the building with the Bride and Groom completely alone enjoying the moment!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Church - The Basillica, Our Lady of Victory Buffalo, NY

Photo Session - Buffalo Central Terminal 

Buffalo Wedding Reception -  Avanti Mansion

ELEGANCE AT THE OLD FORT!

Today we take you to Old Fort Niagara, in Youngstown NY. It is a piece of history to go see. And now a great place to take photos. Neal and I love shooting there! 

Normally when we shoot weddings at the Fort, we work with the wedding party in the main entanceway and take the Bride and Groom through the rest. It is a historic and public landmark, so we do need to take that into consideration. Most of the time, there are tours and reinactments going on as well. Sometimes, there are cannons going off in the background! We like to walk around the property with the couple and stop in all different areas.

This image was taken in the largest building on site. We walked from room to room and came upon this beautful spot. The light was pouring in from the window. There was on old wooden chair in the corner that we pulled forward for the Bride. I did a quick test to make sure it was safe to sit on first! If I fell, no big deal haha! But it was good to go! While Neal was positioning himself for the shot, I was making sure the Bride looked perfect. We wanted her to have an elegant and graceful feel. At first we did not have her bouquet in the photo. But we noticed, there wasn't much room for her to put her hands and it looked a bit awkward. The simple addition of the bouquet and a tilt of the head away from the window was the ticket! Since her head turned away from the light we used a bounce board for some fill light to light up her face. There was so much light pouring through the window, we didn't need any other light source. The Bride looked stunning and it turned out to be a beautiful image!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by - Neal Urban Studio

Church - First Presbyterian Church, Lewiston NY

Photo Session - Old Fort Niagara

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Classics V

Buffalo DJ - Premier Sound

romancing the beach!

Happy Monday! We hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful weekend and had a wonderful Mother's Day. You may have even made it out to a beach! If not, today's image can take you there.

This image is from a few years ago. It was taken at Beaver Island State Park in Grand Island. It has a great boardwalk for pictures! If you venture down the beach, away from the public, you can find tall grass and a more deserted beach feel. That is where we headed for this shot. We only took the Bride and Groom down this way because it is a little bit of a walk in the sand.

The Bride switched out her wedding shoes for some beachy flip flops so she could take them on and off quickly. As we were walking, Neal found an opening in the tall grass. He thought it would be perfect for the Bride. She asked if she could be barefoot and handed off her flip flops to her husband. Perfect! There was a light breeze and we hoped it would help with movement in her dress. The wind wasn't as strong as we had hoped. So, we had the Bride start to walk toward Neal, and pick up part of her dress. The dress created a pocket for the wind and helped it to begin to flow out naturally.

The Groom was cheering on his wife and making her feel like she was on a runway! It was great! It was pretty bright out that day, so we did need to add some fill light to the Bride's face. It worked out really nice how the tall grass was blowing. It is going right in the direction of the Bride. Exactly where the focus should be! There were some gray coulds in the sky too. They helped to make the scene feel more dramatic. Neal edited the image to make it look like a cover of a novel because the image does tell a story. You may wonder..."Where is the Bride running to or away from?" Well, she's running to her Groom of course! 

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Church - Mt. Carmel of Niagara Falls, NY

Photo Session - Beaver Island State Park

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Buffalo Launch Club, Grand Island, NY

Buffalo DJ - Premier Sound

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s and mom’s to be! This is one of my favorite images of a Bride and her son.

This wedding was one of the biggest tear jerkers for me. Even though weddings are mostly about the Bride and Groom, the Bride’s son seemed to be in the limelight! It all started when he saw his mom for the first time in her wedding dress. The tears began to flow instantly. He was so happy to see her. It was a heartfelt moment for everyone. Throughout the day, the Bride’s son was a huge part of the day. You could feel the deep love and bond between the Bride, Groom and little guy in every image.

The reception was at Banchetti by Rizzo's in Amherst. They had a great outdoor reception. Every single guest felt like family that day. Neal and I sure did. The Bride’s son continued to shake things up. During speeches he grabbed the microphone and said a few words. Bring on the waterworks one more time! I was shooting through happy tears! When the Bride and Groom were dancing together, about halfway through, they called in the little boy to join them. At one point, almost the whole family was called in. It was just beautiful! The party continued to get crazy and mom stuck by her son on the dance floor. A slow song came on and she picked him up and held him close. It was a perfect moment between Bride and son. I went up to them and asked for a quick look at the camera. I was so happy that I was right there to capture the moment. 

We had never met this Bride until the wedding, but felt like we had known her forever. She has such a strong passion for life and family. A bond that never can be broken and it was definitely present in every wedding photo.

To all the moms and clients we have photographed, Happy Mother’s Day! You are truly an inspiration to all!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Prep location - Lafayette Hotel, Buffalo NY

Make-up - The Makeup Parlour

Ceremony - Karpeles Manuscript Library, Buffalo NY

Photo Session - Buffalo Naval Park 

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Banchetti by Rizzo's

Videography - Shutter Dream Studio

BEAUTY AT FOREST LAWN CEMETERY!

Today’s image is a beautiful and dramatic image. If you can believe it, it was taken at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. Sure, you think of a cemetery and would never tie a wedding into it. But Forest Lawn has some amazing and beautiful grounds. There are actually tours you can take.

This was always a location that Neal wanted to shoot wedding images at. We were so excited when this couple said that’s where they wanted to go. And we promised them it would not feel like they were in a cemetery. Neal and I took a ride through and scouted out exactly where we wanted to go for pictures, so day of, it would be easy for the wedding party. Because Forest Lawn is so big we had to map out our course. It can get a bit confusing if you are not sure where you are going.

We worked in all different areas, and knew we wanted to end in one of the main entrance ways. The entrances are so amazing! It had been raining on and off for most of the day, so we knew the clouds would start to look amazing when they started to break up. And that’s about exactly the time we got to the final location. There was a light breeze, but strong enough to get some movement in the Bride’s veil.

We did some solos of the Bride and then brought in her Groom for the final touch. We had her stand in a similar pose she did in a solo and asked her man to come in and embrace her with a little kiss on the neck. For a more dramatic effect, we had the Bride close her eyes. The pose, the location, and the clouds all worked out amazing! It was an awesome shot to end on before heading to the reception! And before it started to pour out! 

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - St. Gregory the Great 

Photo Session - Forest Lawn Cemetery

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Aqua

POSING THE MEN!

The focus today is the men and posing! It is always a challenge to continue to come up with different ways to photograph the Groom and Groomsmen. Most of the time, they are not really into the photos. We like to keep it simple and make them look cool and manly. We also want them to have a good time. 

This image was taken at Niagara Square in Buffalo. This set up is not always the easiest, but Neal loves to try it when he can. The focus needs to be on the Groom, but we want all the guys partially in it. The best way is to place the Groom first and then scatter the Groomsmen around him. This can take a few minutes to get them exactly where they need to be. Once everyone is placed, Neal had them glance in all different directions. The reactions of the guys are funny, because they always ask, "What am I supposed to be looking at?" The answer is, "Nothing!" The Groom is the only person we want looking at the camera.

As you can see in this image, the Groom has a great smile. He was partially laughing because all the guys were making hysterical comments. It was a posed shot, but turned into being slightly candid too. After it was done, all the Groomsmen were curious what the image would look like. Neal gave them a quick look they all said "OOHHHH, we get it now. That's really cool!"

Some images are hard for people to understand at first because they are in them and can't see what we are looking at. But we say, "Trust us. You will love it!"

Stay tuned for tomorrow image of the girls almost in a similar pose that really wasn't planned!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - The basillica Our Lady of Victory of Buffalo, NY

Photo Session - City Hall of Buffalo NY & Niagara Square

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Statler City

Buffalo Wedding Planner - After 5 Events

Buffalo DJ & Photobooth - Toy Bros.

Wedding Dress - Pnina Tornai purchased at Kleinfeld Bridal

Wedding Shoes - Christian Louboutin

We hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather. Finally! Today's image was taken from an engagement shoot on Center Street in Lewiston.

Neal and I love shooting in this little village. There are so many cute shops, restaurants, and store fronts. For this shoot, the Village of Lewiston was very special to the couple. This is where they got engaged. So what better place to take engagement photos! We were taken on the journey of how the Groom got up the nerve to ask his Bride to marry him. It was so nice to park the cars and walk around and take pictures of all their favorite spots. We didn't really go in with a plan, but let the events unfold as we went along. As the couple was telling us how the proposal happened, it almost felt like it was going to happen again!

We stopped at so many different places along Center Street and came upon an old antique store front. The landscaping in front with the large stone wall and little stairway was perfect. We had the couple take a seat and just start talking to eachother. We wanted them to feel like we weren't around (easier said than done)! But they did a great job.

There weren't many people around either, so the couple didn't have a crowd watching or making them nervous. We didn't really direct them either. Neal was in the middle of the road waiting for the perfect moment. I was watching for traffic, so Neal didn't get hit by a car. Then the couple went in for a gentle kiss. That was it!

The rest of the shoot was just as beautiful. We captured so many wonderful moments between this couple. We can't wait for their wedding this year!

-Danielle

Neal Urban Studio 

CIRCLE OF LIFE

Take a look. What do you see? If you can find it, you will know why this image has this title.

This wedding took place at Asbury Hall, or Babeville in Buffalo. This venue has an awesome balcony that almost goes around the entire perimeter of the hall. It is an added bonus for photography! The Bride and Groom were very family oriented and wanted a group photo of all the guests. This is usually a tough request, especially when there are over a 100 guests. Most of the time, we need to find a higher vantage point to get everyone in the photo. Good thing for the balcony!

The only request we asked the Bride and Groom was to have the DJ make an announcement for all the guests to make their way to the center of the dance floor and we would do the rest. Neal was on the balcony directing and I was at eye level doing the same. Once everyone was in place, Neal snapped off about 50 shots. Have to be safe when there are that many people. There are bound to be eyes closed or people not looking at the camera. But at least a handful should be perfect. 

So have you found it yet? Do you feel like you are playing “Where’s Waldo”? This group of people had a great time in this shot. Even the family holding the baby up over the group. It looks like the scene from “The Lion King”, where Simba is born and introduced as the next king when he is older. We did not notice the baby until going through the shots after the wedding. Well done by the parents of the baby, making this a group portrait with a twist!

-Danielle

Buffalo Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Cermony location & Photo Session - Delaware Park

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Asbury Hall

Buffalo DJ - Premier Sound

Buffalo Videography - Candlelight Productions