HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Why not celebrate the 4th of July with some fireworks! Danielle and Andrew were married July of 2013. Their reception was at Brookfield Country Club in Clarence NY. They ended the night with a fireworks display!

Fireworks are not the easiest to photograph. We needed some extra time to set up lighting and test out everything.  And it did not help that it was pouring outside. But the show must go on! Brookfield's coordinated great with us. They told us exactly where the fireworks would be going off so we knew where to place the couple. I was the test subject before we brought Danielle and Andrew out in the rain.

As all of the guests started making their way to the patio, it began to rain even harder. We had Danielle and Andrew in position as the fireworks started to light up the sky. I started off holding an umbrella over Neal and the gear and Brian Gorman, from UnbeatenPath Media. Then Neal says we need more backlight. Great! I took the umbrella out with me and slouched behind Danielle and Andrew. But, the umbrella was showing up too much, so I needed to lose it. Yes, I got completely soaked! Then I see Brian run off down the treeline with his camera taking video. He came back a lot more soaked than I did.

This was the final result! What a great image for today! Hoping everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

Blog Exclusive* - This photo has been seen on the website, social media, our books etc. so Neal wanted to edit this image different for the blog. He decided to give it a tighter panoramic crop and he turned it to black and white. The original is beautiful in color but he felt that the colors took attention away from the couple. The black and white definitely adds more drama to the image as well as the crop. Bold decision but it looks amazing!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Ceremony: Our Lady of Victory

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location: Buffalo Botannical Gardens

Buffalo Wedding Reception: Brookfield Country Club

Buffalo Wedding Videography: Unbeaten Path Media

Buffalo Wedding Band: Party of Nine

ENGAGEMENT SHOOT AT WOODLAWN BEACH

I had the pleasure of shooting Amanda and Frank's engagment pictures with our assistant photographer Leah last week! We started out at the Buffalo Botannical Gardens and headed to Woodlawn Beach State Park for sunset.

We had a beautiful sunset! The beach wasn't busy either, so we could go almost anywhere. I had Amanda and Frank casually walk down the beach for some nice action shots. When they got to a certain point, I asked Frank to pull Amanda in for a kiss and slighty dip her back. This was the image right before the actual kiss. I love it! I think it has a little more dramatic feel. Paired with the colorful sky, it turned out to be an amazing image!

Frank and Amanda get married in June of 2016. I can't wait to capture more beautiful images for them!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Locations: Buffalo Botannical Gardens, Woodlawn Beach State Park

Tonawanda Castle Wedding!

Throwback Thursday! Johnathan & Nick got married in 2011. The ceremony and reception were at the Tonawanda Castle. It was an amazing wedding! It was such an emotional wedding as well. I even cried behind the camera a few times! It was one of the first same sex weddings in NY. Johnathan & Nick originally planned on getting married out of state but once New York State made same sex marriages legal, they quickly changed plans and we're so happy that they chose to stay local so that all of their family and friends were able to witness the ceremony!

Johnathan & Nick came in with some great ideas for their wedding. They designed almost everything themselves right down to the cake. And it was a great looking and tasting cake! We started their photo shoot around the Elmwood Village area, so we could include their dog, Moose. Then we headed to the Castle to meet the wedding party for some more photos. There were so many places for us to take advantage of. This image was taken in one of the rooms that looked like a maids or butlers quarters on the third floor. We really liked the two doorways. All we wanted was for them to each stand in a doorway. Nick was quite tall, but he just fit. And then we had them take a peak out at eachother. It was a nice and simple shot, but we still love it to this day! This was one of our all-time favorite weddings because of how emotional is was so don't be surprised if you see Johnathan & Nick in future blog posts!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Ceremony and Reception: Tonawanda Castle, 

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location: Elmwood Village and Tonawanda Castle

Bubbles at Asbury Hall!

Colin and Donielle just got married last Saturday June 13, 2015! It was an amazing wedding.

It took place at Asbury Hall (Babeville). It was right in the middle of the Allentown Art Festival. So, of course we took a walk in the festival to do some photos. Stay tuned for an image from the festival! 

This was taken at the end of the night. This cool bubble wall was located right across the street. It is the Starlight Studio and Art Gallery. It is such a fun wall that we needed to use! After Donielle changed into her party dress, we headed over. On the way, Colin told us that his nickname for Donielle was "Bubbles". We had no idea. This was so great! We could get a fun image with some meaning behind it! 

All we needed was for Colin to pick up Donielle. She is a dancer, so she knew what to do. She kicked up that leg with a pointed toe! Then we had her go in for a kiss. Colin and Donielle were so much fun to photograph. They both had wonderful personalities! It was such a great way to end the night!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony and Reception: Asbury Hall

Photo Session: Allentown Art Festival and Asbury Hall

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to all the father's and father's to be out there!

This shot was done at St. John the Baptist in Kenmore. This is the moment where the father is handing off his daughter(Kelly) to her Groom(Tom). This is such an emotional moment of the ceremony. You can see how tight Kelly's father is hugging her trying to hold back his tears. Even though you can't see Kelly's face, you can see feel how emotional she is by how she is hugging her father. Neal captured this perfectly. Her husband to be, Tom, is in the back left and his father is present in the back right. You can see they are both trying to hold back their tears as well. 

This was such a beautiful moment between everyone. I think Neal nailed this shot!

And Happy Father's Day to be to Tom! Congratulations Kelly and Tom!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: St. John the Baptist RC Church

Photo Session: Buffalo Central Terminal

Reception: Statler City

HAPPY U.S. OPEN from Park Country Club!

For all you golf lovers out there! We hope you are enjoying the U.S. Open! Here's an image for you!

This was done at Park Country Club. Nick and Lauren had their photo session at the Club. It was great! We got to go all over the course in golf carts with the wedding party. This was done on one of the fairways. (there were no golfers on this one). All we wanted was for the wedding party to walk toward us with Nick and Lauren leading the way. This green was perfect because the club house was in the background. And it is such a beautiful club house. 

There is really no set up or posing for a shot like this. We just made sure the Bride and Groom were always leading the way in center. Then it's up to everyone else to have fun. Everyone was talking, laughing, and looking around. The Groomsmen were telling jokes! We had Nick and Lauren hold hands. They were laughing and looking at eachother. It was exactly what we wanted! Everyone did an awesome job!

So, who do you think will be this years U.S. Open winner?? 

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: Church of the Assumption in Buffalo

Photo Session: Park Country Club

Reception: Salvatore's Italian Gardens

The Great Gatsby at Hotel Lafayette

I love this solo shot of Jimmy that was done at Hotel at the Lafayette. It was at Mike A's Lounge Bar (now called Bourbon & Butter). If you have not been to this bar, check it out! It is a great atmosphere.

Leah and Jimmy had a "Great Gatsby" style wedding, with a hint of Disney in it! Before the wedding Leah had mentioned a scene from "The Great Gatsby" where Leonardo DiCaprio is holding out his drink with a party going on behind him. I knew exactly what she was talking about! She said Jimmy would love to do something similar if we could. He loves to mix drinks and come up with new kinds of cocktails. Let's just say, he makes some really great drinks! 

Neal knew right where he wanted to go for this shot. We headed into the Lounge bar and got Jimmy a drink. Bourbon of course! We kindly asked some of the crowd if they would sneak out of the way for a quick shot of the Groom. They didn't mind at all. In fact, when we set it up someone said it looked like "The Great Gatsby!" I guess we were on the right track! Jimmy was perfect! I love how you can see the bar and bar lights blurred in the background. This captured Jimmy and his personality 100%!

His wife Leah has a passion for photography and is now a part of Neal Urban Studio!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: SS. Peter and Paul RC Church

Photo Session: Ralph Wilson Stadium and Hotel at the Lafayette

Reception: Hotel at the Lafayette

WINDY DAY AT TIFT NATURE PRESERVE!

Jamie and Gavin got married in August of 2012! It was such a great wedding! They were awesome. This was my favorite image that I took from their portrait session.

We started photos at Delaware Park and then headed to Tift Nature Preserve where this was taken. The wedding party was sent back to the limo to party and it was time for Jamie and Gavin! Neal had actually set up the couple for a wider angle shot from where he was standing. I decided to shoot up close from a different angle. Right when I saw the wind take her dress, I knew I had a great angle. I did interrupt Neal for a minute and had Jamie glance down my way and had Gavin go in for a kiss on the neck. It was beautiful!

Neal and I work great together. We both help each other out. And we have no problem interrupting each other or changing something up for an amazing shot! 

This image is also featured in "Dream Weddings: Create Fresh and Stylish Photography" by Neal Urban! Check it out at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com

As a blog exclusive Neal edited this image differently. It was always in a horizontal crop and in B&W. For the blog he left it in the original vertical crop and left it in color. Even if we blog about images that have been seen before, we'll try and mix it up so you always have something new to look at here on the blog.

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: St. John's Grace in Buffalo

Photo Session: Delaware Park, Tift Nature Preserve

Reception: Briarwood Country Club

FIRST LOOK ON THE 10TH GREEN!

This is how it feels to have an entire golf course to yourself! Donna and Larry got married at Niagara Frontier Country Club in Youngstown NY. They exhanged vows on the 18th hole! Larry loves to golf, so what better place to get married! This image was done on their "first look" at the 10th hole.

Larry had brought Neal out on the course a few times before the wedding, so he could scope out the course for photos. He said we would have golf carts and could pretty much go anywhere we wanted. The 10th green was the spot for Larry to see Donna for the first time in her dress. The 10th green is located on the bottom of a hill. It was perfect to get some different angles. I was shooting eye level and Neal was shooting above the hill. Neal had driven down with Larry and put him in position. Neal called me and said it was time to drive Donna down! What a ride! It was so bumpy and hilly, I thought I might tip the cart over. 

Larry's back was to Donna as she began her approach. Once Neal had Donna in his camera sight, he had Larry turn around. We had Donna go right up to him. Now, Donna and Larry are both hysterically funny people. Even in the most intimate moment of seeing eachother for the first time on their wedding day, sarcasm and jokes were being cracked both ways. It made for great photos! Neal and I couldn't hold it together. All jokes aside, it was still pretty emotional. Neal caught the perfect moment between them. He was shooting through some trees and the leaves frame in the image. He wanted the pin (the golf hole flag) visible to keep with Larry's love of the sport. It turned out to be a beautiful image!

-Danielle

-Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

-Youngstown Wedding Ceremony, Photo Session, Reception: Niagara Frontier Country Club

-Buffalo Wedding DJ: Premier Sound

Wedding at the Hotel Lafayette and in the square!

I love this image! Kate and Shawn had their wedding reception at Hotel at The Lafayette! During the reception we took Kate and Shawn across the way to Lafayette Square to get some photos. It was just starting to rain and Neal had a really great idea!

Storm clouds were moving in fast and they looked really cool. We knew we needed to move fast or we all would get drenched. With everything that was going on, we needed Kate and Shawn to be in a more dramatic pose. We had them almost kiss, but with enough separation to see some light coming though. Shawn is holding the umbrella and Kate is actually holding a light behind them. We needed a bit of light to brighten up the background and the umbrella. We then had Shawn bend Kate back just a bit. I was also holding another light in front of them for their faces. Neal shot at an angel where he could get some of Buffalo City Hall in the background. I would say he did a good job on that!

Neal edited the image to feel as if they're in Gotham City of the Dark Knight movies. The dark clouds, the rain, the colorless city buildings certainly added to the drama of the image and then you have our beautiful couple having a romantic moment with a splash of warm color on them. This photo looks like it belongs in a movie or on a movie poster. Beautiful!!!

This image turned out amazing and only took a few minutes to get. Kate and Shawn got safely back into Hotel at the Lafayette without getting soaked. On their way, cars were honking their horns and yelling congratulations! What a great way to end the night!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Ceremony: St. John the Baptist RC Church

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location: Niagara Square, Lafayette Square, Hotel at The Lafayette

Buffalo Wedding Reception: Hotel at The Lafayette

Boston, MA Wedding Cinematography: Harris Films