ARTPARK ENGAGEMENT

Sorry for the delay Blog readers. The blog website is not cooperating with me lately and has been super slow. We believe the problems have been fixed. But better late than never, here are Sarah and Christina at Artpark State Park for their engagement session.

Sarah is very artsy! When we arrived to Artpark, Neal saw this mural and right away knew he wanted to use it for a back ground. Yes, it's loud and distracting, but we knew they would love it and appreciate it. Paired with a nice "prom pose" it worked out great. Sometimes that pose really does look good. It can be very intimate if a personal touch is added!

Sarah and Christina get married next week July 16! More amazing images to come from that!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Artpark State Park

4TH OF JULY FIRST BIRTHDAY SESSION PART 2

Baby Ray is back in action and was ready for cake at Neal Urban Studio

Time to get messy! At least we thought so. We started off with some crying and wanting nothing to do with the cake. Mom asked if we had a fork. She gave him a few forkfuls and he was happy. But, he didn't want to touch the cake. With some fork assist we had to keep trying. 

Yay! We have cake contact! At one point the cake was pushed right off the stand, but we didn't mind. It was great. And only one side technically got smashed.

It was such a fun shoot! I love these shoots! 

-Danielle

Buffalo First Birthday/Cake Smash Session: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo First Birthday/Cake Smash Photo Location: Neal Urban Studio

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Happy 4th of July from Baby Ray! Baby Ray was back in Neal Urban Studio last week for his first birthday photos!

We did Ray's newborn photos last year. His great grandfather was in the military, so we incorporated the flag that was given to the family when he passed. We thought we would keep with the tradition and it was perfect timing for 4th of July!

We did this part of the portraits before we brought in the cake. Ray loves to play catch. Now, I know you are thinking, he's only 1. Well, he had such a great arm already. He could throw pretty far and with some force. The baseball theme fit perfectly into our scene. I mean, baseball is an All-American sport. We added the baseball glove and Ray had the hat! 

Look at those baby blues too! What a cutie! Happy 4th of July! Happy Birthday America! We hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend/holiday! 

-Danielle

Buffalo First Birthday/Cake Smash Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo First Birthday/Cake Smash Photo Location: Neal Urban Studio

WOODLAWN BEACH MATERNITY

We had an amazing maternity session last night with Lindsey and Cory at Woodlawn Beach State Park! Lindsey's only requests were dramatic skies and her dress flowing in the wind. Her requests were definitely met!

The skies were so pretty when we arrived at the Beach. Off in the distance, the clouds were a dark gray and moving our way. And it was super windy. It felt like a storm was on the way! The sun was also setting and parts of the sky were on fire. Lindsey had great dresses as well. The material was so lightweight. At times it was out of control!

We had her pose right on the waters edge. She brought a beach hat. I love accessories. Even though it was getting dark out, I still thought we should use it. We also needed a bit of fill light on her face. I really liked how her dress looked in this image too! I just love everything about it!

-Danielle

Buffalo Maternity Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Maternity Photo Location: Woodlawn Beach State Park

ENCHANTING BRIDE AND GROOM

Time for another image from Jennie and Brock's wedding at Allegany State Park!

We lucked out that this little spot was located right behind their reception tent at the Park. This was a fun shot because they were pretty far away from me. Neal lead Jennie and Brock out on the ledge and placed them. Then he was giving them direction. Neal and I had already talked about the look I was going for, so he could easily pass it on to them. It was exciting because Neal had Jennie and Brock changing up their pose every few seconds too. I got to click away and get a few different styles of images. Thank you Neal!

Jennie and Brock are both very outdoorsy. The Park was the perfect place for their reception. I loved how we could incorporate our style. This spot had such an enchanting feel. There were so many types of trees and plants. And because everything was so green, the variety helped things from blending together. To top it all off, there was a really nice reflection in the water!

-Danielle

Destination Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Wedding Ceremony: Foursquare Gospel Church

Destination Photo Location and Reception: Allegany State Park

Destination DJ: Moving Music

ALLEGANY STATE PARK WEDDING

After about 15 hours of traveling home from Alaska, we had one day off and headed to Bradford, PA for Jennie and Brock's wedding!

Jennie and Brock got married at Foursquare Gospel Church in Bradford, PA. Then we headed into Allegany State Park for photos and the reception. As we were driving in, we pulled off at this location for photos with the wedding party and also some of Jennie and Brock.

We worked with the wedding party first and then sent them off to the reception. It was time for Jennie and Brock. I guess I should mention that this was one of my weddings and Neal was assisting me. Neal took this photo and I absolutely loved the angle from where he was shooting. I love the lighting. I like how it is darker in the foreground and Jennie and Brock are in the streak of sunlight. I was going for something completely different than this, so I was so excited that Neal saw something else. That is one of the reasons I love working together. We always get different perspectives and have different ideas.

-Danielle

Destination Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Wedding Ceremony: Foursquare Gospel Church

Destination Photo Location and Reception: Allegany State Park

Destination DJ: Moving Music

KATE & ROB ENGAGEMENT PART 2

I had to post one more from Kate and Rob's engagement session, since we are gearing up for their wedding on Saturday!

Like I mentioned yesterday, if you happened to pop in, their shoot was at a private residence. We had free range of the property. And there was so much to work with. 

We happen to come across this wooden pergola. Now, I know what you are thinking. Great, a pergola. Well, the reason I picked this image is because I really liked the location of the pergola. I love all of the foliage that surrounded it. And I like the well off to the side (at least I think it was a well).

To make it look a bit more fun, we shot it from a side angle instead of straight on.

Neal and I are so excited to photograph Kate and Rob's wedding this weekend! We had such a great time on their engagement shoot capturing these amazing memories. And now, more to come!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Locatin: Private Residence

KATE & ROB ENGAGEMENT

Kate and Rob are getting married on Saturday! We had an amazing engagement session with them. It was at a private residence last year.

I love the back ground in this image. It is actually the roof of a barn that was on the property. Neal loves to find different textures. When we walked by this, I knew he would use it for photos. The hard part, was that it was the roof and we wanted them in front of it.

Good thing there was a table in front. After testing it to make sure it was safe. Kate and Rob stepped on up. It worked out great! The roof turned out to fill the entire back ground frame! We had Rob pull Kate in for an "almost" romantic kiss! I love Kate's reaction.

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Private Residence

ALASKA WEDDING PORTRAITS

This is one of my favorite images from Sheryl and Rob's wedding in Alaska. I can't really give you an exact location for this, but I think it is somewhere near the Turnagain Arm. (Rob, I think I heard you mention that at some point). Like I said before, on our drive to and from Seward, we stopped all over to take photos. Neal and I actually scouted some spots (from the car) on the drive there. We tried our best to remember and pinpoint those same areas on the way back. It was pretty funny. For a few I had made notes that said there was a rest stop on the right and just passed the giant tree, pull over. Well, not all of my notes exactly made sense, but for this location they did!

There were gently rolling hills in this area to place Sheryl and Rob. And let's just say, having a higher vantage point to take the photos was not always easy to find. At least in this area, we knew we could get one to capture everything.

I love Sheryl and Rob's pose here. Super nice and close. And I love how Sheryl's dress is flowing in the wind. Her dress was nice and lightweight and didn't need much to get some movement.

I am still shocked at the temperatures in Alaska. It was about 60 degrees in this image. And to see snow on the mountains is just insane. (yes I know it is freezing in the higher altitudes) Seeing it in person is another story! And I am so glad that we get to share these with all of you!

-Danielle

Destination Wedding Photographers: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Wedding Ceremony: Settler's Bay Lodge

Destination Wedding Reception: Settler's Bay Lodge

Destination Wedding Photo Location: Settler's Bay Lodge, Beluga Point, Seward Alaska, Flattop Mountain, Matanuska Glacier, Turnagain Arm, and little stops along the way that really do not have names!

MATANUSKA GLACIER WEDDING SHOOT!

Here is another amazing image from Sheryl and Rob's wedding. I will apologize now, there will be a few more from this wedding! When we do destination weddings (especially this far away), we normally have multiple shoots with the couple. And Sheryl and Rob took us to some beautiful locations!

On our last day in Alaska, we all traveled to Matanuska Glacier. It was amazing and did not seem real when we arrived. It was so weird because the temperature was about 70 when then sun was out, then we had hats and gloves when the sun went behind the clouds. We all got to experience walking on the glacier (her bridesmaids were there as well and also helped with the shoot!).

As you can see, we are not on the "ice" part of the glacier for this. This was the last shot before we left to pack. This is exactly what you would see when walking to the glacier. Lucky for us, lighting was perfect for this spot on our hike back. I love the hints of color from the flowers in the foreground. And the glacier itself may seem tiny here, but was giant in person.

Sheryl and Rob both hiked with their dress and suit to the glacier. They changed right on the ice. There were a few tours walking around, but they didn't mind! Then they kept everything on for the entire hike too! They were rock stars! This was not a bad way to end our journey to Alaska to capture this wonderful couples wedding!

And thank you to Shery's ladies for helping with the dress! 

-Danielle

Destination Wedding Photographers: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Wedding Ceremony: Settler's Bay Lodge

Destination Wedding Reception: Settler's Bay Lodge

Destination Wedding Photo Location: Settler's Bay Lodge, Beluga Point, Seward Alaska, Flattop Mountain, Matanuska Glacier, and little stops along the way that really do not have names!