LOVE IN Avalon Country Club WINE CELLAR!

How much more romantic can you get? A Bride and Groom having a special moment in a wine cellar!

This wedding reception took place at Avalon Golf and Country Club in Warren, Pennsylvania. What a beautiful club. The grounds were amazing. The inside of the club was just as beautiful as the outside. Right upon entering, Neal and I took a quick walk around the main building, while the reception room was getting its final details. We came upon a small wine cellar. We definitely needed to do something here with the Bride and Groom! Before even attempting anything, we asked the staff if it would be ok. No problems there!

Toward the end of the reception, we took the Bride and Groom away for an end of the night photo shoot. We went right to the wine cellar. Instead of placing them in front of the wine rack, Neal wanted to get fancy. So, we placed them in a corner of the room. We asked the Groom to go in for a kiss or to whisper in his Bride's ear and see what happened. He must have told a joke because the Bride started laughing right away. We asked them to keep doing the same thing, but had the Bride close her eyes. Their interaction continued to be great.

Now all we needed was to brighten up the corner a bit. We needed more light on the couple and we wanted to brighten up the wine rack as well. We set up multiple flashes to help with that. Neal got his camera lens really close to the side wine rack and shot straight on at the couple. This helped to get the side wine rack in the shot. Even though it is out of focus (purposely), you can still see it in the foreground. 

This is a romantic and fun shot all in one! The Groom is trying to have a nice sensual moment with his new wife and she is laughing! It is all tied together in a romantic setting!

-Danielle

Pittsburgh Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - High Street Community Church, Conneaut Lake PA

Photo Session and Pittsburgh Wedding Reception - Avalon Golf and Country Club

WEDDING REFLECTIONS AT HAWKESDENE HOUSE

We love working with reflections. They can add such beauty to a photo. So, why not see it in double!

We traveled to the Hawkesdene House in Andrews, North Carlolina for this wedding. What an amazing private mountain estate, located near the Nantahala National Forest. They can accommodate small weddings and guests can stay right on the grounds in either the main building, or small cottages. 

This image was taken in one of the suites. There were huge doors that lead to a balcony off the room. We originally weren't paying attention to the giant mirror on the wall when we started. We wanted to take advantage of the doorway and drapery with the light coming through. Our first thought, was it could be a great silhouette shot. As Neal was taking those shots, I was looking for another angle and noticed the Bride and Groom in the mirror. I told Neal to stand where I was and see if we could do something with the reflection. He loved it. It is so great to find different shots within the same areas or poses. We could keep the couple exactly in the same pose as we did for the silhouette. We just needed for them to take a few steps over.

Now, the tricky part. We wanted them to stay naturally backlit from the doorway. However, this made the front of them a bit dark. It looked really nice though. We did try to add in some light on their faces, but it was super hard for me to not be in the mirror. We took a quick look in the camera to see the difference between the two. Neal and I both agreed on liking the first image without extra light better. We also loved that in the reflection, you can see light rays coming in behind the Bride! That definitely brought a more magical feel to the image!

When Neal first took this image he knew right away that the final result was going to be in black and white but the purple hue from the curtains gave this image a very unique tint so he thought it was best to leave it in color!

Stay tuned in the next few days for another image from the grounds at the Hawkesdene House! 

-Danielle

Destination North Carolina Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Andrews, NC  Wedding Ceremony & Reception - Hawkesdene House, Andrews, NC

Videography - Heart Stone Films

CRUISIN' TO COZUMEL Mexico!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!  We hope you are out enjoying the weather and a yummy margarita!! Sorry there aren't any margaritas in this image, but it was taken on a post bridal shoot to Cozumel, Mexico! Close enough!

This shot was done for a photo shoot we did on a Carnival Cruise! What an amazing adventure. It was a post bridal shoot with a wonderful couple. The Bride packed up her wedding dress in a suitcase and we were on our way! 

This was done around sunset one of the nights on the ship. Since it was on a cruise ship, we didn't really have hair and make-up on board, so it was compliments of me! I must say, I didn't do too bad of a job! But I won't quit my day job. Of course it was windy, so hair didn't last too long. But we all know how much Neal loves to work with wind and long veils, so it didn't matter.

We wanted the signature Carnival Cruise smokestack for the shot. Because it was a bit windy, there really wasn't anyone else up there, so we had free range. All we needed was for the Bride to strut her stuff and interact with her veil. She was so much fun. She had such a wonderful personality that we really didn't need to direct much.

We used as much available light as we could, but the sun was sinking fast. We did need to add in some artificial light on her face to brighten it up a bit. But all in all, Neal captured an amazing image! One of our favorites from the trip!

-Danielle

Destination Mexico Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Cruise line - Carnival

Destination - Cozumel, Mexico

EPCOT TEA HOUSE

Taking us back to 2012 for this beautiful shot. We had the pleasure of doing a post bridal shoot in Disney World for one of our couples. The Bride is a huge Disney fan and originally wanted her wedding there, but once she found out that outside photographers were not allowed, she had a change of plans. She wanted Neal and I to be there. We told her not to worry, we’ll get to Disney! And we did!

The Bride and Groom got us passes for all of the theme parks. We were only there for 3 days and needed to do photos in all 4 parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and MGM Studios. Photo shoots are not allowed in any of the parks, unless you hire the parks’ photographers. So Neal and I brought the bare minimum into each, looking like we were guests.  The Bride had special passes that let us into parks after closing time too. We were doing photos in the Magic Kingdom until about 2:00am! Amazing! She even had specific outfits for every park!

This image was taken in Epcot, one of my favorite places. It is most beautiful at night! There are eleven countries to visit in Epcot. We started at one end and worked our way through all of them. The Bride knew every inch of the park, which was great. We had our own personal tour guide!  We were coming up on the United Kingdom. The Bride said one of her favorite places was here. A tea house!  We had to stop! Once we saw it, we knew we could get something good. We didn’t want to take away from the scenery with a crazy pose either. We wanted to keep it very simple and tie the whole image together. Here comes the hard part! How do you get the Bride and Groom alone in the photo with thousands of people walking by. The key is...You don’t!  We had to shoot every time there was a lull in the crowd. It was pretty fun. We had a few delays, in that the Bride was dressed in a beautiful white dress (not a wedding dress). But she looked like one of the Disney princesses. So, a lot of kids stopped to talk to her and wanted pictures with her. It was hysterical!

We only had some extra lighting on their faces. There was enough back light from the tea house. After being pretty patient, Neal got the shot! We knew from looking at the image in the camera, it was going to be beautiful. And it is! The Bride and Groom absolutely loved it! We liked it so much, we have a print in our home. Well, minus the couple haha!

The Bride and Groom are celebrating their anniversary today as well! So Happy Anniversary! Time to go back!

-Danielle

Disney Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

CABANA BY THE BEACH!

Shooting by the beach can always be tricky. Sure, you can get sand all over you, or get splashed by a wave if you get too close. But the end result can be beautiful if your Bride and Groom are willing to go for it!

We traveled to Miromar Lakes Golf and Beach Club in East Miromar Lake, Florida. It is near Fort Meyers. We arrived the day before the wedding to scout out the location. Little did we know, you can’t get into the resort unless you are on the “list.” A quick phone call to the Bride and we were in. We were greeted by the wedding coordinator, who gave us the ok to go anywhere we wanted on the grounds.

The ceremony took place at the golf club and the reception was to follow. That didn’t leave us much time for photos. We had about 25 minutes to get family portraits, wedding party, and the Bride and Groom portraits. Good thing we scouted the day before and knew exactly where to go and how far away it was. We had the limo take us to the locations. Time was ticking away! We got to the beach and saw the lonely cabana. I brought the couple to where Neal wanted them and set up some lighting behind them. We left the couple alone and let them have some time together. Right as the sun was peaking out from the clouds, they had a kiss. It couldn’t have been more beautiful. Neal turned the photo black and white to make it a bit more dramatic. 

Getting lost in the magic, we almost forgot the time. We had about 5 minutes to get back to the reception and one more stop on the way. We had everything ready to go for the last shot. All the lighting was ready and we told the Bride and Groom what we needed them to do. 3 minutes to go! We all jumped out, got the last shot and got back to the reception with about 10 seconds to spare. Close call, but we would do it all over to get another image like this!

This image is also featured in "How to Photograph Weddings" by Michelle Perkins from Amherst Media!

-Danielle

Desination Fort Myers, FL Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony, Photo Session & Reception - Miromar Lakes

Destination Wedding Planner - Jet Set Wed

SUN GODDESS

Let's face it, the weather in Buffalo needs to change.  It's time for the snow to melt and feel the sun on our skin!  

We were in the bridal suite at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore Maryland.  It was about 20 minutes before the ceremony and the Bride was ready to get married.  We were just documenting behind the scenes and there was a giant window with beautiful light coming through.  I asked the bride to stand in the window and hold open the curtains.  With a slight glance down to her right shoulder, and snap snap!  That was the shot!  The rays of light hit the Bride and she was glowing.  We turned it to black and white because it brings out more emotion on the Bride's face.  But you still get the feeling of the Bride getting kissed by the sun!

-Danielle

Neal Urban Studio

Dodging 1,000 photobombers

Today's image comes to us from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville North Carolina.  It is the largest private residence built by George Vanderbilt.  It is 8,000 acres of beauty!

The Biltmore Estate was always a dream location for Neal, and last year, it came true. The Bride grew up in Asheville and was having her wedding at the Biltmore. She wanted us to shoot the wedding! We were so excited! If you know anything about the Biltmore Estate, then you are probably familiar with the mansion on the property. If not, check it out! The Estate is a huge tourist spot. We also had the honor to work with an awesome husband and wife videography studio called Heart Stone Films. This was actually our second time working with them.  And the wedding planner that put this whole even together, Mary Bell Events, was amazing!

So on the wedding day, it was packed with thousands of people. Try taking a photo with at least a thousand people in the background. Instead of staying in the front of the mansion where everyone was, we ventured to other areas. Neal stumbled upon this beautiful pillard walkway and we had to stop. Originally, we had the bride facing us. It looked great, but we knew it could look better. The bride had an amazing train on her dress, so we had her turn around. Neal positioned her and had her bring up her flowers slightly. With a slight look to the right, Neal knew he got the shot.

Going to a location like this was unforgettable. Even though it was a huge tourist area, we were still able to create amazing images for the couple.

-Danielle

Destination Biltmore Estate, Asheville NC Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony, Photo Session & Reception - Biltmore Estate, Asheville NC

Asheville Wedding Videography - Heart Stone Films