Into the blue....

We had the pleasure of shooting Erica and Steve's engagement session on Sunday! Once we found out that we were doing the shoot on their boat, Neal had an amazing idea. It involved using the drone!

We met Erica and Steve at their dock at the Erie Basin Marina. Neal and Dave LaNasa (LaNasa Studio-beautiful videography!) invested in the drone together. Dave flies the drone and Neal takes the pictures via iPhone app. They make a great team. It's very entertaining to watch the two of them work together. Something tells me that the drone isn't going to last long with the crazy ideas they come up with but the end product is always worth the risk!

For this idea, we needed Erica and Steve in the water in the middle of nowhere (or as close as we could get them away from everyone). We purchased innertubes for them to float in. (they took us about 2 hours to blow up the day before haha).

Once in the water, Neal and Dave were standing on the front of the boat ready to operate! Neal was directing Erica and Steve of what they needed to do. It was pretty funny because the current kept pushing them opposite of where he needed them. As Dave was flying the drone, Neal took pictures and saw everything through the iPhone screen. He was going for the perfect overhead shot with the reflection of the sky in the water. Curious kyakers and fellow boaters were floating by watching the excitiment so we kept having to wait for them to clear the shot. (check out tomorrow's blog to see my angle of Erica and Steve and how different it looks). Then the perfect moment happened and Neal got his shot! 

This shoot was so much fun! Thank you to Dave LaNasa for flying the drone and to Steve's father for driving the boat while our captain, Steve played in the water with his beautiful fiance, Erica.

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Erie Basin Marina

Buffalo Engagement Video (drone operator): LaNasa Studio

GREEN LAKE PARK ENGAGEMENT SHOOT

Melissa and Justin are getting married this October. Justin is the owner of Yolo Restaurant (amazing food). Melissa is a pastry chef at the Dessert Deli. A great combination if I do say so myself!

 

We did part of their engagement shoot last year at Green Lake Park. This image was the last image of the shoot. And also one of my favorites! Melissa and Justin had on some casual clothing for this part of the shoot. We saw the giant tree stump and figured it was the perfect time to sit and hang out! We had Melissa sit in Justin's lap and enjoy the moment. You can see they were having a great time because they were both laughing and had great smiles. I needed to add some extra light to their faces because it was getting dark.

What makes this shot so much more interesting are the people in the background. We normally do not have random people in the back, but there were boy scouts at Green Lake for an overnight camping trip. They were on the dock fishing. We thought it looked really cute to keep them in the background. It ended up working out great!

We can't wait for Melissa and Justin's wedding this year!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagment Photo Location: Green Lake Park, Clarence Center 

NYC, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN, ENGAGEMENT SHOOT!!!!!

Oh I was in heaven for this engagement shoot! We traveled to New York City to do Leyla and Mike's engagement shoot. There were not set plans for shooting the first night. Mostly around Time Square and toward Central Park.

On the way, the store fronts all looked amazing! Then we come across a Christian Louboutin shoe Ferris wheel! How amazing is that window display? And the shoes were really moving around the wheel! Leyla and Mike both loved the idea! We wanted a simple pose because of the background. I was so mesmerized that I couldn't concentrate on lighting. It was pretty funny! Either way, the image is gorgeous!

I hope you enjoy this image as much as I do!

-Danielle

NYC Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

NYC Engagement Photo Location: New York City

KICK OFF TO 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!

Today we take you back to Leah and Jimmy's engagement shoot! We started off their engagement shoot at Mangia Restaurant in Orchard Park. That is one of their favorite places! We then ventured around the village before ending the shoot at Green Lake Park!

While walking around we noticed a brick building with beautiful red hanging flowers and American flags! We loved it! There was a little breeze, so the flags had some great movement. We had Leah and Jimmy walk away from us and got some action shots. Then Neal had them stop almost at the end of the last flag and go in for a kiss. Of course we really loved the shot right after their kiss when they slowly started to pull away from each other.

I love how this is a nice intimate shot with some patriotic flare! You can check out more of Leah and Jimmy's engagement images featured in one of our books, "The Art of Engagement Portraits: Lighting, Posing, and Postproduction for Breathtaking Photography. Published by Amherst Media Publishing and found on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

Leah's been into photography for 10-15 years and soon after we photographed her wedding she quickly became a part of our Neal Urban Studio family! She is now one of our main photographers so you will probably hear her name and see her work in future blog posts.

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Mangia Restaurant, Village of Orchard Park, Green Lake Park 

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

FALL ENGAGEMENT AT JAPANESE GARDENS!

Stacy and Pete were married June of 2014. We did their engagament shoot in the fall of 2013 at Delaware Park and the Japanese Gardens in Buffalo. We then headed into Elmwood Village when it got dark out. It was a great shoot!

This was done at the Japanese Gardens. It is a very popular place for photos. This was done off the beaten path of the gardens, away from the crowds of people. We saw some beautiful fall foliage behind one of the buildings. There were vibrant red and orange leaves growing all around the stone porch. The porch was raised up, so Neal had Stacy and Pete go below us. They had to crouch down a bit so we could see them. We had them kiss at first and when they pulled away from each other they had huge smiles on their faces. We loved it! Neal and I love how the pillars and the leaves frame in Stacy and Pete perfectly! 

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Photo Session: Delaware Park, Japanese Gardens, Elmwood Village

GQ STYLE AT THE OLD FORT!

Happy Wedding Day to Nina and Vinny! Here is one last shot from their engagement shoot at Old Fort Niagara that we did last year!

We told Nina and Vinny to dress really bold! Their shoot was in the fall and we knew it wouldn't be that bright inside the Fort. Nina chose very well wearing red! Her and Vinny looked stunning! Both of them were pretty nervous at first. Once we starting and got them laughing, they were naturals. You would think they were both models. They looked like they belonged on the red carpet!

I think we did photos in every building we were allowed to go in. We pretty much covered the entire Fort! This was one of the Fort tower walls that looks out onto the water. We wanted it to look like a magazine image. That is why they are not looking directly at the camera. We asked them not to smile for this one too. We all know how that goes! Nina starts laughing and can't keep a straight face. Vinny starts to laugh. A quick 5 minute break was in order! We finally all calmed down and Neal got exactly what he was going for. 

We are so excited to be a huge part of their day! Congratulations Nina and Vinny!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Session - Old Fort Niagara

ENGAGEMENT SHOOT AT THE RICHARDSON COMPLEX

We had a crazy weather engagement shoot Wednesday evening with Kristi and Adam. It rained on and off for most of the shoot. But the skies opened up to give us this amazing sky!

We began Kristi and Adam's shoot at Delaware Park in Buffalo. It was beautiful out and the park was packed. We were getting warmed up with some great portraits and the wind picked up. The skies started to darken and before you know it, it began to sprinkle. It wasn't that bad, so we kept shooting. Then the rain picked up a bit, so we took cover under a big tree and did more photos. We were going to call the shoot, and finish the rest another night, but Kristi and Adam were game to continue if we wanted. We looked at the sky and it was brighting up a bit, so we headed to the next location. The Richardson Complex in Buffalo.

Adam is really interested in old architecture, so this was the perfect location for him. Once we arrived, it stopped raining and the clouds opened up to a beautiful sky and sunset. We got Kristi and Adam in position. This was tricky because the Richardson Complex is under construction and we didn't want to get any of that in the photos so Neal shot from a low angle blocking most of the construction equipment. Since the Richardson Complex is so massive Neal wanted to fit it all in one shot so he chose to do a 7 shot panoramic image but centering Kristi & Adam so the focus stayed on them!

We were so happy that we did not end the shoot early and finish another time. We would have missed out on this amazing sky. We thank Kristi and Adam for toughing out the sketchy weather. They will not be sorry!

Kristi & Adam are currently building a new home. This image looks amazing in high resolution and will make a beautiful print for their brand new walls!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location - Richardson Complex and Delaware Park

DAVE & KRISTINE ENGAGEMENT SHOOT!

Dave and Kristine began their engagement shoot last week at Forest Lawn Cemetary. All Kristine wanted were some pretty flowers and pink trees. The shoot started out great! There were little goslings, deer, and bunnies everywhere. Kristine said she felt like she was Snow White! Time to find some pink trees! As we were making our way through the grounds, we found a great spot. We get Dave and Kristine in place and the grounds keeper comes around and says the gates close in 10 minutes. Oh no! We didn't panic. We continued to shoot and got some beautiful images!

Plan B! We went into Delaware Park and continued shooting. We found some great spots that Kristine and Dave loved! We found some more pink trees and some other beautiful landscapes. Now, Neal wanted to get a little more creative. He wanted a pink tree, but not for them to stand in front. He wanted the effect of just the leaves. Neal needed a tree he could climb to get a shot over the couple. We pretty much got everything we needed for the shoot, so this was just another idea. We began to walk the park and it started to sprinkle. Oh great! Neal was so bummed. But we didn't want to keep them in the rain. As we made our way back to the cars, Neal spots his tree and the rain stopped! Now we needed some of the leaves on the ground. We shook the branches a bit to get the effect Neal wanted. Kristine and I had a blast doing that! Then Neal climbed the tree and positioned them head to head directly below him. He shot through the branches. As Neal was taking the picture, I was making sure he didn't fall out of the tree. There sure were a lot of laughs during this shoot! Kristine and Dave were such good sports!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Session - Forest Lawn Cemetary and Delaware Park

Dave LaNasa - LaNasa Studio

Engagement with the Buffalo Mansion Homes

We bring you an engagement shot today from the Delaware Park area in Buffalo!

This couple was from out of town (Bride originally from the area). This was our first time meeting the couple in person as well. They were only in town for one night for their shoot. Delaware Park and Albright Knox Art Gallery are prime locations for engagement and wedding photos. There was actually a small wedding having their photos done at the same time.

We wanted to make sure we got some images that really stood out. Right from the start Neal and I completely clicked with this couple. They were being silly and having a lot of fun. It definitely didn't feel like a first meeting for us. We worked around the Albright Knox Art Gallery for a little while and headed into the park for a bit.

We then headed down the road a bit where there are a ton of amazing mansions. Neal wanted to get an artistic image with the couple in front of one. Decisions decisions on which one was best. We took a llittle stroll passed a few and Neal came to a halt. Bingo! He found his mansion! There was a nice iron gate with some stone lions protecting the entrance. We wanted to make sure we got at least one of those in the image.

The couple was placed to the left of the gate. We wanted the Bride to be to go up and embrace her Groom to be! Then go in for a kiss! We learned earlier in the shoot that the Bride to be was a dancer. So, when she embraced her fiance, she naturally kicked up her leg. We didn't even need to ask! It looked great!

Neal was shooting from the middle of the street of course. Besides holding some lighting, I was on car patrol. Right as Neal was clicking away, someone pulled in the driveway. I thought we were done for it and would need to move. Luckily, the driver just waved to us and drove to the back. I guess we picked the right mansion!

-Danielle

Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Photo Session - Deleware Park, Albright Knox Art Gallery area