SUNSET AT KNOX FARM

Rori and Marc drove in from Boston this past weekend with their 3 dogs for their engagement session at Knox Farm State Park. 

We will be shooting their wedding in Boston in August! This was our first meeting in person as well with Rori and Marc. We all hit it off great! We had so much fun with them. Rori told us their style and Knox Farm was the ticket!

This image was the last series of the night. The sun was setting and we were getting some amazing colors in the sky. Neal wanted to do some silhouettes. He had Rori and Marc take a nice long walk up on this hill. After that, Neal tells me I need to head that way to give them directions! I then started my slow jog over haha.

We had Marc take Rori by the hand and lead her on a casual walk! This image really wasn't edited either. The only thing Neal had to do was remove me from the photo. I had nowhere to hide on this one. But I will say, my silhouette looked like a creepy apparition from the X-Files.

We can't wait for Rori and Marc's wedding!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Knox Farm State Park

FIRST DATE!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ashley and Justin had their first date at Cecelia’s Restaurant in Buffalo. Why not go back for some engagement photos!

We were the only people in the restaurant for the shoot! Well, except the one lady who was seated at the booth exactly where Ashley and Justin sat for their date! Should we ask her to move? We decided not to ask her and work around the rest of the restaurant.

For this, I wanted to incorporate the Cecelia’s name into the shot. I had them seated at a far table and shot through the glass. Neal was shooting up close to get a different look, so we captured all bases! 

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Delaware Park, Cecelia’s Restaurant, Elmwood Village

ENGAGEMENT SHOOT LAUGHS!

Here is another image of Ashley and Justin's engagement session at Delaware Park.

This was at the very beginning of the shoot. Everyone is always a bit nervous when we start. And Ashley told us she was! We started off pretty basic with having them look at each other. Ashley started to laugh like crazy. She could not keep a straight face when she looked at Justin. Then he started to laugh too! I love the way Justin brought in Ashley for a hug!

These are the moments we love to capture. These are genuine laughs! This was a great way to break the ice as well. Then they began to settle down and have a lot of fun!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Delaware Park, Elmwood Village

WINTER ENGAGEMENT SHOOT IN DELAWARE PARK

Ashley and Justin are getting married this August! We had a great engagement session with them recently at Delaware Park.

We were hoping for a lot of snow, but it got pretty nice the days leading up to the shoot (not that I am complaining at all). Most of it melted, but we were really excited there was still some on the ground! It was a cold one too! I made sure to tell Ashley and Justin to dress for the weather. They did just that and looked great!

We had no set locations in mind. We walked around Delaware Park and stopped at different spots on the way. This part of the stairs had the most snow, so I asked Ashley and Justin to stop here and snuggle up really close to stay warm. Then I had them take a gander out at Hoyt Lake. Everything looked so pretty!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Delaware Park, Elmwood Village

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY TAILGATE!

We thought this would be a great photo for game day! Kristine and Andy had their engagement shoot at Ralph Wilson Stadium. This shoot was done by Leah! 

They brought everything for a great tailgate party to include in their photos. Kristine and Andy brought beer, chips, dip, and even Anchor Bar wings! They had a folding table and a cooler as well. It felt like we were going to party!

As you can see, they incorporated their date on a football. During this part of the shoot, they started to play football as well. It was a blast. 

Wings + Beer + Football = Super Bowl Sunday (actually all Buffalo fans every game)!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, 

ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS IN THE LOBBY

Another fun image that I took from Hayley and Wes's engagement shoot at the Barton Hill Hotel and Spa in Lewiston!

Hayley and Wes gave us a lot of laughs on their shoot. They were always joking and had giant smiles. They loved the piano in the lobby and asked if I could use it for photos. Sure!

I had them just sit and get really close. They had a wonderful moment together. I have no idea what Wes said but it sure brought a beautiful smile to Hayley. I also loved the row of lights on the ceiling. It showed nice depth in the image. Neal also assisted with lighting. It was a little dark, so we needed to brighten up their faces.

-Danielle 

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Barton Hill Hotel and Spa

BARTON HILL HOTEL ENGAGEMENT

Here is another image I shot from Hayley and Wes's engagement shoot at the Barton Hill Hotel & Spa in Lewiston!

The sun had set and it was getting dark. The outside had an amazing deep blue color to it. But, it looked like it was glowing as well. Instead of going outside, we decided to stay inside and shoot in front of the big windows the lobby has. 

Lucky for us, there was already a sitting area in the place we wanted to shoot. We had Hayley have a seat and Wes stand to the side of the couch. I asked for some serious faces at first. They both started laughing so hard and we ended up with this natural reaction shot! Not everyone can pull off a serious face. I know I can't! But, I think it is great! It is showing the true Hayley. Always smiling and laughing!

-Danielle 

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Barton Hill Hotel & Spa

AIRPORT ENGAGEMENT FUN!

Happy Wedding Day Amanda and Kevin!

Here is one more image from their engagement shoot at the Akron Airport. Kevin used to be a pilot and now he inspects and fixes planes. He told us we had the run of the place and could pretty much go anywhere we wanted. Amanda also helps Kevin out at the airport. They even had her fixing parts of the planes!

We saw this cool plane and the pilot brought it out for us! Isn't it really cool? We put Kevin and Amanda in front of the plane. We have them off to the side, so you could still see the propellers. Everything fell into place. Their outfits were great! The color of the plane is so much fun! (Click here to see the photo of this plane in flight as it flew right over Amanda & Kevin)

Congratulations Kevin and Amanda!

-Danielle

Neal here, I'm here to talk about the post processing of this image. The plane is vintage so I wanted to make sure that the overall feel to the image matched the plane. I love looking at old black and white photos that have been colorized. When artists add color to image they do it by hand with paints. When my grandmother passed away last year we were looking at a lot of her images from the past. Most of them were black and white at first but she colorized them by hand. They were very, very well done! I was impressed and inspired. That was my inspiration for this image. I converted the images to black and white and slowly painted in the colors from the original image. It was my first time doing it this way and would like try it some more in the future. Stay tuned.

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Akron Airport 

Jetsetters!

Amanda and Kevin are getting married tomorrow!

We did their engagement shoot almost 2 years ago. I felt like their wedding day was never going to get here! We are so excited to be a part of this amazing couple's special day tomorrow! 

In the hangar where Kevin works, there was a private plane he was working on. Right away we both asked, "Can we go in it?' I mean, it's not everyday you get to see the inside of a private plane. We decided this part of the shoot would look great in their formal outfits. It reminds me of the movie Pretty Woman, when Richard Gere whisks Julia Roberts off in his private plane to see the opera!

We played around with lighting for a while on this one. Neal explains in more detail below... I was not tall enough to hold the lights where Neal needed them. Time to bring in a ladder! Once everything was in place, we told Kevin and Amanda to pretend we were flying. You can imagine the laughs we got from that. But, we got a nice, intimate, private moment between them!

We'll see you tomorrow Amanda & Kevin!

-Danielle

Neal here, it's funny because the simple looking images are often the most complicated to "create"!

I agree with Danielle, this was a great opportunity, it's not often we have a private jet at our disposal. The Jet was parked inside a hangar. This was when it was getting dark outside. When I took a test shot you could see the hangar walls & equipment outside of the windows. I wanted to make it look as if we were flying high above the clouds so it had to be BRIGHT! Amanda & Kevin were getting changed so this bought us a few minutes to get setup. We took four speedlights and blasted the plane with light from the outside. All lights were set at different power levels. This washed out the windows making it look as if we were above the clouds! I even had Danielle point one of the lights towards the camera so it created a natural lens flare and that light acted as the sun (highest power). Like Danielle said, Jet's aren't low to the ground, we put lightstands on the wings and ladders. We also had a handheld light inside the plane for some fill light on their faces. We used 5 lights total, it literally looked and felt like a movie set. All of this was done within ten minutes. I live for moments like this!!!

As for the post processing, this jet wasn't very old but the interior screamed 1950's to me with the tan leather seats and the woodgrain trim. I used this illustration from a LIFE Magazine from 1955 as inspiration for the color palette. 

-Neal

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Akron Airport

A DANCE AT THE BARTON HILL HOTEL

Here are Hayley and Wes on their engagement shoot!

We met up with Hayley and Wes at the Barton Hill Hotel in Lewiston NY. It was absolutely freezing out, we decided to do a few photos inside of the hotel. The main lobby is really pretty and has some nice open space. Why not have Hayley and Wes have a little dance?

A little background first. Hayley loves to be "dipped," especially in photos. So, we asked Wes to dip her at the end of the dance. What we did not know, was that he gave her a "dipping allowance!" He told her she only had so many left to spare for the wedding day (their wedding is not until October)! This was so funny! I wonder when the countdown began and how many are left?!

It was pretty dark out, so the lobby was not very bright. Neal added in some extra light behind them, on both sides. He also added some light to their faces, which gave them a nice glow.

Hayley and Wes were so much fun and I can't wait to capture their wedding day!

-Danielle

Neal here, I was Danielle's assistant on this shoot which is always a lot of fun for me. I get to do dorky things and play with lights throughout the shoot which is something I really enjoy. I stay quiet and out of the way while Danielle works with the couple. This shot is all Danielle, her idea for location, the pose etc. Danielle even directed me how she wanted it edited in post production. It's a classy image. Great work Danielle!

-Neal

Buffalo Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Location: Barton Hill Hotel