DECEMBER LEAVES!

Leaves in December!

Kristin and John had their engagement shoot at Fort Niagara State Park and the Village of Lewiston area. John's kids came along for some family portraits to start off the session! Four boys! Holy cow! But they were awesome and so much fun. For this shot, we had them throw leaves up! We told them to throw them behind Kristin and John. We knew that wasn't going to happen. They were thrown right at Kristin and John and it was perfect. They did such a great job. And they had so much fun with it. They helped to create a beautiful image with so many laughs!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photographer: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Session: Fort Niagara State Park, Village of Lewiston

ASHLEY & DAN AT FORT NIAGARA STATE PARK

Save the Date!! Ashley and Dan are getting married tomorrow!

We did their engagement shoot last year at Fort Niagara State Park. There are some wonderful buildings on property! We shot this at an old victorian style brick home. There was a broken down porch with amazing vines growing through it. There were not stairs for Ashley and Dan to climb. But they were both troopers and climbed right up! (and even Ashley in a dress)!

They brought a sign with them with their date on it that someone had made for them. We thought it was a great place to incorporate it! Right when we had them where we needed, the wind started blowing and the sign would not stay flat. We took about 50 shots just to get it. We had Ashley and Dan look at each other. Probably for a really long time haha. But we did get some great laughs as well! And we got the image for them to use for their Save the Date cards!

Neal and I can't wait to shoot their wedding tomorrow!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Photo Sessin: Fort Niagara State Park, Village of Lewiston

PEEK-A-BOO

Laura and Joe are expecting their second child very soon. On Thursday, we did a maternity and family photo shoot for them. It was done at Fort Niagara State Park.

Little Victoria was full of energy and wanted to run around. Trying to get a simple family portrait was a challenge, but so much fun. She was such a cute little diva. Nani even came along to help. She did a great job too! We were working with Laura and Joe, while Victoria was playing in the background. She kept yelling for mommy and looking our way. We wanted to bring her into the family portrait, without any posing for her. We had Laura and Joe try to call her over and see what would happen. As she started to run our way, Laura and Joe got into position of where they needed to be. We were hoping to have Victoria pose in between them. With cameras in hand, she came running up so fast and hid behind mommy, Neal yelled out "Peek-a-boo!", Victoria peeked out and gave us a look exactly what we were hoping for. Bonus! She knocked it out of the park the first time! And as fast as she came running up, she vanished back to Nani just as quickly! But we absolutely love her reaction. We have a feeling that she's going to be a great sister to her future baby brother!

This is just the tip of the iceburg from this shoot. We did it all from traditional family portraits, artistic belly photos in the woods, romantic mommy & daddy photos on the beach and playful photos of Victoria chasing hundreds (literally) of birds photos!

-Danielle

Buffalo Maternity Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Maternity Location: Fort Niagara State Park

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

NINA, VINNY, AND MICKEY AT FORT NIAGARA!

Nina and Vinny are getting married Saturday! Here is one of their engagement images done at Fort Niagara State Park in Youngstown NY.

Nina is a huge Disney fan! They actually got engaged in Disney World! We began their shoot inside the Old Fort (take a look Saturday to see an image from that part of the shoot). She brought a Mickey balloon and it really didn't work well inside the Fort with their outfits. We decided to keep it to use down by the water. We found a lonely picnic table facing Lake Ontario. This shot wasn't as easy as you would think. It was a little breezy and it kept moving around the Mickey balloon. Nina and Vinny couldn't really see what was going on because we needed them to look straight ahead. But, we really wanted to get a cute shot for Nina. It took about 10 minutes for Mickey to be visible haha! We knew she would love it! 

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Engagement Photo Session - Fort Niagara State Park

ELEGANCE AT THE OLD FORT!

Today we take you to Old Fort Niagara, in Youngstown NY. It is a piece of history to go see. And now a great place to take photos. Neal and I love shooting there! 

Normally when we shoot weddings at the Fort, we work with the wedding party in the main entanceway and take the Bride and Groom through the rest. It is a historic and public landmark, so we do need to take that into consideration. Most of the time, there are tours and reinactments going on as well. Sometimes, there are cannons going off in the background! We like to walk around the property with the couple and stop in all different areas.

This image was taken in the largest building on site. We walked from room to room and came upon this beautful spot. The light was pouring in from the window. There was on old wooden chair in the corner that we pulled forward for the Bride. I did a quick test to make sure it was safe to sit on first! If I fell, no big deal haha! But it was good to go! While Neal was positioning himself for the shot, I was making sure the Bride looked perfect. We wanted her to have an elegant and graceful feel. At first we did not have her bouquet in the photo. But we noticed, there wasn't much room for her to put her hands and it looked a bit awkward. The simple addition of the bouquet and a tilt of the head away from the window was the ticket! Since her head turned away from the light we used a bounce board for some fill light to light up her face. There was so much light pouring through the window, we didn't need any other light source. The Bride looked stunning and it turned out to be a beautiful image!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by - Neal Urban Studio

Church - First Presbyterian Church, Lewiston NY

Photo Session - Old Fort Niagara

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Classics V

Buffalo DJ - Premier Sound

LOVE ON LAKE ONTARIO!

Neal and I love engagement shoots. It is a great way to build a relationship with the couple. It gives them a taste of how we work. It also helps to build confidence in front of the camera, so the Bride and Groom are not as nervous to have their picture taken.

This engagement shoot was done at Fort Niagara State Park in Youngstown, NY. There is beautiful foliage plus a small beach right on Lake Ontario. Sometimes, you can see the highrise buildings in Toronto, Canada across the Lake. Neal loves shooting in tall grass. To the normal eye, you wouldn't think much of the tall grass. But, to Neal, it can make for a beautiful image. We placed the couple right in the heart of the tall grass, slightly off center.

We used as much natural light as possible, but it was a bit too dark on their faces. We added some artificial light to help brighten them up. The clouds were starting to roll in as well! They were big and puffy with a hint of gray to them. Neal was in heaven! We had the couple do a few different poses. Then we asked them to slowly go in for a kiss.

Sometimes the image right before the lips touch, is the more intimate shot. In this instance, it had a very dramatic feel to it. The couple is so in love and you can feel it through the image. The final product...Amazing!

-Danielle

Neal Urban Studio