HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Why not celebrate the 4th of July with some fireworks! Danielle and Andrew were married July of 2013. Their reception was at Brookfield Country Club in Clarence NY. They ended the night with a fireworks display!

Fireworks are not the easiest to photograph. We needed some extra time to set up lighting and test out everything.  And it did not help that it was pouring outside. But the show must go on! Brookfield's coordinated great with us. They told us exactly where the fireworks would be going off so we knew where to place the couple. I was the test subject before we brought Danielle and Andrew out in the rain.

As all of the guests started making their way to the patio, it began to rain even harder. We had Danielle and Andrew in position as the fireworks started to light up the sky. I started off holding an umbrella over Neal and the gear and Brian Gorman, from UnbeatenPath Media. Then Neal says we need more backlight. Great! I took the umbrella out with me and slouched behind Danielle and Andrew. But, the umbrella was showing up too much, so I needed to lose it. Yes, I got completely soaked! Then I see Brian run off down the treeline with his camera taking video. He came back a lot more soaked than I did.

This was the final result! What a great image for today! Hoping everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

Blog Exclusive* - This photo has been seen on the website, social media, our books etc. so Neal wanted to edit this image different for the blog. He decided to give it a tighter panoramic crop and he turned it to black and white. The original is beautiful in color but he felt that the colors took attention away from the couple. The black and white definitely adds more drama to the image as well as the crop. Bold decision but it looks amazing!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Ceremony: Our Lady of Victory

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location: Buffalo Botannical Gardens

Buffalo Wedding Reception: Brookfield Country Club

Buffalo Wedding Videography: Unbeaten Path Media

Buffalo Wedding Band: Party of Nine

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 

BABY SHOOT AT GLEN FALLS

Baby Abby had her photo shoot a few days ago at Glen Falls in Williamsville. Her aunt Dana is one of our August Bride's this year and wanted some photos of her 8 month old neice.

The shoot started off rocky. Poor Abby did not want to have her photo taken. Teething is not a great thing. But once she got comfortable, we got some great images! Her mother picked some beautiful outfits too! For this image, Abby had her fur and pearls on! Total glam! Her little brother was playing with bubbles, so we asked if we could use them. Abby did not want to be sit down on her own, so mom came in with the assist and held her. She calmed down right away. With mom holding Abby, I snuck behind with the bubbles and Neal was taking the pictures. It worked out great! I am not a pro bubble maker and it took me a while to get good bubbles. All I could hear in the background was, "Danielle where are the bubbles" haha. But we got it! Time to get a bubble maker!

Abby was a doll to work with! We can't wait to shoot Aunt Dana's wedding and hopefully see baby Abby!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Photo Session: Glen Falls

FLAT IRON ENGAGEMENT

After talking about yesterdays photo about how clients stories take us to different places... Let's go back a few years! This is from Leyla and Mike's engagement shoot in New York City! NYC was personal to them but they didn't like the "touristy" side of NYC aka Times Square. They wanted the side streets, the shops and of course the hidden secrets of Central Park where they got engaged.

Today's image was done in front of the Flat Iron Building! We did a lot of prep work to get this shot. We arrived in NYC the day before Leyla and Mike got there to scope out locations. Flat Iron district was a must and Neal wanted them in the center of the street in front of the building. I was the test subject! We had to time out the traffic lights and the flow of people crossing the street to know exactly when to take the shot of Leyla and Mike. It took about 2 hours to time everything out. We even had the NYC cops walk by a few times asking what we were doing.

When Leyla and Mike arrived, we started the shoot at night walking around 5th Avenue taking shots of them in front of the fancy store fronts, City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center and headed toward Central Park. Amazing at night!! The next day, we had a private photo shoot at Tiffany's on Fifth Ave! I was in heaven! Leyla was too as she picked out a couple beautiful pieces of jewelry for her wedding. We were literally taking photos behind the scenes in the upstairs offices and private showrooms and on the main showroom floor as they shopped. They even got served champagne while they shopped. Amazing!!!! We then traveled back to Central Park  where they got engaged and then to the Flat Iron.

We told Leyla and Mike exactly what we wanted at the Flat Iron. We mentioned we had it all timed out for them as well. We actually needed to catch a flight right after this location, so we needed it to be perfect in a short amount of time. Mike was so funny. He kept yelling out the timing of everything. We were laughing so hard, we couldn't concentrate. It took about 20 minutes to get the final product. It was everything we could hope for and more.

Now it was time to catch our flight. We stashed our bags in Leyla and Mike's room at the Waldorf Astoria. Little did we know, there was a presidential campaign going on at their hotel and Barrack Obama and Mit Romney were present. Secret Service agents were everywhere and had the place on lockdown. We were freaking out that we would miss our flight. And we needed to get back home for a wedding. Then out of nowhere, a Secret Service Agent saw us struggling with all our gear and escorted us out of the hotel and got us a cab! We made it just in time for flight. We felt so important that a guy who protects the President gave us an escort!

This was a great story with amazing images for Leyla and Mike. They were so down to earth and treated us to late night dinners, breakfasts' at the Waldorf and lunches in the city. They seriously treated us as friends and we couldn't be more grateful for their kindness. We were so excited for them that they made the cover of our recent book "The Art of Engagements".

Leyla & Mike recently welcomed their first child a couple weeks ago. We could not be happier for them. They're going to be the best parents ever. We have one more shoot with them and can't wait to document more memories for them.

-Danielle

NYC Wedding Engagement Photography: Neal Urban Studio

NYC Engagement Photo Location: NYC, Flat Iron building

Parking lot magic!

Welcome back to Denise and Tyler's post bridal shoot at Kinzua Bridge State Park in PA! We forgot to mention why we were shooting here. This is Tyler's hometown so it meant a lot to him and Denise that we completed their wedding story at this location. Their engagement shoot took place in Erie, PA. The wedding in Buffalo, NY and Post Bridal Session in Smethport, PA. While Tyler showed us around town he said "I know it's not the Carribean that you're used to shooting at but it's my hometown." - To us, it doesn't matter where we shoot! We try and create beautiful images at the locations that's most personal to our clients. Images are all about storytelling and we'll go wherever our clients story takes us.

After tackling the high bridge, we were just about done with the photoshoot but Neal wanted to do one last shot. We headed back toward the parking lot. In the very back corner of the lot there were giant boulders randomly laying there. We had noticed them when we first arrived and wanted to do something fun with them.

Denise had brought giant sparklers in case we wanted to use them. This was the spot! We did a test with the sparklers and it was perfect. We positioned Denise and Tyler on the rocks and stuck the sparklers in the ground behind them and lit them. Of course it started to get windy and the smoke was going in the wrong direction we needed it to be. Neal was clicking away, as I went back and forth relighting the sparklers that went out or bringing new ones in. The images were looking amazing in the camera but we really needed it to be perfect and it took a lot of patience! 

Denise and Tyler were such troopers on this one. They didn't exactly have the most comfortable place to be standing! But as soon as the wind died down for a split second we got the shot and it was well worth the effort.

Funny how we traveled all the way to shoot at the amazing Kinzua Bridge and one of the best shots was in the parking lot! :-)

-Danielle

Bradford, PA Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Bradford, PA Wedding Photo Location: Smethport PA, Kinzua Bridge State Park PA

POST BRIDAL AT KINZUA BRIDGE STATE PARK

Last week we traveled to Kinzua Bridge State Park in PA for a post bridal session with Denise and Tyler. What a cool location! In 2003, a tornado went through and destroyed most of the bridge. This was the only part that was left and has been restored.

Neal and I are both somewhat scared of heights and this bridge was 302 feet up from the ground. Also, when walking down the train tracks, you can see right to the bottom. It was also windy! It was pretty funny setting up posing and lighting and trying not to look down. It made for many laughs!

For this image, Neal wanted to get what was left of the bridge along with the beautiful clouds in the background. The clouds made for an amazing sunset as well. Because the scenery was so great, Denise and Tyler did not need to be in a crazy pose. We just wanted them to be close and either look at each other or have a kiss. Once we had them where we needed, we let them take it from there.

At this point it got really really windy and Denise's veil would not stay on. We normally love the wind, but we did need to hold onto it so it did not blow away. Thank you to Tyler's mom for the assist on that! I was holding a light box and that almost went over the side. Neal would not have been happy about that!

But it was so worth being up there! This turned out to be a beautiful image!

Visit back tomorrow to see another image from Denise and Tyler's shoot!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Photo Session: Smethport PA, Kinzua Bridge State Park

A wedding toast at Asbury Hall

Continuing with our "Still life Sunday" theme of the blog, who wants some Champagne?

This was from Renee and Patrick's wedding in June of 2014. I loved their champagne flutes! The reception was at Asbury Hall. They have string lights that go across the hall. They are great to incorporate into photos, like we did here! Even though they are blurred, they look pretty cool! Neal's idea was that the lights resemble champagne bubbles. I also really like the detail in the actual champagne. You can still see all the bubbles! 

So, whose ready for a mimosa?

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Reception: Asbury Hall

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

MATERNITY SHOOT IN JAMAICA

While shooting a wedding at Sandals White House, Jamaica, the Grooms sister in law was pregnant and asked us if we could do some quick maternity photos for her. We said no problem as long as the Bride and Groom did not care. The couple was all for it and said have fun!

While everyone was hanging at the pool, we took Crystal away to the beach for her shoot. We could not have asked for a better location. The water was a beautiful blue color, white sand, and the skies had some puffy clouds in the distance. Crystal had the perfect beach dress right over her bathing suit and a great beach hat. We took a walk away from guests and Neal got this shot. It felt like Crystal had the beach to herself! She is a fitness trainer and has competed in many competitions. She knew exactly how to pose! (Her husband is one of the owners of Primerano Fitness in Niagara Falls, NY)

This was one of many amazing and beautiful shots we got for Crystal!

-Danielle

Destination Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Wedding Photo Session: Sandals White House Jamaica

Tonawanda Castle Wedding!

Throwback Thursday! Johnathan & Nick got married in 2011. The ceremony and reception were at the Tonawanda Castle. It was an amazing wedding! It was such an emotional wedding as well. I even cried behind the camera a few times! It was one of the first same sex weddings in NY. Johnathan & Nick originally planned on getting married out of state but once New York State made same sex marriages legal, they quickly changed plans and we're so happy that they chose to stay local so that all of their family and friends were able to witness the ceremony!

Johnathan & Nick came in with some great ideas for their wedding. They designed almost everything themselves right down to the cake. And it was a great looking and tasting cake! We started their photo shoot around the Elmwood Village area, so we could include their dog, Moose. Then we headed to the Castle to meet the wedding party for some more photos. There were so many places for us to take advantage of. This image was taken in one of the rooms that looked like a maids or butlers quarters on the third floor. We really liked the two doorways. All we wanted was for them to each stand in a doorway. Nick was quite tall, but he just fit. And then we had them take a peak out at eachother. It was a nice and simple shot, but we still love it to this day! This was one of our all-time favorite weddings because of how emotional is was so don't be surprised if you see Johnathan & Nick in future blog posts!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Buffalo Wedding Ceremony and Reception: Tonawanda Castle, 

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location: Elmwood Village and Tonawanda Castle