BRIDE AT THE BILTMORE ESTATE

Welcome back to the Biltmore Estate . It is the America's largest private residence owned by George Vanderbilt. It covers 8,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

Thousands of people visit the Estate everyday. They do not close it to the public for weddings either. This shot was taken by Neal before the ceremony. It is a beautiful shot with the Estate in the background. Cheryl had an amazing dress and we wanted to show off her train. We asked her to look out toward the Estate. Now, you think that would be a very easy shot just by looking at it. What you do not see were the thousands of people, limos, and buses that were on the front lawn. There were people everywhere. Neal wanted it to be Cheryl completely alone, so a major amount of editing needed to be done.

A few hours later, (that is how long it took to get rid of everyone on the lawn), this was the finished product. We could not be happier with the turn out! It won us a Silver Distinction Award at this years WPPI (Wedding Portrait and Photographers International) competition in Las Vegas. Silver Distinction is one of the highest awards in the competition just a couple points away from receiving Gold!

-Danielle

Biltmore Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Asheville, NC Wedding Ceremony, Photo Session, and Reception: The Biltmore Estate

Asheville, NC Coordinator: Mary Bell Events 

Raleigh NC, Videography: Heart Stone Films

Bubbles at Asbury Hall!

Colin and Donielle just got married last Saturday June 13, 2015! It was an amazing wedding.

It took place at Asbury Hall (Babeville). It was right in the middle of the Allentown Art Festival. So, of course we took a walk in the festival to do some photos. Stay tuned for an image from the festival! 

This was taken at the end of the night. This cool bubble wall was located right across the street. It is the Starlight Studio and Art Gallery. It is such a fun wall that we needed to use! After Donielle changed into her party dress, we headed over. On the way, Colin told us that his nickname for Donielle was "Bubbles". We had no idea. This was so great! We could get a fun image with some meaning behind it! 

All we needed was for Colin to pick up Donielle. She is a dancer, so she knew what to do. She kicked up that leg with a pointed toe! Then we had her go in for a kiss. Colin and Donielle were so much fun to photograph. They both had wonderful personalities! It was such a great way to end the night!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony and Reception: Asbury Hall

Photo Session: Allentown Art Festival and Asbury Hall

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to all the father's and father's to be out there!

This shot was done at St. John the Baptist in Kenmore. This is the moment where the father is handing off his daughter(Kelly) to her Groom(Tom). This is such an emotional moment of the ceremony. You can see how tight Kelly's father is hugging her trying to hold back his tears. Even though you can't see Kelly's face, you can see feel how emotional she is by how she is hugging her father. Neal captured this perfectly. Her husband to be, Tom, is in the back left and his father is present in the back right. You can see they are both trying to hold back their tears as well. 

This was such a beautiful moment between everyone. I think Neal nailed this shot!

And Happy Father's Day to be to Tom! Congratulations Kelly and Tom!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: St. John the Baptist RC Church

Photo Session: Buffalo Central Terminal

Reception: Statler City

HAPPY U.S. OPEN from Park Country Club!

For all you golf lovers out there! We hope you are enjoying the U.S. Open! Here's an image for you!

This was done at Park Country Club. Nick and Lauren had their photo session at the Club. It was great! We got to go all over the course in golf carts with the wedding party. This was done on one of the fairways. (there were no golfers on this one). All we wanted was for the wedding party to walk toward us with Nick and Lauren leading the way. This green was perfect because the club house was in the background. And it is such a beautiful club house. 

There is really no set up or posing for a shot like this. We just made sure the Bride and Groom were always leading the way in center. Then it's up to everyone else to have fun. Everyone was talking, laughing, and looking around. The Groomsmen were telling jokes! We had Nick and Lauren hold hands. They were laughing and looking at eachother. It was exactly what we wanted! Everyone did an awesome job!

So, who do you think will be this years U.S. Open winner?? 

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: Church of the Assumption in Buffalo

Photo Session: Park Country Club

Reception: Salvatore's Italian Gardens

The Great Gatsby at Hotel Lafayette

I love this solo shot of Jimmy that was done at Hotel at the Lafayette. It was at Mike A's Lounge Bar (now called Bourbon & Butter). If you have not been to this bar, check it out! It is a great atmosphere.

Leah and Jimmy had a "Great Gatsby" style wedding, with a hint of Disney in it! Before the wedding Leah had mentioned a scene from "The Great Gatsby" where Leonardo DiCaprio is holding out his drink with a party going on behind him. I knew exactly what she was talking about! She said Jimmy would love to do something similar if we could. He loves to mix drinks and come up with new kinds of cocktails. Let's just say, he makes some really great drinks! 

Neal knew right where he wanted to go for this shot. We headed into the Lounge bar and got Jimmy a drink. Bourbon of course! We kindly asked some of the crowd if they would sneak out of the way for a quick shot of the Groom. They didn't mind at all. In fact, when we set it up someone said it looked like "The Great Gatsby!" I guess we were on the right track! Jimmy was perfect! I love how you can see the bar and bar lights blurred in the background. This captured Jimmy and his personality 100%!

His wife Leah has a passion for photography and is now a part of Neal Urban Studio!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: SS. Peter and Paul RC Church

Photo Session: Ralph Wilson Stadium and Hotel at the Lafayette

Reception: Hotel at the Lafayette

BROTHERS CHASING THE BIRDS AT FORT NIAGARA!

This is another image from our family portrait session at Fort Niagara State Park from last week. Here are brothers Luka and Caleb running full force at the birds!

At Fort Niagara there are always a ton of birds. Seagulls and geese convene down by the water all of the time. We did some family photos on the beach on Lake Ontario and Luka saw the birds. He asked if he could run at them. What a great idea! The kids needed a little break too! This was perfect timing. Mom and Dad said go run to the birds. And they both did, with Neal and I running behind them documenting the action. They were so quick, we couldn't keep up! Once Luka and Caleb got close, the birds took flight! What a fun image!

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Photography Session: Fort Niagara State Park, Village of Youngstown, NY

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

THE PAINTED LADIES IN SAN FRANCISCO

This is one of my favorite landscape images by Neal. Yes! These are the famous "Painted Ladies" in San Francisco, CA. They are featured in the beginning of the show "Full House". Can you pick out which house was theirs?

It was pouring out that day. We drove around San Francisco for a long time looking for these. We had already been to Lombard Street (the famous curvy street in California). Having to stand in the rain for an hour was not fun. So, once we got to the Ladies, I was not getting out of the car and climbing up that hill. Boy, do I regret that now. I missed this amazing site. I had no idea that downtown San Francisco was that visible behind the houses.

I was waiting and waiting in the car wondering what was taking Neal so long. When he got back to the car, I asked if he got what he wanted. He said, "Wait until you see it." He edited the image right when we got back to our hotel and showed me. My response was, "It's amazing! Can we go back, so I can see it in person?" That did not happen. I made sure from then on, to always get out of the car when Neal has an idea!

We have a huge canvas of this in our studio if anyone wants to see it in person!

-Danielle

San Francisco Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Destination Travel Photography: San Francisco, CA

WINDY DAY AT TIFT NATURE PRESERVE!

Jamie and Gavin got married in August of 2012! It was such a great wedding! They were awesome. This was my favorite image that I took from their portrait session.

We started photos at Delaware Park and then headed to Tift Nature Preserve where this was taken. The wedding party was sent back to the limo to party and it was time for Jamie and Gavin! Neal had actually set up the couple for a wider angle shot from where he was standing. I decided to shoot up close from a different angle. Right when I saw the wind take her dress, I knew I had a great angle. I did interrupt Neal for a minute and had Jamie glance down my way and had Gavin go in for a kiss on the neck. It was beautiful!

Neal and I work great together. We both help each other out. And we have no problem interrupting each other or changing something up for an amazing shot! 

This image is also featured in "Dream Weddings: Create Fresh and Stylish Photography" by Neal Urban! Check it out at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com

As a blog exclusive Neal edited this image differently. It was always in a horizontal crop and in B&W. For the blog he left it in the original vertical crop and left it in color. Even if we blog about images that have been seen before, we'll try and mix it up so you always have something new to look at here on the blog.

-Danielle

Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony: St. John's Grace in Buffalo

Photo Session: Delaware Park, Tift Nature Preserve

Reception: Briarwood Country Club

ENGAGEMENT RING AND CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN!

I do love these shoes! They are gorgeous Christian Louboutin's. Our Bride Lexi had some fantastic taste! 

Lexi loved her shoes as well and we wanted to do something fun with them. We got her engagement ring and wedged it in between both shoes. Before we did this, we made sure we put the glass table in a spot that had no vents near it for precaution. The shoes actually held the ring really nicecly. There was a little lip on the backs of the shoes that caught the ring!

Neal used a light to get a nice reflection on the shiny wooden table. There is a nice mirror image of the shoes and the ring. I love how the red bottoms pop in the reflection. A beautiful diamond and Christian Louboutin's! What more could a girl ask for?!?

-Danielle

Puttsburgh Wedding Photography: Neal Urban Studio

Pittburgh Wedding Ceremony:High Street Community Church, Conneaut Lake PA.

Pittsburgh Wedding Photo Location and Reception: Avalon Golf and Country Club