BRIDESMAIDS IN ACTION!

You never know what is going to happen at a wedding, especially with the wedding party. They always give us a good laugh and great pictures!

For photos, the Bride and Groom wanted to go to Niagara Square in Buffalo. The wedding party had sunglasses to put on for some of the pictures. Nice and easy. You would think... They Bridesmaids wanted to have their picture taken with the Groom in front of the fountain. No Problem! Until somehow, someone dropped their sunglasses into the fountain. We have no idea how it happened. But there they were on the bottom.

The Bride and Groom didn't mind at all. They were just fun props anyway. But before you know it, one of the Bridesmaids took off her shoes and asked for a boost from another girl. One Bridesmaid is holding the other by the legs so she can reach over to get the sunglasses out of the fountain. It was so funny. None of the Groomsmen helped because they were too busy laughing.

At one point we thought the grip was slipping and she was going right in. Could you image. Great photo, but not so good for the Bridesmaid. Good thing she had super long arms and she got them out. She did it without getting her hair and only a little bit of her dress wet too!

It's pretty true what they say about the Bridesmaids doing almost anything for the Bride on her big day. Great teamwork from the Bridesmaids!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - St. John the Baptist R.C Church

Photo Session - Niagara Square, Buffalo, NY

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Hotel Lafayette

Videography - Harris Films 

Buffalo Wedding DJ - Premier Sound

LOVE TAKES FLIGHT!

So many people have asked if this image was fake and photoshopped. But to show everyone it really happened, we decided to show the sequence of events leading up to this amazing shot, taken be me (Danielle)!

This was an awesome engagement shoot at the Akron Airport. The Groom to be used to be a commercial airline pilot, now he has a hangar there and inspects and fixes planes. The Bride to be also works there sometimes. So, what better place to do their engagement shoot, but at their Airport. This shoot ranged from a vintage car on the runway, fighter planes in the hangar, to glider planes flying over and behind the couple on the runway. At one point, there were even sky divers! Pretty cool!

These images were taken directly on the runway. We spoke with the pilot before take off and asked him to fly right over the couple and let out some smoke on the way up. Besides Neal and I, another one of our photographers, Shane was working with us. We needed all hands on deck for this engagement shoot. We all positoned ourselves in different spots. I decided to lay completely flat in the middle of the runway. Yes, I was the crazy one this time.

The couple was all for standing in the runway. We placed the couple where we needed them to be and prayed haha! As you can see, I started clicking away right from take-off. As the plane was getting closer, my whole body was shaking. I was terrified. A plane was going right over our heads! "Don't panic, just keep taking pictures." Before you know it, the plane was well past us. None of us got up off the runway. We all looked at our cameras while still on the ground. Once I began to look, I knew I got "the shot." I yelled over to Neal, "I got it!" At first he didn't look up from his camera. So I walked over and shoved my camera right at his face and said, "Neal, I got it. I got the whole plane!" He put his camera down and said, "Wow, you sure did!" His eyes didn't move from the camera screen.

We went over to the couple so excited and told them it was going to be amazing! The Bride to be was still shaking as well. She was pretty scared too having a plane go over them. From begining to end, this engagement shoot turned out absolutely amazing. The couple loved the images so much, they sent out 6 different "Save the Date" cards because they couldn't choose just a few pictures. We can't wait until the wedding!

I won my first award with this image at this year's WPPI - Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Competition in at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Photographers from all over the world come to this event to compete. This was the first image I have ever submitted. It was actually questioned as well if it was fake or not. We had to supply the sequence of shots to the judges to prove it was real. If we didn't then it would have been disqualified. It was so exciting walking through the winners gallery and see my photo hang with an award on it. Neal took home two other awards as well. Three more awards for Neal Urban Studio!

-Danielle

Buffalo Engagement Photography by Neal Urban Studio

TRIMANIA!

Ok people..Today's the day! Trimania is here! 

If you are unfamiliar with this event, it is held every few years at the Tri-Main Center in Buffalo. This is also the home of Neal Urban Studio. Trimania was created to celebrate the arts, music and culture of Buffalo. This is a chance to see what the Tri-Main Center has to offer and to benefit the Buffalo Arts Studio. This year's theme is "Go Bananas." All of the businesses will have their doors open! It is from 8:00pm-1:00am. So even if you have dinner plans, you can still purchase tickets at the door.

There will be bands, bars, and food stations throughout all six floors! There will be DJ's dancers, comedians, poets, and visual artists everywhere. There is even going to be cirque shows and fire twirlers! 

Neal Urban Studio's doors will be open! Come down and see us! Meet Neal and I and some of our other photographers. Studio 443. Stop in for some music, fun, and have your picture taken at our photobooth! We built a backdrop just for this event and we think it's awesome!

We look forward to seeing everyone and "Going Bananas!"

-Danielle

Buffalo Photobooth by Neal Urban Studio

SPOTLIGHT ON THE GROOM!

Most people think that a wedding is all about the Bride. But come on, the Groom is part of the day too! It's important that we show them some photo love!

The ceremony was at St. Joseph University Church in Buffalo. It is a beautiful church and great for pictures. Before the ceremony, Neal sneaks to where the Groom and his guys are to get some photos. He will do some group shots and them some solos of the Groom.

Most guys do not like having their picture taken. Guys like to look and feel cool, strong and masculine! We show them a couple great shots right away and then they're excited to take pictures for rest of the day! In the photo above Neal placed the groom in great light and had him give a masculine pose to look "GQ"! This was all done in the moments before he was to say “I do.” 

We keep it pretty simple and harmless for the guys. We try to keep it a comfortable and fun atmosphere. So, guys are not afraid of the camera on the wedding day. It can be a lot of fun and your other half will truly appreciate it!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - St. Joseph University Church

Photo Session - Carrousel Museum of Tonawanda, NY

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Byblos

SHADOW GAMES

Today’s image comes to you from Statler City in Buffalo. If you have been to the Statler before, you may be wondering where we could have taken this image.

This wedding took place a few years ago, when the majority of the Statler was under construction. (Well more than it is now). Even though there were renovations going on, this Bride and Groom wanted some pictures done around the building. There were many places that were restricted, so we needed to work our magic. The head wedding and events coordinator at the Statler is wonderful to work with. We saw her walking around and asked where we could go. She said she would take us up to one of the top floors, where eventually there would be hotel rooms. It had views of the city. The Bride and Groom were completely up for taking the adventure.

It was pretty much a blank canvas surrounded by windows and wall paper. We took advantage of the windows with the city in the background. As I was walking around a bit, I noticed the sun was setting and casting an amazing glow across some of the walls.  And my shadow looked really cool on the wall. I grabbed Neal and suggested we play with some shadows. The Bride thought it looked really cool as well, so we had her pose. It took a few minutes to get her shadow exactly where we needed it to be. Then we needed her to be a statue for Neal to get the shot. The Bride did a wonderful job and the end result was beautiful! And don’t worry, the Groom was not left out. We took him to another area that had some graffiti on it. A bit more manly!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony & Photo Session - Christ the King Chapel of Canisius

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Statler City

Buffalo DJ - Signature Entertainment

EPCOT TEA HOUSE

Taking us back to 2012 for this beautiful shot. We had the pleasure of doing a post bridal shoot in Disney World for one of our couples. The Bride is a huge Disney fan and originally wanted her wedding there, but once she found out that outside photographers were not allowed, she had a change of plans. She wanted Neal and I to be there. We told her not to worry, we’ll get to Disney! And we did!

The Bride and Groom got us passes for all of the theme parks. We were only there for 3 days and needed to do photos in all 4 parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and MGM Studios. Photo shoots are not allowed in any of the parks, unless you hire the parks’ photographers. So Neal and I brought the bare minimum into each, looking like we were guests.  The Bride had special passes that let us into parks after closing time too. We were doing photos in the Magic Kingdom until about 2:00am! Amazing! She even had specific outfits for every park!

This image was taken in Epcot, one of my favorite places. It is most beautiful at night! There are eleven countries to visit in Epcot. We started at one end and worked our way through all of them. The Bride knew every inch of the park, which was great. We had our own personal tour guide!  We were coming up on the United Kingdom. The Bride said one of her favorite places was here. A tea house!  We had to stop! Once we saw it, we knew we could get something good. We didn’t want to take away from the scenery with a crazy pose either. We wanted to keep it very simple and tie the whole image together. Here comes the hard part! How do you get the Bride and Groom alone in the photo with thousands of people walking by. The key is...You don’t!  We had to shoot every time there was a lull in the crowd. It was pretty fun. We had a few delays, in that the Bride was dressed in a beautiful white dress (not a wedding dress). But she looked like one of the Disney princesses. So, a lot of kids stopped to talk to her and wanted pictures with her. It was hysterical!

We only had some extra lighting on their faces. There was enough back light from the tea house. After being pretty patient, Neal got the shot! We knew from looking at the image in the camera, it was going to be beautiful. And it is! The Bride and Groom absolutely loved it! We liked it so much, we have a print in our home. Well, minus the couple haha!

The Bride and Groom are celebrating their anniversary today as well! So Happy Anniversary! Time to go back!

-Danielle

Disney Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

CABANA BY THE BEACH!

Shooting by the beach can always be tricky. Sure, you can get sand all over you, or get splashed by a wave if you get too close. But the end result can be beautiful if your Bride and Groom are willing to go for it!

We traveled to Miromar Lakes Golf and Beach Club in East Miromar Lake, Florida. It is near Fort Meyers. We arrived the day before the wedding to scout out the location. Little did we know, you can’t get into the resort unless you are on the “list.” A quick phone call to the Bride and we were in. We were greeted by the wedding coordinator, who gave us the ok to go anywhere we wanted on the grounds.

The ceremony took place at the golf club and the reception was to follow. That didn’t leave us much time for photos. We had about 25 minutes to get family portraits, wedding party, and the Bride and Groom portraits. Good thing we scouted the day before and knew exactly where to go and how far away it was. We had the limo take us to the locations. Time was ticking away! We got to the beach and saw the lonely cabana. I brought the couple to where Neal wanted them and set up some lighting behind them. We left the couple alone and let them have some time together. Right as the sun was peaking out from the clouds, they had a kiss. It couldn’t have been more beautiful. Neal turned the photo black and white to make it a bit more dramatic. 

Getting lost in the magic, we almost forgot the time. We had about 5 minutes to get back to the reception and one more stop on the way. We had everything ready to go for the last shot. All the lighting was ready and we told the Bride and Groom what we needed them to do. 3 minutes to go! We all jumped out, got the last shot and got back to the reception with about 10 seconds to spare. Close call, but we would do it all over to get another image like this!

This image is also featured in "How to Photograph Weddings" by Michelle Perkins from Amherst Media!

-Danielle

Desination Fort Myers, FL Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony, Photo Session & Reception - Miromar Lakes

Destination Wedding Planner - Jet Set Wed

THE MASTERS!

In honor of the 2015 Masters coming to a close, it felt only appropriate to share this image with you all.

 

No, it is not Augusta National, in Georgia, but from our very own Park Country Club in Williamsville NY. We have done many weddings there. This image was taken by Neal nearing the end of a reception. He went outside to see where we could take the Bride and Groom for their last photoshoot. While testing out some ideas, he took this image. It worked out beautifully that there were spot lights on some parts of the course to light it up. He took it from the clubhouse balcony and never had to step foot on the course. It turned in to a beautiful shot! We have a huge canvas of it in our studio if anyone wants to check it out! And of course we took the Bride and Groom out there to take advantage of it and got some amazing images!

Something you may not know about Neal, is that besides weddings, he has a strong passion for golf photography. He has been to many different courses taking pictures for either their websites or for the golf enthusiast. He has done many for Niagara Frontier Country Club in Youngstown, NY. He has also been able to photograph the most widely known course Pebble Beach and an affiliated course SpyGlass Hill. Both of these are located in California. To see more of Neal's golf images click here!

Maybe one day he'll get to photograph the Masters! Happy golfing!

-Danielle

Park Country Club Photography by Neal Urban Studio

CAKE SMASH SATURDAY!

It’s time to get messy and have some fun! First Birthday cake smash photo shoots are just the ticket! There are definitely no forks or napkins for this cake. The messier the better!

This image was taken by one of our photographers, Shane. It is also his beautiful daughter. She was celebrating her first birthday, so it was only natural to bring her into the studio. She even got all dressed up in her tutu and pearls for the occasion. We sat her down and put the cake in front of her. (The beautiful cake was made by Andrea Amodeo from Blackbird Sweets in Buffalo).  At first she just stared at it. She wasn’t sure what to do. Shane gave her a little taste of frosting and that was it. She dove right in. It got to the point where she had so much frosting on her hands, she couldn’t move her little fingers. She was having so much fun, while daddy was clicking away with the camera. Every image was a keeper. 

Neal and I were helping behind the scenes. We got to jump around and be silly to make the baby laugh. What a great collaborative effort by all and a beautiful image by Shane!

-Danielle

Buffalo Baby Cake Smash Photography by Neal Urban Studio

GIANT WEDDING PARTY!

A wedding party of 31! That is crazy. But that is how many people were in this wedding party, including the Bride and Groom. (imagine how many guests were at the reception)

What to do with a party of 31 people? We had our work cut out for us on this one. The funny thing is that the entire party are mostly family members. Can you imagine if all of the couples’ friends were in it too? Aahhhh!! 

When we found out how many people were involved, we needed to figure out locations for pictures. The couple wanted to go to the waterfront in Lewiston near Water Street Landing and the Silo Restaurants. A great place for pictures, but also a nice place for people to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Neal and I are very familiar with the area, we just needed to figure out where to put everyone. We knew there was a big wooden stairway that lead to the water and that could work.

It was pretty busy when we arrived. The wedding party was exiting the limo and the group just kept coming. People passing by had the look of shock at how many people got off the limo. They were wishing us good luck too. It was hysterical! We had to talk pretty loud to get everyone’s attention and tell them where we wanted to start. Neal and I walked down to the bottom first and told everyone to file in behind. As they were following, all I was thinking was, “I hope there are enough steps for everyone." And thank goodness there were!

Meanwhile down below, people were watching and waiting to get back up the stairs. We had to get moving and the only way to do it was to keep it simple. “Everybody smile and look at the camera”. Done! The wedding party could turn around and head back to the limo. We had gone to another location first and worked with the party as well, so the Bride and Groom only wanted one quick shot by the waterfront with them. We showed them the image in the camera quickly. They started laughing and couldn’t believe they all fit. They loved it!

We still laugh about this image with the couple. They have thanked us so many times for staying positive, keeping everyone under control, and having fun with the wedding party! 

This image is featured in “500 Poses for Photographing Group Portraits: A Visual Sourcebook for Digital Portrait Photographers”.  It was written by Michelle Perkins at Amherst Media Publishing in Buffalo.

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Ceremony - St. Vincent de Paul of Niagara Falls, NY

Photo Session - The Silo on the lower Niagara River, Lewiston NY 

Buffalo Wedding Reception - Antonio's Banquet & Conference Center