Another busy weekend

We have 2 weddings again this weekend. Tonight we're shooting photos at Green Gables and tomorrow a video in the Pittsburgh area. I'll try to get a new blog up Sunday.

This was a terrible week for us as our extremely beloved dog Tobe died last night. Early this week he began getting sick. Sunday night he was his normal self but Monday he began vomiting. We called the vet and they said it was probably just gastritis and to restrict his food and water for a couple days. By Wednesday, it was clear that he wasn't improving so we took him in to the vet.

They kept him to run some tests and Wednesday evening we found out his kidneys were failing. They kept giving him IV's in the hope that it would get his kidneys working again, but last night he died during the night.

I know to most people a dog is just a dog. But Tobe was a huge part of our family. He went on vacations with us. He went to the drive-in with us. Everywhere that we went, Tobe went with. He turned 10 years old in May and still acted like a puppy. I just can't believe he's gone. I feel completely heart-broken.

I miss him so, so much.

Yaron & Lisa's Wedding

On Sunday Sharon and I headed back to Pittsburgh to shoot Lisa & Yaron's wedding. Our first stop was the breathtaking Renaissance Hotel which would also serve host to their reception later in the day. Virtually all of Yaron & Lisa's friends and family were in from out of town, so we started shooting there early in the afternoon. After about an hour, we headed to Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony for a lovely outdoor wedding in front of a waterfall. Before the main ceremony, I shot the pre-ceremony which included the bedecken - the veiling of the bride - by Lisa and Yaron's mothers.

Though the skies were overcast, the rain stayed away aside from a few sprinkles and the day was great. As when I shot their engagement photos, Yaron and Lisa were lots of fun to work with. They had the 4 cutest flower girls/junior bridesmaids and I have to say, Yaron's mother is one of the sweetest women I've ever met.

Pete & Sandy's Wedding

Saturday Sharon and I were in Pittsburgh shooting Sandy & Pete's wedding. Their ceremony and reception were held at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in the Oakland area and the day was beautiful. The ceremony took place outdoors and the weather was great. After the ceremony, they headed inside for the reception in the ballroom. I learned during the evening that the ballroom was also the location for the scene where "Hannibal Lector" escaped from custody in The Silence of the Lambs. Pretty cool!

Pete and Sandy were both extremely friendly and outgoing and they were obviously filled with joy on their big day. It was a pleasure to be a part of it!

Planning - 2008 and beyond

Like most business-people, each year I reevaluate my business to gauge it's success and growth. 2007 has proven to be a breakthrough year, as I exceeded my "wedding goal" by nearly 50% over my highest expectations. In 2006, that seemed fantastic and indeed, business has been very, very good. But, again like most business-people, I've realized that there can indeed be too much of a good thing. We have a wedding every week (sometimes 2, plus engagement shoots), and since I personally handle all post-production duties such as photo editing, album design, video editing, etc. I've been forced to accept the reality that I'm not going to have much of a life outside of work this year. And senior photo season hasn't even started.

Wedding photographers typically book weddings 8-16 month ahead of the actual weddings. Sure, some book earlier and some later, but that's a good average in my experience. Because events are booked so far in advance, a photographer has to plan equally far in advance when figuring out his or her schedule and goals. So, it's that time of year for me to figure out where I want Tony Urban Studios to be in 2008.

After much thought, planning and number crunching, I've decided that I need to dramatically scale back the number of weddings we take on next year. This year we have about 35 weddings from May through November (I stopped counting early this year). For 2008, I'm capping the number of weddings we book at 20 for that same May through November period. We have 4 booked so far, so there's only 16 to go. :)

This change, while cutting back on our income(our pricing will remain the same in 2008), will give us a much less hectic and stressful year and I really do feel it's the best decision. Considering that in addition to the 35 or so weddings we did book this year, we turned away over 60 others because we were booked, I feel we'll be able to meet our new goals and continue to grow the business at a more reasonable rate.

Anyway, we have 2 weddings this weekend so I likely won't get to blog again until Monday or Tuesday. See you then!

Jeremy & Melissa's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I shot Jeremy & Melissa's wedding at the First Christian Church in Somerset, PA. It was so nice to do a wedding close to home and not have the additional 3-4 hours on the road. Unfortunately, we only have a 2 other weddings in the county this year, but such is the nature of the business.

Melissa and Jeremy's wedding was wonderful. Everyone was so happy and friendly. The newlyweds were smiling all day long and they were a blast to work with. They also had the best cake feeding/smashing exchange ever!

100 - 23

Today at Jeremy and Melissa's wedding reception, I sat across the table from a guy who looks like he could be Kerr Smith's long lost brother. I mentioned the resemblance to Sharon and she immediately agreed. I was so taken by his looks that I asked him if I could shoot his portrait for 100 and he obliged. My two favorite shots are below.

I'm getting much better at being approaching people for 100 and haven't been turned down too many times. One thing I'm noticing is that I'm much better at finding good male subjects than women. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I do know I'm much more hesitant to approach a woman than a man. I think I psych myself out when it comes to women, thinking that if I walk up to them and ask to take their photo that I'm going to come off like some sort of Ted Bundy wannabe who is going to lure them to my van and kidnap them. (note: I do not own a van and I would not kidnap anyone) I guess I just need to take the risk. What's the worst that could happen? A knee to the groin? Having the police called on me? It's worth it. Right?

Thunder in the Valley

Next week I hope to have the chance to visit Johnstown, PA and experience "Thunder in the Valley". Although the event has been going on for a few years now, I've never had the chance to go. We have 2 weddings next weekend, but the rally starts on Wednesday and continues through Sunday so I should be able to make it down for a day or two. I'll definitely be taking photos and hopefully will find some cool people for 100 as well. If you're going to be at the events, drop me an email so I can say "hi".

Slow week

In the hustle and bustle that is wedding season, it's nice to have a slow week now and then. Today is the first "slow week" in over a month and I'm really enjoying it. We have 1 wedding this weekend, but aside from that I don't have any other shoots on the schedule until next weekend. It's nice to have the extra time to get caught up on editing and to get rid of my backlog.

On a totally random note, I went for a haircut this morning and noticed the temperature at the bank. I knew this summer was supposed to be hot, but this is a little ridiculous.

Nicole & Tim's engagement photos

This afternoon Tim and Nicole came in to Somerset for their engagement session. It was actually my first time meeting them and we clicked right away. I had a lot of fun working with them and it's easy to tell that their wedding will be a blast.

The shoot was a nice, relaxing way to end a really, really busy weekend.

BTW, did anyone watch The Sopranos? That finale? Wow!

100 - 34

While we were setting up our equipment at Kim & Cody's wedding, I noticed one of the ceremony musicians and was immediately impressed with his look. Fortunately, I had my model releases for 100 with me and after the ceremony I approached him as he was packing up his cello. I told him about the project and asked if I could make his portrait and he happily agreed. I'm getting better at approaching "strangers" and am happy the project is steadily moving forward with terrific participants like Franklin.

Kim & Cody's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I shot video for Kim & Cody's wedding which took place at the Long Vue Country Club in Verona, PA. As always, when we shoot video there isn't really time for us to take many photos but we still snapped a few neat shots. I decided to play around with the photos and do some cross processing to get some funky looks. It's always fun to try new things.

Be sure to check out my next blog to see who else I photographed at the wedding.

Brad & Danielle's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I hit Pittsburgh to shoot Danielle and Brad's wedding which took place on the Gateway Clipper Fleet. It ended up raining most the afternoon and evening so the outdoor ceremony had to be moved inside the ship, but everything still worked out great. Brad and Danielle threw such a cool, unique wedding. Everything from the cake to the flowers to the centerpieces was one of a kind. You want proof? The centerpieces were fish bowls with colorful beta fish swimming inside. It was incredible!

In about an hour we're leaving for Verona to shoot video for Kim and Cody's wedding, but I wanted to get some photos from Danielle & Brad's big day on the blog. Despite the cramped quarters inside the boat and the rain outside, I think we got some really cool shots. Don't miss Brad's groomsman's "Bond, James Bond" pose! Oh, and on the night shot of Heinz Field (home of the Pittsburgh Steelers) - I know it's a bit blurred but I shot that with a 1 second shutter and from a moving boat so there was no chance of getting it crisp and still capturing those awesome spotlights. Enjoy!

Another busy weekend

This afternoon Sharon and I are heading to Pittsburgh to shoot a wedding on the Gateway Clipper. Saturday we're back in the city for a wedding at the Longvue Country Club. It's going to be a hectic weekend and I also have an engagement shoot on Sunday. I'll blog again as soon as I have some free time.

100 - 35

I try to take my camera with me everywhere I go. Sometimes I forget when I'm in a rush, but I'm getting into the habit of remembering. Today that paid off because when we were out and about, Sharon spotted a fellow who she thought would be a great fit for 100. She pointed him out to me, but he got into his ambulance (he's a paramedic) before I could approach him. Not easily deterred, we followed the ambulance back to the station and once we got there, I worked up the nerve to ask him if I could take his photo. It's always odd, approaching strangers and trying to explain the project to them, but this time it worked out well and Mike agreed to let me make his portrait. I'm happy we made the extra effort to track him down because I love how his photos turned out.

New html site has launched

I promised you a new site and it's finally here!

Check out the main site at www.TonyUrbanStudios.com and you'll see the results of our hard work. There's still a bit of tweaking to do and I need to get TonyUrbanArt.com up and running, but it's a pretty good start. A Flash site is still in the works, but I know a lot of people on slow connections hate flash, so this should work well for a while.

This afternoon Sharon and I were outside and we spotted a gorgeous blue butterfly just as it landed on the deck. I rushed inside for the camera and fortunately it was still there upon my return. It didn't stick around for long, but we got off a few neat shots.

Stuff

If you've already viewed the photos from Tim & Sharyn's wedding, then you'll have seen the first of many big changes coming to the site and blog over the next few months and that is - my new logo!

I've been having the logo worked on for a little while now and it was finalized late last week. I liked my old logo, but it was something I made in Photoshop and I'm definitely not a graphic designer. I figured it was time to have something professionally designed and I turned to Kira Lang of NuvoLogo. Kira took the ideas I had (and I didn't have many!) and worked up several samples. She had a very cool design with my "TU" incorporated and we kept honing it until we ended up with the above logo which I just love. I think it is really contemporary and stylish and I love how it "pops" off the page. Thanks, Kira, for the incredible work!

I've been working so much the past few weeks that there hasn't been much time for "life stuff". I did buy a cheap XM radio which I have in my Mustang and I'm really impressed. The sound quality is quite good and the signal rarely drops out. It's nice to not have to change stations all the time due to signal loss, which happens a lot here in the mountains with terrestrial radio.

The drive-in's opened in May and I've been to a few showings. We saw "Spiderman 3" and "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End" at the Silver Drive-In in Johnstown and "Disturbia" in Portage. I love going to the drive-in - it's my absolute favorite way to watch movies. Nothing can beat it!

Do any of my blog readers watch LOST? The last several episodes were amazing! I can't believe I have to wait 8 months for the new season. And speaking of great shows, who watches "The Sopranos"? It's hard to imagine there are only 2 episodes left. I wonder how they're going to tie together all the story arcs in 2 hours. Tonight's penultimate show should be great.

Aside from that, all I can say is that it's way too hot for June. 87 in Pittsburgh yesterday. That's July/August weather. I'm not a fan of the heat.

Tim & Sharyn's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I headed to Pittsburgh again, this time to shoot Sharyn & Tim's wedding. Ever since we got caught in the horrible traffic at the Squirrel Hill tunnels in March, we've been avoiding Monroeville altogether and that plan has been working out great. I have to say, my TomTom GPS is one of the best investments we ever made. All we do is type in the destination address and it takes us right there via the fastest route. We can even program the GPS to avoid roads/areas and that's how we've been dodging the construction on the parkway. I highly recommend them for anyone who does a lot of traveling.

Tim & Sharyn's wedding went great! Both of the newlyweds are so sweet and fun to work with and their friends and family were equally kind. At the reception, I was extremely happy to walk into the reception hall in South Park, PA and find Andy Hutelmyerand behind the DJ's table. It's our second time working with Andy this year and it's always a blast. If you need a DJ, email him because you'd be hard pressed to find anyone better.

Today's engagement shoot was postponed due to rain and the shoot for 100 was also pushed back to a later date. It's a nice treat to have a weekend day "off" in June and I'm really enjoying it.

61 & 71

Since I can't keep coming up with unique titles for blogs pertaining to 100, I've decided to simply title those blog with the age(s) of the subject(s).

After shooting so many weddings and engagement sessions lately, I was itching to get back to work on 100 and today I did just that. In the morning, I shot Jay's portrait. He's my first 61 year old and although it took some convincing to get him to look at the camera, he eventually agreed. I really like his portrait, his eyes are so expressive.

In the afternoon it was Harold's turn. I've always loved his look and I believe he's of Native American descent. Harold is 71 and definitely doesn't look it and I love his slight smile.

Tomorrow Sharon and I are heading back to Pittsburgh to shoot Tim Sharyn's wedding. Sunday I have an engagement shoot and possibly another shoot for 100 in the morning. With all of the work, I likely won't have a new blog until some time Monday.

Have a fantastic weekend!