New Testimonial - I'm flattered

I'm in the process of having my website redesigned, and I recently asked some
of my past clients if they're be interested in writing some thoughts on
what it was like working with me.

Katelin sent me hers today
and I was blown away. She's so sweet and I'm flattered by all of her
kind words. Katelin - please know I has just as much fun working with
you too! =)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Katelin's Testimonial


It was two years ago that I decided that Tony was the person I wanted
to shoot my senior pictures. He had shot a senior from my school and as
soon as I saw her pictures I knew he had to do mine. So as my final
year of school approaches, I talked my mom into getting my senior
pictures taken by him and after a quick phone call I was set for my
shoot. In the following weeks before my shoot, Tony and I communicated
through email tossing ideas around about my interests and possible
locations that I had in mind. I told him of a couple of his previous
photos that I liked but I also wanted my pictures to be different, I
wanted them to be me. That’s when Tony gave me the idea of wearing my
prom dress in the middle of a softball field. It would capture not only
that I was a hard core softball player but I could rock a prom dress in
the middle of a field.

When I arrived at the studio the day of
my shoot, I felt as if I had already met Tony through our previous
conversations. This helped make me feel very comfortable and Tony was
able to easily capture the true me that all of my friends see on a
daily basis. After signing a couple of papers he told me of the
numerous locations he had in mind and off we went. Throughout the shoot
Tony was extremely helpful as he helped instructed me what outfit would
look well with each location and with different ideas of how to stand
or sit to get the best picture possible. He was also real cool with any
suggestions I had and he made them all possible. When my shoot was
finally over it seemed as if the two hours had flown by and I didn’t
want to stop. I had tons of fun and couldn’t wait to see the final
pictures.

About two weeks ago I returned to Somerset where we
viewed the pictures on Tony’s big screen TV. He was very patient as my
mom and I asked him to replay the pictures again and again as we
discussed the most minor details. He told us to take our time and make
sure we knew exactly what we wanted. Then within a week and a half, I
had my pictures in my hand. They turned out absolutely amazing. My
pictures capture my personality to a T and will help people remember 20
years from now exactly who I am. I could not ask for a better
photographer to take my pictures and I would recommend him to anyone
who was looking to be photographed.

Nicole's Senior Photos

Yesterday I had the chance to work with Nicole and shoot her senior photos. She had some great vintage cocktail dresses and I loved her sense of style. It was great working with her and her family.

Ashley & Jake's engagement photos

Yesterday I had the chance to work with Jake and Ashley and to shoot their engagement photos. I'll be shooting their wedding in a few weeks and I can't wait. I had a blast working with their and know their big day is going to be extremely fun.

Anyone hungry?

What better way to enjoy a summer day than to have a barbecue. And what could be more tasty than firing up the grill and cooking your very own Ground Beef... fatties.

Yum.

Is that a rattling sound I hear?

Earlier today Sharon and I were near Laurel Mountain State Park when we noticed a snake moving in the grass near one of the rest areas. We had our camera with us so we decided to get a bit closer and check it out. Well, when we got close enough we could hear the tell-tale rattle. Sure enough, it was a rattle snake - I think an eastern diamondback.

I think snakes get a bad rep. This one wasn't mean at all. It just wanted to be left along and after a warning rattle, it quickly slithered through the grass and back into hiding.

New slideshow

I was playing around with some mew slideshow software and created a little show with some of my favorite wedding photos from last year.

Randy Pausch 1960-2008

It's hard to imagine that anyone who spends considerable time on the internet hasn't heard of Randy Pausch or listened to his "Last Lecture". But in case someone hasn't, here's the youtube video.

Randy Pausch died today from pancreatic cancer. He gave several interviews after this lecture swept the internet and I watched and read many of them. His passing saddens me greatly, although everyone knew it was inevitable. You just don't recover from end stage pancreatic cancer, no matter how great of a person you may be.

I hope everyone can appreciate their life just a little bit more after hearing Randy's words. I know I will.

North Star Inn - R.I.P.

Earlier this morning I heard some bad news on the radio and a few minutes ago Katrina Perkosky emailed me to confirm it. Last night, vandals burnt the North Star Inn to the ground. I'll never understand people's need to destroy things.

Scott's Promo photos

A couple weeks ago area musician Scott Cymbor sent me a friend request on MySpace. He checked out my work and asked me if I'd be interested in shooting some promo photos. I hadn't done that before but it sounded like a fun challenge so I agreed and this afternoon we hit uptown Somerset, broke out the studio light and got some cool shots. I especially love the lens flare on the first one. Be sure to check out Scott's music page on MySpace (currently under construction) to hear his work.

Where are all of the cool families?

One of the "down sides" of living in a very small town is that a large percentage of the population is very traditional and old fashioned. Their idea of a family portrait is one taken in the church basement by Olan Mills and their children's photos are usually snapped by Sears or Wal-Mart.

But I know there are lots of cool families out there who want some untraditional family portraits to grace their walls - ones where they're outside, having fun, and being themselves. So come on people, call my studio (814-443-2350) or email me if you want to set up a family session, or if you want to have children's portraits or belly shots made. I have some terrific deals available for the next few weeks, so don't miss out on the chance to get amazing photos at a great price.

New, closer & better waterfall

Yesterday my friends Kylie, Kelsey and Gloria told me about a waterfall they had found which is only a 10 minute drive from my studio. I'm always trying to find closer waterfalls so when they told me about this, I couldn't wait to check it out so we headed north and after a brief hike (1/4 mile or so) we came about the beautiful waterfall.

I'd still like to shoot between 3 and 5 senior sessions at the falls during a late afternoon/early evening, so you can invite friends to come along. A waterfall session is an add on to a regular senior session and is only $50. They make for really amazing, dramatic photographs and are really different from what you can get from traditional studio. If you're interested, email me or call the studio at 814-443-2350.

"Abandoned" article hits the press

A couple months ago I mentioned that a Johnstown based publication, Free Food Press, interviewed me about my Abandoned series. FFP is an underground newspaper and their debut issue just went live with "Abandoned" being the front page story. Their website has it up at this link. I would imagine the link will change shortly so I'll try to update it when that happens.

Anyway, I was really impressed with the article. Dealing with the press is always hit and miss and the quality of journalists can range from "downright awesome" to "how the heck did they get a job writing?" Happily, Katrina Perkosky falls into the former.

Katie & Mike's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I had a local wedding for a change and we spent the day in Somerset, PA shooting the wedding of Mike and Katie. The weather was gorgeous and after the ceremony we did some outdoor portraits at the golf course at Somerset Country Club before finishing the day with a lovely reception at the Quality Inn. Working with Katie and Mike, along with their friends and families was an absolute blast and it was a great way to wrap up the first half of "wedding season". We now have a few weeks off, a much appreciated break, especially as senior portrait season kicks in.

Marisa's Senior Photos

This afternoon I had a fantastic time shooting Marisa's senior portraits. Marisa actually came all the way from Pittsburgh to have me shoot her photos and we drove all around Somerset, hitting a bunch of new locations. She was so much fun to work with and I couldn't wait to edit them so I drove right in as soon as I got back to the studio. Here are some of my favs.

The regional newspaper likes me

Earlier this week the regional newspaper published an "Area Personality" article on me, discussing my photography endeavors. I'll try to get a photo of the article and post it on the blog some time today. Fortunately, there were only a few factual errors and it was a very well written piece.

Today the ballots came out in the Daily American for the "Area's Best" voting. Tony Urban Studios is on the ballot to compete for the top photographer so if you get the paper today, be sure to vote for whoever you think deserves to win. I think the results won't be announced until late August, but it's still kind of cool, especially since every other studio in the competition has been around for 20+ years.

Searching for the waterfall

Last week I learned about a waterfall in southern Somerset County. I always like to take photographs at waterfalls so wanted to try to find it. After using Google and Google Earth, I was pretty sure I had tracked it down so this afternoon I punched some coordinates into the TomTom and headed south.

Well, I never set my TomTom to avoid unpaved roads. Normally this isn't a problem, but apparently the shortest way to the water fall was over just about every rugged, rocky unpaved road in the southern part of the county. And seeing as how I was driving my Mustang, traversing these paths was quite a challenge. Eventually I made it to paved roads, but next time I'll remember to take my Jeep.

My research paid off and I found the waterfall, along with a cool covered bridge which was also in the area. Getting down to the falls wasn't too hard, but I didn't go the whole way to the bottom since I didn't have a towel to dry off and I didn't want to get too wet. I'm hoping to be able to shoot some senior photos at the falls this season and am offering a $50 "Waterfall Session" to interested seniors. Because of it's a decent drive and with gas prices so outrageous, I'm trying to get at least 5 seniors together to photograph throughout an afternoon. So if you're interested, just send me an email or call the studio.

Panoramio.com & Google Earth - Share your photos with the world

As I get ready for my October road trip, I've found myself increasingly turning Panoramio and Google Earth to find interesting destinations along the way. It's sort of a public photo album where photographers around the glove can share their images and I'm positively addicted. I highly recommend checking them out if you like to travel or even if you just want to do some virtual sightseeing.

The Good Life

I recently took this candid photo on the streets of Pittsburgh. A few minutes before this, the homeless man in the photo finished eating his lunch and took the bag/wrappers to a nearby trash bin and threw them away. I don't know why, but the fact that he properly disposed of his trash in a trash bin while dozens of other Pittsburghers strolling about were content to throw their garbage onto the streets struck me as ironic, especially when I didn't see a single person give this man some spare change.

Jenny & Aaron's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I were back in Pittsburgh to shoot the wedding of Aaron and Jenny. It was brutally hot, but we lucked out and had gorgeous weather with no rain (and if you're in Western PA, you know how rare that's been lately). The day started off at Phipps Conservatory in Oakland where we got prep shots and where the ceremony took place. We made use of the beautiful grounds there for portraits afterwards before stopping by Carnegie Hall and then on to the Omni William Penn for the reception.

Jenny's dad is a real life clown and about 2 minutes after we stepped into the bridal suite at Phipps he grabbed a discarded brassiere, held it over his eyes and went "Look, Spiderman!" I knew then that the day was going to be a tremendous amount of fun. Jenny and Aaron were just a joy to work with, as were their friends and families.

Danielle & Mike's Belly Photos

Yesterday I had the chance to work with Mike and Danielle and shoot their maternity photos. I actually shot their wedding video a few years ago and have since done wedding work for Danielle's sister and cousin. Needless to say, I've become good friends with the family and when I learned that Danielle and Mike were expecting, I told them I had to do their "belly" shots. We had a terrific time and lucked out with the first "non rainy" day in over a week. We even recreated my favorite maternity shoot of all time (Mommy 2 Be, Daddy 2 Be). And Mike wanted to show off his sense of humor with the "catcher" shot which I think it fantastic.

100 - The Rock's

For a little while now I've been corresponding with Eric and Danyial on MySpace. I went to high school with Eric and his wife, Danyial is a fine photographer in her own right. We've been trying to set up a shoot for 100 and earlier this week our schedules aligned and we were able to make it happen. I also photographed their 3 sons and it worked out great because all 5 people were ages I needed for the project.

100 is coming along very well and I've made quite a bit of progress over the past few weeks. I think wrapping it up this year is still a long shot, but I think a 2009 finish is now entirely possible.

Pauline & Jarrett's Engagement Photos

Earlier this week I had the chance to work with Pauline, Jarrett and Jarrett's son Anthony on their photo shoot. I'll be shooting Jarrett and Pauline's wedding this October at Raystown Lake and I can't wait to work with them again. I had a blast on this shoot, so I know their big day will be lots of fun.