Tony Urban Studios - My life behind the camera

Somerset County Courthouse

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:52:00 +0000

I was bored the other day and grabbed some shots of the courthouse in Somerset, PA.

I really need to start photographing people again. I'm tremendously burnt out on shooting buildings.

Monday, Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:43:00 +0000

This morning I was interviewed by Katrina Perkosky for a new alternative newspaper that will be launching in the Johnstown area in a few months. She wanted to discuss my "Abandoned" project and a bit about my work in general. Before she left, I also made her portrait for "100".

The photographer for the paper was Jacob Koestler and I also grabbed a photo of him taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking... (yeah, I could run that joke into the ground forever). I'll post more about the article when it goes to print.

Just another Satuday, with a prom and a bear...

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:04:00 +0000

This afternoon I shot "formal" photos for the Shanksville prom. I don't usually enjoy formals because they're boring, but I brought some samples of fun poses with me and most of the students really seemed to enjoy trying something different. I ended up having a great time and saw several of my '08 senior photo clients. It's hard to believe they're graduating in just a few weeks.

After the prom, I was editing the photos when the phone rang. It was my neighbor calling to say that there was a bear in her driveway. I grabbed my camera and rushed over to her house to find a medium-sized black bear sitting in her lawn, eating bird seed. The bear made short work of her bird feeder before heading back to the woods. I was within 20 yards or so and got some shots before it ran off into deeper cover. It's the closest I've ever been to a bear and I have to say, it was pretty darn cool.

More from Abandoned

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Yesterday I went to Johnstown to do some shooting for "Abandoned". The weather was terrible, but I needed to do some shooting in the city because a publication from Johnstown is going to be interviewing me next week and I needed something to talk about. While there, I found an amazing house that I'll blog about later today, but there were lots of other cool ones too.

Flaky people drive me crazy

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:34:00 +0000

This afternoon I was supposed to have a shoot with a local senior to do some awesome Trash Your Prom Dress photos. I blocked off most of the afternoon for her shoot and when the time came, she was nowhere to be seen. I tried to contact her and had no response. Why do people schedule a shoot and then flake like that? It drives me crazy because it means I just wasted a beautiful afternoon of sunlight and clouds waiting for someone who never showed up and I could have shot photos for another client.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens relatively often. Today was the "tipping point" and I decided that all sessions are going to need to be paid for in full prior to the day of the shoot. I hate doing that, but it's really the only thing that is fair to me and fair to my reliable clients.

Photo kiosks are the devil

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:41:00 +0000

I meant to post this blog a few weeks ago but forgot.

Photo kiosks - the kind where you put your photo CD into the machine, press a few buttons and a few seconds later it start spitting out photos - are pure evil. Seriously.

I used one of these kiosks for the first time the day before my road trip. I was printing a bunch of screenshots to use as reference photos to find film locations. The 1 hour lab was closed and I knew I wouldn't have time to wait somewhere else, so I decided to use a Kodak kiosk. Ugh.

The photo "quality" of the prints is just deplorable. The paper is thin. The colors are all off. The brightness/contrast was automatically adjusted by the computer in the kiosk, etc. etc. Oh, but I could spill grape juice on them and wipe it off and they'd be fine. (picture me rolling my eyes)

I sincerely hope none of my clients who receive their photos on disc are using these kiosks to get their photos developed. If you are - STOP DOING IT. I know the average consumer doesn't have access to a professional lab, but the photos spit out by those kiosks are beyond terrible. Please, use a 1 hour lab if you need them quickly. Better yet, use MPix or Adorama. The quality will be a million times better than that of the kiosks.

Okay, that's the end of that rant. :)

New boudoir shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:36:00 +0000

I've shot boudoir photos for several new clients over the past few weeks, but due to the nature of the shoots most ask that I not post any on the website for privacy reasons. It's always nice when a client does give me the "thumbs up" to share their images, so I was pleased recently when Judy said I could post some of hers.

Judy was a lot of fun to work with and brought some great costumes and props to use in some of the shots. She had the photos taken as a birthday present for her boyfriend and she told me that he loved them. Here are a few of my favorite shots from her shoot.

My new(est) toy

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:03:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago I made one of my biggest purchased in a while. I took the plunge and bought a Nikon D300 camera and accessories. I'd initially ordered a D300 last fall, but just couldn't justify the cost when I was completely satisfied with my current cameras. But, I recently saw a deal that was too good to pass up so I went ahead and broke out my debit card.

My initial thoughts are that I like the slightly larger size of the camera and I appreciate it's sturdy build. There really isn't any perceivable difference in image quality at lower ISOs and I haven't done any low light shooting with it yet(which is where it will really shine). I'm happy with the camera and look forward to putting it to use this wedding season (which begins in about 2 weeks)!

New specials before wedding season starts

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:46:00 +0000

Wedding season officially begins on May 17 and once that happens, my free time is going to be nil. But, I have about 2 weeks until then so I wanted to make one more special offer that will be in effect from April 28 through May 15.

During that time, the following specials are in effect:

Boudoir Photo Session: $195
Maternity Photo Session: $75
Family Photo Session: $60
Engagement Photo Session: $195

Just email me using the link to the left if you want to book a session or have any questions.

More from Abandoned

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Over the past 2 weeks I've found a few new houses and buildings to photograph for Abandoned. Here are some of my favorites.

Quick thanks

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:05:00 +0000

I just wanted to thank everyone who messaged me with kind words regarding my father's surgery. Everything went well and he was discharged today. They were able to do the operation laparoscopically so he should have a pretty quick recovery period.

Thanks again!

Sorry for the lack of posts

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:00:00 +0000

I have a bunch of new photos from Abandoned that I need to get posted, but this week has been pretty hectic. On Tuesday my father was taken to the emergency room with severe stomach pains. It took several hours of testing before he was diagnosed with a hernia that needs to be surgically repaired. He's having surgery this afternoon, so I'll be at the hospital most of today.

I'll try to get some new photos uploaded over the weekend, but I hope everyone understands why I don't have much time to blog right now.

Eli

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:04:00 +0000

Sharon took a nice photo of Eli today. I always try to get photos of him but he refuses to sit still and usually barks at the camera. I'm glad she had more luck than me.

Book early - Get 50% off on Senior Photo Sessions!

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:24:00 +0000

I've found the past few years that most seniors wait until August or September to have their photos taken. While I'm fine with that, it makes scheduling more difficult as the seniors are dealing with school and extracarricular activities and usually only have one or two free afternoons a week.

So, I decided to encourage some "early birds" this year by offering 50% off on senior photo sessions scheduled for May and June. Shooting portraits in May and June makes scheduling so much easier and, as an added benefit, the weather is usually great - much nicer than 90+ degree days in August.

Additionally, I have added some print and product collections which can save clients a nice amount of money over buying everything a la carte. Of course, if you prefer to buy your prints a la carte, you can still do that too.

I'm so excited for senior photo season for the class of 2009 to begin. I have tons of new ideas and will really be aiming to shoot fashion inspired images that look like they belong in magazines.

So remember, if you want to beat the rush you can save 50% off ANY session by booking your session for May or June. Feel free to call or email me to schedule a session or if you have any questions.

Nice to meet you, Mr. President

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:48:00 +0000

This afternoon former President Bill Clinton visited my hometown of Somerset, PA, campaigning for his wife in the PA primary. I've never seen a former or current President in person so I couldn't pass up the chance to see President Clinton.

I got in line around 1pm. The gymnasium at the Somerset Area High School was supposed to open at 1:30, but it didn't open until well after 2:00, so I had the chance to get a nice sunburn for about an hour. Once we did get inside, an area student sang the National Anthem and then Somerset County Commissioners John Vatavuk and Pamela Tokar-Ickes shared their support for Hillary Clinton. It was another 45 minutes or so before President Clinton would arrive, so I took the time to find a nice spot to take some photos.

I did find a great spot, one fairly close to the main podium and one which allowed me to see over much of the crowd gathered before the platform. I'd only been standing there for 5 minutes or so when event security came over and asked if I was with the press. I said I wasn't, and that I was just there to take some photos for my personal use. She then said something along the lines that "Since I wasn't with the press, my camera hadn't been screened so the secret service would be very nervous to have me close to the President". I was already good 20 yards away, so I asked her if I could just back up to around the middle of the gymnasium. She said "further" and directed me pretty much to the back of the gym.

I wanted to tell her that I never knew Nikon made sniper rifles disguised as digital cameras, but I bit my tongue and did as told. I had my 70-200 lens, so I was still able to get fairly close shots, but my new placement meant I couldn't shoot without getting the heads and shoulders of the dozens of people who were allowed to stand closer (and use their consumer cameras) in the shots. Oh well, it was still neat to see President Clinton, but today didn't sway my vote on Tuesday.

Road Trip - Closing Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Random facts:

Gas was $3.05 in New Jersey. It was $3.39 in PA and $3.43 in Connecticut. I don't know why it's so much less expensive in NJ.
Connecticut has rock walls everywhere. It seemed like every other property was lined with a rock wall. It was beautiful. I can only imagine how stunning that area would be when the leaves change in the fall.
Hotel beds are uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable.
Cell phones are the worst invention ever. Especially in the hands of 13 years olds in a movie theatre.
GPS systems are the best invention ever. With my TomTom we didn't get lost once and it rerouted us perfectly when needed. I don't think anyone should even consider taking a trip without one.
There are TONS of BMWs in New York and Connecticut. I think 1 out of every 4 cars was a BMW. It was crazy. Are you obligated to own a "Beamer" if you live in these states?

I couldn't pick a favorite spot. I didn't care for the New York metro area, just too much traffic for my taste. I loved Connecticut. I loved the areas of New Jersey we were in. Sharon's favorite place was Hope, New Jersey which indeed was a very charming, quaint town. I think we'd both consider moving to the area if the future allows.

On the trip, I drove exactly 1146 miles. I drove through 4 states and countless towns. Despite our bad weather at Coney Island, I wouldn't change a thing. The trip was just an insane amount of fun and we all loved the adventure. We're already planning a fall trip. Originally I thought about going south but now I'm leaning toward going further north into New England, especially Massachusetts and Maine. I'd like to visit Martha's Vineyard and Bangor, Maine, as well as a handful of other spots in that general area. New England in the fall would be breathtaking.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the road trip and seeing the photos. Feel free to leave comments.

Road Trip - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:27:00 +0000

With our trip nearing its end, I knew that after the morning excursions we'd have a long drive to Somerset ahead of us and I didn't want to get a late start. By 7am we were on the road, driving toward New Jersey and searching for the town of Blairstown.

Blairstown was one of the towns where the first Friday the 13th was filmed and our first stop of the day was Camp No Be Bo Sco, which in the film was the setting for Camp Crystal Lake. I was afraid that we'd pull up to the entrance to the camp and find another locked gate like we had earlier in Connecticut, and sure enough as we drove up the dirt road toward the camp, a gate loomed in the distance. However, as we closed in it became clear the gate was open so we were able to drive into the camp grounds. A few groups of Boy Scouts were hiking around camp and they all smiled and waved as we explored the site of one of horror movies' most famous locations.

The camp was pretty incredible. Several of the cabins were clearly the ones displayed in the film, but the highlight was definitely the lakeside. Seeing the spot where Mrs. Voorhees battled Alice and the "lake" (which is actually Sand Pond) where Jason jumped out of the water at the films' climax actually gave me goosebumps. Friday the 13th is the first horror movie I remember seeing (I was around 6 years old and it scared the crap out of me, but I loved it!) so this had special meaning to me. We also found the totem pole shown early in the film and the archery range which was in several scenes. As for "the boy" in the lake. I didn't find any boy. So he must still be out there... (obligatory inside joke photo is included below, and only fans of Friday the 13th will get it) :)

After wrapping things up at the camp, we went into Blairstown and took photos of the streets and stores shown in the films' opening scenes (when Annie walks into town). We found the diner where Steve Christy downed some coffee and I even took some photos inside. I'd initially planned on getting breakfast there, but the place was packed and we didn't have time to spare. We then headed over to Hope, NJ where more of the opening was shot and where Annie met "Crazy Ralph" who warned her not to go to Crystal Lake. Our last stop was just outside of Hope, the Moravian Cemetery which could be seen in the background when Enos dropped Annie off as she hitchhiked to the camp.

And with that, our trip ended and the drive home began. We made good time on the way back, it only took about three and a half hours, and we drove straight through. Getting home was bittersweet. It was nice to be back and be done with the driving, but I hated to see our adventure come to an end. I'll have one more post with some closing thoughts on the trip and plans for the future, but until then here are some more photos.

Road Trip - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:53:00 +0000

It rained and stormed all throughout the night. As if sleeping in a hotel room bed isn't hard enough, having lightning flash and thunder boom every five seconds makes it doubly so. I was tired from driving almost 600 miles the day before, so we didn't hit the road until about an hour later than planned. As the morning progressed, the sky cleared up and the weather became wonderful.

Our first destination was Kent, Connecticut. The main road to Kent was blocked as utility trucks worked to replace lines downed by the previous night's storm. Fortunately my TomTom found another way in, although it was a pretty rough mountain road. Maybe Enterprise giving me the SUV was a good thing after all...

We ventured into the outskirts of town to find the summer home used in the film "I Spit on Your Grave". If you haven't seen the film, it's a nasty little exploitation film from 1978 which was quite infamous in it's day. The house was easy to find and Sharon even spied the tree where one of the main characters was hanged by the Housatonic River. The owners of the house were nowhere to be found, but we met a nice gentleman who lived a few places down and he told us that they only stay there 1 or 2 weeks a year.

We then headed into Kent proper and found the church from the film and a graveyard which could be seen in a few shots. In the center of town, I took a photo from the film's opening credits (all while a local cop watched suspiciously) and then found another house from the movie.

After that was done, we headed east to find a location I couldn't wait to see - the campsite from Friday the 13th Part II. Finding just where this location was took hours upon hours of research as it's private property and is not at all publicized. But, with a little detective work and a lot of reading, I found this horror holy grail. We traversed another rocky mountain road before coming upon the road leading into the campsite. And a gate. A locked gate.

I could see a hundred yards or so beyond the gate before the dirt road disappeared downhill. In my mind, I imagined that the campsite was just over the crest of that hill, and I was going to walk there if I couldn't drive in. So I walked. And walked. And walked. I really have no idea how far it was. It felt like 10 miles but was probably more like 1. But after walking seemingly forever, I could see the cabins and buildings that I've seen dozens of times in Friday the 13th Part 2 before me. If anyone had been around and told me to leave, I'd have been crushed but fortunately the entire area was vacant. I spent quite a while walking around the area, exploring and taking photos. I was surprised that the "beach" area was actually only a couple yards wide. The staircase where "Mark" meets his demise was a prized find and would have been easy to miss as it is very overgrown and required climbing through a mass of weeds and thorn bushes. Seeing all of the spots I'd seen in the movie was amazing.

I think the entire area is just used as a hunting camp, or maybe a summer weekend retreat. I would love to buy the lodge and live there. The waterside location is stunning and and the history is just so cool. I took several photos before heading back outside and beginning the long and almost entirely uphill walk back to the main road. I was exhausted when I got back to the car, but it was so worthwhile. After catching my breath, we headed to New Preston, Connecticut to see the exterior locations from the beginning of Friday the 13th Part 2. I wanted to get lunch at Oliva's in New Preston as that's where the opening scenes from the film were shot, but they're only open for dinner so we had to pass.

After New Preston, we started driving south again. We stopped in Milford for some pizza and then took a break at a riverside park to enjoy the peace and the meal. Afterwards, we continued on and soon ended up in Westport, Connecticut, the one time home of Sean Cunningham (director of Friday the 13th and countless other films). Westport was also the town where Wes Craven directed his hit film Last House on the Left (Cunningham produced). Since most of the film was shot outdoors in the forest, I'd only been able to find a few of the locations through my research. Amongst those was the cemetery where Phyllis tries to escape from her captors and the police station that was home to the bumbling cops. Westport was a beautiful town built right on the river and I really enjoyed visiting it.

After we wrapped up there, we were on our way to New Jersey. Getting back to Jersey involved driving past New York again and dealing with the traffic. It wasn't too bad, but we lost about an hour. We eventually ended up in Cedar Grove, NJ where I found the Essex County Hospital. The hospital, like most mental institutions, was closed in the 90s and has been sitting empty ever since. It's impossible to capture the scope of the facility in photos. It literally stretches out for acres and has dozens of buildings. They're tearing everything down this spring and turning the area into a park. While I'm sure residents will love that, it's sad to know all of those beautiful buildings will soon be gone.

I'd only been photographing the buildings for about half an hour when a Sheriff's Jeep pulled into the lot. I walked over to the officer and asked if it was okay to continue taking photos, but he told me that no one was allowed on the property without permission from the county. He was very nice about it and we headed out. I do wish I'd have had another hour or two to capture a few more of the buildings.

It was near enough to dusk that it didn't make much sense to try to do much more driving, so we stopped by Petsmart to get Eli some toys and treats and then headed to Stroudsburg, PA to get a hotel room. I didn't feel like sitting in a hotel room for hours on end, so I talked Sharon into going to a movie at the local theatre. We decided on Prom Night, which was okay, but the theatre going experience was miserable. The place was packed with 13-16 year olds who talked throughout the film, texted each other on their cell phones and screamed like banshees at every single jump scare (and they really weren't even good jump scares). By the time the flick was over, my ears were ringing from the constant noise.

Regardless of that, this leg of the trip was fantastic and tons of fun. We had glorious weather and had great luck with all of the locations. It couldn't have been much better.

Road Trip - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:37:00 +0000

4:45 am and the alarm clock started beeping. With that, the road trip had begun.

I don't make a habit of getting up that early. In fact, I could probably count the number of sunrises I've seen in my entire life on two hands. Heck, probably on one. But we had a long day ahead of us and I had the timeline planned out. We needed to be on the road around 5 to ensure getting everything accomplished.

I had rented a "car" the day before because let's face it, my Mustang isn't a vehicle meant for traveling and I wasn't taking my Jeep with it's pathetic 16 mpg on a trip. Note that car is in quotations in that last sentence. I do that because I booked a premium car and when I went to Enterprise Rent A Car they said they didn't have any premium cars. They offered me a van, which I declined. I was just about to drive through 4 states and there was no way I was doing that in a van. We compromised on a Kia Sportage. I wasn't happy with this, as Enterprise has a history of not having the right vehicle class in stock despite booking months in advance, but nothing was going to spoil the trip.

5:15 and we're on the road. Sharon was trapped in the backseat with our dog Eli who was surprisingly full of energy considering the sun wasn't up yet. We caught the turnpike and around 8:30 we approached the outskirts of Centralia, PA, our first stop.

I first read about Centralia around 8 years ago. It was an ordinary small town up north central PA until 1962 when a fire at a dump reached the anthracite coal mines which ran underground. The fire caught on in the mines and has been burning ever since. Most of the residents relocated throughout the years as the fires spread underground but a few die hards remain (population is officially listed as 12). Seeing the empty streets, the roads going to nowhere, was haunting. Add in the pungent smell of sulfur and wisps of smoke steaming from the ground (not holes in the ground either, the smoke actually rises from the ground itself) and you can get a pretty good feel for why the town of Centralia helped inspire the "Silent Hill" video game and film franchise.

We spent around half an hour in Centralia. I photographed some of the sites there, a few empty buildings, and the town fire truck, which is just painfully ironic. In retrospect, I wish I would have spent more time there, but I knew our schedule was going to be tight that day so I felt it best to get back on the road. Shortly afterwards I was driving by a tractor trailer at around 70mph when a tire caught the edge of the rough berm. The Kia started to swerve and with a 15 foot ravine on one side and a speeding tractor trailer on the other, things looked bleak. Everything seemed to be in slow motion and fast forward at the same time but I somehow managed to get the SUV back under control. We all breathed a sigh of relief that the road trip didn't end in death and destruction.

We made a quick detour to McDonald's for bathroom breaks and breakfast and then headed northeast toward New York. It's about a 4 hour drive, and we made one more short stop in Jersey which had a really cool "Scenic Overlook". The sky was gloomy all morning, but the view was still stunning. We were a bit behind schedule so we didn't rest too long.

We made good time to NY and traffic heading toward the city wasn't bad at all. We were heading to Long Island which involved crossing several bridges. I didn't know they charged tolls to cross the bridges but was lucky to have brought cash. I needed it too as 3 bridges ended up costing $18 in tolls. Sharon grabbed the obligatory "through the windshield" photo of the George Washington bridge at 50+ mph and I love everything about it.

We hit Long Island right on schedule. Anyone who knows me knows that I love horror movies with every fiber of my being and that's what brought about this portion of the trip. We first stopped in Farmingdale, NY to find a cemetery. At the cemetery is the grave of the Defeo family. In 1974 their oldest son, Ronald Defeo, killed his parents and siblings with a shotgun. He'd later say that he was possessed by the devil and that's what made him murder his family. Whether that dubious claim has any merit is certainly up for debate, but his story also lead to the house becoming "in"famous 1 year later when it was purchased by George and Kathy Lutz. The Lutz's lived in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue for exactly 28 days before taking flight in the middle of the night, leaving all of their belongings behind. They too would say the house was evil and they told their story to the world. It became the Amityville Horror.

I've always been a fan of the films and books about the case and seeing the real house was surreal. They took out the "eye" windows on the second story and replaced them with less ominous rectangular ones, but it's still clearly the house I've seen and read so much about. Apparently no one was home when we stopped there, so I had ample time to take photos. We even headed to the other side of the river behind the house to get some shots of the rear (I don't know if the ducks in the photo were evil or not). We were actually ahead of schedule so we stopped at a local antique store hoping to find some trinket we could tell everyone we bought in Amityville, but alas came up empty handed.

Finished in Amityville, we headed toward our next stop - Coney Island. About half way there, the rain started. It was a light mist at first, but grew worse as we drove on. By the time we arrived at Coney Island, the weather was miserable. Being right beside the ocean, the wind was whipping and it was freezing cold. The rain was coming down in sheets and as a result, the boardwalk was barren. We walked down to the ocean, but the fog was so thick you could only see a few dozen yards. It was quite disappointing as I'd planned to spend several hours there touring the sites and photographing people for "100" but the weather just wasn't on our side.

We only lasted an house in the weather before retreating to the car. I did make sure we got some hot dogs at Nathan's Famous. I'm not used to paying $2.75 per hot dog, but the experience was worth it and they did taste pretty good. It was only 3pm but the weather wasn't improving so we decided to head north to Connecticut to find a hotel room.

Driving out of Brooklyn proved to be much more challenging than driving in. The drive to our hotel in Torrington was supposed to take 2 hours and in reality it took over 5. Traffic was brutal leaving the city and once we were out, we hit a major traffic jam on the interstate. My TomTom GPS rerouted us, but we lost a lot of time. Fortunately we were finished for the day and didn't miss any planned stops. At the hotel, I noticed a "trap door"(random photo below) in the ceiling and was afraid we'd stepped into the movie Vacancy. All night long I was waiting for men in masks to burst through that door and make us the stars of their own twisted snuff film. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

Aside from the nasty weather in Coney Island and almost dying in early in the morning, the trip was off to a fantastic start. As the day ended, thunderstorms rolled into Torrington, Connecticut and I was afraid the rest of the trip would be a washout.

Back from the Road Trip - More coming soon

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:05:00 +0000

After a few days on the road, I'm back at the studio. I had such a wonderful time on the trip. Being able to visit all of the towns and locations I've read about or seen in movies over the years was something of a dream come true.

We traveled exactly 1146 miles through Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. I'm writing several different blogs, each of which will have lots of photos to accompany the stories. It's going to take a couple days to get everything on the computer, edited and posted so keep checking throughout the week to see and read about my latest adventure.

Last reminder - I'll be away from the studio from April 10-15

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Just one more reminder that I'll be away from the studio from April 10-15. I won't have access to email or voicemail while I'm away so if you contact me during that time, please understand that I won't be able to respond until the 16th.

100 - Larry

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:45:00 +0000

This morning I went to the flea market at the Hi Way Drive-In in Latrobe for the first time this year. Next to watching movies, going to the flea market is my favorite past time and despite today being a rather dreary day, I wasn't going to miss it.

As I explored one of the aisles, I noticed Larry selling Native American knick knacks. I thought he had a great look so I told him about "100" and he posed for a few photos.

100 - Kolt

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:06:00 +0000

I met Kolt a few months ago and he really liked the idea for "100" and wanted to be part of it. He plays lead guitar for the band Inside Out and this evening they happened to be playing at Mel's, a local club in Somerset.I sent him a message to see if we could meet up before the show and he happily obliged.

Sale! 16x20 enlargements only $75

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:54:00 +0000

My lab is currently having a sale on 16x20 enlargements and I'm passing the savings onto my clients. All 16x20 photos are currently on sale for $75. This is a HUGE savings over the regular price.

The sale will end on April 9 (unless the lab ends their special early, which is possible). The sale is open to all of my wedding and portraiture clients (seniors, families, etc) and if you would like to place an order please contact me as soon as possible.

Abandoned & Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Urban) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Yesterday the sky was filled with clouds, the kind of clouds that make for great photographs. Having clouds in the sky always makes for better photos than a crystal clear sky or (worst case scenario) a dismal overcast sky.

When I noticed the great sky, I had to stop and take some photos of a tree that stands alone in a field. I always thought the tree was interesting in its solitude and the dramatic sky lent itself to a nice composition.

Today the sky was pretty much crystal clear when I was driving around, but when I spotted an old, rusted out truck standing beside an abandoned house, I knew I had to photograph the scene and I think it turned out pretty nice.