Buffalo Wedding Photography by Nickel City Studios

Archive: April 2009 | View all recent posts

April 29, 2009 - Engagements

brianna + brian

When we were talking with Brianna and Brian about their engagement shoot, Brian mentioned that he'd love to do a shoot inside Pearl Street Brewery, so we talked to the fine folks there and headed over for their awesome eshoot. Brianna had never been inside, but Brian couldn't get the thought of doing part of their shoot there out of his head, so we happily obliged. We love cool, old, brick exposed buildings, and while none of us had a clue what it's original purpose was, it's a killer building.

I love mirrors! And I love places that are decorated in that casual, "old stuff" style - if we had any old stuff at all, it's totally how I wish our house would look!

So, I'm changing lenses, and I come back to find this. Seriously? And you give me crap about the things I do without disability insurance?? You're in flip flops, Rich. On a handrail. Three feet of the ground. On a decline. Awesome.

Sometimes if I get stuck on an idea, I have to try to move to a few different spots to get the angle I want - and sometimes that spot is on a hand rail...and don't give me crap for wearing slippers...not only am I "da kine," it was about 90 degrees outside. Don't worry folks, I caught Alyssa in a ridiculous location later in the shoot and have photographic evidence...

This was one of my favorites of the day. Yummy!

And I also loved this one!

Yeah, it was a lot of fun to shoot around Pearl Street - it was lots of windows, so that was all good...

Because you can't do a shoot inside a brewery without a shot that screams brewery!

We headed outside and wandered around downtown for a while, and I have to say it was brutal. None of us thought to put on any sunscreen, and it was about 100 outside. We were all super confident we were going home sunburned (as Brianna and Brian are just about as pale as us!), but it made for some pretty light!

...in the shade, anyway :)

What's that you say?? A feet shot and a squirrel shot? I love me!

I was a little worried that squirrel was going to steal my wallet...

CUTE couple:

My mom used to hate squirrels, and she never understood why people hated rats, but had no problem with rats with bushy tails, Clearly, I was not allowed any rodents as pets.

And yes, they are too cute together!

So, every time we're driving downtown, I see these awesome wood garage doors at this church, and I'm always like, "Rich, we HAVE to go there!" And then every time we're with a couple downtown, I can't find them for the life of me. So guess what we found with Brianna and Brian?? Hell yeah! Seriously, aren't these doors cool?

I love this tiled wall! If you stare hard at it, two photographers pop out of it - like those stare-o-vision things in the mall (it's a sailboat!).

You were taking this, and Brian was mumbling something about never, ever coming back out to recreate this shoot when the sun went down, Admittedly, it was a pretty crazy alley, but I loved it!

Uhhh, so sometime I look down and, well, patience is not your best virtue...

Hey, if you take the best angle, I'll take what I can get! And I did get a killer shot, so I came out happy!

must hold back from obvious joke, must hold back from obvious joke, must hold back...

Veeeeeeery mature, Rich. Very, mature.

Anyway, guys, it was a great shoot, and thank you for hanging out in that really brutal sun with us all afternoon! You were awesome, and we can't wait to see you again soon!

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April 25, 2009 - Weddings

rebecca + william

Those of you who semi-regularly follow our blog probably know that yesterday was our first wedding of the season - we've been very excited to get back into shooting what we love most and have been talking about it quite a bit. Yesterday morning, when the boy woke us up at 6 a.m., Rich turned and looked at me and said, "I wish we were shooting right now. Do you think they'd mind if we went over and knocked on their door and told them we were ready to start and they should get moving?" And our first wedding of the year was Rebecca and William. You may remember them from such posts as, the Rebecca and William post directly below this!

Oh, even they think I'm a riot!! So, when we shot Rebecca and William's eshoot on Tuesday, Rich pointed out that Rebecca was wearing the same shoes he bought me last year (because I loved them but didn't want to spend them money - isn't he sweet!), and when I showed up, Rebecca pointed out that she had the same shoes I was wearing then. So, it's absolutely no surprise that I loved her shoes for the wedding!

She was radiant while getting her hair and makeup done. At one point, she said, "I'm not nervous yet, is that weird?" She was just so happy the whole day to be marrying William that it was so easy to photograph her.

I'm not gonna lie - I'm pretty proud of this makeup shot (yup, she did her own and looked amazing!!).

Wait - they got married yesterday, you say? What day was that? Oh yeah, 4/24 - boo-yah!

Meanwhile, I was hanging out down the hall with William and his family. I have to come clean on something real quick - I have MASSIVE iPhone envy. We have the world's crappiest cell phone and every time I see an iPhone I want to play with it - and how can you not love a phone that you can have count down to your wedding day?!?

Like you mentioned above, Alyssa, I just wanted to start shooting the moment we got up yesterday. Not only was it the first wedding of the year for us, but we were surrounded by other photographers. William is a fantastic music photographer whose work I really admire - and he teaches photography, too, so I was on my toes big-time. Add to that her brother rolling with a Bronica all day long, and it was a perfect way to start the year.

To digress for a moment - I bet you've never seen a ring shot with the groom's "lucky" D&G's...

The cuff links were an heirloom, as were the shirt buttons...I've gotta tell you, it's really important that we connect with our brides and grooms, and I couldn't have felt more like part of the family as we got the day started if I'd changed my last name. Everyone was so kind and genuine; it's not trite at all to say how lucky we feel to have the clients we do.

Well, almost everyone was awesome - I'll be honest, this was the first wedding ever where a member of the bridal party thought the day was more about her than about Rebecca and William - the flowerdog, Megan :) So, when the girls were getting ready, Rebecca was saying how this girl was crying all throughout the rehearsal, and they had to remove her from the sanctuary, and they were really concerned about her disrupting the ceremony and even had someone designated to escort her from the room if she was crying - which I thought was a little harsh to make someone leave your wedding for crying, until about a half hour later when I realized this girl, "Megan" was their dog!

But you're right about the families - from the minute I walked in, they were so amazingly welcoming, that I really got choked up when Rebecca's mom handed her off to William.

It was an incredibly touching moment - unfortunately I also had a touching moment involving my knee and the floor about a half-second before this when I tripped on a loose rug and fell over. I was pretty relieved everyone claimed to have not seen or herd it happen. Note to Trinity Episcopal Church: TAPE DOWN YOUR LOOSE RUGS!

Other than trying to blow my knee out again, I really liked shooting in Trinity - the light was falling really nice for us the whole ceremony.

Oh, I almost forgot about that! That was hysterical - and I know at least two people noticed, because they were definitely laughing, but you didn't notice, because you recovered with such flair and IMMEDIATELY had your camera to your face. I don't think you could've gotten it there fast enough, huh?

Well, my last job with a camera did involve needing to continue shooting while violently falling over on occasion. You know, before we go off on another tangent, I have to point out that we've shot a ton of weddings at this point in our lives and I have never seen a bride who smiled and laughed more during her ceremony than Rebecca.

I LOVE this recessional shot, babe. You killed it!!

So, I don't know if this is some sort of British thing, but this was William's fireman pose?

Braces - firemen wear those to keep their fire trousers up, right? (I think that sounded properly British - probably not). Oh, and queue up our random skateboarding wedding guest portrait shot:

We've shot under this for an engagement shoot before, but I've been dying to take a bride there, and since Rebecca and William aren't from here and have any sentimental places they wanted to go, they agreed!! Have I mentioned how awesome they are?

So, it's totally awesome we went there, because we ran across this (I know nothing about cars) little, British sports car was there, and even though they were shooting their wedding in a totally different country, their home was represented!

Yeah - how random was a Triumph parked on Delaware Ave?? You guys looked incredible - doing a second shoot with you guys in less than a week was a dream.

While Buffalo might not be THE place most reflective of their relationship, we were able to mix in a trip to Starbucks, which definitely played a large role in their early relationship :)

Afterward it was on to the Statler and the Terrace Room for the intimate reception...as we were walking in, we grabbed a few more fun portraits in front of the building...

I loved this little (rounded) corner of the Statler, and Rebecca's awesome bouquet (from Maureen's). It smelled AMAZING. And we just played a little on the street before we headed into their really classic reception.

A girl who bursts out laughing when her husband accidentally tries to rip out her hair with her veil is seriously my kind of girl!

So, really, the details of the day were perfect - every little detail was so classy, and it was really an elegant day to be a part of, but they definitely put their fun personality into things, like with their candy bar!

I love this cake!

The cake cutting was done with a calvary saber - another family pass-down. There were so many cool personal, traditional elements incorporated into the wedding. That's how to do it, too, making the day about family and the future by reflecting on the past and what makes a couple who they are both as individuals and together,

You know a reception is getting good when Grandma starts to boogie down...

This is one of my favorite shots I've taken in a long time...Rebecca and William got this killer jazz band together - it's awesome to have friends with incredible talent. They were unbelievable.

I know how proud you are of the shot above, and you should be - it's amazing.

Rebecca and William, I can't thank you guys enough for allowing us to be a part of your amazing wedding day. It was beautiful and perfect, and you are a wonderful couple with an AMAZING family. Thanks, again!!