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Salt Flats Morning Shoot with Addie, the Bubble Trailer, and the Chop Stick Guys (part 3)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

In parts one and two of this series, I talk about how my photographer friend from California, Suzette Allen and her husband are touring the United States in their Bubble Trailer to teach and train photographers. And I share the evening shoot we did when they came through Utah, and now I’m excited to share with you the fun early morning shoot we did the next morning here on the Utah Salt Flats.

The next morning, we got up for an early sunrise shoot. Suzette and her husband interviewed me as the sun was rising behind us. Here’s that video…

And here’s a selfie video showing the gorgeous sky.

But before the sun came up, we started shooting photographs and my beautiful friend Addie was our model. The early morning sky was deep blue with just a touch of pink on the horizon. Using my Profoto studio lights to both sculpt Addie and also capture the true colors in the distance, I started photographing with the blue sky as our background.




While we were doing our photoshoot, Suzette and the Chopstick Guys were off shooting video.

With just a few studio lights on location, we were able to create some beautiful images with vivid colors. I really loved this early morning light. As the sun started to peak over the horizon, the colors around us went from deep blue to soft pastels. These colors worked perfectly with Addie’s outfit.

As Suzette photographed Addie with her Bubble Trailer, the warm colors of the sun started to peak over the salty horizon and hit the clouds. The golden clouds and warm light was a magical time.

The rising sun brought a cool desert wind which I found exhilarating and fun creatively. And as you can see, we all were having a lot of fun in this beautiful and creative environment. Here’s Suzette rockin’ her Lumix camera, with her husband Jon having fun behind.

When Suzette had her images, I photographed Addie again, but this time using the sun as my main light. The wind and golden warm light were gorgeous. I love all these gorgeous colors together, and Addie did such a great job on this shoot. And she was a lot of fun too. We were laughing a lot.


I had to keep stopping to soak in the view around me. And that made me want to create some long panoramas as well. I loved how the warmth of the rising sun on east side of the horizon mixed with the deep blues of the other end.

I also created some panoramas showing my Nissan Rogue and Profoto studio flashes on the salty desert floor, because it looked like a commercial ad. (Hey Nissan and/or Profoto, if you need commercial photography work, check out BryCoxPro.com.)

And of course with such a beautiful sunrise and mountain range, we had to do a quick selfie together, firing the camera with a remote in one hand.

And here we are having more fun, dancing in the wind and sunrise.

Then mixing in studio lights with the sunrise, I wanted to capture the golden sky behind Addie. I wanted to shoot into the sun, and for that I needed some serious lighting power. I love how these turned out!






With the cold wind finally making Addie cold, she went to warm up in the vehicle. And I took a moment to create a selfie showing my studio light and sunrise behind me.

Fall has now hit us here in Utah. It’s time to create some beautiful location photographs of your family and kids. If you’d like something in the fall leaves or on an exotic location like the Salt Flats, and you want that some awesome lighting that makes you pop in that location, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s create some iconic and legacy portraits for the walls of your home.

Also, if you’re a photographer looking to up your game and get more training to really understand lighting better, check out my online and in-person courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

Salt Flats Evening Shoot with Pamela, the Bubble Trailer, and the Chop Stick Guys (part 2)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

In my previous entry I shared the first part of this shoot at the Utah Salt Flats. And continuing on, the sun was going down quickly and we were losing our light. As Suzette Allen and her husband prepped the Bubble Trailer and lighting for their next series of photographs, my model Pamela did a change of clothes while I set up a multiple-light look for a clean, commercial, studio look that would work with and accentuate the deep blue of twilight as things got darker.

These turned out to be a fun and wonderful series of images. I love the motion between the images and feel they’re best shared in sets of three to show action.

For these next couple of horizontal portraits, I let one of my lights show in the image. I loved the lighting angle, and I wanted to show the open vastness around us. Pulling back with the camera allows that long, empty, and open horizon to show. And the light I think it adds interest, telling the viewer that the lighting is controlled and specific.

I often see photographs posted from the Salt Flats by other photographers and the results are dull, muddy faces, washed out backgrounds, noisy grainy images, blurry faces, and shadows in the wrong places on the face. Why? Because most photographers don’t understand exactly how to custom light, where a light should be, and how lighting needs to continually move and be adjusted based on sculpting someone as they move. It requires knowledge and lots of mental work. But the results of doing so are powerful images like these – amazing portraits created in a normally impossible setting – long after the sun has gone down.

Pamela was so much fun. She had a lot of personality and I loved her choices in clothing. These photos with her hat made for a great set of images. I’ve had a hard time picking my top favorites.

Time was really flying and we were having a blast and didn’t want to stop shooting. So after Suzette had finished her shoot with the trailer (which can be seen here on her blog), it was completely dark. While her and the Chopstick Guys were packing up their gear and loading their vehicles, Pamela and I decided to shoot a bit longer. She had this awesome flowy outfit, and the evening desert wind was really howling.

So with a couple studio flashes on stands manually controlled, I used the wind to our favor and did one last series of images. I really like the dark blackness that surrounds us in these images. With blackness behind and the light illuminating the white salt floor, falling off, fading into the distance, it makes it feel like we’re shooting on a stage. And Pamela’s movements and expressions really make these images sing.

What an amazing shoot, and this is just Part 2. There’s Part 3 coming because the next morning we did a very early sunrise shoot with another beautiful friend of mine who came out to model for us.

Those portraits have a completely different look and feel because the sun was direct and coming in from a different angle, plus the color temperature was different too. As the sun rose, the color around us went from deep blue, to pink, to a warm golden color. The entire location glowed with the sunlight. Those images are incredible and I’m excited to share those soon.

In the meantime, if you’d like a cool photo shoot at an exotic location like the Salt Flats, give me a call at 801-728-3317. With my style of custom lighting, it can work wonderfully well for families, kids, even high school seniors.

Also, if you’re a photographer looking to up your game and get more training, check out my online and in-person courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

High School Senior & Modeling Portraits of Ashton in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I love photographing high school seniors because I’m able to be more creative. There’s a lot of variety that we can create in the studio in a short amount of time too. While in Texas, I photographed this beautiful model, Ashton. She was great and we got some killer images.

This shoot was part of a longer weeklong photographic workshop where I train photographers in Texas on lighting, expression, posing, and more. I’d demo specific concepts for a few moments and then let the other photographers shoot. So in these training/demo shoots, my actual shooting time is short – only segments of 5 minutes here and there. I set it up so that the photographers taking my course to try things for themselves with real models.

But when I combine all the concepts that I teach into any shoot, even short segments like this, I end up with powerful images with exquisite lighting, perfect exposure and color balance, that also incorporate real and genuine expressions. So yes, even in that short amount of time I have a lot of images to choose from, all great. Here are some of my top favorites.

In the image above, I created a custom art piece by mixing textures with some creative editing. Those techniques mixed with her expression makes for a very captivating portrait. Then below, I did some custom color toning for another unique image.

These were part of my first quick shoot with Ashton, were I photographed her on deep blue with a variety of lighting styles. Notice that we have a mix of poses and expressions while the lighting and technical details all remain perfect.

Then before she left, I did one more quick shoot of her in a new outfit and on my fashion grey background. These images were strong individually, but I also liked them in sets of three to show movement and personality.

I love training photographers to do better, teaching creativity mixed with solid techniques. Ashton was a great model and I love the images we got.

If you’re a high school senior, it’s a great time to do some cool photos for you. And here at my studio, I’ll typically do even bigger shoots than this for seniors. I love creating a variety with clothing changes, location options, plus over-the-top art pieces that really show your personality. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up for you.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Modeling and Senior Portraits of Summer in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had a great time getting to know Summer and photographing her as she modeled for me. I was demonstrating lighting and client interaction while teaching a weeklong photographic workshop in Texas. She was a beautiful girl and a lot of fun to hang out with, and as you can see, we got a lot of beautiful images in a short amount of time.

I start with teaching a primary focus on perfect exposures, perfect color balance, and exquisite lighting that sculpts and flatters the model. From there as a photographer we must interact and connect with the model in order to get real and wonderful expressions instead of the typical fake smiles that are all too common.

And as you can see from this shoot, Summer’s personality made all of this easy. We had a great time and created a lot of beautiful images with genuine and captivating expressions, despite our actual shooting time being very short. Because I’m training and getting other photographers to shoot and practice these concepts, it means I only step in and photograph models like Summer in small chucks of 5 minute intervals here and there. But even with small 5 minute intervals, you can see that we’ve got a lot of beautiful images of her. Here are some of my favorite images.

Starting on a fashion gray background to go along with her black outfit, and as if she was a high school senior in my studio, I shot quickly for variety of styles, expression, and poses. You can see that we have smiles, but also thoughtful and serious images. We have close ups, mid-length, and full-length. We have a lot of variety in a lot of ways, and all of these are very beautiful of her. These would make a wonderful album or even a great series of images in a wall collage.

To demonstrate location lighting, I took her to the end of the hotel’s bar in her beautiful gown, and balanced auxiliary lighting with the bar lights to create a warm mood.

Later in a new outfit, I created these portraits of her on my deep blue background, again shooting for variety. And again, all looking beautiful.

And before sending her home, we ended the shoot with a quick selfie together.

And a few days later I had a night demo and again was able to photograph Summer. That demo was 30 minutes long, and with talking, setting a groundwork of what I’d be doing, and showing how to light with minimal equipment anywhere, we only shot for a few minutes. But even still, we got some beautiful images. And here is one of my favorites from that quick shoot.

This was a really fun shoot and I’m grateful for Summer coming and modeling for me. She was a joy to be around and I’m excited by the images we created.

If you’d like some great portraits done of you, give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Paris Modeling in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful model named Paris while I was in Texas. I was teaching a photographic workshop on lighting and had photographed Paris a few years before, and contacted her to come be my model again. I’m grateful that she did, and we got some beautiful images.

The first part of my teaching was to demonstrate how to shoot with perfect exposures and color balance. Then when you’ve conquered that, you can focus predominantly on expression by connecting with your subject. The goal is to get captivating and real expressions, and as you can see from these thumbnails of un-retouched images, everything looks great. The hard part after a shoot like is is having to decide which images are the absolute best, and I do that by seeing what speaks to me. Those photographs become my top favorites.

From those top images, I picked some to retouch in front of the photographic group, showing them what I do to each image while also showing how little retouching is actually necessary when images are perfectly lit with superb auxiliary lighting.

Starting on a fashion gray background, we have a beautiful set of images of Paris. She looks beautiful, her eyes and expressions glow. We nailed getting the captivating portrait in the first few minutes.

These first few images took about 5 minutes. From there I let other photographers practice shooting her, while I moved on to other models and teaching. Later I circled back for another 5 minutes with Paris, and we did these of her on this gorgeous blue background which really makes her eyes pop. Again, all of these look great.

Then one last time before we ended, I did one more quick 5 minute shoot with her, this time with a change up of lighting styles and while demoing a brand new camera that just came out. So in all, I only photographed her for about 15 minutes total, but we got all of these amazing images of her – all great, all captivating, all beautifully lit.

Knowing that we had great images from earlier, we began to play with motion – having her play with her hair, turning, and incorporating some movement and chaos. I really love how these turned out.

And to end the shoot, we did a quick portrait together under the beauty dish light setup with me holding the camera with one hand.

This was a really fun shoot and I’m grateful that Paris could make it. It’s always great to see her and she’s a joy to photograph. If you’d like some great portraits done of you, it’s a great time. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Studio Shoot with Jacq

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had a great time photographing the fun and beautiful Jacqueline in this studio photo shoot. These images are so beautiful that I have to share with you some of my favorites.

We shot a couple outfits, and this first image is one of my favorites from the whole shoot. I love her look, expression, and the overall feel of this photograph.

With a different style of lighting and a new background, we got this stunning headshot of Jacq.

And then photographing her in this retro blue outfit on the fashion gray background gave us lots of great options, all completely different with a unique set of expressions and looks, with full length and mid-length.







I really love what we got from this shoot and hope that Jacq loves these as much as I do. My indoor studio located here in Davis County, Utah is a great option for fashion shoots, commercial shoots, avoiding bad weather outside, or anytime you want even more custom lighting options.

If you’d like some beautiful new images, give me a call at 801-728-3317. It’s a great time to come in and update your portfolio.

And until next time, America.

Headshots for Comedian Keith Stubbs

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Winter is a great time to update your business headshots and website. A while back I photographed comedian Keith Stubbs because it was time to update his business headshots and we had a great time during the shoot. He’s a standup comedian and you’ll often see him online in photos with all sorts of famous comedians. And when he’s not doing standup, he’s running a comedy club in Utah with three locations, called WiseGuys. If you enjoy comedy and live shows, you should check him out and his clubs. He always has a number of big names coming into Utah to perform.

We shot for a high contrast black and white look, and got a lot of personality in the images. I love how these turned out. They’re tack sharp and have a modern, edgy look.

Here are some of the favorites, all uniquely different and interesting.

Here’s an example of how these images are being used by Keith online. I really like this blue texture behind him. It makes for a great banner on social media.

I’m a Utah based photographer, and depending on the number of people at your business that need headshots, I can often come to you. But you’re also welcome to come right here to my studio here in Davis County, Utah.

If you’d like some new headshots for your business, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And check out my commercial website BryCoxPro.com, for more examples of headshots and business images.

And until next time, America.

New Headshots and Fitness Portraits for Addie

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Winter is a great time to update headshots for your business. And I just had the pleasure of photographing Addie for some new headshots and fitness images that she needed for work. Addie travels the globe running marathons (like Boston, London, Germany to name a few), and when she’s in Utah, she trains runners for Life Time Fitness.

We needed to create some beautiful headshots with a commercial white background, and also some fitness images that could be used for banners or social media. So we started here in my studio and got a lot of great headshots. Here are some of my favorites.


Then I had some fun shooting some black and whites with selective focus, like this image.

Then before going outside, we shot a few full body images in the studio. I think these look great.

For the outdoor images, we used a long empty road near my place and set up some lighting to give us a deep blue sky and to overpower the direct sun so we could shoot the directions we wanted.


If you’d like to follow Addie or run in her Run Club, she’s on Instagram as @addielillian. And you should also check out her health-food blog where she cooks new things, beautifully photographs the meal, and posts the recipe. It’s called Addie’s Pantry.

And if you or your business need some new headshots, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I also have a separate website for just headshots and commercial images at BryCoxPro.com.

And until next time, America.

Fundraiser Portraits With a ‘Vanity Fair Backstage’ Look

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I photographed custom portraits at a fundraiser to help raise money for our friend who is re-learning to walk after Lyme disease. The crowd was mostly friends and people I knew, and knowing that everyone would be dressed up, I thought I’d mix that dressiness with the cool tile of the location for a magazine styled shoot.

Along with offering some silent auction photo shoots that raised $600, I also did quick photo shoots of my friends there. I utilized one studio light with a small modifier to create custom but very directional lighting for lots of moody shadows and aimed just right for no retouching. I then posed individuals in unique ways as if it were a “backstage at the Oscars Vanity Fair” type photo shoot. I also created a film look that warmed the highlights to a nice golden tone that was applied to the images on my laptop as I shot.

I had a long line all night and photographed a few hundred people, averaging 2-3 shots per person. I then picked my favorite of each person right there off my laptop. After the event, I posted the portraits on Facebook and the results have been blowing up my facebook feed, so I thought I’d share them on my blog today so you all could seem them too. Here are just some favorites.

Yes, there’s even one of me. I shot it with a remote in my hand before people arrived. I wanted to double check the lighting and look of the tile and tones before we started. I really love the variety of poses and looks with everyone. I think the shoot went great.

With so many people, this is just a few. But all of the images are up on my Facebook page, and you can see them all if you follow me there.

If you work with a Utah charity and would like to talk about package donations to raise money, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to talk more about what you’re doing and how I could donate some packages for auction, or otherwise be involved in raising money.

And until next time, America.

Ryan Shupe Live Concert at Sandy Amphitheater, June 2018

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Ryan Shupe just had his big outdoor summer concert here in Utah at the Sandy Amphitheater, and I was there again to photograph the event for him. His band, ‘Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand‘ puts on a great live show. The mix of great music, the cool night breeze, friends, laughter, and smell of popcorn and hotdogs from the concessions all come together for a wonderful night.

These images I shoot get used for his promotional materials, website, and even for album designs. The images I shot last year for him have been used entirely for his brand new album design, Live Volume II.

I hope you can feel the energy from the live show, just by viewing these images.

For one song, Ryan had me shoot some iPhone video for his Facebook live which included a wedding proposal at the end of the song. But during the song he has tons of children from the crowd come up and sing on stage with him.

Here’s the video. It starts with a few seconds of my face resetting the app, because the Facebook app crashed as soon as the song started.

And as the night gets later, the stage lights grow and you can see the energy on stage grow as they start rockin’ even more.

If you have a band or business or need some great commercial images to showcase what you do, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create some great images for you as well.

And until next time, America.

Business Portraits for KUTV 2 News, Salt Lake City

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Because great lighting and making people look good is my specialty, I shoot a lot of business portraits for people who need to look their best. One of my continuing favorite shoots is with KUTV 2 News, who’s ranked number one in Utah. They’re a very fun group to see each time and catch up with, and they’re all very good at what they do.

And with TV being a visual medium, it’s important especially for these professionals to look their best on billboards, signs, and online. So I’m always grateful when they call and have me come in and update their images.

During the day of the shoot, everyone is busy working on the breaking news and their own hectic schedules and responsibilities. It makes lighting extra difficult because we’re constantly moving from spot to spot re-lighting and setting up as various people become available. It means a jam-packed day full of multiple mini shoots in lots of locations.

And after a very long day, we end up with a vast array of options for each anchor and reporter, including studio white, news room, on location, and all sorts of various group shots – ready to go. I’m really happy with how everyone looks, and wanted to share some favorites with you. First, here are some headshots on studio white.

And here are some favorite individual headshots on location.

And each team gets a variety of groupings in various locations too. Here are some of the evening news team group portraits.

A studio white background is useful when adding graphics behind. These are the ones you’ll see on billboards quite often. But I really enjoy creating these group shots below in the news room studio too. The set, cameras, and lights in the background make for some wonderful abstract shapes which tells the story of who these reporters and anchors are and what they do. It’s nice having all options after a shoot.

Here’s the Talkin’ Sports team.

And of course the morning team that is great to wake up to.

If you or your business needs to look great, give me a call. I’d love to create something wonderful for you, so that you and your business look like a million bucks. Depending on the size and scope, we can shoot here in my studio, or come on location and shoot right there at your business. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Concert Video and Photos for Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand Concert, Sandy Amphitheater June 2017

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

For more years than I can remember, warm weather here in Utah is marked by photographing outdoor concerts for Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand. They are always beautiful summer nights under the stars, soaking in great music. Just recently I shot Ryan’s big Utah show at the Sandy Amphitheater doing both video production and shooting photographs for the band’s promotional needs.

First, the promo video of Ryan just solo playing fiddle, mandolin, and singing along with a looper pedal. This was a huge project, shot with about 6 cameras, and included a ton of grading and editing to cut it all together with the right feel and storytelling. If you look closely, you can see me because one of my cameras catches me on stage at the very beginning and end of the video. Here’s the video. See what you think.

Bands are like any other business, they need great photos for advertising and promotion. Photographs are your storefront. People often say that a website is your storefront, because clients see that first and make buying decisions based on your site. But the truth is that your website is only as good as the photographs on it. Poor photographs – poor website. Great photographs – great website. Photos tell the story of your business, who you are, the show quality of what you’re offering.

Lighting is everything in a photo, and concerts are especially difficult with the constantly changing stage lighting. The values, intensity, and colors are constantly changing and the musicians are always on the move. There’s no redos. And that’s exactly why I love photographing concerts They’re an exhilarating creative challenge and I know that no one else can capture or get what I get. Hopefully when you see these images, it feels like you’re right there.

If your band or business needs some great photography to better showcase your brand, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.