Being pregnant is a wonderful time in life and because of that, I always love to do maternity portraits for people. This shoot was especially fun though, because this was my own sister. There are only two kids in my family, me and her, and she’s the one married. In fact, this is her first child that is coming too, so it is a wonderful time for everyone in our family.
Normally I photograph maternity in black and white. I started in black and white with these two, but switched to color because I loved the simplicity of the colors that they were wearing, black outfits against the fashion-gray background. It really draws attention to the faces and emotion, while at the same time, showing Jamie’s belly.
And here’s one of her alone.
And then a change of outfits, and some more of just Jamie alone.
It was such a pleasure to do this shoot, in fact it was really an honor. I wish both of these two joy and luck in raising their new little baby.
Do you have a new little baby or a fun family? I’m sure it’s time for a new and updated portrait. Well now is the best time to get in to Bry Cox Studio. The weather is great and the gardens are green and looking amazing. Give me a call to get something scheduled. 801-728-3317.
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).
Here are some of the cool images I did for the new Miss Utah and Miss Teen Utah International. They were beautiful girls and a lot of fun to photograph. This first one is one of my favorites, the two of them together. I processed it with one of my personal effects and added some of my light fleurs to the corners as well as a custom edge.
And here are some of their individual images. First Tiffany, Miss Utah International.
And here’s some of Dani, Miss Teen Utah International.
We did both of their shoots at the same time so that we could photograph them together as well. Here’s one of my favorites of the full-lengths.
I wish them both luck, and hope that they both win in their divisions.
Well now is the time to schedule your portraits with Bry Cox Studio. The weather is great and the gardens are green and looking amazing. Give me a call to get something scheduled. 801-728-3317.
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).
Good news about Iceland! So Einar who is the man in charge of the Iceland photographic expedition contacted me, and he’s really upped the ante quite a bit to help me fill my workshop in July! I am so excited by this. He said he will offer you an additional 10% off by signing up a friend, who will also get 10% off).
This discount is in addition to the 10% off you get already by signing up before the end of May! That’s 20% off your total, and you will share a double room with your friend. So cool!
That means get the word out to your friend and you will BOTH save some money!
What’s great about Einar is that he does everything top notch! These images are from his facebook today, of him taking an expedition up to check out the volcano that erupted recently. He always takes professional vehicles driven by professional drivers on any expedition.
When we go, it will be no different. We will be traveling with Einar and his elite team of locals who know all the nooks and crannies — the most beautiful hidden spots. We will be avoiding the people and the popular tourist places, because his team really knows where each photographic oasis is. And they require special vehicles to get there! Click here for more info on our Adventure in Iceland.
Look at this amazing image, with the volcano going off in the distance!! Wow! So maybe you heard about the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Know that it won’t affect our workshop at all. In fact, it may actually make some scenes more dramatic! Einar says that Iceland has regular volcanic eruptions and this is the 36th or 37th one since 1902. This is not news to them, and is very common, similar to living in Hawaii I suppose. He sent me some facts about volcanos in Iceland, and they are listed below.
One of the things I’m excited most about for the Iceland adventure, is that all the extra costs, the hotels, the travel, the professional drivers, the elite team of local guides, the weather team we will have watching things for us — everything is included! There is no way you will ever find another adventure like this ever. And on top of it all, we will be creating some of the coolest photographs ever! Please pass this info on to anyone you think is interested.
Bry Cox - Icelandic Photographic Adventure 2
I’ve created a flyer that you can print out, show, or even email around. Click on it to see it in a full printable view. Or send people this address so they can see it or print it themselves (https://brycox.com/iceland/BryCox_Iceland_Flyer-200p-web.jpg)
We here in Iceland are experiencing mother nature blowing out a little once again. It is like her house cleaning. It is the 36t or 37th volcano eruption since 1902, so it is no news to us.
This time the eruption is in Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe, approx 8,100 square km. It is in a place on the glacier called Grimsvotn or the “Waters of Grimm”.
Eruption in that areas are common and tend to be in a wave frequency. But there is an active volcano there and regularly there is a flood from underneath the glacier, like an outburst flood of melted water which comes flowing from under the rim of the glacier on the south side and floods down to the sea over a sand desert every 2nd or 3rd year.
Last autumn was a outburst flood from Grimsvont. So now when there is an eruption there, there is little ice or water to stop the eruption going through. But it is still all in a wet area so the eruption gushes up in the form of ash. It was estimated about 12 million tons of ash was gushing up in the air each second y’day.
That is enormous amount of ash going up in the air. Some of it falls down on land on the south-east of Iceland, but a lot of it goes high up in the air, as far as 12 – 15 thousand meters and the blows with the high wind over to the East and South East of Iceland.
Some times when we hear figures like 12 million tons of ash pr. second they are beyond our imagination. But then we are often not aware of that 2-3 inches of rain falling on to 10.000 square km area is enormous amount of water.
I just spoke with my uncle who is a farmer on a farm close to Vatnajokull where my mother was born and where I used to work during summer holidays when I was young. Visibility y’day was no more than dusk, but it is little bit better now. All his sheep and animals are in house or by the barns where they can get hey and fresh water. So there is no one that has been effected by this eruption in other way that some people have to work long hours to look after their stock.
In Iceland we have excellent public rescue and safety system. There is a fully computerized high technical central in Reykjavik linked to stations around the country which are activated under those circumstances. They use special vehicles, even water and ash tight, to drive between places to assist people, hand out breathing masks and be sure everyone has fresh water and enough food, etc.
The news people tend to make the most of this. Armageddon or Ice age is beginning or what ever, but then within two to three days they have found something else to sell.
Basically I want you all to know this will in no way have effect on our FocusOnNature workshops. It might make some scenarios more dramatic, but in other way it does not have any effect on our program.
Thank you Einar, for that great information. Don’t forget to pass around the poster on my Iceland site. Link to it, pass it around, or even print it out. Check it out above or get it and any other info you need at https://brycox.com/iceland
Also, feel free to browse my main website at BryCox.comor more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog.)
For the next two weeks (until the end of May), get 10% off my Iceland photographic adventure workshop!! This is not cheap because it costs to put on such an event in such a wonderful part of the world, but it will be the photographic adventure of a lifetime! It covers all the hotels and travel throughout Iceland for our group, as well as personal and group instruction from me. I’ll be talking, teaching and helping everyone get the absolute best images possible as we move and travel to the best places possible.
Bry Cox - Icelandic Photographic Adventure 1
Twilight is one of the most beautiful times of day for me for light. But in Utah, it only lasts about 10 minutes at the end of the day. But in Iceland, the sun rises and sings on an angle so twilight lasts 4 to 5 hours each day! We will utilize this amazing time of day to create fantastic images all over Iceland. We will travel during the down times, charge equipment, and critique images, then get set up so that we can shoot again when the light is amazing! We will have local photographers guiding us through their terrain and country, constantly watching the weather for us so that we can be in the right places at the right times. We will adapt, change directions, and go where we need to create the best photographs possible. This is not a trip you could ever do on your own.
Bry Cox - Icelandic Photographic Adventure 2
Have you ever been on a trip with non-photographers and you see something you want to stop and photograph? Perhaps you are able to talk everyone into stopping once or twice, while you set up and create a few images, and perhaps you need to wait for the light to move and get better. But no matter what, your constant need to stop and look, and feel your surroundings begins to anger your group and you feel them grow restless throughout the trip. Eventually you either give up and just travel alone or you stick with the group and give up on creating great images. Sadly, the photos you do end up taking simply become ‘documentary’ images of your trip — but they’re not fantastic.
Well come have the photographic adventure of a lifetime! Come travel and have fun with a small group of photographers who think like you and want to stop and create great images. Come travel for the sole purpose of experiencing Iceland and the wide gamut of photographic opportunities that it offers: the shores, the mountains, the villages, the meadows, and everything in between, and do so with people that think and feel like you. There is no set agenda because we’ll be moving as we need to, to get to the right places for the week we’re there. We’ll be making the absolute most of our time there.
Bry Cox - Icelandic Photographic Adventure 3
During our down times, we will review what we’ve each created and then critique and fine-tune our images so that we can create even better images at the next spot. We will constantly be looking for composition, point of view, and impact. I will even show you some tips and tricks for digital workflow as well as digital enhancement so that your images look their best.
This workshop is limited to a small group of people, and we already have someone signed up from Egypt as well as others from around the country. I love knowing that we will work and create art with people from all over the world, each with a different way of looking at the world with their lens. Yet we will find commonality and camaraderie in being artists working together to create wonderful and inspiring images.
If you know someone that would be interested, please pass this info along. The 10% off is good for bookings through the end of this month. This is for photographers who love adventure, but it’s not limited to professionals. This is open to anyone who loves photography and adventure and wants to come with me, learn, and create some of the best photographs of their life.
For more info go to the official Focus On Nature website. To book your slot on my tour, click here, and check the box next to my name and workshop (Bry Cox). And contact me with any questions you may have. I’d love to see you in Iceland with me!! Come get lost in Iceland with Bry Cox!
(Also, feel free to browse my main website at BryCox.comor more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog.)
[The photographs in this post were created in Iceland and are used by permission.]
This month, I’m on the cover of Rangefinder Magazine, a magazine for professional photographers.
While speaking in Vegas recently, I also had some meetings with some of my sponsors. One sponsor asked me to pose for a photo collage they were working on of some of their favorite photographic artists. The result I found out is now the cover of this month’s Rangefinder Magazine.
The idea was a hallway of photographers, each posed doing something else that they loved besides photography. Aside from photography, I really love guns, music, and I guess I could add girls to that list too. But not having any props prepared, I used my ipod as a substitute for a musical instrument. I also really like comedy and so I over-posed in a fun way, really low. This was the resulting image.
If you’re a professional photographer, this magazine should come to you automatically.
And if you’re not a photographer, but are looking for great images from an artist that trains all the other photographers around, then give me a call. 801-728-3317. Come visit with me and see how fantastic I will make you look in your photographs using natural techniques like light and optics. Look great without the over-retouching and plastic skin look. Great portraits are heirlooms, and everyone deserves images of themselves that they absolutely love!
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).
PocketWizard® created a promo video of me using some of their new flash sync units. We filmed it while I was speaking in Vegas, and we shot right outside a casino. I used my good friend, Angelina as the model, and the resulting movie is now online on both the PocketWizard website as well as YouTube.
Angelina is one of my favorite models, and if you’ve followed my work, you’ve probable seen her before in other images of mine. She is fantastic to work with, and I was excited that she could be my model again for this, as I needed a real pro for this gig. Creating images while being video taped, is completely different than creating images for a client. Aside from the normal layers of creative and technical thinking going on in my mind, there’s also the added layers of speaking and explaining everything that I’m thinking, plus making sure that it is all clear and understandable, plus the knowledge that it is all being recorded. It is tough!
But I am happy with the results and here are some of the images I created during this shoot. We started on the sidewalk, and I picked a spot that had a great sky and background.
Then I talked Angelina into getting up onto this high spot, for another and background with a lot of interest.
Then, as it shows in the video (starting at 1:55), we climb into this cool rock garden. A sign in front of this spot says, “Please do not allow children into this area.” The video editor caught me saying as I helped Angelina over the fence, “We’re not children — we’re adults!” But as you can see, this place worked out perfectly for the rest of our shoot!
I really like the sun behind the model, and sometimes used it to create a cool lens flare. (A difficult lighting situation for amateurs who shoot their cameras on Auto.)
Then ended with a few close ups before the sun went down completely.
This was such a fun shoot, and I appreciate Angelina coming and being my model, yet again.
For some months, I’ve been using these sync units, but they were not available to the public. This video was created for the release of these units to the public. Some time ago, PocketWizard® asked if I would demo these, asking for my input so that improvements could be made. A competing company had previously given me some of their units too, but I didn’t like those particular units and found them clunky and unreliable. So when PocketWizard contacted me, I was excited and anxious to see what they had come up with.
After testing them, I really liked them. They now have a permanent spot in my rig.
If you are looking for a fantastic photographic artist, the one that trains all the other photographers around, then give me a call. 801-728-3317. Come visit with me and see how fantastic I will make you look in your photographs, using natural techniques like light and optics. Don’t settle for horrible photoshop retouching, weird plastic skin, or other amateur techniques that try and ‘save’ sub-par images. Just get great portraits from the start and save yourself a lot of trouble. Great portraits are heirlooms, and everyone deserves images of themselves that they absolutely love!
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or more from my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).
Holly and Joe came in to finalize their wedding album design, and it looks amazing! Their wedding was uniquely a morning wedding, and held at the beautiufl Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake.
Here are a few page design spreads from their album collection. What you see here are two page spreads that folding down the middle. Each 2-page design is printed as one large wall print collage, then coated and book-bound into a fantastic album.
This first spread shows the beautiufl location as people arrive.
Then later in the book, this page spread shows Holly as she began to walk down the isle through the lush gardens.
One of my favorite page spreads was after the ceremony where Joe walked Holly into a little private nook off to the side, and gave her a very sweet hug. I got these images from a distance with a long lens and love them in black and white as that really brings out the emotion in the images.
And here is an art page showing two awesome images juxtaposed against each other.
This was such a beautiful wedding and I am honored to have been apart of it all and to have been asked to capture their day for them as well as for future generations.
Their wedding is now up on my website in the ‘Slideshow’ section if you’d like to see the entire wedding and album design, and I’ve created a link for you to see it here, all 58 pages! * Click here to see it as a slideshow movie set to music. *
(or use this address if your reader doesn’t show the link above: https://brycox.com/studio/MovieTheater/Movie-Holly.htm)
If you are looking for a fantastic wedding photographer, now is the time of year to get thing booked with me. Give me a call, come visit with me, and see what I can do for you!
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).
My client, Bryan Thayer needed some new portraits for his business, website, and book jacket. He’s a marketer, author, and speaker and is redoing his website, BryanThayer.com as well as releasing a new book. So here’s some of the images we created.
We wanted a mix of casual and business, but needed portraits that showed strength and personality. I really like this first image for that reason. It’s got a lot of warmth and it is a great smile! We started out more casual and moved towards business, and created images in both color and black and white.
Then we moved to a gray background — gray is a great background for business portraits. This particular shade of gray is used a lot in fashion and you’ll see it a ton in GQ magazine, but it’s also great when the background needs to be cut out for other purposed down the road.
Here’s one of my favorites in black and white.
And one of our top business portraits from the shoot. It says a lot in one image, it shows strength, it shows power, and it shows kindness. I’m very happy with these photographs and know that they will work for whatever Bryan needs now and down the road. It was a joy to work with him and I hope his new endeavor goes really well.
If you need some awesome photographs for your business, whether they be for business cards, your website, a book jacket, or anything else, or perhaps you just need to update your family portraits this spring, give me a call! 801-728-3317.
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or my other blog entries if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader like facebook, BryCox.com/blog).
Angela just came in for some new headshots and it was a blast! She’s an actor and currently in a new reality show, and needed some updated photographs that were awesome, showed personality, yet had a classic appeal for agents in LA. Here’s what we created.
This first one is a great close-up and looks fantastic in both color and black and white. Her smile is real and captivating and her eyes genuinely sparkle.
This image was another one of my favorites. I created it in black and white, and lit her in a unique way to really get a beautiful catch light in her eyes. Again, her smile is great and I love the tilt to her head.
I know that Angela will do great in whatever she pursues and I’m glad to be able to cross paths with her and help create some great photographs.
So if you need an acting portrait or something just awesome for your various endeavors, or even just want a new and updated family portrait, give me a call! 801-728-3317.
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or my other blog entries if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader like facebook, BryCox.com/blog).
Iceland is one of the most fantastically beautiful places on earth, and was named “Ice-land” by the locals in order to keep people from moving there. It was a PR campaign that has worked, and has kept Iceland beautiful and untouched. Come with me and explore the mountains, villages, countryside, and anywhere else the weather may take us as we get lost in the artistic journey of photographing this wonderful place.
Come learn and be apart of creating spectacular images in a land where the light is unbelievably gorgeous and the terrain is incredible. In Iceland, the most beautiful light of the day, twilight, doesn’t just last 10 minutes, but 4-5 hours each day!
We will travel in incredible vehicles set up for us to charge our equipment if needed, we will stay in wonderful hotels, and we follow local guides who know the area and who will watch the weather daily, helping us make the most of our time in order to be in the best places needed to capture the ocean and shores, the clouds and storms, the grass, the meadows, the villages, the glaciers, and anything else we may see.
Come take the photographic trip of a lifetime and be blown away by the impressive and breath-taking views while soaking in the incredible fresh air. This workshop is limited to a small number of people so that you’ll get both small group instruction as well as personal one-on-one help from Bry. This is sure to help you see differently, be more creative, unleash the artist within, and create some of the best photographs of your life as well as learn how to electronically manipulate them into the most beautiful results possible!
(These two images come from the Iceland clothing company 66North.com website)
Perhaps we’ll meet and photograph beautiful and interesting faces while eating dinner in a local pub, or perhaps we’ll drive up to places that appear untouched by anyone. Come get lost in Iceland with me, Bry Cox, and leave the outside world behind for a season. Come have the adventure of a lifetime and leave with amazing and inspiring photographs of the most beautiful landscapes on earth!
NOTE: This is not just limited to professional photographers as most of my workshops are. This is open to anyone that just loves to explore and take photographs, whether you’re a professional, a hobbyist, or even if you are very new to photography. In any case, I will help you get some amazing photographs of this beautiful country as we explore and travel the countryside together. Don’t let your photographic knowledge or lack of knowledge keep you from coming!!
For complete details, check out the official website, Focus On Nature, and please contact me with any questions. There is 10% off right now through the end of May, and the fee covers the hotel stays and the travel that we’ll be doing from place to place. You DO NOT want to miss this trip!!
(All photographs on this post come from the ‘Focus on Nature‘ website, except for the two from the 66North.com clothing website.)
This week our LDS singles ward was broken up and we held one last party, a talent show on Monday night. There were a lot of wonderful performances by so many in our ward, and I participated by singing an original song.
I played the guitar and harmonica and posted a video of it on my facebook for my friends to see. A few people including my mom have since asked how they could see it or share it with people who weren’t my friends on facebook. So today I posted it on my YouTube channel and put it here in my blog.
I have written a lot of ‘love-gone-wrong’ songs over the years which is usually what I perform. Like the blues, they are always fun to listen to and play, and everyone seems to be in the mood for that kind of song, no matter where they are in life — if your relationship’s good or bad, you always like hearing the blues. Also, ‘love-gone-wrong’ songs are easier to perform as they don’t require me to open up my heart or show any vulnerability.
However, I have written some really cool love songs that I really like and feel are fantastic and moving. My favorites grow on me and get stuck in my head, yet I never play them in front of people because they seem too personal.
I admire my favorite songwriters, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Glen Hansard for their ability to write such great love songs. I am amazed at their ability to be honest in their writing and for their willingness to be vulnerable and open to playing them and sharing them with the public. It’s hard to play such deep and heartfelt songs in front of an audience knowing that many people will not even understand or appreciate them at all. It’s one thing to hide behind someone else’s song, but it’s another to play your own.
So (1) based on the inspiration of my favorite songwriters, and (2) feeling that I always need to push myself into new and uncomfortable territory in life, and (3) because girls said they wanted to hear a love song and appreciated seeing more of that side of me, and (4) realizing that this was the last time I would see some of good friends from my ward for some time, ………I played a love song!
It’s a song I wrote while missing someone. I was out of town on work, thinking of someone too much, and wrote this on the plane ride home looking out the window. I have for years had my seat preferences set up with Delta so that I always get the window seat. I love looking out at the world and taking that time to just think and ponder, and on this occasion with my head full of thoughts, I landed with a new and cool song.
(This photo was taken by Sister Sansom, the wife of my bishop. I appreciate her taking this as I never really ever get photos of myself, especially playing the guitar! Thank you, Sister Sansom!)
Well take a listen and tell me what you think. And let me know if you think I should put more posts up like this too. I was a musician before I was a photographer, and though photography is my life and business, I will always be an artist and music is a big part of that. The music side of me really helps the photography side. So on that ‘note,’ I’m off. Thanks for listening!
My friend Abby, of ClassicInterface hired me to photograph some of her interiors and create a website for her. She is an Architectural and Interior Designer. Here she is on site at one of the photo shoots.
Abby from Classic Interface
This particular job of hers was a $300,000 remodel and she needed some fantastic images to show it off, and she called me knowing that lighting was my specialty.
Everything about this home was changed and improved and I think the end result is fantastic. I love how these colors and textures all work together, and the furniture is so cool.
Interiors are very difficult to photograph, in fact they are some of the most difficult and time consuming things to photograph. Most people would think so, but the fact is that all the angles, lines, and perspectives all have to be taken into consideration and mixed in such a way to create something that’s both attractive and interesting, while also drawing attention to what the designer wants to showcase, and this usually has to be done in tight quarters and spaces while making the place look spacious.
Exposures are also incredibly difficult for interiors, as there is a huge disparity between shadows and highlights that our eyes just automatically adjust for. Many tricks and techniques need to be used to light and compensate, and in the end create an image that looks true to the eye and natural.
Abby also had me completely recreate and design a website for her from scratch. She directed, giving me the look and ideas that she wanted, and I created and coded it all from there. I integrated various flash players to keep the content in the window frame. She didn’t want people to have to scroll down. I love the design! It is so beautiful, clean, and consistant. Check it out and see what you think. (ClassicInterface.com) Note that it has a mixture of images I did for her as well as images she’s gotten from past photographers from past jobs.
Here’s a shot of one of the integrated flash players. With this particular home, you can click on the thumbnails to view the home before and after, both inside and out. The results are stunning and the end result is completely unrecognizable when compared to the before shots.If you need some Architectural or Interior Design work, check out Abby’s site.
And if you need some commercial photographs for your business, whether they be interiors, profiles, or even close-ups of your products that you can use on your website or brochures, then give me a call at 801-728-3317. Lighting is my specialty, and I will make your products and business look like a million bucks!
Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com(or my other blog entries if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader like facebook, BryCox.com/blog).