Family

Janet’s Vacation Family Portraits at Texas Lake House, Part 1

It’s family portrait season, and I wanted to share this beautiful and extensive family shoot. I was flown to Texas to photograph this wonderful family while they would all be together on vacation at a gorgeous lake house. I’ve done a lot of work for this family over the years, and I loved seeing them all again to create these wonderful art pieces.

Here’s a video showing their wall canvas and family album. It’s best viewed full screen and in HD. 🙂

Here’s a shot of Janet’s gorgeous album, black leather with a black leather briefcase to hold, carry, and protect the album.

Kids seem to grow the fastest between family portraits, and these kids were no different. All of the children had changed, and were so adorable and fun to work with. This image below was our favorite big group where everyone looked their best.

This Texas lake made for a wonderful backdrop.

And as you can see in the video, I spent time photographing each family, creating various groupings and ideas and even made some into paintings. Here are some of those.

After each family, I focused on couple and individual children’s portraits too, getting great expressions and capturing personality in each child.

When I was done with one family, they’d go off to play and enjoy their vacation, and I’d begin again with another family.

This beautiful little girl was getting baptized, so we created these images in her white dress to commemorate this time in her young life. I really love these images and her beautiful expressions and poses in them.

And finally, I created this trio of her funning to capture her youthfulness.

I’ll share more from this extensive shoot soon. But in the meantime, if you’d like some family portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s talk about your dream portrait and get something scheduled before the weather gets cold.

And until next time, America.

Cox Fall Portrait Event – Special Salt Lake & Ogden Canyon Dates

Fall is here and the leaves come and go so quickly. This year I’m doing some special dates for families in two different canyons, Salt Lake and Ogden areas. And because I’ll be shooting in the same area each day, the location fee will be drastically reduced. Plus get free Christmas cards with your wall portrait purchase too.

It’s a great time to get a wonderful location shoot in the Utah leaves. We can photograph just your kids, your family, a little of both, or even block out time for your larger extended family where I can also shoot smaller individual families too.

I make family portraits painless. I work quickly, get your kids to smile and look wonderful, and we’ll get lots of variety too so you’ll have great images to pick from.

  • Salt Lake canyon on Saturday October, 14th.
  • Ogden area canyon on Friday October 20th.

Limited time slots at each location. Call me at 801-728-3317 to schedule the best time for you.

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I specialize in emotionally powerful wall art, the best heirloom canvas portraits, paintings, and other gorgeous pieces that change the feeling in your home.

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Let’s photograph your family or kids in the beautiful Utah fall leaves, and make up some custom wall art for your home for the holidays. Call me at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Amanda & Brant’s Family Portraits

Amanda and Brant brought their beautiful baby boy to the studio for some family portraits. I love photographing children. I love playing with them, making a connection, and getting genuine smiles and laughs for their photographs.

This adorable boy woke up on picture day sick so he wasn’t his normal happy self. The family thought about postponing their shoot, but I convinced them to come anyway. Picture day always seems to be hard. Things come up, but no matter the problem, I can almost always overcome them in the shoot and get great results. Plus I know that I’m great with kids. No matter how they’re feeling, I can get them to smile and laugh long enough for great photographs.

And sure enough, when this little boy arrived, he was immediately happy. He laughed and smiled at my antics and the shoot went beautifully. In fact he smiled and laughed so much, we all couldn’t help but laugh with him. I really love this shoot.

These were all created outdoors right here in my studio gardens. I’ve designed the grounds to have layers of green, so that I’ve got lots of angles for outdoor portraits. So as another family option, I created this painting from one of the walking images. 

Here is a close up from that same painting to show more detail.

And of course we needed to get some individual portraits of this cute boy. This first one shows some size perspective so that later in life he can see how little he and his hands are in comparison to his parents.

And these are him hanging out, playing, and sitting outdoors, all with a huge, genuine smile.

These three images worked really well as a set, so we did this trio. It’s designed and framed, ready to hang on the wall.

Summer is almost over. It’s a great time to get in for some family portraits along with some of the kids. And if you don’t want to travel to distant locations, right here I can do inside or outdoors in the studio garden. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Wilford Passes Away at Age 102

This week I attended the funeral of a neighbor, dear family friend, and client who passed away at age 102. A couple years ago I created his official centenarian portrait at age 100. I shared some of those images and the stories on my blog, here. They are some of my favorite photographs because of the stories they tell about this wonderful and perfect man.

Years ago, my town was mostly farmers. And because LDS/Mormon leaders are not paid for church service, many of these farmers would regularly have to briefly leave meetings to change their irrigation or do some quick work before coming back to the chapel to teach their assigned lesson. Seeing Wilford with his pitch fork, standing on his farm in dress clothes reminds me of those young memories and of the worth ethic he instilled on his family and many of us youth growing up.

He was a perfect man, kind, giving, and incredibly generous. A small symbol of his character is in these wooden pens that he made with wood brought to him by friends who traveled the world. And he made these pens with a lathe that he made and kept in his barn. I think about him building his own lathe, and I am inspired. There is a solid sense of contentment in this earlier generation that is lacking today. It was the sense that you earn the things by saving for them over time, then you made them last, and continued to fix them. And if you couldn’t afford something or couldn’t make it yourself, you did without. I am honored to have been given one of his wooden pens, and I wore it in my suit pocket to his viewing.

And a few years earlier, I photographed him with his dear wife for their 70th anniversary. They’re now reunited together again in heaven. 

I will miss Wilford. The world needs more good men like him. I hope his character, ethics, and love of God continue to be passed on through the generations of his growing family. Here’s a link to his obituary.

The Unique and Amazing Individual, James Christensen

A good friend, James Christensen, has passed.  I extend heartfelt condolences to his wife and family and thank them for the great times my friends and I have had with them at their home. We’ll alll miss James dearly.

He was a great man to look up to, and I identified with him particularly because he was deeply religious while also keeping a young, humorous, slightly rebellious streak. He gave so much of himself and his time and talent to the LDS Church in a variety of callings, and the enormous murals that he painted in temples will forever inspire, as does all of his art.

His love of symbolism in scripture and art, and his ability to see what others might miss, and to add these details to his own pieces provide an almost magical insight. He hosted various barbecues and kung-fu film nights — he had the ability to connect with all of our friends despite age differences.

And as you can see in this portrait below, he raised a wonderful family that I’m honored to have photographed for Sari’s wedding.

And my friends and clients will remember the many Christmas CDs that we produced over the years bearing his artwork. These were a joint project. James Conlee produced them, James Christensen provided the cover art, while I handled the graphic design and printing.

I would sometimes have to adapt his painting to a square design or to allow text to flow over top. That meant digitally changing his art, sometimes extending things or cropping areas, all of which I was always very cautious about doing. But when it was needed, I made sure every change was true to the original feel of his painting so it’d be un-dectable. And then I waited for his opinion. He was always very kind and would say, “Well done, Bry. I like how you did this, and how you did that.”

Here’s a few covers from over the years.


The most dramatic change was with this painting below where I removed everyone but the one angel in the middle, and then recreated stars and sky in their place. All these alterations were discussed beforehand. He was great about them. Here’s his original painting.

And here was the final CD cover. I feel lucky and blessed to have known him, to have his artwork on my walls, and my heart goes out to his family and loved ones. I can’t imagine the loss they feel. But I also have no doubt that he was welcomed with open arms into the highest levels of the next life.

For anyone looking for more info, here are a few links. First, his Official site at Greenwichworkshop.com. Next a video produced by Deseret Book. Despite the awful production value of this video, it is really nice to hear him talk again, and to remember how he discussed his work, to see his thought processes, and to hear the familiar cadence of his voice.

And finally, a news article about his passing.

Free Christmas Cards & Fun Ornaments and Gifts

It’s time to order Christmas cards, and for the next while any wall portrait includes free Christmas cards. Get any wall size (like a 16×20 or larger) and get 25 free custom cards designed using a photo from your shoot.

Photography I believe is one of the absolute best gift ideas. A photo of a loved one is cherished for years, and I have some fun ornaments and gift ideas that you’ll love. You may want to get some of these for yourself as well as for loved ones, like these fun Christmas ornaments.

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These first type of ornaments are printed on metal and are great for children or family portraits. They are $45, or free with qualifying portrait orders.

My second type of ornaments are small boutique framed images, ready to hang with a brown twine loop. These are great for your tree but also are good all year round, hanging on a wall. These are $69, or free with qualifying portrait orders.

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Call me at 801-728-3317 and I’ll get your order going. We can use images from past shoots or current shoots, and I can also ship orders directly to you too.

 

Last Call for Fall Portraits at BryCox.com

The leaves here at my studio gardens are almost gone. None of us like to think of Christmas too early, but if you’d like some outdoor fall portraits for Christmas cards and gifts, this is the last time to get them created.

I know just how to make you and your children look great. And I believe in short shoots that don’t tire everyone out, where we get even more variety and choices. And the fall leaves make for great family portraits as well as exclusive line of abstract paintings on canvas.

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If you’d like to bring your family or kids in for some fall leaf portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Custom Family Painted Portraits and Family Groups for Janet

Spring is officially here and it’s time for family portraits. But sometimes people want something different, unique, something that they can feature in their home as an art piece and be proud of. For those clients, I offer custom painted portraits, painted from the family groups I create during your session.

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I have photographed Janet’s extended family before, but this time they wanted something different. So while they were on vacation in Utah, I drove up the mountains and met up with them and photographed each family in some tall grass near their vacation property. I shot a variety of options with the families looking at the camera, and some of them interacting with each other that I could use to create paintings. Here are some of those finished paintings. They look amazing up close when they’re finished on canvas.

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And here are some of the other groupings, starting with the biggest extended family group, and then each family separately. I love the diversity of location options in Utah. With a little bit of scouting and some custom lighting, I was able to make this location work right outside their vacation home. By me coming to them, I was able to integrate a location into their images that meant something to them, plus it saved them vacation time so that they could quickly get back to their time together.
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And of course I love to focus in on children and do just some individuals. Rather than show every child’s individual portrait, here are some from just one family. BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_008 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_009 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_010 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_011

And for every single shoot I do – whether it’s in my studio, outside in my Utah studio gardens, or off on location as this shoot was – I really hope that my clients see the quality and value that I offer. I work to mix into every single image a combination of emotional impact and fantastic lighting. I want both, real expressions that draw you in mixed with all the technical details nailed.

I know it’s time for YOUR updated family portrait. Give me a call and let’s get it scheduled. 801-728-3317

And until next time, America.

He Is Risen, Sun over Death Valley in Color Infrared for Easter 2016

Being Easter, I wanted to post something and it hit me today what to share. I have been working on this image and many others as part of a big commercial project I did in Death Valley. This image was shot in color infrared, a light spectrum invisible to the human eye. The bright colors are real, they are just not the colors or type of light we see.

So aside from the candy Easter colors, I like this for Easter because the sun is dramatically shining over Death Valley from the horizon as if rising. It says symbolically, “The Son brings light and life to Death.”

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And for a little more Easter spirit, I want to share a video with my little 4-year old nephew narrating it. He was an early reader and last year when my family showed him an Easter video he started reading the captions. My sister and brother-in-law stopped and recorded him and combined his voice with a new version of the video. They did it again this year, and this is it.

And here is last year’s video. More backstory on this in last year’s post.

Plus, here are some photos I did of him in my Utah studio to go with his cute voice.

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Happy Easter, everyone. And until next time, America.

Janae’s Studio Family Portraits

It was a rare opportunity to get all of Janae’s family in town together. So during this short window when everyone was in Utah, they came in for some new studio family portraits. And one of my personal favorite parts of creating family portraits is to connect with the children. I am not satisfied with kids just looking my direction or into the camera, and I don’t want cheesy, fake, or rehearsed smiles. I want them to really shine. I want a family grouping that is well composed, beautifully lit, where everyone (including the tiny kids) all look real and amazing. And I am really glad with how this turned out.

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And with all family portrait sessions, I also like to photograph individual families. These final options were printed as 4 large squares and custom framed to match so that they could all hang together on Janae’s wall as a beautiful series. Notice how great everyone looks, especially the children.

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And this last image is just a fun grouping of the original family. Portraits like this are great to show love and togetherness even though we all change.BryCox_StudioFamily_Janae_6

March is a great time to get in for some family portraits, and I have a promo going right now. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s discuss creating something new for you.

And until next time, America.

Rest In Peace, Trish

My friend Trish recently passed away of cancer and today is her funeral. As a tribute, I thought I’d post a few pictures that I did of her over the years. She was always a good friend, and years ago before she was married I would go boating with her and my friend Chad. They both taught me to wakeboard and boat surf. Some time later in 2008, she got engaged and I photographed her wedding. For a few years after that I also photographed her family for her Christmas cards.

Here are some of my favorite images that I shot of her over the years, starting with her engagement portraits.

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Some of her wedding images…

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And some of her family portraits for her Christmas cards, in her home. The portrait on her mantle is one of her wedding images.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Here is a link to her obituary for those interested. I’m grateful to have known her, to have so many fond memories of her, and to have been able to create these photographs of her that I hope are kept and cherished by her loved ones for years to come.  I wish her family and loved ones my deepest condolences.

 

Shirley’s Portrait of Her Growing Family

Family portraits are incredibly fulfilling for me to create. A well-made family wall portrait brings joy to people for years if not decades. And Shirley’s family had grown quite a bit since I’d last photographed them. It was neat to see everyone, to hear about their lives as I photographed them, and I always find it especially fun to get little children to not just relax, but to smile and laugh for a portrait.

We had talked earlier about doing a large canvas panorama of her family above her couch, and this is the final image.

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It’s a little hard to see all the great faces online, so I made this 15 second video to show the big group.

Because Shirley and her husband were leaving on a religious mission for a while out of the country, the large canvas pano would have been hard to take with them. So I used the individual family groups to create this square wall collage.

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And here are some of the individual families. They were each shot individually for the panorama so that they could each get their own portrait, but it also made it easier on the family’s time constraints, as well as making the most of my custom style of lighting. I have a lot of space and options here in my Utah studio, but even a family this large makes for a very tight fit if I were to try and shoot everyone at once all in the studio. But shooting each family separately, we were able to create something much more unique and artistically pleasing, plus it helped the family because there were some members that couldn’t be there all at the same time. Everyone was coming and going throughout the shoot, and we never had everyone in the studio all at the same time. And it all worked perfectly.

As you view these families, notice how comfortably everyone is grouped together in each portrait, and how great each kid looks.
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Family portraits are one of the most important images we can create. I believe strongly in a great family portrait, and now is a great time to get your family in the studio for a portrait.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317, and until next time, America.