Video Projects

I Love Portraits Because I Love People

The magic of a photograph is unlike anything else. 

I specialize in portraits of people. I love people – I love children. Each child is beautiful and unique, and I love that I’ve been trusted with capturing who each child truly is. 

The most important thing in life are family and relationships. We’re all terribly busy and we have problems and issues. But getting together for a moment, to create a family portrait is important. Loved ones pass away, or go off to far away places. There really is no better time than right now. 

I connect well with children, because they see me as a big kid. They know I care about them and understand them. I know just how to get them to relax, smile, and look beautiful in a portrait. 

I am one of the most credentialed and award winning photographers around, so besides getting great expressions, your portraits will be beautifully lit and composed, and gorgeously printed and framed. 

But more than anything, you’ll be able to look at this portrait throughout your life and see and remember the togetherness and relationships of your family and loved ones. 

That’s what I do – I do it with light, with emotion, and with quality all the way through. 

If you’d like to see more of my portrait work, check out my main website at BryCox.com. And give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your next portrait of either you, a loved one, or your family.

Cool Video Promo for My Dad, JD Cox Music

I love how this video for my dad turned out. He’s a life-long musician and gigs regularly around Utah playing the saxophones, mainly the soprano, alto, and tenor. I do his website for him, and we wanted something for the site that showed who he is.

So I went and filmed him performing at an all-ages dance, then had him come in and talk about it in the studio. I cut that all together, and here’s the result. See what you think.

I think it’s a great promo video and shows his talent and personality. His website is JDCoxMusic.com, so if you’d like a live saxophone for your wedding or upcoming party, give him a call.

And if you need a great video for your website, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you and your business.

And until next time, America.

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

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.

Gorgeous Drone Video & Photos of the Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah

I’ve got so many great photos and shoots to share here on my blog. I photograph people of course, focusing on custom portraits that capture emotion and are extremely well lit. But sometimes I also like to photograph abstract shapes and the natural beauty of the world.

I live near the edge of the Great Salt Lake which gives me a variety of beautiful terrain in all directions. My studio location is in a forest of tall green trees, but a few miles away I’ve got salt flats, open desert space, waterfowl and wetland areas, and large open fields and marsh areas too. Twenty minutes away to the east and I’ve got tall mountains and rugged canyons. Heading south there’s all the gorgeous red rock often used in movie locations. And heading north (as we did with friends here) we can explore the north end of the lake, which is a mix of alkaline flats and shallow shores of the Great Salt Lake.

So at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, a small group of friends of mine all went out to the Spiral Jetty. Some wanted to float in the extra high salinity of the northern end where the water is so dense, you can’t sink. Others wanted a fun excuse to enjoy the desert and great weather. I personally loved the idea of getting away from civilization, enjoying the beautiful air and open country, and I really wanted to fly over the area with my drone to photograph the colors and shapes from above.

Play this video above in full screen and in HD to see the gorgeous clarity. I especially love the moving water ripples, and the moving cloud shadows over top of all the wonderful and abstract shapes and colors. I also like the mix of very high shots (300-400 feet up) with video from very low, flying right over the water and photographing the reflections of the sky and clouds. And the music really makes this work, thanks to MusicByElise.com.

And here are some of my favorite photographs. If you look closely in this first one, you can see me standing at the very top of the spiral. I’ve got a colored landing pad (to protect the drone’s tiny parts from flying dust). You can see that pad as a small speck of color in the otherwise blue/gray dirt and rocks.

Here’s a photograph of some of my friends, out wading in the water. All of the alkaline and salt deposits create beautiful and abstract shapes that are best seen from above. I especially love the blue shapes in the bottom left corner juxtaposed with the warm colors, with a hint of blue sun reflecting in the top right corner.

More abstract colors and shapes.

Here is flying really low over the water. I love seeing the mix of mud and reflections in the water, along with the mountains in the distance.

Here are a couple long shots showing the distant mountain ranges that surround the Great Salt Lake, along with the mix of sand, water, and colors.

And closing the shoot with a drone-selfie before packing up our gear and heading to a favorite steak restaurant in the area.

It was a great day with friends to enjoy the open space of Utah in the warm spring weather.

If you need some drone photography or video for your business, give me a call, 801-728-3317. There are some legal requirements for shooting drone photos and video commercially, which people may not understand. However my dad is a long-time private pilot with the FAA, so with him on site for the shoot, we are good to go and can get some fantastic footage for you. Unique and artistic perspectives are always needed to stand out. And my artistic background in lighting and composition, mixed with the unique perspectives of a commercially flown drone means I can give you that and more.

And until next time, America.

Wildhorn Outfitters Video Shoot for Beach Tent

On a recent cold day here in Utah before the snow hit, we needed to shoot an outdoor video commercial for a new beach tent for Wildhorn Outfitters. It’s a very cool tent with built-in poles that pops up in seconds. It’s great for car-camping or a as a cabana for a day at the beach.

I scouted locations near me and found a great beach with the right look, and talked my good friend Tara into being our model and spokesperson for the video. We really needed someone great to carry the video and she killed it as I knew she would. Her personality shines through and it makes the commercial very entertaining. She’s always been easy and beautiful to photograph, plus she’s a die-hard outdoor enthusiast with instant cred – exactly what we needed for this commercial.

So with some custom lighting, sound, and color work, plus a great location, spokesperson, and a very cool tent to showcase, we have a very sharp and professional video that’s fun to watch. See what you think.

And for social media, here’s a quick cut as a 37 sec overview.

You may not know this, but I do quite a bit of commercial work. My lighting skills set me a part in my portrait work, but perfect lighting is also key to creating great product photographs. Here’s some of the work I did for this tent both in studio and on location.

First, the carry bag and all the pieces that come with the tent.

And here are some angles showing the tent set up with the screen and canopy up. One of the things that makes this tent unique is the canopy and shade options. If you’re a customer shopping for a tent online, you really need to see his visually.

As you saw from the video, this top mechanism pops the pole tension into place. You just stand the tent up and pop this. 

Here’s the tent at the beach, again all custom lighting to make everything pop. Even the sky has a great deep blue to it.

They also make a number of products like this really cool camp chairs. I got me one because they’ve very comfortable and pack a lot smaller than any other chair I’ve seen.

And Wildhorn has these cool fat feet that don’t sink into the sand or dirt when you sit in the chair. 

And here is one more example from the beach shoot, a shot of their beach blankets all packed up, and in various colors. 

If you’re looking for a cool Christmas gift, check out the gear that Wildhorn Outfitters has available (also on Amazon).

And if you’re needing some great video or commercial photography for your business, give me a call. There’s a lot I can do right here in the studio while it’s cold outside, plus I can make a lot of locations work beautifully right now too. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

More New 60 Second Videos About Wedding Photography

Good photography is probably the most personal thing you can buy. There’s more to getting a great portrait of you than my technical skills and experience in making people look great. That’s important, but there’s another level entirely – one about our personality and connection together, where you feel enough trust and confidence to give up your fake smile, to trust me, let your guard down, and allow yourself to truly be photographed.

And that means that you and I need to connect and gel. Picking a photographer means getting to know me, seeing how I work, and understanding why my entire approach in completely different.

But we also live in a new microwave world. For over 20 years as a full-time photographer, people have wanted to come in and meet me in person. Now people just shop on their phones comparing me to their new photographer neighbor, and they wonder why prices, options, and products are different.

So to help those people, I’ve been making some little short 1-minute videos on why I’m different. Check these out and let me know what you think. And is there a video you’d like to see? I’m in the process of making more, so if you’re a past client and love something in particular that I haven’t talked about, or if you’re just new and want to know something that I haven’t covered, let me know. Here’s a link to my contact info. And of course, if you’d just like some great photography, give me a call, 801-728-3317.

Well let me know your thoughts on these videos. And if your’e getting married or need some fantastic image, give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

New 60 Second Videos About Wedding Photography

I’ve been working on some very short, 60 second videos about wedding photography. Not too long ago, when someone was looking for a photographer for the big moments in their life, they would visit in person with a few photographers. I liked that and still prefer it.

However, now people like to just shop on their phones. I get. I do the same. But photography is completely different than anything else. It’s so custom, so personal, and it’s the only thing we keep from a wedding to enjoy our whole lives and pass on to our children. Great photography become family heirlooms. People fight over it when we’re dead, and we see people on the news running into burning homes to save their family portraits.

What I create for people is so different and unique, just looking at photos on a website does not do it justice. So I’ve been working on some little videos so that prospective brides can quickly and easily see my images, get to know me, my personality, and also understand what makes my approach completely different.

Here are a few of these new videos. More are in production. See what you think and let me know.

Is there a video you’d like to see? Since most of my clients are women, if you’re a woman and looking for photography, what would you like to see? Post below or send me a personal email.
Okay, and until next time, America.