Charity Santa Photos for Refugee Kids

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Yesterday, I spent the day setting up and photographing a solid line of refugee kids with Santa. I was asked by my friend Marley who’s involved with a charity called Care Cuts. My good friend and fellow photographer, Cory Waite came to help me, and over the course of a few hours, Cory and I photographed a ton of kids and families.

Here’s a quick light test of the gear and setup before photographing all the kids – Marley, Cory, and me with Santa.

A lot of kids were photographed as families or groups, like this. I especially liked this little boy and his bowtie.

This was a great Santa. He was a lot of fun and did a great job. At one point when we took a break and Santa got up, I quickly sat in his chair with my remote. We got a couple funny shots when he came back to sit next to me.

The charity is called Care Cuts because they give free haircuts at specific pop-up events like these. So besides these Santa photos, people could also get free haircuts. The place was packed all day.

Here are some of the main people from the Charity.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. And until next time, America.

Elle, Miss Draper 2020

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure of creating the official portraits of Elle, Miss Draper 2020. She’s an accomplished young woman and was a joy to photograph. Her personality was sweet and gracious, and she’s an absolute beauty. We had so many beautiful images, it was hard to choose favorites.

As we began the shoot, I realized that I had photographed her many years ago as a cute little 8 year old girl here in the studio.

And she just happened to be wearing a white dress again, so I used my same white chair with her on our new photo shoot to continue the theme from when she was 8.

I love seeing these images back to back. It’s rewarding to create images like this for people, to capture particular times in their lives, and see the changes in them over time. As you can see, Elle was a natural in front of the camera. She was poised and very photogenic.

After getting a variety of beautiful images the we could use as official portraits, it was time to have some fun. I changed up the lighting and shot a series of personality images up close. I loved them all and created a gorgeous collage of the images.

 

It was an honor to create these images for Draper City and the Miss Draper girls. They just ended their terms, and passed the crowns down to the new Draper royalty. Soon we’ll be creating some official portraits of these new winners too.

Here’s 4 Miss Drapers: Mandi Brady, director of the Miss Draper pageant, Miss Draper 2020 and the new 2021 winner, and Mandi’s mom. Mandi’s mom has worked and helped Mandi quite a bit too.

If you’d like some beautiful portraits created, it’s a great time. We can beat the unusual summer heat outside by creating images in the studio (like Elle’s portraits), or we can do some outdoors right here in the studio gardens, or we can do a bit of both.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up.

And until next time, America.

Images from Lighting & Creativity Workshop in Texas (Part 1 Texas School 2021 Follow Up)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I just got back from teaching at my big one-week hands on lighting event, Texas School. It’s where photographers can sign up to spend an entire week with one instructor and learn hands on with equipment and models. It’s a mix of both classroom instruction and actual shooting.

I demo various techniques in order to give challenges for photographers to each try. I like starting in a studio, then adding lights and complexity, then moving out on location with lighting gear to tackle common lighting problems.

One of my wranglers, Bob Ray, shot video and behind the scenes footage of me and created this cool video.

One of the key things I like to emphasize is doing as much in camera and with lighting as possible. That way the images look as if they’re already retouched before editing them. Knowing how to light a woman really well saves time in post production. That time can better be spent doing detailed and fine retouching on the key portraits, or even painting over the image as this image shows below.

During this event, I only shoot each model for a few moments in order to demo ideas and get some good sample images for the models. The rest of the time is for the photographers in attendance to shoot. But here’s some of my favorites that I created in these short moments.

If you’d like some fun and beautiful new portraits in studio or out on location, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Spring is here and it’s perfect outside to create something magical of you.

And if you’re a photographer and would like more training, check out my live events as well as online courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Bry Cox Featured on BlackRapid Podcast

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I was recently featured on the BlackRapid podcast. The episode is going live today but was recorded November 2020 during the Covid lockdowns.

In this episode I talk with Ron Henry (BlackRapid’s founder) about creativity, style, adding emotion to images, commercial photography, lighting, adapting during Covid, and motorcycles of course.

You can listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast players on your phone, or you can listen right here on the BlackRapid Podcast page:

https://www.blackrapidmedia.com/2021/03/23/009-bry-cox-commercial-portrait-photographer-blackrapid-podcast

Recording the BlackRapid Podcast

During Covid, one of the things I’ve been doing on the side is doing work for BlackRapid, including recording, engineering, and editing the BlackRapid Podcast. It’s been fun listening to Ron Henry interview great photographers and artists.

Some of these guests photograph Hollywood TV shows and movies (like Hopper Stone, Koury Angelo), others photograph iconic and famous bands (like Henry Diltz, Robert Knight, and Mark Doyle), and others are musicians and creatives (like Billy McCarthy).

I’m usually silent in the background, but occasionally you’ll hear me answer a question. But near the end on Mike Ridinger’s interview, I come in and we all talk about motorcycles and photography.

If you’re a creative, I highly recommend checking out this podcast to listen to some incredible artists.

Other Podcasts with Bry Cox

Over the years, I’ve been the guest on other photography and religious podcasts. I’ve made a page that links to all of them here if you’d like to hear more.

Until next time, America.

Alex’s High School Senior Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Warm weather is back again in Utah, and that means it’s time for high school senior portraits. Last year, even during the pandemic, I was photographing high school seniors. I think it’s especially important to capture these memories when schools are cancelling events, or cutting the year short. Lots of seniors didn’t get their prom dance, or graduation, or any of the other things they had looked forward to.

And though 2021 is looking much better than last year, hopefully fewer plans are cancelled. Nevertheless, it’s especially important to show high school seniors some extra love and attention. You’re only a senior once, and then life starts to change dramatically after kids graduate and go off to college or do other things in life. It’s important to capture this important time in life.

So last year I had a great time creating these images for Alex. When I photograph seniors, I like to create an over-the-top art piece to highlight who they are. I use my expertise in creating commercial ads for magazines to create something awesome for the senior.

It starts off with the question, “Who is your senior? And what does he/she love to do?” For Alex, he’s a daredevil and loves skydiving.

I created this piece for Alex by photographing him in the studio and then creating this composite for both a wall art piece and also his senior portrait album. I put him in one of my graduation robes, gave him some of my motorcycle goggles, and then posed him with a fan blowing his tassel and gown. The rest I created later as a digital composite. I really love how this turned out.

Of course with every senior portrait session, I create a variety of images that capture the senior’s personality in the studio, using a mix of backgrounds and changes of outfits. These are great for an album design and smaller prints.

These double-page spreads are just some of the layouts from Alex’s senior album. The facing pages are designed using images that work together and tell a story about the senior. I like mixing color and black & white, headshots with mid-lengths, casual clothes with dressy.

And Alex had a hat that he loves to wear, so we made sure we got it in a variety of his portraits.

Finishing up the session, we did some dressy images in a suit along with a graduation gown.

The various pieces Alex and his family ordered looked beautiful and it was great to create and deliver them to his family.

If you’re a senior, now is the time to get your portrait session booked. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk more about what makes you YOU! And let’s capture that in some beautiful portraits you’ll love for a lifetime.

And until next time, America.

Heather’s Studio Family Portrait

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

For Christmas last year, I delivered this gorgeous family portrait to Heather and her family. Before delivery, I made this video showing the various finished pieces.

I love creating family portraits for clients, and I think delivering and hanging these finished art pieces in their homes is my favorite part of the process. I love seeing everything come together and the client’s expressions and happiness with their new art pieces on the wall.

Studio family portraits work really well if you want a clean and contemporary look, and it’s an especially nice option during cold or bad weather. A warm studio full of custom lighting gear means a worry free environment for clients, regardless of the rain or snow outside. With a large changing room, bathroom, and big mirrors, you can fix hair, and even change outfits for different looks and options. The studio makes everything easy, especially if you have little kids.

This family portrait was extra special. Heather has five children of various ages and sizes. The older kids get, the harder it is to get everyone together. We wanted to take advantage of the time together and create something beautiful for her wall.

With some color and clothes consultations over the phone, Heather found some beautiful outfits for everyone that showed both variety, but also worked together artistically and cohesively. The resulting portrait is absolutely beautiful.

Our favorite for the fireplace mantle was this image above with everyone standing. It has a long and tall feel that matches the space where it’ll hang, but it also shows all the kids and their individual heights and sizes at this point in life.

The closer image below was chosen as a smaller portrait to go elsewhere in the home. I love the triangle design and the lovingness of all the kids, leaning in together.

We also did some various groupings as well, like these of Heather and her boys and girls alone as close ups, as well as the girls and boys alone standing.

These kids were so adorable and great in front of the camera. I love creating individual portraits of kids. These can be displayed together as sets in a wall collage, and then later each portrait can move into each child’s room.

We finished up the session with this gorgeous image of Heather.

If you’re looking to update your family portraits, give me call. It’s a great time for studio portraits and I make the entire process easy. My number is 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Motorcycle Tour of Utah (Part 2)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

During the summer, I helped lead a motorcycle trip through Utah for BlackRapid. I posted a while back about our first day (Part 1), and wanted to share more of the images created along the way.

Continuing from where I left off in Moab, the next morning we took some long day rides around the area. First we drove down the windy Colorado River, stopping along the way to photograph various rock formations. I love this group portrait with the red rocks behind us.

Sometimes along the curvy roads, I’d grab some photographs with my free hand. I love the terrain of Utah, and the ride was amazing. The mix of deep blue skies from the 100º degree weather, mountainous terrain, and windy roads made for some unforgettable moments.

We stopped at the Sorrel River Ranch to rest and get some drinks in the shade. Frank Masi got this image of me in the parking lot there.

I saw Frank walking around and creating images, and at one point he was perfectly framed in this window overlooking the Colorado River.

After some time relaxing in the shade, we went back into the sun to make the ride up to Dead Horse Point.

There’s some amazing curves and turns on the ride to Dead Horse.

At the Dead Horse overlook, we setup our bikes for various photographs. Here’s Ron Henry and Frank Masi.

This wide panorama of the overlook does not do the area justice. The image is amazing up close, but the scene is overwhelming in person. It’s awesome to look over and see how big, vast, and inspiring this area is.

Frank stood up on his bike to get an even higher view of the overlook.

With my small packable tripod, I was able to get this group portrait of all of us at the overlook.

Here’s Mike Ridinger and his son, Cade with their bike at the overlook.

I got this image of Angel’s bike and I’m glad I did. This beautiful bike was later stolen from his home in Arizona.

Here’s my blue bike in the same location both alone and one with me on it.

Exploring more through the Dead Horse area, we checked out some other overlooks.

I almost died on this cliff. 😉

After a long day of riding, we headed back to Moab for some dinner and air conditioning.

I have much more to share, and will continue later in Part 3. In the meantime, if you’d like to see any of the iPhone images created along the tour on Instagram, just search the hashtag #BlackRapidMoto2020

And until next time, America.

Anna’s Winter Outdoor Family Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It’s winter here in Utah, and that means it’s cold and the trees are bare. My clients needed a new and updated portrait and wanted it outdoors. Showing bare trees in the background would have been the wrong look, so we used a location right here near my studio. It has lots of wide open space, and mixed with my studio lighting on location, everything turned out perfectly.

Here’s a video showing the finished and framed images before delivery.

With families, I like creating and offering a few variations. One particular image may move you the most, and that’s the best one for the wall art. Other groupings can always be ordered smaller for other parts of the home. This fist image was the favorite as the larger image for the wall, while the second was ordered for a smaller spot in the home.

When the kids and everyone smile and look great in every image, it’s often hard to choose a favorite. The colors, textures, spacing, depth, and overall feel of this first image made it stand out as the overall favorite.

With every family portrait, I love creating individual portraits as well. These can be finished in a number of ways, depending on need. For this family, we choose similar images of each child to be finished as square standouts. They look gorgeous!

Standouts are shown better in the video above, and can be displayed as sets in either a straight line trio, or in diagonals, or in other configurations. Here’s one idea for the three girls in a trio.

The first is of the youngest girl. She’s so cute and adorable, with the flower in her hair, hands on her knees, and smiling so perfectly.

Second, the middle girl sitting so beautifully. I love the light coming in from behind, lighting up their hair and the beautiful colors all working together.

And the oldest, looking mature and smiling beautifully with her long hair.

Of course we did a stand out of the three girls together too, as well as one of the parents alone.

As you can see, this family has changed a lot over the last few years. I think the parents look about the same, but the kids have really grown. Kids grow so fast, and it’s important and inspiring to have new and update family artwork on the walls.

Years ago, I also created this painted portrait of the girls walking. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown since.

I love delivering finished images to clients and seeing the portraits hanging in their homes.

I know it’s time to update your family portrait. I make it quick and easy, and I’ll help design it so it’s something you absolutely love! Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create something beautiful for you.

And until next time, America.

Governor Herbert’s Christmas Family Portrait

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This month marks the end of Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s position as our Governor. Just before he left office, I had the pleasure of creating one last family portrait for him. We updated his family portrait for Christmas and to mark the momentous occasion of his last few weeks in office.

Governor Herbert has been Utah’s Governor since 2009. Over that time his grandkids have grown quite a bit, plus there’s more new grandkids too.

This particular photograph with all the grandkids on the stairs was specifically important for them to get. For their Christmas card, they wanted to contrast this with an image they had done their first year in office. The card featured the Governor and First Lady on the front, the entire family on the back, and opened to show the difference in grandkids over the years.

With every extended family portrait I create, I love to also create smaller family portraits while we’ve got everyone together and dressed up. With studio lighting on site, these look beautiful and are created quick while everyone’s energy is high.

During this individual family’s portrait, this little girl was full of energy. I have so many images of her jumping, pulling faces, or otherwise just being silly. She certainly kept me laughing.

As you can see, every family and every individual looks beautiful. Expressions are warm and inviting, and the groupings are relaxed but timeless too. Because I don’t have any preset packages, individual families are free to order whatever they’d like.

I especially love photographing families. It’s a challenge to get kids to stand where they should, relax, and give real expressions, and I absolutely love that challenge. I love being silly with the kids and connecting with them in order to create these works of art quickly and (hopefully for the families) painlessly.

If you’d like to get some new and updated family portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.

Baby Ricky’s First Album

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I love photographing little babies, especially over the course of a year as they grow and change so dramatically. I recently finished this beautiful album for Ricky and his family, showcasing him growing from 1 week old to 1 year.

You have to see his entire album, so I shot this video showing every page. You can play this in full screen and HD for more details.

For Ricky, we did shoots at 1 week old, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year old. It’s amazing to see how much he changes in those short periods of time.

For his 1 week old shoot, we produced this wall collage for his home, with images specifically to show the attention to his tiny details: his little hands, feet, toes, and cute little body.

Over time you can see his face and expressions grow. And his big eyes and long eyelashes are so adorable.

Here’s just a few pages from the album. I love this pose with him hanging out with his arms in front.

And this little surprised look was a winner again and again. We kept coming back to it during the order and laughing.

I thought it was great in the album contrasted next to Ricky with a big grin.

Ricky in his red pajamas kept me laughing. He was just fun and adorable, and he kept rolling around having a great time. He was so full of energy and smiles that day.

And near the end of the album at 1 year old, Ricky is standing and giving me all sorts of cute expressions.

These images with their soft, beautiful lighting, clean retouching, and overall just show the expressiveness and joy of being a new baby. These works of art are preserved in this gorgeous album for the family to enjoy for many years to come, as well as becoming an heirloom over time.

I love seeing families grow and love producing these works of art for my clients. And if you’d like some beautiful images of your baby, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something like this for you.

And until next time, America.

Headshots for Dennis Prager, Conservative Talk Show Host & PragerU, Salem Radio LA

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I recently photographed conservative talk show host, Dennis Prager on location at Salem Radio in LA. Dennis Prager is probably best known from his nationally syndicated radio talk-show, The Dennis Prager Show.

Many young people know Dennis Prager from his conservative educational site, PragerU, a resource of short, 5-minute informational videos that explain a myriad of conservative principles. You can search the site by subject or speaker, and see quick videos that explain the concept by experts in the field. And with over 4 billion views, the website has been incredibly successful in shaping young minds.

Prager has also written a number of books that I can’t recommend enough, including Bible commentaries from a Jewish perspective, called “The Rational Bible.” I even had him sign one for me after the shoot.

Like Dennis, most of my clients are successful and extremely busy, and that makes it hard to take time away for a photoshoot. So I make headshots easy, by coming to you and setting up a studio where you work. It means you only have to stop working for a short amount of time. No travel back and forth to my studio. Instead, just step across the hall.

For Dennis Prager’s portraits, I flew to LA and set up my studio at Salem Radio where he broadcasts. I have powerful lighting gear that’s also compact, and I can fly with it wherever is needed. We were able to find an open area at Salem Radio to set up a small studio setup right there on site. In a short amount of time, we had various angles, backgrounds, and options created for him. From there, we picked favorites, and finished those and delivered them back to him in various formats, ready for whatever he needs.

And because he often needs an orange or blue background for PragerU videos and graphic layouts, I created variations with his specific shades of orange and blue, ready to go.

If you’re unfamiliar with Dennis Prager, here’s an example of one of his short videos from PragerU. You may recognize him and his voice in this video because he’s been broadcasting since 1982.

I really enjoyed my time with Dennis Prager. He loves photography and owns great cameras and gear himself. We talked lenses, gear, and even some Biblical Hebrew. He’s very personable and kind, and his smile was full of life every time.

If you need some new business headshots, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’d like to see more commercial portrait samples, check out my commercial portfolio website at BryCoxPro.com.

And until next time, America.

Headshots for Larry Elder, Conservative Talk Show Host, Salem Radio LA

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I recently photographed conservative talk show host, Larry Elder on location at Salem Radio in LA.

Larry Elder is probably best known recently from his nationally syndicated radio talk-show, The Larry Elder Show. You’ll often see him on national news shows debating politics, he’s a best-selling author, and previously he hosted the television show, Moral Court. He also just released a new movie as the executive producer. It’s a political documentary called, Uncle Tom – An Oral History of the American Conservative.

Most of my clients are successful and extremely busy, and that makes it hard to take time away for a photoshoot. So I make headshot shoots easy, by coming to you and setting up a studio where you work. It means you only have to stop working for a short amount of time. No travel back and forth to my studio. Instead, just step across the hall.

For Larry Elder’s portraits, I flew to LA and set up my studio at Salem Radio where he broadcasts. I have powerful lighting gear that’s also compact, and I can fly with it wherever is needed. We were able to find an open area at Salem Radio to set up a small studio setup right there on site. In a short amount of time, we had various angles, backgrounds, and options created for him. From there, we picked favorites, and finished those and delivered them back to him in various formats, ready for whatever he needs.

Larry Elder was incredibly personable and kind, and I think that really shows in these images. We had a great conversation during this shoot and I am honored to have met him and to be able to create these portraits for him. He’s smart, quick-witted, and has a strong and powerful personality. He’s very inspirational, and I love how these images turned out. I hope these work well for his various uses.

Using a commercial white background is always a great option too. It means I can create a clean extraction and replace that white with various colors, tones or backgrounds. Here I replaced the commercial white with this soft, fashion gray. Or logos and design can be added. Having a clean and sharp portrait means it can be used in lots of ways in the future.

I just watched Larry Elder’s new film this week, Uncle Tom – An Oral History of the American Black Conservative. It’s an incredible and very powerful movie that ends on a positive tone. I highly recommend it. Here’s a link to the website.

Thanks again to Larry Elder for a great photo shoot. I wish him well with these images and all of his various endeavors.

And if you need some new business headshots, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’d like to see more commercial portrait samples, check out my commercial portfolio website at BryCoxPro.com.

And until next time, America.