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.

Wil’s High School Senior Portrait Order

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It’s back to school and time for High School Senior Portraits. We can be super creative and pull out all the stops with seniors, creating variety and personality in photographs that look like magazine ads. Seniors love the creativity and parents love how their child’s personality is captured at this milestone and time of life. 

I’m excited to share with you Wil’s senior photographs because they really show his personality in a creative way. It’s delivery day and here’s a video showing his order and products ready for delivery.

Here’s a close up some some of those images shown in the video, starting with this pool collage of Wil as a swimmer. As Captain of the swim team, we really wanted to show off this particular accomplishment and time in life. So I created this collage using the same techniques I use on high-end commercial shoots and ads. The result is a sharp and cool image of water splashing around Wil as he stands by a pool.

I love going overboard like this for seniors and creating epic art pieces for their home that they can look back on with nostalgia for many years to come.

And here’s his 9-up wall collage design. These are a great way to show various sides to your personality.

Here are some of the pages from his album, starting with some portraits in his suit, representing his upcoming LDS mission.

And here’s some portraits in casual clothing using various backgrounds to accentuate the colors and mood.

 

 

Near the end of the album we have some workout portraits that show the Captain on his sleeve. We used different backgrounds including the empty street.

 

 

You really have to see how cool these albums and wall collages are in person. Give me a call if you’d like to meet in person and talk about options for senior photography. And if you’re a 2020 senior, now’s the time to get in for your portrait session. We’ve got some warm weather and options for inside and outside portraits before the late summer rush. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create some really cool photographs of you that capture your personality with variety.

And until next time, America.

Some Early Favorite Portraits from Elyse’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple and Utah Capitol Building

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Elyse and Michael’s wedding portraits are all so gorgeous!! Their album design is finished and currently in Italy getting book bound, but I know many people are excited to see their images. So here are some early favorites of mine that I’d like to share from their day.

These two look so happy together and the weather was beautiful. It was a little stormy which meant we had some dramatic skies and amazing clouds. Even the sky in this reflection is deep and dramatic.

We have a variety of images around the temple, and in each of them you can see the romance and excitement in these two. I love this first one where you can see the entire temple.

Then this one where they are up close to the temple, and looking at each other excitedly.

We have lots of beautiful and romantic kisses from the day too.

And more and more images of them being excited and loving together.

Their reception followed at the Utah State Capitol Building. Before the party started we did some portraits utilizing the deep sky and setting sun. This worked out great in the album to introduce the arrival at their new location.

This dip at sunset is to die for. All the leading lines in the image, even from the clouds, point to these two.

Then inside we did a few bridals of Elyse alone. This was one of my favorites of her. The beautiful studio lighting mixed with the warm tones of the room are inviting, and she looks stunning. Plus all these details and lighting add drama and depth to her dress and the entire background.

I’m very excited for this couple and wish them a wonderful new life together. And I can’t wait to deliver the finished book-bound Italian album when it’s done.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Everything is custom and there are a lot of things we can do, but here are a few links for some early info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site for wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

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.

Early Favorite Photographs from a Guest Ranch in Washington

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Yesterday was Utah’s Pioneer Day, the day the pioneers and settlers first arrived in Utah. When I was a kid, everyone I knew would wear their cowboy hats on Pioneer Day and go to the local parade to celebrate. So in deciding what fun shoot to feature on my blog today, I thought of these cool images from a recent job at a guest ranch at the top of Washington State. The ranch is called K Diamond K, and the event was a birthday weekend for Kirk with his group of friends. He had me up to shoot some photos and video of their adventure. Here are just a few of my early favorites.

After arriving and getting my gear unloaded, I saw these guys coming back from the barn. This first photo was a great way to start off the weekend.

Kathy owns and runs the place and I created this quick portrait of her the last night I was there, using some custom lighting and the twilight sky as our backdrop.

It rained every day we were there, more though the first few days. I did this selfie with my wet camera and lens and really love the dramatic sky from the storm.

This place is wonderful. It’s a working ranch, and guests are free to get outside and help each day, or just relax at the ranch house. These guys of course were all for helping and getting as much riding in as possible. The ranch needed to bring in some cattle to process (brand, castrate, and vaccinate), and that meant riding out through the canyons to find them.


This wasn’t a “nose-to-tail” horse ride where the horses are trained to take the same route every day for city slickers despite what the riders do. This involved teamwork, and what I’d consider a more expert style riding involving going up and down steep inclines on your own.

We had a number of defiant cows and overall difficult circumstances in rounding up the cattle, and the ranch hands wanted to give up on the second day. But instead this group of guys stuck it out, overcame the various problems, and ended up bringing in an unbelievable amount of cows. It was an amazing moment.

And throughout the weekend, we continually had beautiful country around us, with amazing and dramatic weather.

I ended one of the rides with some individual portraits of each guy using some custom lighting. I won’t share them all, but here’s some to show how they look.

I was really liking how these were looking so I of course got in one too.
I had a great horse named Wyatt, which I thought was a perfectly appropriate name for a horse. And these stormy skies were amazing every day. They added a lot of drama to each photograph.

The K Diamond K Ranch is a beautiful place. Here is Kirk and some friends fishing on one of the last days.

And here’s a drone selfie with everyone on the bridge to close out.

This was a great group of guys and I am grateful for my chance to meet them and hang out with them for the weekend. It made for a wonderful adventure. I’ve still got a lot to do on the video, but working on this project continually brings back a lot of great memories.

If you’ve got an event that needs to be captured and documented, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.

Eliza’s Wedding Sneak Peak, Draper LDS Utah Temple

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure of photographing Eliza’s wedding at the Draper LDS Temple, and wanted to share some of my early favorite photographs from her lovely day. We had a gorgeous spring day with deep blue skies, so I really wanted to bring out those deep tones with some custom lighting. And as you can see, these two look amazing in every portrait. I really love this image showing the front of the temple.

 

And inside the tall columns, this dip in black and white is just stunning. Eliza’s a dancer and moves beautifully as you can see, and I love all of the lines and shapes that are surrounding these two.

We had tulips in bloom, so we made sure to capture some special moments with the beautiful flowers framing this newly married couple.

And we have lots of variety of portraits and moods in different location around building. All of these have made for a gorgeous wedding album design that I hope to share with you soon when it’s all printed.

I love how happy these two are together, and their energy and joy for each other shows in the images all day long.

We have a mix of black and white candids in the wedding album design too, showing fun moments like this.

And of course some amazing hero portraits that could be great art pieces on the wall, like this one.

This has been a wonderful wedding to work on and hopefully soon I can share with you the finished wedding album design.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Everything is custom and there are a lot of things we can do, but here are a few links for some early info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site for wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.

Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand Concert Photos from Sandy Amphitheater

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It’s summer and that time a year again for outdoor concerts and relaxing under the stars while listening to the music of my friends’ group, Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand. I love photographing concerts, and for this event also shot a music video. We’re still working on the video, but I thought I’d share with you some of my concert photographs from that evening.

As the night progresses, the energy from the show grows, and the band begin dancing around more and more.

 

I always like seeing and capturing in motion all the broken fiddle bow hairs flying around in the air as Ryan jams.

Ryan Shupe shows are a blast. They really are perfect in an outdoor summer setting, and I can’t recommend them enough. If you’d like to see one of his shows, check out his tour schedule on his website at RyanShupe.com.

If you need some cool photos for your business and branding, give me a call. I’d love to create something amazing for you. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

James and Stephanie’s Idaho Falls Temple Wedding Album Design

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve been excited to share this wedding with you for a while. It was a gorgeous wedding at the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. I’ve made this video below to show you each page and storyline of the album design.

And here are some of my favorite pages. I like to start off albums with an introductory image that sets the stage and mood by showcasing the location. Here we’re starting at the Idaho Falls Temple on a beautiful summer day.

Skipping ahead in the album, we have these stunning couple portraits of the new bride and groom using the temple as our backdrop.

I really love this page design. The horizontal line from the temple extends perfectly across both images, even though the two images are from different vantage points. The tall lines are a great contrast against the couple leaning and kissing.

Then leaving the temple to go to the ring ceremony, we stopped to create some portraits across the river looking back at the temple.

The long leading lines of the river heading towards the temple mixed with this couple kissing in the foreground makes this one of my favorite images from the wedding.

During the ring ceremony, these little girls were adorable and did a great job.

And of course I love creating studio-lit images of wedding couples on location during the reception. These two laughing in this second image is magical.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. I shoot weddings all over America and can travel to your special location. Here are a few links for some info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site of wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.

iPhone Lanyard, Snowboarding Commercial Images for Black Rapid

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m excited to share some of the digital composites that I’ve created for Black Rapid, a company that makes my favorite camera strap. And they’ve recently come out with a lanyard specifically for mobile phones that work with most phone cases. No need to buy a special case, you can keep your current case but add this lanyard for protection during various activities. It’s perfect for hiking, backpacking, biking, skiing, snowboarding, motorcycling, concerts, or any activity where you might drop and lose your phone.

To emphasize and show the story of how it works, I created some ad pieces showing the phone tethered to someone having a great time doing an activity where they might otherwise lose their phone.

This particular shoot is of a snowboarder using beautiful friend of mine as the model. She was perfect. Her expressions and movements were right on the money, and she’s fun to light. We got a lot of great images that I’m excited to share with you. I photographed her in the studio, and I captured the outdoor location exposures separately using my own Utah mountains nearby. I then blended it all together using some very time-consuming digital compositing techniques. But the results worth the investment. The finished images are eye-catching and stunning.

From this first ad piece, I also created a separate animation video called, “Adventure is Calling.” It starts with a phone call from “Adventure.” The camera zooms out as the phone buzzes to show it tethered safely to the snowboarder in action. The video ends with the company slogan and logo, along with a stop motion video that I shot here in studio showing how the lanyard works your favorite phone case.

It’s designed to be a short but effective ad, and it’s a square video for use on Instagram and other social media channels.

I have a friend who works at a local ski resort, and he says they pick up lost phones all year. By spring they have a box full of lost phones. People continually lose their phones on the mountain and can’t find them, especially when they’re on the ski lift. They want to check their messages or take a quick picture, and perhaps with the gloves and poles in their way or their cold hands, their phone just slips out of their grip and is lost. That’s why I’m excited for this cool product and to be a part of the advertising campaign. I myself have been testing early prototype versions of the lanyard and have taken it skiing, on airline flights, on my motorcycle, and have tested it in various other activities. I’ve really liked it.

And when I create some ad pieces for a company, I like to offer a variety when possible, even from one shoot. So here are some of the other options I created for Black Rapid for their various uses. Here, I’ve got our model jumping in the air with perfect expression and lighting.

And here she is stopping for a moment to check social media and messages.


As a fun image, we also did this of her taking a selfie while sailing down the mountain.

And here we’re showing that the lanyard it just the right length to do a selfie without having to take it off. And yes, that’s me. I jumped in on this shot.

The key to portrait photography and even commercial product photography is lighting – and that’s my specialty. I actually do quite a bit of commercial photography, though some of my clients don’t know that. Companies need their products to stand out, and having great lighting and production can make your brand and your product look like a million bucks online and in ad campaigns.

Online customers search and compare products, and a business must visually tell the story though photographs of why their company is unique, and why their products are the best option for customers. Buyers make most of their buying decisions from the photographs of a product.\

Think about when you go on Amazon to buy something, you subconsciously compare and get your main questions answered by the photos of the product. You can also read the description for additional help, but beautiful and high-end photos that answer your questions are associated with high-end brands and make you trust the company and therefore buy the product. Superb lighting and storytelling is key.

 

I even have special mannequins for doing really clean body or floating-clothing shots like these, and I can white out areas to draw attention to your product and how it’s used.

I can also incorporate video work too to be used on your website or on social media. I’m in this video showing the new iPhone / mobile phone Wander Lanyard.

Check out more of my commercial photography work on my commercial site, BryCoxPRO.com.

And until next time, America.

Joe McQueen’s 100 Year Birthday

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It is Joe McQueen’s 100th Birthday! I had the honor of being asked to play my sax at his birthday event, and I also helped for the last few months in the creation of his biography.

It all started with his church, the Second Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah, called me to see if they could use some of my studio portraits of Joe on the cover and inside the book they were compiling. And while I helped with that book, I made many new friendships which led to being asked to play the saxophone at his birthday party.

This video explains more…

And here’s a video clip of us performing at his birthday party on Saturday.

Here’s some snapshots from the birthday event. This first image is me, my dad, and my sister in the lobby of the church next to my portrait of Joe.

My dear friend Dr. Brenda Burrell put so much time into making this event extra wonderful. She also spent months interviewing Joe and countless hours writing and compiling his words into his new biography.

Here’s a quick photo with Joe at his party, looking great at 100 years old.

Many people close to Joe spoke at the event including Don Keipp, and Brad Wheeler. And the voice of jazz music in Utah also was there to speak, Steve Williams. Here’s a photo of my family with Steve.

Utah jazz musicians know him well, because he’s been the recognizable voice and nightly radio DJ of jazz here in Utah for decades. His current show on Sunday nights is called “Jazz Time with Steve Williams” on 88.3 KCPW.

Here is the cover of his new biography which is off to the printers. I’m excited to see the finished copies, both in paperback and hard cover.

And here are some of the studio portraits I did of Joe some years ago. I love each of these images still today.

It was a great honor to be a part of this event and to be able to help in so many different ways. I’m grateful for the friendships both old and new that surrounded this event.

And if you need some great portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

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.

Eliza’s Gorgeous Bridal & Pre-Wedding Portrait Shoot

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m very excited to share Eliza’s gorgeous bridal and pre-wedding shoot. These two are a great couple, and so good together. It makes me excited to photograph their upcoming wedding.

This portrait session started off on a cold and rainy spring day here in Utah. While waiting for an opening in the rain, we started photographing inside my Davis County studio where it’s both warm, and where we have full control of lighting for a variety of looks and styles. And because the groom had not seen Eliza’s dress yet, we started with a “first sight” series.

Look at how he glows with excitement, seeing his bride for the first time in her beautiful dress, spinning her around to see her all the way around, and hugging her tight.

Feeding off these two’s glowing faces and excitement, we moved into some color couple portraits on a fashion gray background with some soft studio lighting.

And then some of just Eliza alone in her dress, doing a high-key bridal set, white on white. The simplicity, color harmony, and dramatic lighting really make this image. She look absolutely gorgeous in it, and I love the details in the back of this dress and all the lovely lines.

I love shooting a variety of lighting styles and looks, so we then moved to a set of snappy, high-contrast black-and-whites on a dark background for a modern yet classic feel. We made up this framed wall collage to tell a story between the images, and to showcase their personalities in a finished portrait display at their wedding reception. This will look beautiful displayed on the wall in their new home together too.

Here are some of those images up close so you can see how happy and great these two look to be together.


After finishing the studio part of the shoot, I checked the weather and saw a clear spot in the clouds and rain. We took advantage of that opening in the storm and quickly drove to an outdoor open area near my studio. We worked quickly in order to beat the cold, while using the wind and stormy sky to our artistic advantage. Using some powerful auxiliary lighting on site to sculpt the couple and bring depth into the terrain and sky, we got some breathtaking panoramas.

In this series of three images, notice the storyline as the groom pulls his bride closer for a kiss as she dances towards him.



Of course the bride alone looks fantastic and stunning throughout the shoot. It was hard choosing the best images from this shoot because everything looked spectacular.

As the outdoor wind got frigid, we decided to end the shoot with one more dramatic portrait utilizing the rocks, storm clouds, and wind. In this final portrait, these two look like they’re straight out of a national magazine fashion shoot. Their expressions, body language, all perfect, the wind blowing her veil softly, and custom, dramatic lighting to make the sky and clouds pop.

I loved seeing these two interact on this shoot, and how much the groom helped and protected his bride from this outdoor environment. He carried her over boulders, hugged her, warmed her arms, and continually made sure she was taken care of. I know that these two will have a wonderful life together. And I have loved working on this order and framing and delivering these beautiful portraits. They are seriously breathtaking in person.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Everything is custom and there are a lot of things we can do, but here are a few links for some early info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site for wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.