beautiful

Windy Winter Mountain Shoot with Nicholette in Utah

The wind was bitter cold as we hiked up through the snow to a small overlook in our nearby Utah canyon. The climb was slippery and full of tall new powder that went well past my knees and nearly to my waist at one point. Once at the top, the wind was stronger and even more frigid so we worked fast, also because we needed to beat the setting sun. The entire shoot was maybe 20 minutes long before we headed back down the mountain, yet in that short amount of time we got some great photographs. Here are some of my favorites.

Utilizing some specialized lighting techniques, I punched up background with more blue tones to enhance the cold feeling, while simultaneously adding warm light to the model. It makes her stand out dramatically, while also creating a visual separation between her and the background. And with her beautifully dramatic features, I used a more sharp, commercial/fashion style of lighting too to really enhance her cheekbones and eye shape. I love how these all turned out.

For this one, I also created an animation with slow motion snow that falls around her. Notice that the snow falls around her, some in front, most in back.


I love the changing direction, the wind, and how great these all look. This time of night worked beautifully for this deep-blue look. And the final images are captivating.

If you’re in need of a great set of images, either for work or commercial use, or for your own personal needs – give me a call. 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you, outdoors in the Utah snow or here in the studio. It’s a great time to create some wonderful photographs.

And until next time, America.

Lindsey’s Wedding Sneak Peek, Salt Lake Temple in 100º Weather

I recently shot Lindsey’s wedding during Utah’s recent and very hot heat wave. In fact, temperatures that day were over 100º at times. But that didn’t stop us from shooting outside in the sweltering heat, but it did mean we had to work quickly outside and it meant that I needed lots of external lighting to beat the sun for great skin tones and a deep blue sky. The Salt Lake LDS Temple makes for a great backdrop in her wedding images, and here are a few of my early favorites.

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During one of my breaks, I took advantage of the hot day to shoot some really cool infrared black and white photos of the temple. They’ll be a great accent in the album design.

When there is that much sun, it means lots of infrared in the air – a band of light that is invisible to the human eye. Because vegetation reflects infrared energy, leaves and trees many times will turn white while the sky will go very dark. And with these images being 30 second exposures, you can see the movements and softness of various leaves and they moved and blew in the breeze. Cox_LCooper-W-1185-Edge Cox_LCooper-W-1191-Edge

Well there’s much more to come, and when I get the album design finished, I’ll be sure to share the full design here too.

So if you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And check out these videos showing why my work is so different and why you should have one of my award winning wedding albums.

Until next time, America.

Beautiful Rachel

I loved meeting and photographing Rachel.  She was a blast!

We may have had a short shoot, but the images were fun to create and she looked so great!  This first image utilizes my own custom made edges and overlays.  That is the only image with any enhancements, by the way.  The rest of these are still un-retouched, but I like them as straight images.  They have such a sense of reality to them without any retouching or effects.

I loved Rachel’s genuine smile, the gorgeous shape of her eyes, and her long dark hair.  She was such a great model!  I feel like you get a sense of who she is from these images.

I used this deep, rich brown background to set off her blue outfit and added just a touch of rim light on her hair for dimension.  I am so pleased with these photographs.  They have POP!

And for this final image I added some heavier edge lights to set off her hair and collarbones.  There is a lot of dimension in this and her smile and sparkle in her eyes is so genuine and real.  I really hope that she loves these images.  It was great getting to know her.

When it comes to portraits, everyone needs to be lit in a custom way for them.  I’m one of the only Master photographers in the state and I know just how to light YOU and make YOU look amazing!  So whether you’d like some images for your fashion or model portfolio or would love some kick-butt senior portraits, then give me a call.  I have some specials running during November that you will love! 801-728-3317.

My shoots are so much fun and I know just how to make you look great, beautiful, feminine, and sexy — without being risqué or cheesy.  And overall, you will LOVE your images!

Give me a call to schedule your appointment.  801-728-3317.  And feel free to browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog.

Bethany, Night Portraits in Atlanta!

I had a blast photographing Bethany in the city of Atlanta at night.  She was a beautiful and fun model who even had a few call backs with the TV show, America’s Next Top Model.  But besides having a fun and beautiful model, creating high-caliber images in this type of environment is very difficult on many levels.

However, it’s that higher level of difficulty that makes the entire shoot extra fun for me because I feel a surge of creativity when things are technically difficult.  That’s because I value photographs even more when I know that other photographers wouldn’t be able to create them standing in the same setting.  Therefore creating superb images in difficult situations makes the images all the more valuable to me.

On this image above, I love the play of warm and cool tones (warm in the foreground and cool in the background), creating a lot of depth and impact!

Shooting in a city is fun at any time of day because I have to create backgrounds from the environment, and make them balance and play with the subject correctly.  Everything in an image has to work for the portrait or else it works against it.  Most photographers don’t take into account how lines, shapes, and colors in a background affect the foreground subject.  But I am a stickler about the details and won’t take a shot unless everything looks great — including how the background interacts with the foreground.  I will continue to change my setup until things work.

But then when you add night to the mix of shooting in a city, you add another layer of difficulty — LIGHTING!  Lighting isn’t used to create an exposure, but rather to specifically sculpt a subject.  Therefore it must be used specifically!  It must come from a very specific angle depending on the model, despite any surroundings.  And at the same time light has to balance with the background in both intensity as well as color temperature to avoid creating images that are too dark, flat, or dull looking.  An image, even when created at night, should instead seem 3-dimentional and have pop!

So with that in mind, Bethany and I had a great time just creating images on this city block.  Her style was cute and fun, and we got a lot of variety.

I love this smiling close-up above, and this serious expression in the image below.  Both created in the same spot.  The vertical lines in the background above play off her angle and her soft hair, while the curve of the sidewalk in the image below leads your eye back to her and adds balance to the left side.

I really like the shadow of a the figure off camera in this next image below.  It helps create a mysterious mood.  It was created by some stranger walking by, and I liked it and waited to take the shot once the shadow moved into the open space of the image where it wouldn’t visually touch and compete with the rail in the foreground.

I used the effect of light color temperature to create different moods and looks throughout the shoot.  I love the color, the angle, and her expression and stance on this image below.  The hair softly blowing at an angle really makes this image work!

I ended the shoot with a light up close, sharp, and at a hard angle to create deep shadows.  The mix of vertical and horizontal lines of the background, and light and dark areas are all broken up by her pose — making it all work together beautifully!

It was really fun meeting Bethany and creating these images.  We had a great time and I hope that she does well in her career.

If you’d like to built your modeling portfolio or just get some wonderful fashion portraits, or perhaps if you’re a high school senior and want a fashion style session for your senior portraits, then give me a call!  NO ONE creates images like me!  My shoots are so much fun and I know just how to make you look great, beautiful, feminine, and sexy — without being risqué or cheesy.  And overall, you will LOVE your images!

Give me a call to schedule your appointment.  801-728-3317.  And feel free to browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog.