bry cox

Fundraiser Portraits With a ‘Vanity Fair Backstage’ Look

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I photographed custom portraits at a fundraiser to help raise money for our friend who is re-learning to walk after Lyme disease. The crowd was mostly friends and people I knew, and knowing that everyone would be dressed up, I thought I’d mix that dressiness with the cool tile of the location for a magazine styled shoot.

Along with offering some silent auction photo shoots that raised $600, I also did quick photo shoots of my friends there. I utilized one studio light with a small modifier to create custom but very directional lighting for lots of moody shadows and aimed just right for no retouching. I then posed individuals in unique ways as if it were a “backstage at the Oscars Vanity Fair” type photo shoot. I also created a film look that warmed the highlights to a nice golden tone that was applied to the images on my laptop as I shot.

I had a long line all night and photographed a few hundred people, averaging 2-3 shots per person. I then picked my favorite of each person right there off my laptop. After the event, I posted the portraits on Facebook and the results have been blowing up my facebook feed, so I thought I’d share them on my blog today so you all could seem them too. Here are just some favorites.

Yes, there’s even one of me. I shot it with a remote in my hand before people arrived. I wanted to double check the lighting and look of the tile and tones before we started. I really love the variety of poses and looks with everyone. I think the shoot went great.

With so many people, this is just a few. But all of the images are up on my Facebook page, and you can see them all if you follow me there.

If you work with a Utah charity and would like to talk about package donations to raise money, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to talk more about what you’re doing and how I could donate some packages for auction, or otherwise be involved in raising money.

And until next time, America.

Model Portraits from Teaching at ‘Texas School’ Photographic Workshop – Part 1

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Once a year I speak at this big event for photographers called Texas School. It’s where photographers from all over the US and abroad fly in to Texas to train and learn for an entire week. It’s always one of my favorite events, and part of my teaching style is to give photographers personal challenges using custom lighting while shooting models to see how they do.

And while I’m teaching and demoing or showing various methods and procedures, I often need to photograph the models myself for a few minutes. Here are some of those images, starting with a portable studio setup and this gal in her red dress. I really like these three images individually, but also think that together they would make a great trio design too. The deep blue background really makes her eyes and dress pop.

This next young lady was a twin, and I did some images of both sisters individually and some together. But here are two of her alone, shooting with a high school senior style.

And here are these two twin sisters together, showing how much they look alike.

We had some fun with this next model, including doing some creative artwork on the backgrounds.

This next lady with the pretty eyes is a professional dancer as you may be able to tell from her natural posing. And she is also the sister of a model I photographed the year before. I thought her dress and colors were very pretty and turned out really nice on this deep blue background.

 

And finally for this model, we walked around the hotel to find locations and backdrops that would be interesting, lighting her with mobile equipment. Putting her against this green vegetation really made her red hair and dress stand out.

And we closed with some of her sitting on the hotel bar, mixing artificial light with room light to both make her stand out while also getting these bar lights to glow.

There’s a lot more I could show from this event, especially images that I shot on the run on location with some cool vehicles. I’ll pull some favorites and post some of them soon. But in the meantime, if you’re a photographer and would like to get more training on lighting and photography, check out my training site where I not only have online training videos, but a schedule where you can come to a live workshop. My training site is BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Early Sneak Peek of Rebecca’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple & JSMB

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Rebecca’s wedding was beautiful! These two are great together and the weather worked out wonderfully.

While I’m working on and designing her album, I wanted to share some of my early favorites as a sneak peek for you all to see. Here framed in the nook, we have her veil blowing in the wind. She had a beautiful, long veil, and it caught the wind many times throughout the day, adding a lot of fun to the photographs.

I love this portrait of the two of them – a nice, mid-length portrait of them leaning together, newly married.

We had a beautiful, sunny day. So with the right lighting, I was able to make them look beautiful while at the same time capturing this gorgeous and deep blue sky with clouds glowing from the sun. I love how the light of the sun comes through the clouds, down on them, creating a directional lens flare, all framed by the temple.

Here Rebecca is holding her veil for this wonderful kiss.

And some dancing in the wind to the delight of a full paparazzi crowd of Chinese tourists behind me. They cheered and clapped, and snapped a ton of photos during this dancing sequence.

I love these long tall lines mixed with the diagonals of her veil and dress.

Then just before the reception, these dark clouds started rolling in. I got low to look up to show these deep storm clouds. Then during the reception while we were all inside the JSMB, we got a rain storm for a bit.

And to end the night, we came back outside to capture this amazing sunset to end the day. I love warm colors surrounding them, all while being framed by the temple.

If you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s talk more about your wedding and what you’d like. I’d love to create something awesome like this for you.

And until next time, America.

Ryan Shupe Live Concert at Sandy Amphitheater, June 2018

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Ryan Shupe just had his big outdoor summer concert here in Utah at the Sandy Amphitheater, and I was there again to photograph the event for him. His band, ‘Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand‘ puts on a great live show. The mix of great music, the cool night breeze, friends, laughter, and smell of popcorn and hotdogs from the concessions all come together for a wonderful night.

These images I shoot get used for his promotional materials, website, and even for album designs. The images I shot last year for him have been used entirely for his brand new album design, Live Volume II.

I hope you can feel the energy from the live show, just by viewing these images.

For one song, Ryan had me shoot some iPhone video for his Facebook live which included a wedding proposal at the end of the song. But during the song he has tons of children from the crowd come up and sing on stage with him.

Here’s the video. It starts with a few seconds of my face resetting the app, because the Facebook app crashed as soon as the song started.

And as the night gets later, the stage lights grow and you can see the energy on stage grow as they start rockin’ even more.

If you have a band or business or need some great commercial images to showcase what you do, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create some great images for you as well.

And until next time, America.

Sneak Peak of Brittney’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple & JSMB

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Brittney’s wedding at the Salt Lake Temple here in Utah was absolutely gorgeous. She had her reception at the JSMB (Joseph Smith Memorial Building), and those night images are also stunning. You have to see these early sneak peek of some of my favorites that are in her final wedding album design.

As you can see, these two are great together. The day was wonderful and emotional, and with some mobile custom lighting, the images have pop and impact. The colors and tones are deep and vivid, and the images are romantic and look wonderful.

This next image with Brittney’s hair blowing beautifully was our pick for the album cover image.

And I especially love this one of them dancing.

On the evening of the reception, we did some night portraits outside, and here are some of my favorites. 

The final album looks amazing, and I’ll share that entire design soon. But for now I wanted you all to see these. If you’re getting married or know someone who is, send them my information. Or you can give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you and for your family history.

And until next time, America.

Jannette’s Snowy Mountain Wedding Engagement Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Living near the Utah mountains, this couple wanted a snowy mountain look for their engagements. We were able to find some snow left to shoot these gorgeous wedding engagements at Log Haven up Millcreek Canyon, which is where their wedding will be later this summer too.

Here’s a video showing how beautifully their order of wall portraits and album turned out, best viewed in full screen.

And here are some of their images. We started on the deck of Log Haven because their clothes and colors worked so well with the deep, rich colors of the building.

 

We then ventured out into the snow to photograph against the waterfall and other snowy backgrounds. I love this tall image of the waterfall, and these two hugging and talking to each other.

Along the river we created this portrait, which became one of their framed wall pieces.  

Then a change of clothes and a change of scenery, looking out across this lake with a deep blue sky in the background. This long panorama of these two leaning together is killer in the album, taking up two page spreads for dramatic emphasis.

And this beautiful close-up was the other framed wall portrait, as you can see in the video above. 

Finally, some ending shots surrounded by the deep dark colors of the forest’s trees. These two look great together and I’m excited to be a part of their wedding coming up later this summer. 

If you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something gorgeous like this for you.

And until next time, America.

Rebecca’s Bridal Portraits at the Utah State Capitol Building (With Bonus Churros)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I’m photographing Rebecca’s wedding at the Salt Lake Temple, and we’ll have some of these gorgeous bridal portraits on display at her reception. I love these and am excited to share them with you. We created them at the Utah State Capitol Building on a stormy spring day. Stormy days are especially fun because with the right custom lighting, I can bring out the dramatic skies in the background.

Rebecca is a beautiful and incredibly photogenic bride, and we had so many favorites from this shoot. These are just some of my favorites from the many that we loved.

Her dress and all the details are gorgeous. To show it off, here’s a fun set of dancing images that I think work well as a framed trio.

And here’s another beautiful dancing image, showing off her dress.

I love incorporating details about people into photo shoots. Rebecca is a reader and this is one of her favorite books. Not only does the red in the book highlight her lipstick, but having the book in these photos adds an extra element of interest and personality.

To finish the shoot, she changed into some comfy snow shoes and we got this trio.

When we were all finished and walking back to the car, we passed my friend Scott who had a mobile churro stand there, San Diablo Churros. He was the caterer for a wedding reception outside the Capitol, and invited us over for some of his churros. We could smell them as we were finishing our shoot nearby, and it was a blast to end the shoot with some of his yummy churros.

My photographer friend from Portland, Bryan Welsh can be seen in this image too because he had just flown in to town. He was there because he and I did a a one-day intensive workshop for photographers a couple days later. It was fun having him come along on the bridal shoot with me and I’m glad he made it in this picture too.

If you’re getting married and would love some incredible portraits, like bridals, engagements, wedding day, or any combination of those, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Business Portraits for KUTV 2 News, Salt Lake City

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Because great lighting and making people look good is my specialty, I shoot a lot of business portraits for people who need to look their best. One of my continuing favorite shoots is with KUTV 2 News, who’s ranked number one in Utah. They’re a very fun group to see each time and catch up with, and they’re all very good at what they do.

And with TV being a visual medium, it’s important especially for these professionals to look their best on billboards, signs, and online. So I’m always grateful when they call and have me come in and update their images.

During the day of the shoot, everyone is busy working on the breaking news and their own hectic schedules and responsibilities. It makes lighting extra difficult because we’re constantly moving from spot to spot re-lighting and setting up as various people become available. It means a jam-packed day full of multiple mini shoots in lots of locations.

And after a very long day, we end up with a vast array of options for each anchor and reporter, including studio white, news room, on location, and all sorts of various group shots – ready to go. I’m really happy with how everyone looks, and wanted to share some favorites with you. First, here are some headshots on studio white.

And here are some favorite individual headshots on location.

And each team gets a variety of groupings in various locations too. Here are some of the evening news team group portraits.

A studio white background is useful when adding graphics behind. These are the ones you’ll see on billboards quite often. But I really enjoy creating these group shots below in the news room studio too. The set, cameras, and lights in the background make for some wonderful abstract shapes which tells the story of who these reporters and anchors are and what they do. It’s nice having all options after a shoot.

Here’s the Talkin’ Sports team.

And of course the morning team that is great to wake up to.

If you or your business needs to look great, give me a call. I’d love to create something wonderful for you, so that you and your business look like a million bucks. Depending on the size and scope, we can shoot here in my studio, or come on location and shoot right there at your business. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Brittney’s Outdoor Winter Bridal Portraits in Utah Desert

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I’m photographing Brittney’s wedding here in Utah. So it’s a great time to share some of her bridal portraits that we did right here near my studio, outside in the Utah desert. We had a cold winter day which gave us some wonderful clouds to work with. I always love a dramatic sky because with the right lighting, I can make the sky pop and accentuate the bride.

She has a gorgeous dress that fits her perfectly. And the textures of her dress mixed with the rocky desert made for a wonderful combination.

Yellow is one of her favorite colors, so these roses were very apropos and added a nice color pop to these winter images.

As we were ending the shoot, more clouds rolled in and the sky loomed with a wonderful deep blue. This was a great way to end with a mix of color and b&w images.

And finally, here’s a trio showing off the details of her dress, lace, and ring. 

If you’re getting married, it’s a great time to book your time here at Bry Cox Studio. I’d love to create something wonderful for you. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Impromptu Photo Shoot of Gabrielle

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Gabrielle is a writer for the company Fstoppers, and I met her while I was speaking at the big national photography convention ImagingUSA. This year the convention was just held in Nashville, and it’s unusual for it to snow there. But right after I finished speaking, we were hit with a gorgeous snow storm. And having met Gabi with her fun style and her purple hair, she seemed perfect for an impromptu photo shoot out in the cold snowy night.

Because I was there to speak and not take portraits, I didn’t have my typical professional load out of gear. But as I teach photographers at my workshops, great photography is about knowledge, not gear. We should be able to create great images with any gear, if we know what we’re doing. So using my small travel camera (that I refer to as my “toy camera”) along with a basic light and umbrella that I had with me, I was still able to control my lighting angles and create some great images. See what you think.

Though I had in mind color images in the snow, some of the images really popped as black and white. I really love how these look.

Also, the air was too frigid to work for too long outside. My fingers quickly stopped working and went numb as I tried to control the dials on my camera. So we went in and finished up our shoot using the indoor garden atrium of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The plants and leaves were the perfect backdrop for Gabi. 

And while in the atrium, we used one more backdrop – the walls of the indoor shops. It gave us the look of being off on location while actually being inside and warm. 

There’s a lot of personality in these images and I really love how they turned out. It would have been fun if Gabi and I had done a full shoot with various changes of outfits and location. Perhaps at another event sometime.

And if you’d like some fun and updated photographs whether they be for business or for fun, now is a great time to get them done. Here in Utah, snow outdoor locations are easier and warmer than in Nashville. Plus I have an indoor studio for other options as well. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Gorgeous Family Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

For Christmas I delivered this beautiful family portrait. They have been a joy to work with and I have loved working on this order. Each time I see all these children and their beautiful faces, I feel my heart swell. The final canvas looked vivid and stunning, especially because they ordered it as a larger 50-inch canvas with an outside frame that made the colors pop. And it looked wonderful in their home.

This family lives not too far from my Utah studio, and we created this at their home in their yard. It was the perfect location and provided a very meaningful background for their heirloom portrait.

Just before packing my SUV to deliver the order, I recorded this video because I had to show it off. See what you think…

And when I photograph big families, we also take time to photograph the smaller, individual families. Here are some of those images. And look at how adorable each little child is in each family grouping. And notice too how the lighting creates a clean and vivid image of everyone. The images are sharp, detailed, and they looked fabulous printed up larger.

I know these will be beloved heirlooms to each of these families for many years to come, especially as these children grow and change. I’m grateful that this family called me to create these, and I’d love to create something special for you too. Now is a great time to do some wonderful family portraits. Give me a call and let’s talk about your dream portrait. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Kelly’s Beautiful 5 Month Old Baby (Part 2)

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Here are some more favorites from this shoot with this beautiful baby girl. I shared earlier some images of her in pink, and to contrast those these are all in neutrals. I just love this little girl, her big eyes, sweet smile, and her cute little chin. We got a lot of wonderful expressions during this shoot. And those looks combined with master lighting techniques to make her eyes and soft skin pop, has produced a portrait shoot that I can’t stop staring at.

I love this smile above, but I also love this serious expression below too. The serious look shows off her features like her cheeks, little chin, big eyes, and cute mouth.

In one photo shoot we were able to get quite a variety of looks and expressions, and even different outfits and sets. The pink images are captivating and beautiful, but these images in neutrals are wonderful in their own way too. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. But I will admit to coming back and looking at this shoot again and again to see this cute face.

All of these neutral images framed in a series would look great in a nursery or hallway.

Babies change so fast and now is the best time to photograph them. And I love photographing babies. If you have a new baby and would like some wonderful and captivating portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something special for you for the holidays.

And until next time, America.