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Model Portraits from Teaching at ‘Texas School’ Photographic Workshop – Part 2

Once a year I speak at this big event for photographers called Texas School. It’s at the end of April and photographers from all over the US and abroad fly in 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 at the end of the week, we have a shootout where photographers from all classes can see quick demos from various instructors. For those demos, I was given a cool Ferrari as a backdrop, and a bunch of models that would come through every few minutes. I photographed the models very quickly shooting about 10-15 photos per model in just a few minutes using some quick lighting techniques.

It’s perfect for showing a crowd of photographers the essentials for shooting a variety of poses, using lighting to sculpt and define faces and bodies, as well as metering, white balance, and getting clients to relax in front of the camera. Behind me, you can see groups of photographers like this, shooting their own photos.

And despite crowds of people moving through my background, here are some of my favorite images I created that evening.

I love the creative challenge of working quickly with various problems to solve – like onlookers, other people walking through the background, the best angles and lighting for a model’s face and body shapes, quick posing, color, exposure, and more.

Here’s me shooting, as a behind-the-scenes image in black & white.

If you’d like some great and creative images, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something for you that you love.

And to see more images created during this event, including in studio, see Part 1.

Finally, if you’re a photographer and would like to attend a full weeklong workshop with me, or would like some online instruction, check out my training website for online videos and upcoming schedule at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

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

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.

Creativity and Fashion Shoots in Texas (Part 2)

Here’s some more images I shot while teaching creativity and fashion for a week in Texas at the biggest photography event of it’s kind. I specifically teach photographers how to connect with people to pull out genuine emotion, while at the same time nailing lighting and everything else technical. That way when you start adding complexity (like movement under studio lights), you create some uniquely magical photographs.

And this cute model with the red hair was terrific to demo these principles because she followed directions and moved instinctively well. And her personality worked well under the studio lights so I was able to push the creative bounds and shoot a lot of movement with her. I love all of these with her hair in motion.

And she really jumped well in high heels. At first I wanted her to jump barefooted because I worried about her landing and getting hurt. But she insisted that she could jump in high heels and they make these photographs even better. She had great positioning in the air, and photographers should note that even when jumping, the lighting is still perfect on her face and waist.

My shoot with her was very quick because I wanted other photographers to try what I was teaching. I’d do a quick demo with her then allow everyone else to shoot. But even in our short demo shoots, we created a huge variety of photographs. This set of mid-lengths on blue really show personality and make her eyes pop.

If you’re a high school senior, a model, or otherwise need some creative images that grab attention, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’re a photographer wanting more training in lighting, creativity, or technique, visit my training site at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com. I have live seminars around the country and lots of online courses as well.

And until next time, America.

Creativity and Fashion Shoots in Texas (Part 1)

I’m excited to share these photographs that I created while teaching my big week-long intensive photographic workshop in Texas. It’s the biggest and best event of its kind where 1000+ photographers from around the world come in to learn in small groups for an entire week with one instructor. As one of those instructors, my class is specifically on creativity, fashion, and adding emotion to an image – while at the same time nailing everything in camera. That means everything is measured and angled perfectly so exposure and color temperature are perfect, and skin, eyes, and body shapes look great before any retouching.

This first set of images in this post is not a Photoshop effect, but rather one exposure with a series of extremely quick flash bursts. This model was wonderful and moved like a dancer so I was able to describe how I wanted her to move during the shot, and she was able to hit her mark over and over. So each photograph is a series of multiple exposures all in one shot.

I love the blending of images showing movement, and how her red hair pops against this beautiful blue background. All my equipment was provided by my friend Melanie and her family at Arlington Camera. They were able to set me up with exactly the equipment I needed to create a full studio at the hotel. And I broke that gear into multiple studio bays to let photographers try the techniques I was showing.

Here is a short iPhone video showing me in action creating these images. This video was shot by my one of my equipment wranglers and helpers, Lisa Crayford. I took the raw footage and added the photos I shot to the end. Notice how I’m locking my body in to be my own tripod during the long exposure, and looking out over the camera to make sure I shoot and catch exactly what I want.

If you need some creative images that grab attention, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’re a photographer wanting more training, visit my training site at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Liz & Dewayne’s Wedding Album

I’m really excited to share the finished wedding album for Liz & Dewayne’s wedding. I love being a part of weddings and producing these awesome albums for couples and find fulfillment in seeing how all of the work comes together in these gorgeous products. I shot a video of me going through the book page by page. I talked about my approach to photographing weddings and how my offerings are different and unique. Then at the 4:45 minute mark I share each page of Liz and Dewayne’s album. I uploaded a full HD version of the video so you could watch it with clarity and with more detail full-screen if you’re so inclined.

Liz and Dewayne are a great couple to work with and their previous shoots that I’ve posted to my blog and Facebook have created a huge response, so aside from my own excitement, I know there are a lot of people who want to see their final book.   Here are some of the double-page spreads from their album.

BryCox_Dewayne-1 BryCox_Dewayne-2 BryCox_Dewayne-4BryCox_Dewayne-3 Their wedding was held at the beautiful La Jardin wedding center in Sandy, Utah just outside the metro Salt Lake City area. If you’d like to see Liz and Dewayne’s previous shoots, both their pre-wedding images and their engagements are here on my blog.

If you are getting married and want the best possible romantic and beautifully lit photographs possible, give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk more about your dream day.

Until next time, America.

New Baby Isabelle’s Portraits

I always get excited when someone calls me to photograph their new baby, especially when the baby is brand new. Baby Isabelle came in for her first photo shoot during her first couple weeks, and she was a joy to photograph. She was so expressive and so pretty, that it was hard to pick our top favorites.

This first portrait is definitely a favorite because I love creating images like this, of a mom holding her new baby. However these images are the hardest to create on a first baby shoot. But looking at this image, you’d never know how hard these are to do because this looks stunning and effortless. I love that both are looking at each other and interacting, and the emotion in it is wonderful.

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Next is a trio that captures the essence of everything I want in a newborn’s first photo shoot. It shows how little and cute Isabelle is, how pretty her eyes and expressions are, and how tiny her hands and feet are. It is something that will look gorgeous on the wall and for years to come, will bring joy when the family looks at it. Babies change and grow so fast, that it’s fun to see how tiny and little they once were, and to have some perspective with the loving hands of mom in the image as well.

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I really appreciate the opportunity to meet and photograph baby Isabelle. If you are expecting or would love some new baby portraits that are artistic and beautiful and completely different from everything else out there, then give me a call. I’d love to create something amazing for you. 801-728-3317

And until next time, America.

 

Bry Cox Interviewed and Featured in Professional Photographer Magazine, October 2012 Issue

I was interviewed by Professional Photographer Magazine, a publication that goes out to all professional photographers throughout the US as well as other parts of the world as well. That interview is now out in the current October 2012 issue.

This is the cover (image is not by me), and below are some screen shots of my article where all the images are mine.

The article is humorously titled, “The Anti-Specialist” because where most photographers need to focus on one niche or another to succeed, my particular specialty has been to focus on exquisite lighting and emotion. I mix technical proficiency with a unique style of creativity to develop images that tell a story of the person being photographed, and hopefully makes the viewer feel like they know the person. It’s a uncommon approach that allows me to photograph a mix of genres well, like families, children, weddings, and even celebrities and VIPs.

For the opening spread, the magazine chose my images of Linda Rondstadt and Olympic Gold-Medalist, Rulon Gardner.

The last image used, is of 90 year old sax player, Joe McQueen. Interestingly, this is the second time this magazine has asked to use this image. I can see why as it really is one of my favorite portraits. It shows dramatically what exquisite lighting and emotion can do to make an image unique and inviting.

I really appreciate and feel honored to have been interviewed for the magazine, and I love the direction they took with the article. I hope other professional photographers find it interesting and helpful.

Well, until next time, America. 🙂