families

Custom Family Painted Portraits and Family Groups for Janet

Spring is officially here and it’s time for family portraits. But sometimes people want something different, unique, something that they can feature in their home as an art piece and be proud of. For those clients, I offer custom painted portraits, painted from the family groups I create during your session.

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I have photographed Janet’s extended family before, but this time they wanted something different. So while they were on vacation in Utah, I drove up the mountains and met up with them and photographed each family in some tall grass near their vacation property. I shot a variety of options with the families looking at the camera, and some of them interacting with each other that I could use to create paintings. Here are some of those finished paintings. They look amazing up close when they’re finished on canvas.

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And here are some of the other groupings, starting with the biggest extended family group, and then each family separately. I love the diversity of location options in Utah. With a little bit of scouting and some custom lighting, I was able to make this location work right outside their vacation home. By me coming to them, I was able to integrate a location into their images that meant something to them, plus it saved them vacation time so that they could quickly get back to their time together.
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And of course I love to focus in on children and do just some individuals. Rather than show every child’s individual portrait, here are some from just one family. BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_008 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_009 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_010 BryCoxStudio_Janet_Family_Outdoors_Paintings_011

And for every single shoot I do – whether it’s in my studio, outside in my Utah studio gardens, or off on location as this shoot was – I really hope that my clients see the quality and value that I offer. I work to mix into every single image a combination of emotional impact and fantastic lighting. I want both, real expressions that draw you in mixed with all the technical details nailed.

I know it’s time for YOUR updated family portrait. Give me a call and let’s get it scheduled. 801-728-3317

And until next time, America.

My Painted Portraits are Different and Magical

One of my specialized products are painted portraits. I start by creating a photographic portrait during one of our sessions, and then use that photo as a reference to create a completely different and magical painting for you. The end result is a unique piece of art that is finished as a stretched canvas in almost any size you’d like.

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Paintings can be of individuals, like this image above that I did a while back for a musician, or like the paintings below of families that I finished for Christmas orders.

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If you’d like me to create a unique painting for you, give me a call. 801-728-3317

Merry Christmas, and until next time, America.

 

Past Portraits of My Grandma

My last grandma has just passed away and today is her viewing. It is interesting that relatives have been reminiscing by finding and posting pictures of her on facebook and on blogs. I myself took some personal time on the day she passed to finish some restorations that I had been working on.

These portraits that I’ve been restoring, are meaningful because they are well done portraits that tell a story of my grandma. She was a florist, and her and my grandpa started a floral which is still run by some of her kids. When I was little, being tended by my grandma meant running around greenhouses and having adventures while she made arrangements for customers. It meant playing cowboys and indians in the orchards, climbing trees, and sometimes picking weeds in the greenhouses for an Orange Crush.

I have a lot of memories of my grandma that I am not going to share because this is a public blog. But I do want to say that portraits matter and I’m glad I do what I do for a profession. I am grateful for portraits of my loved ones because they remind me of memories and of times past.

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Today we live in a world of photo-poliferation. We have a disposable mentality due to being inundated by tons of pictures created on every device we have. But where is the quality portrait? Someone said to me this last week that they didn’t think photographs were worth spending money on because they’re just temporary.

I completely disagree. There is almost nothing that I personally can spend money on that my children and grandchildren are going to want when I’m dead and gone. Everything else is just stuff, most of which can be replaced by insurance by a better and newer version. But portraits are going to be fought over by future generations, especially the quality portrait.

Yes maybe in the short-term we may change out a wall portrait for a newer updated one, but over time we miss the portraits we took down. They become a window to the past and a way to remember loved ones and past times. Portraits unlike electronics and other expensive items actually grow in value over time, especially if someone passes away. And once someone passes away, there is a search for the one quality portrait that tells a story about that loved one. Snapshots are passed over and everyone searches for and wants a copy of the quality portrait.

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To close, here is a portrait I did with my grandma a few years back while visiting her at her St. George home. I am grateful for these portraits as they remind me of memories and of times past. I am reminded of what a kind and loving woman she was and the example she and my grandpa set for all of us, and am comforted with the knowledge that she and my grandpa are now reunited.

Emotional But Important Family Portraits After Losing a Loved One

Last year, tragically a border agent with family ties to Utah was killed on the border. I knew this man and certain members of his family very well. It was a tough and sad situation.

Recently, their extended family was all going to be back together in Utah, and they asked me to create a large group portrait of everyone, as well as smaller group portraits of each family. This was a particularly emotional and hard shoot to do, but again reiterated to me the importance of families, loved ones, and of having great portraits — not just for us, but especially for our loved ones.

For this shoot, I brought my entire studio to the home of one of the family members who was hosting the get together. I set up the background, lights and gear in their home, and I began photographing each individual family.

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Then because of the size of the large group, the lack of space, and because of the needs of various versions of a large extended family portrait for various people, I instead created a digital composite. Instead of actually shooting the entire group at once, I instead invested some serious digital creation time to blend and mix the smaller family group portraits together into one beautiful panorama. It’s designed so that smaller group relationships are shown while portraying the entire family’s adhesiveness.

The largest finished version of this was a 70 inch canvas which looked amazing!

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We then created these smaller groups, like the original family…

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…and another of just grandkids. A large group of grandkids in one portrait is always a challenge. There are so many young people who don’t want to sit still, let alone where I need them to sit for balance, let alone to look forward and show personality. But they are always a fun challenge and I love how this one turned out. Everyone has such personality and years from now they will love looking back on this image and seeing each other.

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It was an honor to be asked to create the photographs for this family. I really appreciate the opportunity to be apart of these memories.

And now is a great time to book your own family portraits! Kids are out of school, the weather is great, the studio gardens look amazing, and the July Family Portrait Special is still going on! I’ve got some opening still before the end of the month, and if you at least call by the end of July but need to make your appointment during the first part of August, that’s okay too. My number is 801-728-3317 and you can see more details here as well.

Until next time, America.

I Love Photographing the Same Families Over the Years

Being a photographer is a satisfying job. I’ve spent years perfecting the craft because I feel that there is an important need to create not just pictures, but heirlooms that connect with people emotionally and are different from the other offerings. When I do shoots like this, I am reminded of that importance and it makes me grateful for the opportunity to create great images for people.

I had a blast photographing these cute kids that come into my studio every few years. I’ve done shoots for this family as each of these kids came into the family. It’s always been fun to see how much they’ve grown and changed. In fact for this post, I’ve pulled up some images I did last time for comparison. But first, I did a series of square wall portraits of each child. This first little girl was the newest in the family, and I hadn’t photographed her yet. She was so adorable and full of personality as you can see.

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And here are the other children, each with their own square wall print, which looked beautiful hung together on the wall.

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And here are the first three children, each from the shoot I did of them a few years ago as well as today. It is so fun seeing these comparisons. It’s another reminder to me me of how fast children grow, how fast families change, and how important it is to get great portraits over the years. I really love the personality in each of these images.

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With each shoot over the years, I photographed each new child to create a personal wall collage. Here’s an example of this boy’s collage from the past when he was much younger.

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Every child has their own collage at about the same age. For the newest little sister, we did a collage for her on this new shoot.

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And another one of just her alone.

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Here is a new collage I did of all the kids at this recent shoot. They were such a fun bunch that day. They were so excited and were an absolute blast. You can see how fun the shoot was from these images as well as their individual personalities.

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It’s hard to describe how grateful that I am to be a photographer, and to be able to do this for a living. I love that I can create and preserve memories for my clients and create real heirlooms that are enjoyed for years. It’s working on jobs like this that makes it feel all the more important, especially when I see these young children grow and change over time. And it was gratifying to deliver this order and see portraits from the past that I had created, hanging in the home.

So thank you to these clients and everyone else for hiring me over the years and allowing me to create images for you. And if you are looking for some updated portraits, there is no better time than now to set it up. Give me a call, 801-728-3317.

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. 🙂