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President Nelson Invites Families to Hang Portraits on Their Walls

We’ve been asked by church leaders to hang family portraits on our walls, and I agree. I have long believed in the strong but subtle messages that come from viewing portraits on our walls daily, particularly when those images show families and relationships happy and together.

In this video I share my thoughts on family wall portraits vs TV size and placement (and the messages both send), and also how self-esteem is different from self-worth.

I’d love to create something amazing for your family. Give me a call at 801-728-3317. It’s the perfect time of year to photograph your family, and get a beautiful piece finished for Christmas.


Recently, President Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints asked church members to decorate their homes with portraits of their families and loved ones. Here’s the quote:

I invite the members of the Church to place on the walls of their homes pictures of their family, pictures of their grandparents, pictures as a couple, pictures of their children, and pictures of the temple. These all symbolize God’s eternal plan. It’s all about the family.

And here’s a link to the story:
http://www.ldsliving.com/President-Nelson-Invites-Latter-day-Saints-to-Hang-5-Things-on-the-Walls-of-Their-Homes/s/88680

Summer Family & Missionary Portraits

Families are always changing and now is the best time to update your family portrait. It’s warm weather in Utah, the studio gardens are in full bloom, and it’s the perfect time for outdoor family portraits.

This young man was leaving on an LDS mission and would be gone for two years. So we mixed a mission portrait session with a family session, and the results are a gorgeous and emotional art piece for the wall that his family can enjoy while he’s gone. See finished image and album in this video.

I like using locations that have a personal meaning to my clients. In this case, their yard was gorgeous and lush with trees. So by mixing in some custom lighting to make everyone look great and also enhance the deep lush colors, we had a number of beautiful angles from which to shoot.

And I like to create a number of family portrait options from each shoot. Some are better larger on the wall, others are better smaller on a desk. And others will just have a certain emotional punch to it, where the client just connects with it and loves it.

For this shoot, we started in casual clothes for portraits with and without the grandparents.

Then dressy for some other options.

Of course I create options of just the children individually too. Here are some of my favorites of each child.

Here’s a missionary themed image using a nearby wheat field.

This image with the flags shows the countries where this young man will serve his mission for the next two years.

And closing with some gorgeous images of just parents together.

It’s the perfect time to get some new updated family portraits. Families are always in flux and sometimes we put off our much needed portrait for the so-called “perfect” time (like when this child is married, or when that baby comes, or when I feel better about how I look). But there’s always another change right around the corner. I’m a national Master Photographer and know just how to make you look fantastic in your portrait right now.

Take advantage of this gorgeous Utah weather. Let’s talk about meaningful locations for your portraits, and if you need, I have wonderful grounds right here at the studio for both outdoor and indoor options.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your new family artwork.

And until next time, America.

Video Sharing Matt & Treva’s Actual Printed Album

Physically printed albums, especially for weddings, are a lost art. That’s why I love creating these amazing pieces for my clients – albums that will be heirlooms that future generations will fight over. I have been winning awards for years with my wedding albums, and today Matt and Treva’s wedding album is finished and ready for delivery.

Here is a video showing off their album, and below are some close-up details of their finished heirloom book.

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Every one of my wedding collections include a custom made album with a perfectly-sized briefcase for protection and transport. Matt and Treva chose the etched and polished metal cover, which has immediate impact when the briefcase is opened. Their wedding was at the Draper LDS Temple in Utah, and this double-page spread shows the impact of large, beautiful images.Cox_Albums-108

You can see more of their wedding images in the previous blog post. And hopefully with these two posts together you can see the difference in quality, attention to detail, and artistic level of both the photography and the physically printed album. Lots of brides lately like to shop on their phones rather than meeting in person, but my work really does need to be appreciated in person. So I hope these images and video can better help all of you to see some of the reasons I’m one of the top, award-winning photographer in Utah.
Cox_Albums-119 If you’re getting married, give me call. I’d love to talk more about your dream wedding day and what you’d like for your photography. And I’d love to create an heirloom album like this for you. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Lindsey and Josh

Last year today, I was shooting a beautiful wedding on a very hot day. It was 106º and we had beautiful blue skies and wonderful, vivid summer colors. Lindsey and Josh were happy and excited to be married, and the wedding shoot went beautifully.

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I know these two have had a happy first year of marriage, and I’m grateful to have been a part of their day to create these romantic images for them. Their entire album turned out beautifully.

If you want to see her entire album here’s a link to the post where I have a video showing every page.

And if you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.

Shirley’s Portrait of Her Growing Family

Family portraits are incredibly fulfilling for me to create. A well-made family wall portrait brings joy to people for years if not decades. And Shirley’s family had grown quite a bit since I’d last photographed them. It was neat to see everyone, to hear about their lives as I photographed them, and I always find it especially fun to get little children to not just relax, but to smile and laugh for a portrait.

We had talked earlier about doing a large canvas panorama of her family above her couch, and this is the final image.

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It’s a little hard to see all the great faces online, so I made this 15 second video to show the big group.

Because Shirley and her husband were leaving on a religious mission for a while out of the country, the large canvas pano would have been hard to take with them. So I used the individual family groups to create this square wall collage.

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And here are some of the individual families. They were each shot individually for the panorama so that they could each get their own portrait, but it also made it easier on the family’s time constraints, as well as making the most of my custom style of lighting. I have a lot of space and options here in my Utah studio, but even a family this large makes for a very tight fit if I were to try and shoot everyone at once all in the studio. But shooting each family separately, we were able to create something much more unique and artistically pleasing, plus it helped the family because there were some members that couldn’t be there all at the same time. Everyone was coming and going throughout the shoot, and we never had everyone in the studio all at the same time. And it all worked perfectly.

As you view these families, notice how comfortably everyone is grouped together in each portrait, and how great each kid looks.
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Family portraits are one of the most important images we can create. I believe strongly in a great family portrait, and now is a great time to get your family in the studio for a portrait.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317, and until next time, America.

Kayla’s Wedding at the Jordan River LDS Temple in Utah

It’s a great time with couples getting engaged for me to share some weddings. This beautiful wedding at the Jordan River LDS Temple in Utah during the fall is of Kayla and Richard’s beautiful day.

I like to start out album designs with a full, double-page spread of where the couple got married. in this case I did an abstract b&w of the Jordan River Temple before the couple came out.

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And here are a few page designs from her finished album, shown as double-page spreads. The idea of the album design is that every double-page spread should be a mini story. I also like the images to be as large as possible for impact when you’re holding the album.

But that’s really hard if each image isn’t crystal clear, which is one reason I believe most photographers don’t produce albums – their images aren’t clean enough to be printed well. That’s a sad thing, because half of the job of photographers should be to produce products that clients can enjoy as physical products, items that can be held in the hands rather than being small phosphorus image on a phone or screen. Digital sharing is handy, but there is something magical about actually holding an album and turning the pages, and having each image large enough that they come to life.BryCox_KaylaRichard_SoJordan_002

We had a beautiful and sunny afternoon to shoot, and you can see how happy the bride and groom are together. I felt honored to be there that day as their wedding photographer.BryCox_KaylaRichard_SoJordan_003 BryCox_KaylaRichard_SoJordan_004 BryCox_KaylaRichard_SoJordan_005

There’s much more to the album, but it’s hard to show albums on a blog. But I do have some short videos that show the books in more detail. Just click on these videos to see them.

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And if you’re getting married, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for your special day.

Until next time, America.

RuthAnn’s Wedding at the Salt Lake LDS Temple & Heritage Gardens

It’s that time of year when couples get engaged, so here is another beautiful wedding. This is RuthAnn’s wedding at the Salt Lake City LDS Temple, with her reception at Heritage Gardens in Sandy, Utah.

Here is a slideshow of her album design. It’s best viewed full screen in HD.


And here are a few of the page designs from her book, shown as double-page spreads. I love how beautiful she looks throughout the entire album and how large all of the images are. It makes for a very impactful and emotional design.

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I also love how beautiful and natural the lighting looks, no matter what time of day or night. The sky pops, the couple looks great, and the skin tones are consistent throughout every image. But more than that, there’s happiness and emotion in all of these images. Her wedding album is quite beautiful. BryCox_RuthAnn_SLTemple_003 BryCox_RuthAnn_SLTemple_004 BryCox_RuthAnn_SLTemple_005

It’s hard to show how these images look online, so I have some short videos that show the books in more detail. Just click on these videos to see them.

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And if you’re getting married, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for your special day.

Until next time, America.

Kim’s Portland LDS Temple Wedding

It’s the day after Christmas and it’s the season when lots of couples are getting engaged. So I thought I’d share some beautiful weddings I’ve been wanting to post, starting with this gorgeous wedding that I did for Kim at the Portland Oregon LDS temple.

Here is a slideshow of her album design. It’s best viewed full screen in HD.

And here are some of the page designs from her book, shown here as double-page spreads. Notice that through the entire album, images are large, impactful, and the couple is happy and in love.

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In contrast, one of the most common problems I see when photographers show me their images for a critique, are too many things out of focus. Like the bride is in focus but the groom is slightly out of focus, even though they’re standing right next to each other. Or one of the bride’s eye is in focus but the other eye or her nose is out of focus. Another common problem is that most photographers blow out their skies, and skin tones are dull and chalky. Now perhaps clients can’t see these problems when viewing images on their phone or computer screen, but these problems are horrendously exaggerated when trying to create a big beautiful album with large images, or when you want images for your wall.

You won’t see those kinds of problems with my wedding images. Every image on every album page is clear, crisp, and there is a feeling of a real three-dimensional world that you can step right into. Skin and eyes look great due to custom lighting, so there is no chalky look or over-retouched plastic skin on people. Just great images that you’ll love for a lifetime.

If you’d like so see more about how my albums look on the outside, click on these videos.

BryCox_WeddingAlbum_VideoHeadsAnd if you’re getting married, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for your special day.

Until next time, America.

Braden & Miranda’s Early Wedding Sneak Peek St. George Utah Temple

Braden and Miranda were married last weekend in the St. George Utah LDS temple, and they had me there to create some wonderful and romantic images for them. I love shooting wedding couples. I like the happiness, the romance, and the wonderful feelings at weddings, and I really like capturing that feeling in photographs that couples will keep for decades.

This particular morning was quiet and serene, and shooting earlier in the day also helped us beat the 100º desert heat that came later in the day. I’ve loved sorting through these portraits and wanted to share a few early favorites of mine in this sneak peek.

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I created a mix of color and black and white, full-lengths, close-ups, as well as images with both a classic and modern appeal. I especially like this emotional set built as a trio.

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The St. George Utah temple is set in a desert climate, and the stark white building with the direct desert sun makes for a great contrast against the blue sky. It’s a wonderful background for these romantic couple portraits.
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And this sequence of Braden “helping” with Miranda’s sunglasses made makes me laugh.
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If you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something artistic and romantic for you.

Photographs are the one thing we spend money on from a wedding that lasts. They are enjoyed by us, our children and future generations. Avoid the regrets of cheaper options and let me create something powerful and beautiful for you on your special day. I have price options ranging from partial coverage with an emphasis on romantic images to full-day coverage with multiple locations where I follow you throughout your day and tell your story in magnificent custom books. No matter your level, you’ll know you have images that you love now and for years to come.

Until next time, America.

Kim’s Portland Temple LDS Wedding Sneak Peek

Kim’s wedding was really magical. Besides being a beautiful bride, we also had the gorgeous backdrop of Portland and the LDS temple were they got married, plus a stormy sky for drama. Here is an early sneak peek into some of my favorites from her wedding day.

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When I was parking for the wedding, I found this spot that looks out into the forest. It make for a great location for these images that I made into a trio.  BryCox_Kim_Wedding_Portland_LDS_Temple_04 BryCox_Kim_Wedding_Portland_LDS_Temple_05 BryCox_Kim_Wedding_Portland_LDS_Temple_06

If you’re getting married, check out this video on my wedding albums and what makes me a unique choice. Then give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your dream portraits.

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.

Jessica & Cory’s Wedding Sneak Peek at the Beautiful Draper Temple

Last weekend I photographed Jessica and Cory’s wedding at the LDS Draper temple. It was a beautiful sunny day, …in fact very hot at 100º. The sky was blue, we had great clouds for a dramatic background, and Jessica and Cory were great together. All that together meant that we created some wonderful images for their upcoming wedding album design. Here are some of my early favorites.

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The reception was held outdoors at a beautiful home in Alpine, Utah. We had a great view of the mountains and the sunset. The party below wend on into the night as the couple’s closest friends came and enjoyed the music and the wonderful night.BryCox_CoryWedding_06 BryCox_CoryWedding_07

If you’re getting married, I’ve got a video and other info showing why my work is so different. And give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your dream wedding.

Until next time, America.