location

Windy Winter Mountain Shoot with Nicholette in Utah

Posted January 27, 2017 by BryCox (Admin)

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.

Bry Cox Image on Cover of Salt Lake Bride / Wedding So Easy

Posted September 19, 2016 by BryCox (Admin)

I was asked to provide an image for the cover of Salt Lake Bride / WeddingSoEasy and I had a few suggestions that matched their fall theme. But they already had a particular image in mind.

I created this image a few years ago on an airport runway. Because one of the fathers was a pilot, the wedding reception was held at a ballroom of a commercial jetway building, right on the runway. At twilight, I brought the bride and groom outside along with some other lighting gear to create a series of images with the awesome, post-sunset sky.

And here is a closeup to show the interaction between these two, because the internet just doesn’t show detail like it should. Notice how even after dark, their skin tones look great, they’re being sculpted by the light, but they are not bombarded with light. It’s just a touch in the right places to bring out them in their best way while also making the sky being them pop a magical blue.

For the couple, I finished this image as a long, slim-line canvas for their wall. And it’s really fun seeing it again – this time on the cover of Salt Lake Bride.

Here’s the cover with the image cropped in vertically.

If you’re getting married and are looking for a great photographer, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’re at all unsure, here’s a quick 1-minute video on my lighting style and why you’ll look amazing.

And until next time, America.

Kim’s Portland LDS Temple Wedding

Posted December 26, 2015 by BryCox (Admin)

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.

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.

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.

Makenna’s High School Senior Album

Posted August 6, 2015 by BryCox (Admin)

Maybe you saw Makenna’s sneak peek a bit ago, and here is her entire senior portrait album. It’s always hard narrowing these fun shoots down to 20 pages, but the idea is to design a book that shows a lot of variety, personality, locations, outfits, while at the same time making sure that the design is simple and clean, and that every double-page spread works well as a mini story. For instance, this double-page design is based on the same color scheme, but shows a close-up and a mid-length in both serious and smiling.

These books are so cool and I’m really excited about hers in particular that I decided to make a short video to show it off. So take a look at Makenna’s awesome album in this video.

Being a Utah-based photographer, you’ll notice in in my photographs that our state makes for a great backdrop. Makenna has beautiful mountains behind her ball field and my studio gardens are lush and full of trees and rock paths making it a great option if you want outdoor and/or indoor portraits without any travel fees.

So if you’re a senior or you know a senior, now is the time to beat the back-to-school rush and get some amazing portraits. The weather is awesome, the studio gardens are in bloom, and while it’s still summer you can pick an appointment at a time of day that works, not just after school.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create something wonderful that captures your personality in a beautiful way.

Until next time, America.

McKenzie Fashion Shoot On Location

Posted May 24, 2014 by BryCox (Admin)

McKenzie is a joy to photograph, so for my recent lighting video tutorials for photographers, we went out and did a shoot in the hardest of situations — on location, no shade, broad daylight, multiple flashes, and all settings on manual for camera and flashes. The goal was to show photographers how to create amazing images under any circumstances without excuse, and with perfect lighting using any type of gear. The exposure, lighting, and color balance should all be done deliberately and should not have to be adjusted afterwards with software and people’s eyes should pop without any retouching.

We did the shoot cold too, not scouting the locations or picking the angles prior to the shoot. Everything we shot was organic and real, and you see how I do everything. We found the spots by simply driving out to an area with no possibility of shade, then we pulled over and began to shoot. Here are some of my favorite images of beautiful McKenzie.

Being a Utah based photographer near Salt Lake City, there is a plethora of cool locations to shoot if you know how to use them and make them work dramatically in the image. They don’t have to be the same spots that everyone else uses.

I should mention too that these have almost no retouching or enhancements. In the tutorials I show the before and after of each image. The deep blue sky, the great skin tones, the sculpting shadows — everything is real and done in-camera. McKenzie moves really well too. She’s great and posing naturally and at giving real expressions. Together we make a great team!

If you need some awesome images for any reason, give me a call. Maybe you need some fashion images or some portfolio work, or just some updated images of your children. Warm weather is here and it’s a great time to get in and avoid the summer rush. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Video About My Custom Wedding Albums

Posted January 7, 2014 by BryCox (Admin)

Today I took some time to record a video about my wedding albums. They are so unique and so beautiful and gorgeous, that people really do have to see them to fully appreciate them. But people are busy and some of my clients live in other states, so today I set up the video camera and some lights and shot some video of me talking about and showing some of my albums.

See what you think.

If you’d like to see more weddings, you can look both here on my blog, as well as on my main website, BryCox.com.

If you’re getting married, give me a call and let’s talk more about your wedding details and meet if possible so you can look through some of my wedding albums firsthand. My number is 801-728-3317

And until next time, America.

Emotional But Important Family Portraits After Losing a Loved One

Posted July 25, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

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.

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!

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

…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.

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.

July Family Special

Posted July 10, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

With kids growing up, families changing, the weather being beautiful, the studio gardens in bloom, and this July family promo, there isn’t a better time than right now to get a new family portrait!

Whether you have a big family or a small family, or whether you’d like a painted portrait or something entirely different, give me a call and let’s talk about creating something emotional and timeless for you.

These two images are examples of my painted canvas portrait series, where I paint in an abstract way over the photograph to create something new and entirely different.

Portrait sessions can be inside the studio or outdoors in the studio gardens for free with this promo, or can be on location for an extra fee. However, right now the studio gardens look amazing! To give you an idea of where some of these images were created, three of the images in this post were created right in the studio gardens, with the others being created on location in places that are special to the clients.

This is a great time to get your extended family together for that once-in-a-lifetime portrait, while at the same time creating portraits of each smaller family while they are together. If you’d like to see more examples and stories about each of these family portraits, many are posted right here in past blog posts as well as on my main portfolio website.

So what’s the catch? Call now to make your appointment in July. By doing so you get a free session (usually $200-$400 depending on the size of your family), a free retouched and hard-mounted 11×14 with leather protective finish so that it isn’t damaged by handling or fingerprints and doesn’t need glass (value $199), as long as you purchase any framed wall piece like a 16×20 portrait of your group, or a child’s trio, or a multi-image collage for example.

The image you purchase can be larger of course. For instance you may want a painted wall canvas like the samples at the top, or perhaps a long panorama canvas of your extended family so that you can see each child’s face from a distance. What you get is up to you.

Many are doing the free 11×14 as the portrait of their children with their wall portrait of their entire family. Some are doing the session of their children using the free 11×14 as their group portrait and a wall collage as a way to showcase each child.

You know it’s time for new family portraits. Don’t settle for average photography. You will look amazing and will get portraits that are real, emotional, timeless, and that don’t have all the plastic skin effects or weird washed out retouching.

Give me a call for any further questions and to set up your appointment to get the best options for dates and times. My number is 801-728-3317. Again, check out my main portfolio site at BryCox.com to see more samples, or the blog here too.

And until next time, America.

Melina’s Bridals and Pre-Wedding Portraits

Posted May 20, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure this week to create these images of Melina for her upcoming wedding. The session was a lot of fun, and we got some incredible images. This first one is one of my favorites. I really love her profile and expression in this, and how the light shapes and sets of her dress.

And in the same set, a relaxed and beautiful smile.

While shooting in b&w, I also created this detail series of Melina’s dress.

We did a series of images in the studio and outside in the studio gardens for variety, including full-lengths, mid-lengths, close-ups, and couple portraits, and with a variety of backgrounds. One of my favorite sets was on the fashion gray. I finished these with some of my custom edges.

We mixed the bridal session with a Pre-Wedding session to include some images of the groom. These two were great together and were very photogenic.

This series is great, particularly because of Melina’s genuine expressions.

And some of just the groom alone.And here is one of my favorites from outside in the studio gardens. Their expressions are perfect, the leaning and relaxed pose is wonderful, and the background looks so good. Right now the outdoor studio gardens are green and looking great. It is a great time to book and shoot outside.

This was such a fun shoot and this couple was a joy to work with. I really hope that they have a great wedding and a wonderful future together.

If you’d like some fantastic bridals or a pre-wedding session, give me a call and let’s create something wonderful. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

It’s Time for Outdoor Summer Family Portraits with Bry Cox

Posted May 14, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

Warm weather is here, the studio gardens are green, and it’s time again too book your summer family portraits and get the best availability.

One reason families sometimes put off getting portraits, is that they want to wait for the “perfect” time. They think that later they will look better, look younger, or then if they wait longer at least everyone will be married, but then they wait until everyone has their children, and then wait until everyone is home from school, …and the reasons keep on going.

But the truth is that now is really the best time. Families change and loved ones pass, and sometimes it’s too late to get a full updated family portrait. We all know that there is no perfect time, so let’s capture your family right now as it is currently. And if your worry is how you will look, remember that I will light and position you in such a way that you will love the results.

Here is large extended family group, created right here in the outdoor gardens. I work to position and light everyone in just the right way so that the overall image has emotional impact.

During the portrait session, I will also photograph smaller groups. For this session here, that meant that I photographed each individual family as well as a group portrait of the grand children. This way, every group has a new updated portrait if they’d like, but these images will also look great as a series of prints or as a wall grouping.

Here are all the grand children together…

…as well as the original family…

…and just parents.

One of my favorite things about being a photographer is creating family heirlooms and works of art that will be enjoyed for decades. I work hard to mix technical excellence with emotion and great lighting so that you look great and love your new wall pieces.

Now is the time to book your family portrait. Give me a call at 801-728-3317. It’s always such an honor to be able to create something like this for people, and I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

Until next time, America.

Ashley’s Bridal Images

Posted March 4, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

Ashley just did a fun mix of studio bridal portraits, including color and b&w, classic and edgy, close-ups and full length. Here are some of our favorites.

We did some in my white “lipstick” chair on a dark background to draw attention to Ashley’s white dress, and we situated her in such a way to really show off her fun shoes. This also shows one of the variations in how she may or may not wear her veil.

Cox_AJones-B-694

Next, is one of my favorites from the high-key, light-on-light set up. I used a fashion style of lighting to really make her eyes pop, and along with her great expression, fun veil, and Edgy-Edge finish, this image really sings. I think it’s probably my favorite from the entire shoot. It’s really a killer print up close. Cox_AJones-B-565-edge

And of course no bridal session is complete without a beautiful classic full-length. For this one we used very directional lighting for more extreme shadows to create more drama in the image. This really shows her entire dress and will be an image that she loves for years to come. Cox_AJones-B-576

I also created these collages, the first showing some of my favorites from the high-key fashion set up…

Cox_AJones-B-8x20-ooo-AnnaMarie

…and the second collage designed as a square to show off all of the various details, from her jewelry to her veil to her dress. I love creating these collages because they can show various images, moods, and textures all in one framed wall piece. And this particular design really shows a lot of personality I think.

Cox_AJones-B-21x21-Nine-Print-Composite-dark It’s amazing how many people are going for beautiful studio portraits right now, breaking away from the look of cheap photographers who are photographing in alleys.

And because I have an indoor studio, now is a great time to make your appointment for bridals and take advantage of some promos going on. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create some dream portraits for you.

Until next time, America.

Healey’s Family of 40

Posted February 25, 2013 by BryCox (Admin)

It is always important to get family portraits, and right now is especially an important time for the Healey family, and I feel really honored that they hired me to create the portraits for their entire family.

Overall, their entire group was about 40 people, including married children and grandkids. We set up in their family yard during a wind storm and rainy week, and miraculously found a dead spot from the weather. Their yard made for a fantastic backgound and the images all loom wonderful.

I’m excited to post them today, even though the web just can’t do them justice. This first image is now a beautiful canvas hanging over their fireplace.

I love this large grouping. Everyone is positioned comfortably and realistically, the entire shape is balanced and keeps your eye moving, the expressions on everyone are real and happy, the background has depth and texture but is dark enough that it isn’t distracting, and lighting on everyone though difficult, looks amazing.

Big groups are more difficult to do right than you’d think, but they are very satisfying. I really love how this portrait turned out. It has to be my new favorite.

With every large family group, I also like to do smaller groups. Above is the original children gathered around their folks, and below is each individual family.

Each family is grouped and lit a little differently depending on the family, but the overall look of each group matches in case people want to create a wall grouping and hang these portraits near each other.

Each family has their own personality and every child looks great. I really love photographing families and especially love getting little kids to all look cute and smile. It’s more than just doing some tricks to get a smile, but rather work to get each child to show their personality in both the pose and their expression. These little boys below look perfect. I especially love the tough pose of the boy standing and leaning into his mother.

When people are positioned right, lit right, and they have a real and believable expression, the result is a portrait that is fun to look at, and yet classic and timeless.

These little girls below were so funny and wiggly, I was surprised to get any images with all of their feet down on the ground. They were so giddy and were laughing so hard at everything I did, that it was cracking me up too.

And finally, here is the couple that started this big group. I really liked this image of the two of them.

Again, it was a real pleasure to work with everyone in this family. I loved all of the groupings and families, and love how everything turned out. I always feel it an honor to create and capture memories for people, but especially for this family. I really love these images and hope that they all do to.

Until next time, America.

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location

Windy Winter Mountain Shoot with Nicholette in Utah

Bry Cox Image on Cover of Salt Lake Bride / Wedding So Easy

Kim’s Portland LDS Temple Wedding

Makenna’s High School Senior Album

McKenzie Fashion Shoot On Location

Video About My Custom Wedding Albums

Melina’s Bridals and Pre-Wedding Portraits

It’s Time for Outdoor Summer Family Portraits with Bry Cox

Ashley’s Bridal Images

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