master photographer Bry Cox

Salt Flats Morning Shoot with Addie, the Bubble Trailer, and the Chop Stick Guys (part 3)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

In parts one and two of this series, I talk about how my photographer friend from California, Suzette Allen and her husband are touring the United States in their Bubble Trailer to teach and train photographers. And I share the evening shoot we did when they came through Utah, and now I’m excited to share with you the fun early morning shoot we did the next morning here on the Utah Salt Flats.

The next morning, we got up for an early sunrise shoot. Suzette and her husband interviewed me as the sun was rising behind us. Here’s that video…

And here’s a selfie video showing the gorgeous sky.

But before the sun came up, we started shooting photographs and my beautiful friend Addie was our model. The early morning sky was deep blue with just a touch of pink on the horizon. Using my Profoto studio lights to both sculpt Addie and also capture the true colors in the distance, I started photographing with the blue sky as our background.




While we were doing our photoshoot, Suzette and the Chopstick Guys were off shooting video.

With just a few studio lights on location, we were able to create some beautiful images with vivid colors. I really loved this early morning light. As the sun started to peak over the horizon, the colors around us went from deep blue to soft pastels. These colors worked perfectly with Addie’s outfit.

As Suzette photographed Addie with her Bubble Trailer, the warm colors of the sun started to peak over the salty horizon and hit the clouds. The golden clouds and warm light was a magical time.

The rising sun brought a cool desert wind which I found exhilarating and fun creatively. And as you can see, we all were having a lot of fun in this beautiful and creative environment. Here’s Suzette rockin’ her Lumix camera, with her husband Jon having fun behind.

When Suzette had her images, I photographed Addie again, but this time using the sun as my main light. The wind and golden warm light were gorgeous. I love all these gorgeous colors together, and Addie did such a great job on this shoot. And she was a lot of fun too. We were laughing a lot.


I had to keep stopping to soak in the view around me. And that made me want to create some long panoramas as well. I loved how the warmth of the rising sun on east side of the horizon mixed with the deep blues of the other end.

I also created some panoramas showing my Nissan Rogue and Profoto studio flashes on the salty desert floor, because it looked like a commercial ad. (Hey Nissan and/or Profoto, if you need commercial photography work, check out BryCoxPro.com.)

And of course with such a beautiful sunrise and mountain range, we had to do a quick selfie together, firing the camera with a remote in one hand.

And here we are having more fun, dancing in the wind and sunrise.

Then mixing in studio lights with the sunrise, I wanted to capture the golden sky behind Addie. I wanted to shoot into the sun, and for that I needed some serious lighting power. I love how these turned out!






With the cold wind finally making Addie cold, she went to warm up in the vehicle. And I took a moment to create a selfie showing my studio light and sunrise behind me.

Fall has now hit us here in Utah. It’s time to create some beautiful location photographs of your family and kids. If you’d like something in the fall leaves or on an exotic location like the Salt Flats, and you want that some awesome lighting that makes you pop in that location, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s create some iconic and legacy portraits for the walls of your home.

Also, if you’re a photographer looking to up your game and get more training to really understand lighting better, check out my online and in-person courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

Salt Flats Evening Shoot with Pamela, the Bubble Trailer, and the Chop Stick Guys (part 2)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

In my previous entry I shared the first part of this shoot at the Utah Salt Flats. And continuing on, the sun was going down quickly and we were losing our light. As Suzette Allen and her husband prepped the Bubble Trailer and lighting for their next series of photographs, my model Pamela did a change of clothes while I set up a multiple-light look for a clean, commercial, studio look that would work with and accentuate the deep blue of twilight as things got darker.

These turned out to be a fun and wonderful series of images. I love the motion between the images and feel they’re best shared in sets of three to show action.

For these next couple of horizontal portraits, I let one of my lights show in the image. I loved the lighting angle, and I wanted to show the open vastness around us. Pulling back with the camera allows that long, empty, and open horizon to show. And the light I think it adds interest, telling the viewer that the lighting is controlled and specific.

I often see photographs posted from the Salt Flats by other photographers and the results are dull, muddy faces, washed out backgrounds, noisy grainy images, blurry faces, and shadows in the wrong places on the face. Why? Because most photographers don’t understand exactly how to custom light, where a light should be, and how lighting needs to continually move and be adjusted based on sculpting someone as they move. It requires knowledge and lots of mental work. But the results of doing so are powerful images like these – amazing portraits created in a normally impossible setting – long after the sun has gone down.

Pamela was so much fun. She had a lot of personality and I loved her choices in clothing. These photos with her hat made for a great set of images. I’ve had a hard time picking my top favorites.

Time was really flying and we were having a blast and didn’t want to stop shooting. So after Suzette had finished her shoot with the trailer (which can be seen here on her blog), it was completely dark. While her and the Chopstick Guys were packing up their gear and loading their vehicles, Pamela and I decided to shoot a bit longer. She had this awesome flowy outfit, and the evening desert wind was really howling.

So with a couple studio flashes on stands manually controlled, I used the wind to our favor and did one last series of images. I really like the dark blackness that surrounds us in these images. With blackness behind and the light illuminating the white salt floor, falling off, fading into the distance, it makes it feel like we’re shooting on a stage. And Pamela’s movements and expressions really make these images sing.

What an amazing shoot, and this is just Part 2. There’s Part 3 coming because the next morning we did a very early sunrise shoot with another beautiful friend of mine who came out to model for us.

Those portraits have a completely different look and feel because the sun was direct and coming in from a different angle, plus the color temperature was different too. As the sun rose, the color around us went from deep blue, to pink, to a warm golden color. The entire location glowed with the sunlight. Those images are incredible and I’m excited to share those soon.

In the meantime, if you’d like a cool photo shoot at an exotic location like the Salt Flats, give me a call at 801-728-3317. With my style of custom lighting, it can work wonderfully well for families, kids, even high school seniors.

Also, if you’re a photographer looking to up your game and get more training, check out my online and in-person courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

High School Senior & Modeling Portraits of Ashton in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I love photographing high school seniors because I’m able to be more creative. There’s a lot of variety that we can create in the studio in a short amount of time too. While in Texas, I photographed this beautiful model, Ashton. She was great and we got some killer images.

This shoot was part of a longer weeklong photographic workshop where I train photographers in Texas on lighting, expression, posing, and more. I’d demo specific concepts for a few moments and then let the other photographers shoot. So in these training/demo shoots, my actual shooting time is short – only segments of 5 minutes here and there. I set it up so that the photographers taking my course to try things for themselves with real models.

But when I combine all the concepts that I teach into any shoot, even short segments like this, I end up with powerful images with exquisite lighting, perfect exposure and color balance, that also incorporate real and genuine expressions. So yes, even in that short amount of time I have a lot of images to choose from, all great. Here are some of my top favorites.

In the image above, I created a custom art piece by mixing textures with some creative editing. Those techniques mixed with her expression makes for a very captivating portrait. Then below, I did some custom color toning for another unique image.

These were part of my first quick shoot with Ashton, were I photographed her on deep blue with a variety of lighting styles. Notice that we have a mix of poses and expressions while the lighting and technical details all remain perfect.

Then before she left, I did one more quick shoot of her in a new outfit and on my fashion grey background. These images were strong individually, but I also liked them in sets of three to show movement and personality.

I love training photographers to do better, teaching creativity mixed with solid techniques. Ashton was a great model and I love the images we got.

If you’re a high school senior, it’s a great time to do some cool photos for you. And here at my studio, I’ll typically do even bigger shoots than this for seniors. I love creating a variety with clothing changes, location options, plus over-the-top art pieces that really show your personality. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up for you.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Some Early Favorite Portraits from Elyse’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple and Utah Capitol Building

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Elyse and Michael’s wedding portraits are all so gorgeous!! Their album design is finished and currently in Italy getting book bound, but I know many people are excited to see their images. So here are some early favorites of mine that I’d like to share from their day.

These two look so happy together and the weather was beautiful. It was a little stormy which meant we had some dramatic skies and amazing clouds. Even the sky in this reflection is deep and dramatic.

We have a variety of images around the temple, and in each of them you can see the romance and excitement in these two. I love this first one where you can see the entire temple.

Then this one where they are up close to the temple, and looking at each other excitedly.

We have lots of beautiful and romantic kisses from the day too.

And more and more images of them being excited and loving together.

Their reception followed at the Utah State Capitol Building. Before the party started we did some portraits utilizing the deep sky and setting sun. This worked out great in the album to introduce the arrival at their new location.

This dip at sunset is to die for. All the leading lines in the image, even from the clouds, point to these two.

Then inside we did a few bridals of Elyse alone. This was one of my favorites of her. The beautiful studio lighting mixed with the warm tones of the room are inviting, and she looks stunning. Plus all these details and lighting add drama and depth to her dress and the entire background.

I’m very excited for this couple and wish them a wonderful new life together. And I can’t wait to deliver the finished book-bound Italian album when it’s done.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Everything is custom and there are a lot of things we can do, but here are a few links for some early info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site for wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.

Modeling and Senior Portraits of Summer in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had a great time getting to know Summer and photographing her as she modeled for me. I was demonstrating lighting and client interaction while teaching a weeklong photographic workshop in Texas. She was a beautiful girl and a lot of fun to hang out with, and as you can see, we got a lot of beautiful images in a short amount of time.

I start with teaching a primary focus on perfect exposures, perfect color balance, and exquisite lighting that sculpts and flatters the model. From there as a photographer we must interact and connect with the model in order to get real and wonderful expressions instead of the typical fake smiles that are all too common.

And as you can see from this shoot, Summer’s personality made all of this easy. We had a great time and created a lot of beautiful images with genuine and captivating expressions, despite our actual shooting time being very short. Because I’m training and getting other photographers to shoot and practice these concepts, it means I only step in and photograph models like Summer in small chucks of 5 minute intervals here and there. But even with small 5 minute intervals, you can see that we’ve got a lot of beautiful images of her. Here are some of my favorite images.

Starting on a fashion gray background to go along with her black outfit, and as if she was a high school senior in my studio, I shot quickly for variety of styles, expression, and poses. You can see that we have smiles, but also thoughtful and serious images. We have close ups, mid-length, and full-length. We have a lot of variety in a lot of ways, and all of these are very beautiful of her. These would make a wonderful album or even a great series of images in a wall collage.

To demonstrate location lighting, I took her to the end of the hotel’s bar in her beautiful gown, and balanced auxiliary lighting with the bar lights to create a warm mood.

Later in a new outfit, I created these portraits of her on my deep blue background, again shooting for variety. And again, all looking beautiful.

And before sending her home, we ended the shoot with a quick selfie together.

And a few days later I had a night demo and again was able to photograph Summer. That demo was 30 minutes long, and with talking, setting a groundwork of what I’d be doing, and showing how to light with minimal equipment anywhere, we only shot for a few minutes. But even still, we got some beautiful images. And here is one of my favorites from that quick shoot.

This was a really fun shoot and I’m grateful for Summer coming and modeling for me. She was a joy to be around and I’m excited by the images we created.

If you’d like some great portraits done of you, give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Eliza’s Wedding Sneak Peak, Draper LDS Utah Temple

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure of photographing Eliza’s wedding at the Draper LDS Temple, and wanted to share some of my early favorite photographs from her lovely day. We had a gorgeous spring day with deep blue skies, so I really wanted to bring out those deep tones with some custom lighting. And as you can see, these two look amazing in every portrait. I really love this image showing the front of the temple.

 

And inside the tall columns, this dip in black and white is just stunning. Eliza’s a dancer and moves beautifully as you can see, and I love all of the lines and shapes that are surrounding these two.

We had tulips in bloom, so we made sure to capture some special moments with the beautiful flowers framing this newly married couple.

And we have lots of variety of portraits and moods in different location around building. All of these have made for a gorgeous wedding album design that I hope to share with you soon when it’s all printed.

I love how happy these two are together, and their energy and joy for each other shows in the images all day long.

We have a mix of black and white candids in the wedding album design too, showing fun moments like this.

And of course some amazing hero portraits that could be great art pieces on the wall, like this one.

This has been a wonderful wedding to work on and hopefully soon I can share with you the finished wedding album design.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Everything is custom and there are a lot of things we can do, but here are a few links for some early info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site for wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.

James and Stephanie’s Idaho Falls Temple Wedding Album Design

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve been excited to share this wedding with you for a while. It was a gorgeous wedding at the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. I’ve made this video below to show you each page and storyline of the album design.

And here are some of my favorite pages. I like to start off albums with an introductory image that sets the stage and mood by showcasing the location. Here we’re starting at the Idaho Falls Temple on a beautiful summer day.

Skipping ahead in the album, we have these stunning couple portraits of the new bride and groom using the temple as our backdrop.

I really love this page design. The horizontal line from the temple extends perfectly across both images, even though the two images are from different vantage points. The tall lines are a great contrast against the couple leaning and kissing.

Then leaving the temple to go to the ring ceremony, we stopped to create some portraits across the river looking back at the temple.

The long leading lines of the river heading towards the temple mixed with this couple kissing in the foreground makes this one of my favorite images from the wedding.

During the ring ceremony, these little girls were adorable and did a great job.

And of course I love creating studio-lit images of wedding couples on location during the reception. These two laughing in this second image is magical.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. I shoot weddings all over America and can travel to your special location. Here are a few links for some info…

  • My main portfolio website: BryCox.com
  • My mini site of wedding info
  • Lots of real wedding samples (no fake brides) here on my blog
  • And of course because of the custom nature of what I create, it’s best to give me a call at 801-728-3317 so we can talk more about what you’d like.

And until next time, America.

Paris Modeling in Texas

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful model named Paris while I was in Texas. I was teaching a photographic workshop on lighting and had photographed Paris a few years before, and contacted her to come be my model again. I’m grateful that she did, and we got some beautiful images.

The first part of my teaching was to demonstrate how to shoot with perfect exposures and color balance. Then when you’ve conquered that, you can focus predominantly on expression by connecting with your subject. The goal is to get captivating and real expressions, and as you can see from these thumbnails of un-retouched images, everything looks great. The hard part after a shoot like is is having to decide which images are the absolute best, and I do that by seeing what speaks to me. Those photographs become my top favorites.

From those top images, I picked some to retouch in front of the photographic group, showing them what I do to each image while also showing how little retouching is actually necessary when images are perfectly lit with superb auxiliary lighting.

Starting on a fashion gray background, we have a beautiful set of images of Paris. She looks beautiful, her eyes and expressions glow. We nailed getting the captivating portrait in the first few minutes.

These first few images took about 5 minutes. From there I let other photographers practice shooting her, while I moved on to other models and teaching. Later I circled back for another 5 minutes with Paris, and we did these of her on this gorgeous blue background which really makes her eyes pop. Again, all of these look great.

Then one last time before we ended, I did one more quick 5 minute shoot with her, this time with a change up of lighting styles and while demoing a brand new camera that just came out. So in all, I only photographed her for about 15 minutes total, but we got all of these amazing images of her – all great, all captivating, all beautifully lit.

Knowing that we had great images from earlier, we began to play with motion – having her play with her hair, turning, and incorporating some movement and chaos. I really love how these turned out.

And to end the shoot, we did a quick portrait together under the beauty dish light setup with me holding the camera with one hand.

This was a really fun shoot and I’m grateful that Paris could make it. It’s always great to see her and she’s a joy to photograph. If you’d like some great portraits done of you, it’s a great time. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And if you’re a photographer looking for more training like this, check out my online courses or in-person workshops at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Studio Shoot with Jacq

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I had a great time photographing the fun and beautiful Jacqueline in this studio photo shoot. These images are so beautiful that I have to share with you some of my favorites.

We shot a couple outfits, and this first image is one of my favorites from the whole shoot. I love her look, expression, and the overall feel of this photograph.

With a different style of lighting and a new background, we got this stunning headshot of Jacq.

And then photographing her in this retro blue outfit on the fashion gray background gave us lots of great options, all completely different with a unique set of expressions and looks, with full length and mid-length.







I really love what we got from this shoot and hope that Jacq loves these as much as I do. My indoor studio located here in Davis County, Utah is a great option for fashion shoots, commercial shoots, avoiding bad weather outside, or anytime you want even more custom lighting options.

If you’d like some beautiful new images, give me a call at 801-728-3317. It’s a great time to come in and update your portfolio.

And until next time, America.

Elyse’s Gorgeous Studio Engagement Shoot

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Elyse is a beautiful and upbeat woman who is very well-known and a friend to everyone. And she’s getting married. Though she and her fiancé live in California, we did a studio engagement shoot while they were here in Utah. And the images are gorgeous! I’m really excited to share them with you.

In fact we just finished her portrait inserts for her announcements, and I’m excited for people to get them in the mail. She posted one of the photographs on Facebook yesterday and it quickly garnered over 700 likes in just a few hours (it’s now over 850). It just shows how much she’s loved and how excited her friends and family are for her upcoming wedding.

Here are some of my favorite images from our shoot, designed up as a framed square wall collage.

I love how beautiful they look in each of these images, and how great they look together.

After shooting some on a light fashion gray background, we changed up the lighting and background and went with darker colors behind. Here some of our favorites.

I took a few portraits from the brown series and designed this framed trio. It’s a beautiful way to show a story between the images.

I’m very excited about this engagement shoot and for their upcoming wedding. I know it’ll be a gorgeous and blissful event.

If you’re getting married, I’d love to create some amazingly gorgeous images for you too. Here are a few links for info…

I’m a Utah based photographer, and do work all over the USA, and sometimes abroad. Give me a call and let’s talk about your dream portraits.

And until next time, America.

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

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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.

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.