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Images from Lighting & Creativity Workshop in Texas (Part 2 Texas School 2021 Follow Up)

If you’re a photographer, it’s time again to book your seat at Texas School. What is Texas School? It’s a big once-a-year event where you spend a week with an instructor of your choice. It’s where you have the ability to do a deep-dive into lighting, social dynamics and expression, and your business. The event is in April, but registration opens tonight. It’s good to book your seat early.

This awesome video was created by my wrangler, Robert Ray. I think it really shows the feel of the event. I posted some images from the event already of the red-headed model. It’s worth checking those images out here.

We practice on individual models because we’re working on specific skills and drills. But throughout the week we build out into posing and working with groups. It means understanding how to first nail the individual portrait, then incorporate that into couples, then families, and then very large extended family groups.

I set up multiple studios for photographers to try various things. Each studio is set up differently, and there are various challenges so that photographers are individually pushed into new areas. We do a mix of indoor studio, outdoor, and even mixed lighting indoors like what we might encounter at a wedding reception or corporate portrait shoot. The challenge is to quickly nail the lighting on multiple levels (color balance, exposure, and perfect angles for the models skin, eyes, face, waist, etc.). The image should look retouched before we do any retouching.

With different models with different personalities, one challenge is to continually create new images with new poses that work with and tell a story about the subject’s personality. A viewer should feel who the model is, by just looking at a portrait. And of course lighting must continually be nailed, without excuse – inside, outside, mixed lighting, matching with difficult backgrounds.

 

The photographers in my class do most of the shooting, trying out certain drills or challenges. But I need to demo certain techniques here and there, so here’s some of the images I created. Keep in mind, these were all shot in short 2-5 minute segments per model. The rest of the time is for the photographers in the class to shoot. This model I photographed with only natural light and then with a pop-up flash. It was a lesson on how to create under pressure, with a lack of equipment.

Next, this cute young girl was a dancer. I wanted to show first how to get her to relax and get real expressions, and secondly how to light her so well that she doesn’t need any retouching. The glow of her skin and light in her eyes is all done with lighting. 

With lots of different models, looks, and personalities, it’s a lot of fun creating new portraits.

 

If you’re a photographer and would like to attend, find all the details here on my training website.

And if you’re a client and ready for some new headshots or portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317.

Images from Lighting & Creativity Workshop in Texas (Part 1 Texas School 2021 Follow Up)

I just got back from teaching at my big one-week hands on lighting event, Texas School. It’s where photographers can sign up to spend an entire week with one instructor and learn hands on with equipment and models. It’s a mix of both classroom instruction and actual shooting.

I demo various techniques in order to give challenges for photographers to each try. I like starting in a studio, then adding lights and complexity, then moving out on location with lighting gear to tackle common lighting problems.

One of my wranglers, Bob Ray, shot video and behind the scenes footage of me and created this cool video.

One of the key things I like to emphasize is doing as much in camera and with lighting as possible. That way the images look as if they’re already retouched before editing them. Knowing how to light a woman really well saves time in post production. That time can better be spent doing detailed and fine retouching on the key portraits, or even painting over the image as this image shows below.

During this event, I only shoot each model for a few moments in order to demo ideas and get some good sample images for the models. The rest of the time is for the photographers in attendance to shoot. But here’s some of my favorites that I created in these short moments.

If you’d like some fun and beautiful new portraits in studio or out on location, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Spring is here and it’s perfect outside to create something magical of you.

And if you’re a photographer and would like more training, check out my live events as well as online courses at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.

Teaching Fashion and Creative Photography for a Week in Texas

Every year for one week in the spring, I teach an intense week-long workshop in Texas for photographers who fly in from all over the country, and sometimes other countries as well. I am back from that event and am mostly recovered (as I get little to sometimes no sleep each night), and wanted to share some of the images I created while I was there sharing my entire system, everything from lighting, to digital workflow, to business.

This event is always amazing and inspirational, and this time in particular I have come home to some of the best thank you emails and calls from the photographers that I think I’ve ever had. I really appreciate it. I feel honored and grateful to be a mentor to photographers and help them learn and do better.

So I have specific steps to creating a portrait that I share. The trick is to get exquisite lighting, truly capture someone’s personality, and also nail everything technically as well for perfect skin tones, perfect brightness and contrast, perfect eyes, and fantastic expressions that draw you in as a viewer.

And with perfect images, it means I can spend some time on the computer doing artistic work rather than corrective work, so I have fun creating paintings, collages, and creating other art pieces.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Here I shot this model against a studio background using a specific fashion light setup. Nothing has been retouched, no eyes have been brightened and no skin blurred. All I did was convert to black and white and design this awesome collage that shows a lot of personality.

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When an image is real, it has more power. The mind can tell when something is fake, and by lighting exquisitely and capturing emotion in a real way, the image is far more powerful. Then, if I want to do some artwork on it (like this image below), the image can retain it’s powerful draw because any retouching done to eyes and face is so subtle, that it can’t be seen, and all the heavy artistic work is done to the background.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Of course I love my paintings, and so I took this same image another direction as well, painting it too.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Here are more un-retouched images. For variety, I used the curtains in the conference room, and shot these all with one studio light. Again, none of these have been retouched, I just designed up this cool collage showing a variety of poses and emotions to tell a story.

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I also shot this model in the hotel’s bar using the Einstein bulbs hanging in the back as a background. I had to be strategic to hide people in the background, but created this with a very minimal setup.

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I took three images from that set and designed this trio.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

And I shot other models both in studio and out.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

One night in particular, I photograph a slew of models, each for only a few minutes, and each in separate locations around the hotel, inside and out. None of these images are retouched or corrected. These are all straight out of camera. But this also shows one big creative secret, and that is to not shoot the same thing twice – no two images can be the same. To truly be creative, you have to change up each shot making small changes and then big changes, and these thumbnails show that.

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These were shot for the event so I didn’t work up any of them. But if I do, I’ll post them here on my blog.

So a special thanks to my cute models for coming and working with me, to my suppliers and sponsors, and everyone who came out and oversold my class.

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© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

I love speaking and teaching in Texas and love that it’s full of people that pour their whole heart and soul into making it a great event.

And did I mention that I played blues harp in a band there too? Here’s our official band photo shot by the famous John Hartman, shot just before our gig in the hotel’s garage.

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And here we are backstage before going on, shot with my point and shoot camera on a tadpole selfie stick. I’m still hoping to find some video of us playing.

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Well that’s it for now. If you’d like to attend one of my photographic events or get some online training, visit my site for photographer training at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.