ogden utah

Joe McQueen Passes Away at 100 Years Old

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Famous Utah sax player and friend to many of us, Joe McQueen has passed away at 100 years old. Many musicians of course know Joe here in Utah. But those who follow my blog may know him from these recognizable portraits I’d done of him a few years ago.

For his 100 year birthday, I’d recently helped his Baptist church congregation in putting together a book on his life. And they had me play sax at his birthday party too. For that event, I made up these two videos.

Here’s the video clip of performing at his birthday party in June.

Recently, my dad and I had dinner with Joe and some other friends of his from church. He was in great spirits and has kept a busy schedule gigging, even at 100. He was always blessed with health, talent, and was a friend to so many people. At his last birthday, it was inspiring to hear so many people talk about how their lives were changed by Joe.

I’m grateful for the time I had to get to know him. He inspired many people in many areas of life, and his friendship has led to other dear friends for which I’m grateful.

I know he’s playing his sax and feeling young and free in heaven.

Joe McQueen’s 100 Year Birthday

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It is Joe McQueen’s 100th Birthday! I had the honor of being asked to play my sax at his birthday event, and I also helped for the last few months in the creation of his biography.

It all started with his church, the Second Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah, called me to see if they could use some of my studio portraits of Joe on the cover and inside the book they were compiling. And while I helped with that book, I made many new friendships which led to being asked to play the saxophone at his birthday party.

This video explains more…

And here’s a video clip of us performing at his birthday party on Saturday.

Here’s some snapshots from the birthday event. This first image is me, my dad, and my sister in the lobby of the church next to my portrait of Joe.

My dear friend Dr. Brenda Burrell put so much time into making this event extra wonderful. She also spent months interviewing Joe and countless hours writing and compiling his words into his new biography.

Here’s a quick photo with Joe at his party, looking great at 100 years old.

Many people close to Joe spoke at the event including Don Keipp, and Brad Wheeler. And the voice of jazz music in Utah also was there to speak, Steve Williams. Here’s a photo of my family with Steve.

Utah jazz musicians know him well, because he’s been the recognizable voice and nightly radio DJ of jazz here in Utah for decades. His current show on Sunday nights is called “Jazz Time with Steve Williams” on 88.3 KCPW.

Here is the cover of his new biography which is off to the printers. I’m excited to see the finished copies, both in paperback and hard cover.

And here are some of the studio portraits I did of Joe some years ago. I love each of these images still today.

It was a great honor to be a part of this event and to be able to help in so many different ways. I’m grateful for the friendships both old and new that surrounded this event.

And if you need some great portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.

Jared and Paige’s Full Wedding Album, Event Held at Hub 801 Events in Ogden Utah

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve had so many fun shoots to share, I’ve been wanting to share this wedding album design for a while. So as February comes to an end and warmer weather starts coming in, it begins to feel more like spring – and that means that couples are getting engaged. So it’s a great time for me to share this wonderful wedding and album design from Jared and Paige’s wedding, held in Ogden Utah at the Hub 801 Events Center.

You may have seen some of their early sneak peek images. But now, here is their entire design, in a movie/slideshow format. This is best viewed large, full screen and in HD (if your internet connection allows).

There is so much more that can’t fit in an album, and I actually make a larger video slideshow for my wedding couples that show the full wedding story, showing all the other images. I won’t share it here because those shows are very long. To balance size and cost, wedding albums highlight the the most impactful images from a couple’s wedding day story, with the images being as large as possible so that they can be seen and enjoyed.

One of the hardest parts of a wedding is cutting the images down to the best of the best for the album. if I included everything I loved, the albums would be very large and expensive. But the good news is that I include digitals of all the other great images that don’t make it in the physical album. Here is one such set of images, a series of me doing a warm-up routine with the kids using my little stuffed bunny. I do this so that the kids aren’t scared or worried about me later when it comes time to photograph them. That way when it comes time to photograph them, I can just interact with them and get real expressions that are truly authentic and captivating.

Normally I don’t get pictures of me doing warm ups like this, but there happened to be a mirror opposite me. With my light already set up, I was able to get a few shots off-hand of this little girl climbing up on the couch and suggesting that we “put our heads together” and cooperate to keep my bunny from falling off my head.

And here are some of the wedding album page designs fro the album. First, opening the book with a great, romantic image that establishes the location of the wedding.

Here are some of the wonderful moments from the wedding ceremony.

I always love to get some updated family photographs of both sides of the family.
And of course the creative and romantic couple portraits. We did a variety of indoor and outdoor photographs, even using the city’s setting sun in some images.

And the album closes with them running off and driving away.These are just some of the wedding album spreads, so to see the entire design, watch the movie above.

Jared and Paige’s album was delivered in a beautiful box and case that utilizes a clear, magnetic top. It’s great for display, but also protects the album when it’s not in use.

If you’re getting married and would like to talk more about weddings, prices, and options, please give me a call. I’d love to show you more and hear what you love and are looking for in wedding photography. 801-728-3317

And feel free to check out my main website at BryCox.com as well as my blog here that shows tons of past weddings.

And until next time, America.