photos

Model Portraits from Teaching at ‘Texas School’ Photographic Workshop – Part 1

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Once a year I speak at this big event for photographers called Texas School. It’s where photographers from all over the US and abroad fly in to Texas to train and learn for an entire week. It’s always one of my favorite events, and part of my teaching style is to give photographers personal challenges using custom lighting while shooting models to see how they do.

And while I’m teaching and demoing or showing various methods and procedures, I often need to photograph the models myself for a few minutes. Here are some of those images, starting with a portable studio setup and this gal in her red dress. I really like these three images individually, but also think that together they would make a great trio design too. The deep blue background really makes her eyes and dress pop.

This next young lady was a twin, and I did some images of both sisters individually and some together. But here are two of her alone, shooting with a high school senior style.

And here are these two twin sisters together, showing how much they look alike.

We had some fun with this next model, including doing some creative artwork on the backgrounds.

This next lady with the pretty eyes is a professional dancer as you may be able to tell from her natural posing. And she is also the sister of a model I photographed the year before. I thought her dress and colors were very pretty and turned out really nice on this deep blue background.

 

And finally for this model, we walked around the hotel to find locations and backdrops that would be interesting, lighting her with mobile equipment. Putting her against this green vegetation really made her red hair and dress stand out.

And we closed with some of her sitting on the hotel bar, mixing artificial light with room light to both make her stand out while also getting these bar lights to glow.

There’s a lot more I could show from this event, especially images that I shot on the run on location with some cool vehicles. I’ll pull some favorites and post some of them soon. But in the meantime, if you’re a photographer and would like to get more training on lighting and photography, check out my training site where I not only have online training videos, but a schedule where you can come to a live workshop. My training site is BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

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.

Ryan Shupe Live Concert at Sandy Amphitheater, June 2018

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Ryan Shupe just had his big outdoor summer concert here in Utah at the Sandy Amphitheater, and I was there again to photograph the event for him. His band, ‘Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand‘ puts on a great live show. The mix of great music, the cool night breeze, friends, laughter, and smell of popcorn and hotdogs from the concessions all come together for a wonderful night.

These images I shoot get used for his promotional materials, website, and even for album designs. The images I shot last year for him have been used entirely for his brand new album design, Live Volume II.

I hope you can feel the energy from the live show, just by viewing these images.

For one song, Ryan had me shoot some iPhone video for his Facebook live which included a wedding proposal at the end of the song. But during the song he has tons of children from the crowd come up and sing on stage with him.

Here’s the video. It starts with a few seconds of my face resetting the app, because the Facebook app crashed as soon as the song started.

And as the night gets later, the stage lights grow and you can see the energy on stage grow as they start rockin’ even more.

If you have a band or business or need some great commercial images to showcase what you do, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create some great images for you as well.

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.

Summer Family & Missionary Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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.

Rebecca’s Bridal Portraits at the Utah State Capitol Building (With Bonus Churros)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I’m photographing Rebecca’s wedding at the Salt Lake Temple, and we’ll have some of these gorgeous bridal portraits on display at her reception. I love these and am excited to share them with you. We created them at the Utah State Capitol Building on a stormy spring day. Stormy days are especially fun because with the right custom lighting, I can bring out the dramatic skies in the background.

Rebecca is a beautiful and incredibly photogenic bride, and we had so many favorites from this shoot. These are just some of my favorites from the many that we loved.

Her dress and all the details are gorgeous. To show it off, here’s a fun set of dancing images that I think work well as a framed trio.

And here’s another beautiful dancing image, showing off her dress.

I love incorporating details about people into photo shoots. Rebecca is a reader and this is one of her favorite books. Not only does the red in the book highlight her lipstick, but having the book in these photos adds an extra element of interest and personality.

To finish the shoot, she changed into some comfy snow shoes and we got this trio.

When we were all finished and walking back to the car, we passed my friend Scott who had a mobile churro stand there, San Diablo Churros. He was the caterer for a wedding reception outside the Capitol, and invited us over for some of his churros. We could smell them as we were finishing our shoot nearby, and it was a blast to end the shoot with some of his yummy churros.

My photographer friend from Portland, Bryan Welsh can be seen in this image too because he had just flown in to town. He was there because he and I did a a one-day intensive workshop for photographers a couple days later. It was fun having him come along on the bridal shoot with me and I’m glad he made it in this picture too.

If you’re getting married and would love some incredible portraits, like bridals, engagements, wedding day, or any combination of those, give me a call, 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Carly’s Gorgeous Mountain Engagement Portraits at Tibble Fork

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Carly and her fiancé are somewhat new to Utah, and love the beautiful mountain ranges that are so close to civilization. For her engagements, she wanted a canyon with a view, so we shot at Tibble Fork. I love this area because you can see the back side of Mount Timpanogas in the background which has an elevation near 12,000 feet. The air is so clear and fresh in these canyons, and we started our shoot as the sun was setting. For the first set of photographs, I used Mount Timp as our backdrop, framed by the diagonals of American Fork Canyon.

I created a trio design based on these first set of images because they looked so great together as a set.

And with some easy, short walks we were able to get a variety of mountainous backgrounds for Carly. Here we used the trees to frame them, creating a vivid green background.

Or showing the water as the sun was setting, framed in by vertical tree trunks.

And as the sun set, the cool canyon air mixed with the water and turned a gorgeous misty blue in the distance. That lone tree in the background made for a great balance point for this set of romantic images.

And notice that no matter the time of day or angle to the sun, this couple always looks gorgeous and their backgrounds look gorgeous. Utilizing master lighting techniques means that they have great skin tones, eyes that pop, and the background is vivid and real.

Sadly, other photographers may use great locations too, but because they use “natural light” (which is haphazard), their photos turn out with blotchy skin, dark eyes, and their backgrounds and faces are often washed out (a modern trick to save poorly shot images). This is sad because photography is the one thing we keep from our wedding for our entire lives.

Hopefully you can see the difference. I work to create true heirloom quality photographs that your kids will fight over once we’re all dead. And the secret starts with great lighting, mixed with great chemistry and body language, to create a shoot with tons of wonderful images to choose from.

Before we left, we did a casual clothes change to get more images with their cute dog. This was one of my favorites. They look great, the dog is perked up and happy, the lines and colors of the background are awesome, and the mist is peaking through the trees creating even more dimension so that it feels like you’re there in the canyon.

Finally, I took some of my favorites to create this 9-up collage. I love the variety and personality in this design.

And of course at sunset I couldn’t help but shoot one photo of Mount Timpanogas off in the distance, lit by the setting sun. I love the mix of warm and cool colors in this.

If you’re getting married, give me a call. Let’s talk about creating some gorgeous photographs for you, 801-728-3317. We can do engagements (like this shoot), bridals, the wedding day, or any combination.

And until next time, America.

Concert Video and Photos for Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand Concert, Sandy Amphitheater June 2017

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

For more years than I can remember, warm weather here in Utah is marked by photographing outdoor concerts for Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand. They are always beautiful summer nights under the stars, soaking in great music. Just recently I shot Ryan’s big Utah show at the Sandy Amphitheater doing both video production and shooting photographs for the band’s promotional needs.

First, the promo video of Ryan just solo playing fiddle, mandolin, and singing along with a looper pedal. This was a huge project, shot with about 6 cameras, and included a ton of grading and editing to cut it all together with the right feel and storytelling. If you look closely, you can see me because one of my cameras catches me on stage at the very beginning and end of the video. Here’s the video. See what you think.

Bands are like any other business, they need great photos for advertising and promotion. Photographs are your storefront. People often say that a website is your storefront, because clients see that first and make buying decisions based on your site. But the truth is that your website is only as good as the photographs on it. Poor photographs – poor website. Great photographs – great website. Photos tell the story of your business, who you are, the show quality of what you’re offering.

Lighting is everything in a photo, and concerts are especially difficult with the constantly changing stage lighting. The values, intensity, and colors are constantly changing and the musicians are always on the move. There’s no redos. And that’s exactly why I love photographing concerts They’re an exhilarating creative challenge and I know that no one else can capture or get what I get. Hopefully when you see these images, it feels like you’re right there.

If your band or business needs some great photography to better showcase your brand, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you.

And until next time, America.

Gorgeous Drone Video & Photos of the Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve got so many great photos and shoots to share here on my blog. I photograph people of course, focusing on custom portraits that capture emotion and are extremely well lit. But sometimes I also like to photograph abstract shapes and the natural beauty of the world.

I live near the edge of the Great Salt Lake which gives me a variety of beautiful terrain in all directions. My studio location is in a forest of tall green trees, but a few miles away I’ve got salt flats, open desert space, waterfowl and wetland areas, and large open fields and marsh areas too. Twenty minutes away to the east and I’ve got tall mountains and rugged canyons. Heading south there’s all the gorgeous red rock often used in movie locations. And heading north (as we did with friends here) we can explore the north end of the lake, which is a mix of alkaline flats and shallow shores of the Great Salt Lake.

So at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, a small group of friends of mine all went out to the Spiral Jetty. Some wanted to float in the extra high salinity of the northern end where the water is so dense, you can’t sink. Others wanted a fun excuse to enjoy the desert and great weather. I personally loved the idea of getting away from civilization, enjoying the beautiful air and open country, and I really wanted to fly over the area with my drone to photograph the colors and shapes from above.

Play this video above in full screen and in HD to see the gorgeous clarity. I especially love the moving water ripples, and the moving cloud shadows over top of all the wonderful and abstract shapes and colors. I also like the mix of very high shots (300-400 feet up) with video from very low, flying right over the water and photographing the reflections of the sky and clouds. And the music really makes this work, thanks to MusicByElise.com.

And here are some of my favorite photographs. If you look closely in this first one, you can see me standing at the very top of the spiral. I’ve got a colored landing pad (to protect the drone’s tiny parts from flying dust). You can see that pad as a small speck of color in the otherwise blue/gray dirt and rocks.

Here’s a photograph of some of my friends, out wading in the water. All of the alkaline and salt deposits create beautiful and abstract shapes that are best seen from above. I especially love the blue shapes in the bottom left corner juxtaposed with the warm colors, with a hint of blue sun reflecting in the top right corner.

More abstract colors and shapes.

Here is flying really low over the water. I love seeing the mix of mud and reflections in the water, along with the mountains in the distance.

Here are a couple long shots showing the distant mountain ranges that surround the Great Salt Lake, along with the mix of sand, water, and colors.

And closing the shoot with a drone-selfie before packing up our gear and heading to a favorite steak restaurant in the area.

It was a great day with friends to enjoy the open space of Utah in the warm spring weather.

If you need some drone photography or video for your business, give me a call, 801-728-3317. There are some legal requirements for shooting drone photos and video commercially, which people may not understand. However my dad is a long-time private pilot with the FAA, so with him on site for the shoot, we are good to go and can get some fantastic footage for you. Unique and artistic perspectives are always needed to stand out. And my artistic background in lighting and composition, mixed with the unique perspectives of a commercially flown drone means I can give you that and more.

And until next time, America.

Amber’s Spring Engagement Shoot, Outdoor & Studio

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’ve been really excited to share the engagement shoot of these two. They are great together and make a wonderful couple. A few weeks ago in early spring we did this incredible shoot for their engagements. We did a mix of studio and outdoor portraits. And later I’ll have to share images from their wedding reception this weekend at the beautiful Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club because it was all just magical. But first, we need to see these from their engagement shoot.

This first photograph was one of the top favorites, and part of their wedding invitation design.

And this painting was finished as a canvas for their reception display, and will go above their fireplace in their home. 

I love these paintings. You really have to see them in person to see how wonderful they are. But here’s a shot of it displayed at their Utah wedding reception.

I love these outdoor photos. The gorgeous colors and dramatic sky really pop with master lighting techniques on location. And you can see how great these two are together. Their expressions say it all.

This next image with mixed lighting creating the dynamic shadow lines, was one of the top picks and part of the invitation design. 

And here are few more favorites from the studio, with a change of clothes and lighting styles for more variety.

This trio was one of my favorite things from the shoot. 

I hope you can see how great these two are together. I’m honored to have been a part of their wedding and wish them decades of future happiness together. And don’t worry, I will for sure post some of their wedding reception images too. You’ll want to see them, but I do have a bunch of other fun shoots that I want to share with you first.

In the meantime, if you’re getting married there is no better wedding investment than your photographs. Of all the things you spend on, well-made photographs are the only thing you keep after the wedding. So give me a call and let’s talk about creating your dream portraits, 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Creativity and Fashion Shoots in Texas (Part 2)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Here’s some more images I shot while teaching creativity and fashion for a week in Texas at the biggest photography event of it’s kind. I specifically teach photographers how to connect with people to pull out genuine emotion, while at the same time nailing lighting and everything else technical. That way when you start adding complexity (like movement under studio lights), you create some uniquely magical photographs.

And this cute model with the red hair was terrific to demo these principles because she followed directions and moved instinctively well. And her personality worked well under the studio lights so I was able to push the creative bounds and shoot a lot of movement with her. I love all of these with her hair in motion.

And she really jumped well in high heels. At first I wanted her to jump barefooted because I worried about her landing and getting hurt. But she insisted that she could jump in high heels and they make these photographs even better. She had great positioning in the air, and photographers should note that even when jumping, the lighting is still perfect on her face and waist.

My shoot with her was very quick because I wanted other photographers to try what I was teaching. I’d do a quick demo with her then allow everyone else to shoot. But even in our short demo shoots, we created a huge variety of photographs. This set of mid-lengths on blue really show personality and make her eyes pop.

If you’re a high school senior, a model, or otherwise need some creative images that grab attention, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’re a photographer wanting more training in lighting, creativity, or technique, visit my training site at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com. I have live seminars around the country and lots of online courses as well.

And until next time, America.

Creativity and Fashion Shoots in Texas (Part 1)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I’m excited to share these photographs that I created while teaching my big week-long intensive photographic workshop in Texas. It’s the biggest and best event of its kind where 1000+ photographers from around the world come in to learn in small groups for an entire week with one instructor. As one of those instructors, my class is specifically on creativity, fashion, and adding emotion to an image – while at the same time nailing everything in camera. That means everything is measured and angled perfectly so exposure and color temperature are perfect, and skin, eyes, and body shapes look great before any retouching.

This first set of images in this post is not a Photoshop effect, but rather one exposure with a series of extremely quick flash bursts. This model was wonderful and moved like a dancer so I was able to describe how I wanted her to move during the shot, and she was able to hit her mark over and over. So each photograph is a series of multiple exposures all in one shot.

I love the blending of images showing movement, and how her red hair pops against this beautiful blue background. All my equipment was provided by my friend Melanie and her family at Arlington Camera. They were able to set me up with exactly the equipment I needed to create a full studio at the hotel. And I broke that gear into multiple studio bays to let photographers try the techniques I was showing.

Here is a short iPhone video showing me in action creating these images. This video was shot by my one of my equipment wranglers and helpers, Lisa Crayford. I took the raw footage and added the photos I shot to the end. Notice how I’m locking my body in to be my own tripod during the long exposure, and looking out over the camera to make sure I shoot and catch exactly what I want.

If you need some creative images that grab attention, give me a call at 801-728-3317. And if you’re a photographer wanting more training, visit my training site at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

And until next time, America.