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

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)

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

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.

Modeling and Senior Portraits of Summer in Texas

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.

Paris Modeling in Texas

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.

Bry Cox Interviewed and Featured in Professional Photographer Magazine

I’m honored to announce that I’m featured in this month’s Professional Photographer Magazine. The author wrote a very positive 4 page article that I hope is helpful to photographers all over America.

The magazine wanted to dig into some of the content that I’ll be sharing in January at the big photography national convention called ImagingUSA, which will be hosted in Nashville. Over 10,000 photographers will come from all over the country, with people even traveling in from various countries too. It’s a big event with a huge tradeshows and wonderful line up of speakers.

I’ve given programs at this convention many times over the years. Sometimes I’ve been asked to speak on lighting, other times on retouching and digital workflow where my programs are sponsored by Adobe.

This time I’ve been asked to speak on the business of portrait photography, and this 4-page magazine interview and article is a precursor to that program. It hopefully will give photographers great information to help them in their businesses, whether they are able to come to my program or not. However for those that do attend, this article will give them a head start and help them get even more out of my program and all the info I’ll be sharing.

If you’re a photographer looking for more training, visit my training site at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com, and I hope to see you in my program at ImagingUSA.

And until next time, America.

New 11th Gold Bar Degree Awarded to Bry Cox

I’m happy to announced that I was awarded my 11th ‘Gold Bar,’ which is the equivalent of earning my Master or Craftsman degrees eleven additional times. Less than 1% of professional photographers are Certified, and even fewer have all three credentials, Master, Craftsman, and Certification.

For those unfamiliar, photographers wear their credentials to conventions. It’s a quick way to recognize someone’s rank and level of service to the industry, and it also encourages others to earn their credentials. The yellow ribbon and Master medallion is for the Master degree, blue ribbon and medallion is for Craftsman. Someone who earns both gets a yellow/blue combo ribbon. And every time you earn one of of those again, you gain a gold bar.

Each degree represents many years of continual learning, competitions, and service. Additionally, some of the pins show I’ve been Certified for over 10 years, a PPA member for over 15 years, and the triangle pins are ‘National Photographer of the Year’ award for Bronze and Silver levels. I also have two pins for speaking at big events in China, PPA China many years ago, and Photo Plus about a year ago.

Master of Photography (M.Photog.)
Awarded for superior photographic skills—demonstrated through the PPA International Photographic Competition, advanced education and service to the industry.

Photographic Craftsman (Cr.Photog.)
Awarded for service as an orator, author or mentor. This degree shows a photographer has gone beyond the creation of images, dedicating time to move the industry forward and encourage education.

Certified Professional Photographer (CPP)
Assures a photographer’s knowledge, experience and continuance to develop new skills and techniques. It is a declaration of professional competence and quality assurance because certification is a credential consumers and businesses understand.

If you’re a photographer wanting to continually enhance your knowledge while working towards earning your credentials like Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and/or getting Certified, you should absolutely join PPA. Part of being a degree holder is teaching, so also check out my live workshops as well as online training videos and resources at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com to help speed up your learning process.

And if you’re someone looking to hire a great photographer, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to hear from you.

And until next time, America.

Bry Cox on Faces of PPA

It’s an honor to be featured this week in the ‘Faces of PPA‘ gallery. It showcases photographers from all over.

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As part of the process, they ask some questions, and then they pick through your answers for a few bubbles to go over your image. It was fun project and I appreciate being a member of PPA. It has helped me immensely, and it was nice to reminisce about times and places and where my career has taken me, particularly when it comes to my partnership with the PPA (Professional Photographers of America).

I specifically shot this image (Artist of Light) for use in the PPA magazine as well as for my tutorial lighting DVD for photographers, which is why I shot it vertical. I wanted an image that said I was an artist of light, and the thought came to me to be lighting myself. I could imagine the entire image down to the details, including the location, the time of night, the different colored lights, etc. It took a bit to load that gear out there, but I really love how the image turned out.

I would like to thank the PPA for this, and would like to remind any photographers out there to come to the national convention coming up during the first part of February in Nashville. I’ll be speaking there so be sure to come see. Here’s a quick video about that.

And until next time, America.

My “Isle of Light” Lighthouse Image Featured in Professional Photographer Magazine, April 2014 Issue

My lighthouse image Isle of Light, is featured in this month’s Professional Photographer Magazine. The magazine features a few images that did well at national competition, and shares the story of how those images were made.

Here is how it looks in the magazine.

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I created this image while speaking on the East Coast after getting bumped from a flight. It was also selected to be in the PPA Loan Collection Book after scoring well at nationals.

This image is available on my art site in various sizes and finishes, if you’d like it for your home or business entry.

Professional Photographer Magazine is a publication that goes out to all professional photographers throughout the US as well as other parts of the world. If you’re photographer, you’ll find this on page 20. Here is the double-page spread.

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It’s always an honor to be asked to be in this magazine, and this image is one of my top favorite lighthouse images I’ve created too. I’m glad they love and appreciate it and wanted to showcase it.

Until next time, America.

I Am a PPA Elite Member

Just before the national convention, I found out that I was now a “PPA Elite Member.” This is quite an honor and I’m glad to be a part of this elite group of photographers. The PPA for those who don’t know is the Professional Photographers of America. Being an Elite member is something that is brand new and brings some very tough requirements.

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The requirements for being an Elite member are:

  • Certified Professional Photographer in good standing
  • Hold a Master of Photography degree
  • Four for four on images from a single case from previous year’s IPC (Bronze or Silver IPC medalist)
  • Two non-photographic merits earned during the previous year
Here's how my PPA Credentials page looks now: Master, Craftsman, Certified, Elite.
Here’s how my PPA Credentials page looks now: Master, Craftsman, Certified, Elite.

I will not stop being a Master or a Certified photographer, and I certainly earn plenty of merits each year through service. So to keep this status I must hang all four images I submit each year, which is tougher than it sounds. I’ve done it the last couple years straight, as well as on and off over the years too, sometimes missing it by one. It’s always been a personal goal, but has never been easy to do. Having this recognition is nice and gives me another reason to do it each year.

I appreciate the PPA for starting this program that shows extra appreciation to photographers who have gone above the expected norm of professionals. It makes me want to strive even harder to say an Elite member.

Until next time, America.

Ryan Shupe’s Outdoor Family Portraits

Warm weather is coming and people are calling and thinking about outdoor family portraits. And though I can photograph families inside at any time of year, the subject of talking about families made me want to post family portraits that I didn’t get a change to post during the crazy Christmas rush.

Today’s posting is Ryan Shupe’s family. We did this grouping in the mountains near his home. With any outdoor group portrait, I pack in and set up a lot of gear and lighting equipment so that each subject is lit perfectly.

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There is a push caused by new photographers to use “natural” light, but what that really means is haphazard lighting without any control. The truth is that controlled lighting should look natural, help create depth, and make people look amazing.

So after the standing group, I did a close sitting grouping. I always like to do a few different groupings of families so that people have choices. They really loved this close, black and white one.

Cox_RShupe-F-177And of course, some cute pics of the children. I was able to get all the children looking at me and smiling except the tiny baby. But she still looks cute and the overall image has a lot of personality.

 

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Then we did some images of just the boys. And though I had other options from this grouping, their favorite was the one with the smallest boy laughing and falling down.

Cox_RShupe-F-274And one of just the girls…

 

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Then just the little boys…Cox_RShupe-F-248

 

…and just the little girls. I got a great smile on the baby in this image.

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And then some individual of each child. These are great for wall groupings or album pages. You’ll notice a lot of personality in each child’s portraits and looking back on these in years to come will make them even more valuable.

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Family portraits are always a joy to create, and I’m always honored to be able to create them. I feel they are really invaluable in years to come and that’s it’s important that they are done just right.

Give me a call to set up your appointment. 801-728-3317

Until next time, America.

 

 

Bry Cox Interviewed and Featured in Professional Photographer Magazine, October 2012 Issue

I was interviewed by Professional Photographer Magazine, a publication that goes out to all professional photographers throughout the US as well as other parts of the world as well. That interview is now out in the current October 2012 issue.

This is the cover (image is not by me), and below are some screen shots of my article where all the images are mine.

The article is humorously titled, “The Anti-Specialist” because where most photographers need to focus on one niche or another to succeed, my particular specialty has been to focus on exquisite lighting and emotion. I mix technical proficiency with a unique style of creativity to develop images that tell a story of the person being photographed, and hopefully makes the viewer feel like they know the person. It’s a uncommon approach that allows me to photograph a mix of genres well, like families, children, weddings, and even celebrities and VIPs.

For the opening spread, the magazine chose my images of Linda Rondstadt and Olympic Gold-Medalist, Rulon Gardner.

The last image used, is of 90 year old sax player, Joe McQueen. Interestingly, this is the second time this magazine has asked to use this image. I can see why as it really is one of my favorite portraits. It shows dramatically what exquisite lighting and emotion can do to make an image unique and inviting.

I really appreciate and feel honored to have been interviewed for the magazine, and I love the direction they took with the article. I hope other professional photographers find it interesting and helpful.

Well, until next time, America. 🙂