salt lake

Early Favorite Sneak Peek Photos from Jannette’s Wedding at Log Haven

I recently photographed a beautiful wedding at Log Haven up Millcreek canyon, just above Salt Lake City, Utah. The location was the perfect spot to create these gorgeous images, and I’m excited to share some early favorites with you. I’ve almost got Jannette’s wedding album finished, but until then, I wanted to share some early sneak peek favorites from her wedding because these are absolutely stunning!

Before the ceremony where the groom saw the bride, we did some portraits of just the bride and her bridal party. Here’s one of my favorites of her, standing beautifully with the waterfall behind her.

Many photographers talk about “natural light,” but that approach gives people dark eyes, muddy skin, and a washed out background. Compare that to these stunning images of this bride using my custom lighting style that sculpts her and makes her skin and eyes pop, while at the same time making the background into this deep, luscious green – even though she’s standing in broad daylight. I love these!

And children make weddings extra fun for me. These two little kids were the flower girl and ring bearer. Here they’re showing me their pedal and ring boxes before the ceremony starts.

I’ll share Jannette’s final album design when it’s finished being printed so that you can see the ceremony. But right now I want to share some of these alone portraits with the bride and groom. After the ceremony I took them around for a few minutes to get these beautiful images.

After dinner, people danced under the deep blue of the mountain sky.

One of my favorite images from the night, this little boy was sad because no one was dancing with him. He went off and sat sadly on some steps. I followed him, talked to him about why he was sad, and then got this cute photograph of him, head in his hand.

But very quickly a group of kids came and got him and brought him back to the dance party to dance with him.

And here’s one of my favorites from the end of the night, showing the dancing and reception party.

I can’t wait for you to see Jannette’s entire wedding album. Every page is amazing.

If you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you for your wedding.

And until next time, America.

Cute Little 2-Year-Old Twins

I had the joy of photographing these cute little 2-year old twins for their birthday portraits. They were so fun and expressive, that they had me laughing the entire time.

Before shooting outside, we started off in the studio on a clean white, to show off their fun, colorful, number-2 shirts. I have things that I do to get little kids to relax and open up with me, giving me great expressions. Right from the beginning, this little boy opened up and saw me as his buddy. But the little girl was a bit more apprehensive. She brought her favorite monkey, and held on to him for the first part of the shoot and started off with some cute scowls.

Before long though, they were both doing great and we got some wonderful smiles from both of them.

One of the games I play is to “get their toes.” In this photo, she’s poking her feet out to show me her toes because she wants me to get them again. It’s a good sign and shows she’s happy, open, and having a good time.

Then a change of clothes and a wonderful, somber expression from both of them. I love these outfits, and love how each one is standing. Their body language is perfect.

But then their moods swapped. She was happy and open, but he started to crash and cry. For comfort, he’s holding a toy car in one hand, and food in the other. And this little girl is calm with her monkey.

And then back to some fun expressions out of both of them again.

But when he started to lose it again, calling his aunt on the phone helped him settle down. And I love her expression, watching her brother.

Sitting down in the chair, she comforts him with an arm around him.

Using these favorites from the studio white, I designed up this 9-up portrait collage, ready for the wall in their home. It’ll be finished and framed, setting these images off.

Then stepping outside into my studio gardens for a change of scenery, we got this wonderful little kiss! They’re each turned perfectly so you can see both of them, neither one covering up the other. And I love their bare feet.

We also did some individual portraits of each of them. Here, she poses against a tree with her head cocked as the wind blows her dress.

And he stands in a nice, squared-off masculine pose, watching what I’m doing, a little worried and ready to be done.

These three images worked really well in this wall trio design.

Little kids grow so fast, and memories seem to be as fleeting as time. I love being able to create wonderful heirloom portraits like these, and I hope their family loves these, and that these adorable children will love them too when their older and can look back on their 2nd birthday together.

I love how these turned out and had a wonderful time with these two beautiful kids.

Summer is leaving us and the window for outdoor portraits is closing. Now is a great time to bring your family or children in for some family portraits. Right here I can do indoor studio and outdoor portraits in the same place, or I can travel to special locations too. Give me a call at 801-728-3317, and let’s create something beautiful for you and your home.

And until next time, America.

Fundraiser Portraits With a ‘Vanity Fair Backstage’ Look

This weekend I photographed custom portraits at a fundraiser to help raise money for our friend who is re-learning to walk after Lyme disease. The crowd was mostly friends and people I knew, and knowing that everyone would be dressed up, I thought I’d mix that dressiness with the cool tile of the location for a magazine styled shoot.

Along with offering some silent auction photo shoots that raised $600, I also did quick photo shoots of my friends there. I utilized one studio light with a small modifier to create custom but very directional lighting for lots of moody shadows and aimed just right for no retouching. I then posed individuals in unique ways as if it were a “backstage at the Oscars Vanity Fair” type photo shoot. I also created a film look that warmed the highlights to a nice golden tone that was applied to the images on my laptop as I shot.

I had a long line all night and photographed a few hundred people, averaging 2-3 shots per person. I then picked my favorite of each person right there off my laptop. After the event, I posted the portraits on Facebook and the results have been blowing up my facebook feed, so I thought I’d share them on my blog today so you all could seem them too. Here are just some favorites.

Yes, there’s even one of me. I shot it with a remote in my hand before people arrived. I wanted to double check the lighting and look of the tile and tones before we started. I really love the variety of poses and looks with everyone. I think the shoot went great.

With so many people, this is just a few. But all of the images are up on my Facebook page, and you can see them all if you follow me there.

If you work with a Utah charity and would like to talk about package donations to raise money, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to talk more about what you’re doing and how I could donate some packages for auction, or otherwise be involved in raising money.

And until next time, America.

Kelly’s Beautiful 5 Month Old Baby (Part 2)

Here are some more favorites from this shoot with this beautiful baby girl. I shared earlier some images of her in pink, and to contrast those these are all in neutrals. I just love this little girl, her big eyes, sweet smile, and her cute little chin. We got a lot of wonderful expressions during this shoot. And those looks combined with master lighting techniques to make her eyes and soft skin pop, has produced a portrait shoot that I can’t stop staring at.

I love this smile above, but I also love this serious expression below too. The serious look shows off her features like her cheeks, little chin, big eyes, and cute mouth.

In one photo shoot we were able to get quite a variety of looks and expressions, and even different outfits and sets. The pink images are captivating and beautiful, but these images in neutrals are wonderful in their own way too. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. But I will admit to coming back and looking at this shoot again and again to see this cute face.

All of these neutral images framed in a series would look great in a nursery or hallway.

Babies change so fast and now is the best time to photograph them. And I love photographing babies. If you have a new baby and would like some wonderful and captivating portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something special for you for the holidays.

And until next time, America.

Kelly’s Beautiful 5 Month Old Baby (Part 1)

I photographed this beautiful baby yesterday, and she’s so adorable and captivating that I have to post some early favorites. I was going to share these in about a week because I have other images queued up to share, but this pretty little face has been on my mind all day, so she’s bumping the other shoots back.

Throughout the shoot she was so happy and cute, and just smiled and smiled at me. Her little face and big round eyes kept me gazing.

She came with this beautiful little pink dress so I set up this all-pink background and some custom lighting to make everything pop. I got a lot of great images in both this pink setup as well as other color schemes. I’ll for sure share some of the others soon.

I love these first three images as squares either on the wall separately as canvases, or framed together in this smaller trio design.

Finally, this one of her kicking her feet and smiling with her tongue is great as a longer stand-alone image.

I love photographing babies, so if you’d like some fantastic portraits of your little baby, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something special for you for the holidays.

And until next time, America.

Janet’s Vacation Family Portraits at Texas Lake House, Part 1

It’s family portrait season, and I wanted to share this beautiful and extensive family shoot. I was flown to Texas to photograph this wonderful family while they would all be together on vacation at a gorgeous lake house. I’ve done a lot of work for this family over the years, and I loved seeing them all again to create these wonderful art pieces.

Here’s a video showing their wall canvas and family album. It’s best viewed full screen and in HD. 🙂

Here’s a shot of Janet’s gorgeous album, black leather with a black leather briefcase to hold, carry, and protect the album.

Kids seem to grow the fastest between family portraits, and these kids were no different. All of the children had changed, and were so adorable and fun to work with. This image below was our favorite big group where everyone looked their best.

This Texas lake made for a wonderful backdrop.

And as you can see in the video, I spent time photographing each family, creating various groupings and ideas and even made some into paintings. Here are some of those.

After each family, I focused on couple and individual children’s portraits too, getting great expressions and capturing personality in each child.

When I was done with one family, they’d go off to play and enjoy their vacation, and I’d begin again with another family.

This beautiful little girl was getting baptized, so we created these images in her white dress to commemorate this time in her young life. I really love these images and her beautiful expressions and poses in them.

And finally, I created this trio of her funning to capture her youthfulness.

I’ll share more from this extensive shoot soon. But in the meantime, if you’d like some family portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s talk about your dream portrait and get something scheduled before the weather gets cold.

And until next time, America.

Cox Fall Portrait Event – Special Salt Lake & Ogden Canyon Dates

Fall is here and the leaves come and go so quickly. This year I’m doing some special dates for families in two different canyons, Salt Lake and Ogden areas. And because I’ll be shooting in the same area each day, the location fee will be drastically reduced. Plus get free Christmas cards with your wall portrait purchase too.

It’s a great time to get a wonderful location shoot in the Utah leaves. We can photograph just your kids, your family, a little of both, or even block out time for your larger extended family where I can also shoot smaller individual families too.

I make family portraits painless. I work quickly, get your kids to smile and look wonderful, and we’ll get lots of variety too so you’ll have great images to pick from.

  • Salt Lake canyon on Saturday October, 14th.
  • Ogden area canyon on Friday October 20th.

Limited time slots at each location. Call me at 801-728-3317 to schedule the best time for you.

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I specialize in emotionally powerful wall art, the best heirloom canvas portraits, paintings, and other gorgeous pieces that change the feeling in your home.

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Let’s photograph your family or kids in the beautiful Utah fall leaves, and make up some custom wall art for your home for the holidays. Call me at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Amanda & Brant’s Family Portraits

Amanda and Brant brought their beautiful baby boy to the studio for some family portraits. I love photographing children. I love playing with them, making a connection, and getting genuine smiles and laughs for their photographs.

This adorable boy woke up on picture day sick so he wasn’t his normal happy self. The family thought about postponing their shoot, but I convinced them to come anyway. Picture day always seems to be hard. Things come up, but no matter the problem, I can almost always overcome them in the shoot and get great results. Plus I know that I’m great with kids. No matter how they’re feeling, I can get them to smile and laugh long enough for great photographs.

And sure enough, when this little boy arrived, he was immediately happy. He laughed and smiled at my antics and the shoot went beautifully. In fact he smiled and laughed so much, we all couldn’t help but laugh with him. I really love this shoot.

These were all created outdoors right here in my studio gardens. I’ve designed the grounds to have layers of green, so that I’ve got lots of angles for outdoor portraits. So as another family option, I created this painting from one of the walking images. 

Here is a close up from that same painting to show more detail.

And of course we needed to get some individual portraits of this cute boy. This first one shows some size perspective so that later in life he can see how little he and his hands are in comparison to his parents.

And these are him hanging out, playing, and sitting outdoors, all with a huge, genuine smile.

These three images worked really well as a set, so we did this trio. It’s designed and framed, ready to hang on the wall.

Summer is almost over. It’s a great time to get in for some family portraits along with some of the kids. And if you don’t want to travel to distant locations, right here I can do inside or outdoors in the studio garden. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Alexis’s High School Senior Portraits

It’s the time of year for high school senior portraits, and I love photographing seniors. And that should in these images from Alexis’s shoot. She is a dancer at Davis High, and I love incorporating a senior’s personality into her images. So for Alexis, we did this collage of her in her in her Dance Company clothes to show her love of dance.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

And my high-contrast black & whites which I do for fashion shoots are always a hit with seniors, and they also work great in trio designs. Alexis has the most genuine smile in the image above, and the trio set below shows a variety of expressions and tells a mini story. BryCox_Senior_Alexis_02

One of my top-selling products for seniors has been the 9-up square collage. They are great for showing a variety of poses, outfits, and backgrounds, and they look great framed on the wall.

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Right here in my Utah photo studio, we can create a variety of images for a very fun shoot. And my signature art piece portraits are fun to shoot and a bit time-ingestive to create, but they are captivating, especially with thoughtful expressions.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox© BryCox.com, Bry Cox© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

But a genuine smile with great lighting is also really hard to beat.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

If you’re a senior, now is a great time to make your appointment for some fun and beautiful images. And we can also do some cool graduation announcements with your images. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Jessica’s Cold Wind Photo Shoot

I recently spoke for Adobe at the two big national photographic conventions, PPA in Nashville and WPPI in Vegas. The week leading up to the second convention I photographed Jessica, and used her shoot as my demo for the crowd in Vegas to teach workflow and retouching. It worked great because it was a fun photoshoot that involved some problem solving.

We had a batch of warm weather and planned something outside, but it turned out to be a very cold day in Utah instead. And because of time constraints, our first choice for a location shoot fell through and we instead met at a parking lot between us where there was no “traditionally great” place to shoot. But we set out to find something that would hide the brown, dead, winter look of Utah, and also possibly block some of the heavy and cold winter wind of the day. And with some creativity and lighting skills, I know that any background can work.

Jessica spotted this awesome bright red double-decker bus and we set up. The wind was cold and pretty heavy, I believe hitting 20 mph that day. But the wind was blocked on this far side and the sky was on a great angle from the sun to really go blue when mixed with some lighting techniques that would also knock down the harshness of the sun.

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Jessica is great in front of the camera. She’s relaxed, she moves well, and she responds perfectly to direction. I love the emotion and action between these images in this trio above. The deep colors, her hair blowing, her laugh – it all really makes this set incredibly interesting.

We also did some work on the side of the bus to put the sun behind us, but the wind was a lot stronger here so we didn’t last long. But here is one of my favorites with her hair blowing in the wind. And with the warm beautiful colors, you’d never know it was freezing cold. However, between setups, she was bundled up in coats. She was a good sport.

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We didn’t have much time left, so I thought of finishing up inside somewhere warmer. There was a nearby hotel where a friend used to be night manager, and so we walked over and asked to use their lobby for a few minutes. This is Jessica as we were walking in, wearing my down parka backwards on top of her own layers.

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We took about 20 minutes or so in the hotel’s lobby, and got a great variety of amazing images. There is a lot of expression and changes of mood in these images, and notice too how the lighting changes from shot to shot to constantly highlight her cheekbones as she moves. There were so many fun images and every one shows a different side of Jessica and I couldn’t cut any out. In fact I thought they worked great as a series so I used them all and created this square collage.

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Though my program for Adobe was on retouching techniques, the big secret is to of course do everything with lighting so that no retouching or adjustments are required. And then when you retouch, it should be subtle so that everything looks natural. That’s what really makes women look great.

But as a side note, none of the images in these collages have had any retouching or adjustments. And yet her eyes pop, her skin glows (and isn’t gray or muddy), the angles of light and the color balance are all right on so she looks great and the background colors pop – and add to that Jessica’s graceful movements and her fun personality and we have one killer shoot.

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This colors of the couch and wall worked great with her outfit so I made a trio (above) and felt this one long shot below was really interesting and captivating, so I used it as the basis for a painting.

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And here is the final painting.
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And on the way out of the lobby was a big leaf mural. I shot a few closing images by it and did some texture work to the background.BryCox_Jessica_05

Well there you go, one great shoot created on a very cold and windy day while finding new and unique places to shoot.

If you were a photographer who attended my speaking event then you can see how the collages and and other ideas all came together. If you’re a model or a high school senior and want fantastic images, now is the time to book. And if you’re a bride and want to look great no matter where your wedding is located or what the weather is like, give me a call. 801-728-3317. I know just how to make women look great, so call me and let’s talk about your dream portrait.

And until next time, America.

Tara’s Family & Graduate Portraits

My friend Tara recently received a graduate degree with honors from the University of Utah. With that big moment and also because her family was all in town, we did a mix session creating some family portraits and some graduation portraits of her as well.

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Her family was so nice and it was great getting to know them better.

After photographing the family, we focused on some individual portraits of Tara. I have photographed Tara on other occasions and I love it. She’s very photogenic but also has a great personality that really shows through and is fun to photograph. Here are some of my favorites images from the shoot.

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Cox_TDeWitt-F-198 Cox_TDeWitt-F-239I always feel it an honor to photograph families, and especially felt that way and loved having the opportunity to photograph Tara’s family at this time. I appreciate them asking me. I would also love to photograph your family as well. Give me a call if you’d like me to create something special for your family. 801-728-3317

Until next time, America.

 

Melina’s Bridals and Pre-Wedding Portraits

I had the pleasure this week to create these images of Melina for her upcoming wedding. The session was a lot of fun, and we got some incredible images. This first one is one of my favorites. I really love her profile and expression in this, and how the light shapes and sets of her dress.

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And in the same set, a relaxed and beautiful smile.

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While shooting in b&w, I also created this detail series of Melina’s dress.

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We did a series of images in the studio and outside in the studio gardens for variety, including full-lengths, mid-lengths, close-ups, and couple portraits, and with a variety of backgrounds. One of my favorite sets was on the fashion gray. I finished these with some of my custom edges.

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We mixed the bridal session with a Pre-Wedding session to include some images of the groom. These two were great together and were very photogenic. Cox_MHernandez-B-545-edge

This series is great, particularly because of Melina’s genuine expressions.

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And some of just the groom alone.Cox_MHernandez-B-530-8x10And here is one of my favorites from outside in the studio gardens. Their expressions are perfect, the leaning and relaxed pose is wonderful, and the background looks so good. Right now the outdoor studio gardens are green and looking great. It is a great time to book and shoot outside.

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This was such a fun shoot and this couple was a joy to work with. I really hope that they have a great wedding and a wonderful future together.

If you’d like some fantastic bridals or a pre-wedding session, give me a call and let’s create something wonderful. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.