Utah

Brittney’s Outdoor Winter Bridal Portraits in Utah Desert

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

This weekend I’m photographing Brittney’s wedding here in Utah. So it’s a great time to share some of her bridal portraits that we did right here near my studio, outside in the Utah desert. We had a cold winter day which gave us some wonderful clouds to work with. I always love a dramatic sky because with the right lighting, I can make the sky pop and accentuate the bride.

She has a gorgeous dress that fits her perfectly. And the textures of her dress mixed with the rocky desert made for a wonderful combination.

Yellow is one of her favorite colors, so these roses were very apropos and added a nice color pop to these winter images.

As we were ending the shoot, more clouds rolled in and the sky loomed with a wonderful deep blue. This was a great way to end with a mix of color and b&w images.

And finally, here’s a trio showing off the details of her dress, lace, and ring. 

If you’re getting married, it’s a great time to book your time here at Bry Cox Studio. I’d love to create something wonderful for you. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Impromptu Photo Shoot of Gabrielle

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Gabrielle is a writer for the company Fstoppers, and I met her while I was speaking at the big national photography convention ImagingUSA. This year the convention was just held in Nashville, and it’s unusual for it to snow there. But right after I finished speaking, we were hit with a gorgeous snow storm. And having met Gabi with her fun style and her purple hair, she seemed perfect for an impromptu photo shoot out in the cold snowy night.

Because I was there to speak and not take portraits, I didn’t have my typical professional load out of gear. But as I teach photographers at my workshops, great photography is about knowledge, not gear. We should be able to create great images with any gear, if we know what we’re doing. So using my small travel camera (that I refer to as my “toy camera”) along with a basic light and umbrella that I had with me, I was still able to control my lighting angles and create some great images. See what you think.

Though I had in mind color images in the snow, some of the images really popped as black and white. I really love how these look.

Also, the air was too frigid to work for too long outside. My fingers quickly stopped working and went numb as I tried to control the dials on my camera. So we went in and finished up our shoot using the indoor garden atrium of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The plants and leaves were the perfect backdrop for Gabi. 

And while in the atrium, we used one more backdrop – the walls of the indoor shops. It gave us the look of being off on location while actually being inside and warm. 

There’s a lot of personality in these images and I really love how they turned out. It would have been fun if Gabi and I had done a full shoot with various changes of outfits and location. Perhaps at another event sometime.

And if you’d like some fun and updated photographs whether they be for business or for fun, now is a great time to get them done. Here in Utah, snow outdoor locations are easier and warmer than in Nashville. Plus I have an indoor studio for other options as well. Give me a call at 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Gorgeous Family Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

For Christmas I delivered this beautiful family portrait. They have been a joy to work with and I have loved working on this order. Each time I see all these children and their beautiful faces, I feel my heart swell. The final canvas looked vivid and stunning, especially because they ordered it as a larger 50-inch canvas with an outside frame that made the colors pop. And it looked wonderful in their home.

This family lives not too far from my Utah studio, and we created this at their home in their yard. It was the perfect location and provided a very meaningful background for their heirloom portrait.

Just before packing my SUV to deliver the order, I recorded this video because I had to show it off. See what you think…

And when I photograph big families, we also take time to photograph the smaller, individual families. Here are some of those images. And look at how adorable each little child is in each family grouping. And notice too how the lighting creates a clean and vivid image of everyone. The images are sharp, detailed, and they looked fabulous printed up larger.

I know these will be beloved heirlooms to each of these families for many years to come, especially as these children grow and change. I’m grateful that this family called me to create these, and I’d love to create something special for you too. Now is a great time to do some wonderful family portraits. Give me a call and let’s talk about your dream portrait. 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Merry Christmas from Utah!

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It’s a white Christmas here in Utah. And last night I dreamed that I flew my drone around and edited a short video showing the white Christmas and all the snow. I woke up and realized that was a fun idea, so I did just that.

And one of my favorite parts is the shot over the church showing all the donuts in the parking lot. It means people on their way to see family had to stop and drive some donuts and enjoy the snow before continuing down the road. Merry Christmas everyone!

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

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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)

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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.

Abbie’s High School Senior Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

It’s high school senior portrait season, and I wanted to share Abbie’s gorgeous shoot. Seniors appreciate and love my extra creative shoots that show their personality, and that’s why I love taking their artwork even further by creating pieces like this multi-image collage.

I individually photographed Abbie, her scoreboard, even the “D” in the grass at the Davis High Field. I then created dust for the background and put this all together digitally, creating custom shadows and other effects to make it all come together perfectly. These custom art pieces are great on the wall.

Here’s a short video showing behind the scenes of the entire shoot. Notice how nothing is haphazard. The lighting, the angles, the details – they’re all measured and carefully controlled for the best possible photographs.

Here’s a shot video showing Abbie’s album and collage.

Abbie’s wall collage is stunning with this mix of wonderful images, all showing different parts of her personality.

These action shots on her field really add to her album design and collage. These deep blue skies, wonderful skin tones, are all created on the spot with custom lighting that also make her eyes pop.

The dramatic lighting and angles in these make them look straight out of a magazine or national ad campaign.

Adding a mix of studio images is not only a great look that adds variety to the album designs, but these images also allow for custom art pieces like this below.

 

And here at the studio location, we have a half acre of gardens specifically designed for outdoor shoots. These layers of green are unusual for Utah, and can’t be duplicated in images anywhere near here. It’s the perfect location for creative fashion shoots like high school senior sessions.

If you’re a high school senior, now is the best time to get in for a shoot for both weather and pricing options. Give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to talk more about your dream portraits and to set up an appointment.

And until next time, America.

 

Amanda & Brant’s Family Portraits

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

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.

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.