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China Update #4 – Jinan 2 – Opening Ceremonies

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Published, Thoughts July 5, 2009March 24, 20252 Comments

Early the next morning I set out to photograph and document the convention center before people started to arrive, because this is the first PPA convention in China, and the very first PhotoAsia — four years in the making!

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 1 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 1

Here is the place all ready for people to arrive!

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 2 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 2

I walked out to the main gate to photograph the guard…

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 3 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 3

…as well as various landmarks that surrounded the convention center like this pavilion in the distance (above) in one direction and this statute (below) in another direction.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 4 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 4

By that time people started arriving and as I tried to get this image of me in front of the convention center.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 5 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 5

I had only a short 3 minute walk back to the hotel, but I got stuck in this location for about 45 minutes because someone recognized me and wanted a photo with me. That got other people’s attention and within moments I was mobbed by people on all sides wanting to photograph me and wanting me to sign their shirts. I have to admit, this really made me feel awesome! This is just one quick shot of the crowd at the end as I was trying to leave and get to the opening ceremonies. There were still people wanting photos with me, but I didn’t want to be late to the ceremony of which I was apart!

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 6 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 6

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 7 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 7

We had a quick welcome meeting with the VIP’s in a smaller room where flowers were pinned on us by Chinese women in traditional dress. These women then escorted us to the main hall, the location of the opening ceremonies. This photo is coming down the escalator towards the main hall. The women in the red traditional dresses are our escorts.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 8 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 8

As we approached, everyone began to take our picture. So fun!

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 9 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 9

And here is PPA President, Ron Nichols up on the stage welcoming everyone to PPA Photo Asia.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 10 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 10

Here’s me backstage with my flower pinned on, and wearing half of my second custom made Chinese suit. That is also one of the custom made dress shirts too.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 11 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 11

The opening ceremonies opened up the print exhibit. This is just half of the exhibit, and only the accepted prints. If I remember right, there were entries from over 25,000 photographers from around the world, and I won a Gold Medal! I’ll talk more on this when I talk about the awards ceremony in a later post.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 12 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 12

As you can see, all of us got mobbed for autographs and photos. Here is Ron Nichols getting tons of attention.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 13 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 13

And here is one of my photographs in the exhibit.

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 14 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 14

And I loved it when these women came up and asked to pose for a photo with me, so I made sure I got one with my camera too. 🙂

Cox - PPA Photo Asia 15 — Cox – PPA Photo Asia 15

And I loved this moment when the beautiful editor of PhotoWorld Magazine came up and asked for a photo with me. She later did a one-on-one interview too for her magazine. That was one of the highlights of the trip. She gave me a copy of a past issue and the cover photo was incredible! It is a fabulous and beautiful magazine and I felt honored to be asked to be in it.

After the opening ceremonies, I had time for a quick and fast lunch before going off to speak — the first speaker at the first PhotoAsia. I’ll have more on that in the next post!

China Update #3 – Jinan 1

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Published July 5, 2009March 24, 2025One Comment

After flying into Jinan, we had a bus waiting to take us to the convention center and hotel. The bus driver took us on the long and scenic route to the hotel because I’m guessing he was proud of his town and wanted us to see it. When we arrived at the hotel, we had plenty of people there to greet us, including our individual interpreters.

Because the convention started the next day, some areas were still getting set up.

After getting checked in, we had a traditional chinese lunch waiting for us…

After eating, David Trust (the CEO of the PPA), Ron Nichols (the President of the PPA) and I went to be interviewed by the media. There was a room full of people from newspapers, magazines, radio and TV — all asking us questions through an interpreter. It was very fun to be apart of the media interviews and to be addressed as “the Master Photographer from America!”

Afterward, the people from the press wanted to be photographed with us. Here is one photo with someone from a magaizne (below).

That night we had a formal dinner with the Governor of the region. The sign behind me reads “Welcome party for friends from far.” At the head table beneath the sign is Ron Nichols (PPA President) eating with the Governor.

It was very fun to attend such an event and I was excited to wear one of my new suits too! This is the first suit, a pin striped suit. I’m also wearing one of my custom shirts too — a polka-dot white shirt. The medals around my neck are my photographic credentials (Master / Craftsman) that are supposed to be worn at photographic events.

The dinner was really good and we were fed some very interesting foods, many of which I had never seen before. My interpreter told me that many of the foods we were given were specialties and are rarely served except at special events. He told me that it was a real honor to be given such delicacies. I’m an adventurous eater but had never seen some of the sea urchins and creatures that they had prepared for us. I ate them all and was very pleased!

After dinner, we were rushed off to see an acrobatic opera in downtown Jinan. Our host had made arrangements for us and it was absolutely spectacular!

These performers were incredible! The colors and costumes were amazing, and they did the most amazing stunts!

It was a great first day in Jinan and I felt very pampered and welcomed by my Chinese hosts! I went to bed excited for the next day!

China Update #2 – Flight & Shanghai

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops July 5, 2009March 24, 2025One Comment

Ahhh! I’m back in America! I arrived yesterday morning (the 4th of July) and am so excited to be back in a free country again where simply accessing and reading a blog is allowed! The first thing I did when I arrived, before even bringing in my luggage, was to hang up my American Flag on my front porch.

So now I can finally talk about my trip. I was unable to access my blog while in China, and have a lot of catching up to do. On the flight over, we were told stories about people being taken from flights and quarantined for having a fever or being near someone with a fever. When we landed, we were not allowed to get up out of our seats, but had to wait and be “screened” for the swine flu. Now there have only been 13 deaths in the US from the new swine flu, and there have been 13,000 deaths during the same time period from the regular flu. Nevertheless, I think this is a front of the Chinese government to make a good face to the Chinese people.

So as soon as we landed, the plane was boarded by a crew dressed in what looks like hazmat gear. We all had to sit and wait until they took everyone’s temperature with a gun that they’d shine on your forehead (pictured below). I took these images with my iPhone.

It turned out that a member of our photographic group (Sandy “Sam” Puc of Colorado) that was on another plane was taken and quarantined, not for having a fever, but for being within a certain amount of rows of someone that had a fever. After leaving the plane, guards came to her hotel and took her and her kids to an old abandoned hotel in China and kept prisoner there under guard for seven days. This hotel had brown water, mice, no beds, and they were given little to no food or toilet paper. They weren’t allowed outside contact and couldn’t receive food or anything else from the outside. A horrible situation to say the least. We were so grateful when she could finally rejoin us.

Cox - Shanghai Old Town — Cox – Shanghai Old Town

After landing in Shanghai, David Trust, the CEO of the PPA (Professional Photographers of America) took me to see his tailor. I had been awake and flying for over 24 hours, but was so excited to meet his tailor and get a suit made. We wanted to get an early start on the suit so that it could be done before we left Shanghai so that I could have it to speak in later that week.

I had a hard time narrowing down what material I liked and ended up getting THREE suits! It was so much fun! I also had four custom dress shirts made too and all of it was ready for me the next day before we left Shanghai! After being measured for a suit, we went to eat and then headed back to the hotel to get caught up on some sleep.

Cox - Shanghai Hotel 1 — Cox – Shanghai Hotel 1

This is the hotel greeter, Stephanie, that says hi when you arrive (above) and here is a pano image of my hotel room below. This place was way hip and totally loaded with amenities There was even hidden jacks at the desk were I could plug my laptop into the TV and watch movies from my laptop on the large screen. There is also a large window on the far right of this image that opens up into the very cool bathroom.

Cox - Shanghai Hotel 2 — Cox – Shanghai Hotel 2

This image below is the view from the hotel lobby. Most of the time when walking through this lobby, there was live music. When I took this image, the music was being created by this woman playing a stringed instrument.

Cox - Shanghai Hotel 3 — Cox – Shanghai Hotel 3

The next day we hung out in Shanghai and later that afternoon did a little shopping. I was looking for interesting colors, textures and faces, and here are some of the images I created that day.

Cox - Shanghai Streets 1 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 1

Cox - Shanghai Streets 2 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 2

Cox - Shanghai Streets 3 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 3

I was amazed at the poverty that was everywhere, even a stone’s throw from our fabulous and clean hotel. People were making, cooking, selling and eating food in some very dirty situations, right on the street!

Cox - Shanghai Streets 4 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 4

And as you can see from this image below, people were living in very cramped situations.

Cox - Shanghai Streets 5 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 5

I also took some very fun and very fast cab rides that were sooo cool! I’ve always wanted to drive the way these guys drove! Man! Just like a video game!

Cox - Shanghai Streets 6 — Cox – Shanghai Streets 6

The next morning we caught a Chinese domestic flight from Shanghai to Jinan, the place of the PPA PhotoAsia conference. I’ll put more on that in the next post…..

China Update #1

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Thoughts June 27, 2009March 24, 2025No Comments

Yes, I am here in China! I was the first speaker here at PPA Photo Asia, and someone pointed out that I am the first speaker at the first ever PPA Photo Asia! I feel it a great honor to be here and do such a great work.

I have many amazing photographs and info to post, but access to my blog is limited here for some reason — it seems to be blocked along with many other websites. In fact, I’m only able to add some text here using a URL cloaking site (many of which are blocked as well). Using a cloaking site has taken away the functionality of the blog and I am not as of yet able to upload photographs.

However, I speak again all day today and start in a just a little bit. So I will try and post some photos very soon.

I’m Speaking in CHINA!

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops June 16, 2009March 24, 2025One Comment

Yes, that’s right! I’ve been keeping it under wraps, but I’ve been asked to speak at the big portrait conference in China, Photo Asia 2009! It is coming up and I leave next week! I’m so honored and excited to be asked to go and look forward to the adventures I’ll be having very soon in this foreign land.

I’ve been preparing for some time, and my program has been updated to reflect the differences in culture, language, as well as allowing for translation (someone will be translating what I say as I speak). It’s been quite an effort to get the program ready and I really hope that the attendees love what I’ve prepared.

Now as the day is almost here for me to leave and fly to China, I’m getting antsy! I have so many things I want to do while I’m there, not to mention how excited I am to go to a place that is completely different. With as much traveling as I do, not too many places actually seem all that different from the next. And most foreign countries have a language that I can at least sound out or at the very least I can see a word on a sign and look it up in a dictionary to see what it says.

However, China is completely foreign to me and that gets me excited. Today I bought a travel phrase book to help me say things like “hello” and “thank you,” and also found and downloaded some iPhone apps where I can trace Chinese words and it will tell me what they say. I figure these things are needed just for me being able to get around, but also I’ve found that when I travel, that people are very kind and helpful if you can at least say “hello” and “thank you” in their language.

I’ll put more up here while I’m there (depending on the internet connection I can find), but here’s some news releases on some Chinese news sites announcing the event and exhibition:

• News.Cultural-China.com
• Sina.com

Well, I’ll keep you all posted. Stay tuned, America! 🙂

— Bry

Stephanie’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Wedding Day, Albums June 8, 2009March 24, 2025No Comments

Last week I was teaching a photographic workshop in Florida. I flew home Friday in order to photograph Stephanie’s wedding on Saturday. It was a perfect day and the weather was wonderful! The wedding was at the Salt Lake Temple in the morning and the lights and clouds were perfect!

Here are some of the preliminary images from just my first level of processing. More artwork will go into the images as they are getting prepped for the album design.

BryCox - Stephanie's Wedding 1 — BryCox – Stephanie’s Wedding 1

BryCox - Stephanie's Wedding 2 — BryCox – Stephanie’s Wedding 2

Her reception was at the Ogden Airport at the Kemp Jetway Center. It was a fabulous location for a reception. I grew up around planes and even studied as a kid to get my pilot’s license by age 14 (though I didn’t have the money for the flight hours and never got it). I love airports and therefore had a great time creating moody images using the planes and the location. Here’s one of my favorites from that location, using the runway and mountains as a background at twilight!

BryCox - Stephanie's Wedding 3 — BryCox – Stephanie’s Wedding 3

When the album is designed, I will for sure post it here. In the meantime, if you would like to see some Stephanie’s engagements, you can check them out here: (Stephanie’s Engagements). There is a wonderful painting there that you will love to see!

Thanks everyone and until next time, America!
— Bry

Moab Utah

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog May 25, 2009March 24, 2025No Comments

This weekend I went down to Moab, Utah for a bit of relaxation and to create some new art images of Southern Utah. It really stormed on the way down as well as the few days I was there which created some amazing lighting and some fabulous skies! Here’s some of the preliminary images I’ve been working on.

This first image I created on the way down there. I just loved the storm clouds and my inspiration on framing this was based on many of the paintings I’ve seen of my favorite painter…my cousin Antony Cox (AntonyCox.com).

If you look at his work, check out the paintings he did from 2000-2004 with his really low or really high horizons. I’ve always found that intriguing. So when I saw this scene, I thought of Antony’s paintings and framed it in a similar way. I also love the rain falling onto the mountains in the center and how all the lines in the clouds point to the rain. So cool!

This is one of my favorites! It is of an old church. I love the colors, the cool background and the warm foreground. Storms create amazing directional lighting that shines under the storm clouds and light up objects. I was very excited to see this and had to stop and photograph it. I love how there’s a touch of blue in the church too that ties it all in.

I’ve been a regular visitor to Moab, to visit Arches and the other National Parks looking for great images, and have rarely seen such a great sky for photography. Aside from exposing images just right, the weather is really key to great scenics in my opinion. Static images may seem amazing in real life, but pale in comparison after they are photographed.

I think all photographers have been disappointed when they’ve looked at images they tried to create of some magnificent scene — I know I have. My conclusion is that something else is needed other than a great scene, good composition, and a perfect exposure. But rather something has to make the inanimate objects seem more dynamic, and that comes from great directional light and interesting weather. These extra ingredients have to be there as well in order to add drama to the inanimate objects. That is what makes the image of the church as well as these other images so fun for me to look at — all of those elements are there!

So here are a few exposures from Arches National Park.

Again in Arches…

And here is me at Delicate Arch — one of the most famous arches!

And one of me under the arch. This particular area is usually packed with visitors because it is so famous, so people have to be creative in how you frame and cut the image to give the illusion of being there all alone.

When I narrow the images down to the final art prints, I’ll process them out separately for the best color and depth possible, and then add my unique touch of artwork to them, custom print them and offer them on my art site, BryCoxArt.com. Maybe I’ll put a post up here on the blog when they are ready.

So until next time, America!
— Bry

Brittany’s Bridals

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Wedding & Bridal Shows, Wedding Day, Albums May 22, 2009March 24, 2025One Comment

I’m very excited about Brittany’s bridal shoot. Her wedding is still to come and will be in Denver next month, but here are some of the images I’ve been working on for her that will be apart of her bridal display at the wedding.

BryCox - Brittany 1 — BryCox – Brittany 1

I love this long horizontal image — not only the lines, but her eyes too! Stunning!

BryCox - Brittany 2 — BryCox – Brittany 2

Here is a fun image using a very unique background that I adapted (not originally created for a photographic background), lit with a glamour style, and processed using one of my custom cross-color processes.

BryCox - Brittany 3 — BryCox – Brittany 3

And finally, here’s a great image that I started to light as a silhouette, but then turned her slightly for a little more powerful angle. I loved how this session went. This is just a sample of all the great images! I’m very excited to finish this order and to photograph the wedding. It’ll be a great day, Brittany!

And until next time, America!
— Bry

Laura’s Portraits

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Thoughts May 16, 2009March 24, 2025One Comment

It was really fun to photograph a good friend of mine, Laura recently. She is so beautiful and fun to photograph. Here are a couple of my favorites from the session!

This first one above really shows off her eyes and smile. It is gorgeous. And this second image below is just fun and sassy.

She hasn’t seen these yet, but I think she’ll love them! She looks great and I think her inner spirit really shows through in these images.

Until next time, America!
— Bry

Stephanie’s Engagements

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Engagements, Announcements, Thoughts, Wedding Day, Albums May 12, 2009March 24, 2025No Comments

Well I’ve been out of town a lot lately, and have gotten behind on the blog posts, but I have a lot to put and am not sure if I can get it all up before more cool shoots come along to blog about.

But for now I have to tell you how excited I am about these images from Stephanie’s engagement session. This first image is a painting that I’ve been working on. It uses a new technique I’ve been working on and utilizes some of my brand new brushes that I’ve developed for photographers.

I love the feeling of the entire image, how great the couple looks, the vibrant surreal colors, the abstract shapes in the trees and grass…. I’m very excited to get this finished and on canvas!

This next series is a nine-image composite of the couple. I love how in love they are and am excited for their wedding!

Composites are great for couples I think to show motion, and emotion. I designed up two for them, this one above and this treo below.

Well that’s it for now. I’ll get some more of my projects up quickly! I’ve got a lot of new things to show.

Until next time, America!
— Bry

$300 OFF Either of These New 36″ LDS Art Pieces

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Thoughts April 8, 2009March 24, 20252 Comments

A few weeks ago I posted a very unique image of the Salt Lake Temple which has caused a lot of excitement. Many people asked it was available for purchase. Well I have it now, ready for purchase as a custom 20×36 inch stretched canvas gallery wrap. It looks absolutely gorgeous.

To kick it off, I’m offering the first 10 for $300 off, and am also including free local delivery or FedEx Ground shipment to the lower 48 states.

I know that by offering the first few at a big discount that many of your friends and families will see it displayed your homes and want one for themselves.

Bry Cox - Mountain Tops — Bry Cox – Mountain Tops

This image is called “Mountain Tops” due to the composition and as a reference to the Old Testament use of mountains as a symbol of the temple. Here’s how it looks from the side.

Bry Cox - side view of Mountain Tops — Bry Cox – side view of Mountain Tops

In getting “Mountain Tops” ready to release, I also decided to release and offer another image that has only been seen at my studio but has always created a big buzz — “The Sacred Grove!” It’s amazing how great this looks close up! It’s also been fun to have a religious piece of artwork that only certain people recognize as well. Some have simply thought it was a beautiful scenic, but those who know, appreciate it on many levels and are stunned by it.

Bry Cox - Sacred Grove — Bry Cox – Sacred Grove

This is available as a 24×36 stretched Canvas Gallery Wrap and I’m doing the same thing with this: offering the first 10 for $300 off! This too also includes free local delivery or FedEx Ground shipment to the lower 48 states.

Both are available at my online store which is BryCoxART.com, or can be ordered by phone by giving me a call at 801-728-3317.

Call with any questions too.

Thanks, and until next time, America!
— Bry

Being Painted by Jeremy Sutton

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Thoughts April 6, 2009March 24, 2025No Comments

Last week when I was teaching at the photographic workshop in New England (see my last blog entry), I had the honor of meeting painter Jeremy Sutton (JeremySutton.com). He too was there to teach a course at the workshop, but his was on painting.

As both of us were instructors, we arrived a day early to get set up and have dinner together and with the other instructors and the NEIPP staff. I had never met him before, but knew his name and had seen some of his DVDs years ago. I was excited to finally meet him.

As we talked, we were both excited about the fact that we both had the same fresh approach and philosophies to creativity. Though we use different mediums and have different terminology to explain it, it was fun to find that they were so similar.

I’ve dubbed my creative philosophy and style, “Jazz Photography,” based on me being a jazz musician before becoming a photographer, and using the same approaches from playing jazz to creating photographs — that is having a high technical background but being able to block the technical thinking, allowing that part to function perfunctorily in the background in order to really be able to improv and be creative.

Jeremy, being a painter with a strong technical background, uses a similar approach, pulling on his love of jazz music and his background of swing dancing, relating it all to his individual brushstrokes. He even listens to jazz and talks about dancing as he paints.

Jeremy had an idea of combining our groups one night for about 30 minutes in order to talk about the similarities of our creative processes despite the differences in mediums. He decided that doing a live portrait would work best for this, and I was honored to have him chose me to paint. This image above is Jeremy painting me live.

It was quite an experience to be painted live. As you can see from this image above, he lit me with some consistent and directional light (the lamp) and is working digitally with a digital pad and pen (called a Cintique’, $2000) that is pressure and directionally sensitive. His work can be seen on the projector behind us.

He worked very abstractly, laying down colors and shapes that didn’t look like me or a person at all, but instead were swirls of color and shape, both positive and negative. The entire process only took 20 minutes, and near the end it began to come together where we could all see the face emerge from the abstract.

I am extremely pleased with the painting. Here is the final result:

I absolutely love this! As an artist, I find it incredibly interesting and very artistic. I love the use of color, the shapes, and the loose feeling of the brushstrokes as well. This was not created from a photo reference, but live, right in front of me. It was an incredible gift!

Being a musician, I love to write and record in my free time. This to me looks like an album cover for a future CD! I think I have a new project on my hands. 🙂

As my current clients know, I’ve offered painted portraits on canvas for many years using a portrait I create as a reference. Some of these can be seen in past entries on this blog (here is one example, or type “painting” into the search bar near the top of my blog to see more examples from the past).

However, I am hoping to learn and incorporate more of Jeremy’s style and techniques into my work to be an even better painter artist. I’m excited for what that will bring to my work.

Thank you Jeremy!

Until next time, America!
— Bry