Large Family of 24 People

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

This family portrait turned out so beautifully, I’ve been wanting to share it for a while. With warm weather coming, and people thinking about familiesI thought it’d be great to showcase this beautiful family portrait.

As families grow in size, it’s hard to get everyone together. Often people live in different parts of the country, and with little kids and multiple schedules, it seems impossible for everyone to all be together at the same time. Such was the case here. But because of a family event, everyone was going to be in town for one day. We took advantage of that opportunity and scheduled this portrait.

It was a cold day, and due to where everyone would be passing through, we chose to use the Utah Capitol. I called ahead to make sure we were okay to shoot at that time, and we lined everything up.

I always bring studio lighting with me. No “natural lighting” (which of course is just another way of saying, “haphazard lighting”). Nothing is left to chance when creating a family portrait. The lighting must be perfect so that when all the kids are smiling and laughing, the shot will be perfect too. No dark faces, no muddy skin-tones, everyone’s eyes glowing, and perfect poses and expressions – all captured without having to repair the image in Photoshop.

Then, while everyone is together, we photographed all the smaller individual families. These are great as a wall gallery for the parent’s house, but also work for each family if they want something for their own family home. Again, great lighting and cute expressions on all the little kids’ faces.

We met and measured walls, determining the perfect size of each print. When the order was completed, I delivered and hung the biggest portrait.

The perfect spot was in the dining room, where all the family spends time together. Measuring the wall, it seemed a 60-inch wide canvas was perfect. Once it was finished, I came and hung the portrait, and it looks beautiful from any angle. The faces are big enough that you can enjoy the image from a comfortable distance, but up close you can enjoy the small details too.

Spring is here, and it’s a great time to capture a new family portrait. Contact me and let’s plan when we can get your family together.

Until next time, America.

Heather’s Studio Family Portrait

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, Maternity, FamilyPosted on No Comments

For Christmas last year, I delivered this gorgeous family portrait to Heather and her family. Before delivery, I made this video showing the various finished pieces.

I love creating family portraits for clients, and I think delivering and hanging these finished art pieces in their homes is my favorite part of the process. I love seeing everything come together and the client’s expressions and happiness with their new art pieces on the wall.

Studio family portraits work really well if you want a clean and contemporary look, and it’s an especially nice option during cold or bad weather. A warm studio full of custom lighting gear means a worry free environment for clients, regardless of the rain or snow outside. With a large changing room, bathroom, and big mirrors, you can fix hair, and even change outfits for different looks and options. The studio makes everything easy, especially if you have little kids.

This family portrait was extra special. Heather has five children of various ages and sizes. The older kids get, the harder it is to get everyone together. We wanted to take advantage of the time together and create something beautiful for her wall.

With some color and clothes consultations over the phone, Heather found some beautiful outfits for everyone that showed both variety, but also worked together artistically and cohesively. The resulting portrait is absolutely beautiful.

Our favorite for the fireplace mantle was this image above with everyone standing. It has a long and tall feel that matches the space where it’ll hang, but it also shows all the kids and their individual heights and sizes at this point in life.

The closer image below was chosen as a smaller portrait to go elsewhere in the home. I love the triangle design and the lovingness of all the kids, leaning in together.

We also did some various groupings as well, like these of Heather and her boys and girls alone as close ups, as well as the girls and boys alone standing.

These kids were so adorable and great in front of the camera. I love creating individual portraits of kids. These can be displayed together as sets in a wall collage, and then later each portrait can move into each child’s room.

We finished up the session with this gorgeous image of Heather.

If you’re looking to update your family portraits, give me call. It’s a great time for studio portraits and I make the entire process easy. My number is 801-728-3317.

And until next time, America.

Anna’s Winter Outdoor Family Portraits

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, Maternity, FamilyPosted on No Comments

It’s winter here in Utah, and that means it’s cold and the trees are bare. My clients needed a new and updated portrait and wanted it outdoors. Showing bare trees in the background would have been the wrong look, so we used a location right here near my studio. It has lots of wide open space, and mixed with my studio lighting on location, everything turned out perfectly.

Here’s a video showing the finished and framed images before delivery.

With families, I like creating and offering a few variations. One particular image may move you the most, and that’s the best one for the wall art. Other groupings can always be ordered smaller for other parts of the home. This fist image was the favorite as the larger image for the wall, while the second was ordered for a smaller spot in the home.

When the kids and everyone smile and look great in every image, it’s often hard to choose a favorite. The colors, textures, spacing, depth, and overall feel of this first image made it stand out as the overall favorite.

With every family portrait, I love creating individual portraits as well. These can be finished in a number of ways, depending on need. For this family, we choose similar images of each child to be finished as square standouts. They look gorgeous!

Standouts are shown better in the video above, and can be displayed as sets in either a straight line trio, or in diagonals, or in other configurations. Here’s one idea for the three girls in a trio.

The first is of the youngest girl. She’s so cute and adorable, with the flower in her hair, hands on her knees, and smiling so perfectly.

Second, the middle girl sitting so beautifully. I love the light coming in from behind, lighting up their hair and the beautiful colors all working together.

And the oldest, looking mature and smiling beautifully with her long hair.

Of course we did a stand out of the three girls together too, as well as one of the parents alone.

As you can see, this family has changed a lot over the last few years. I think the parents look about the same, but the kids have really grown. Kids grow so fast, and it’s important and inspiring to have new and update family artwork on the walls.

Years ago, I also created this painted portrait of the girls walking. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown since.

I love delivering finished images to clients and seeing the portraits hanging in their homes.

I know it’s time to update your family portrait. I make it quick and easy, and I’ll help design it so it’s something you absolutely love! Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create something beautiful for you.

And until next time, America.

Governor Herbert’s Christmas Family Portrait

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

This month marks the end of Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s position as our Governor. Just before he left office, I had the pleasure of creating one last family portrait for him. We updated his family portrait for Christmas and to mark the momentous occasion of his last few weeks in office.

Governor Herbert has been Utah’s Governor since 2009. Over that time his grandkids have grown quite a bit, plus there’s more new grandkids too.

This particular photograph with all the grandkids on the stairs was specifically important for them to get. For their Christmas card, they wanted to contrast this with an image they had done their first year in office. The card featured the Governor and First Lady on the front, the entire family on the back, and opened to show the difference in grandkids over the years.

With every extended family portrait I create, I love to also create smaller family portraits while we’ve got everyone together and dressed up. With studio lighting on site, these look beautiful and are created quick while everyone’s energy is high.

During this individual family’s portrait, this little girl was full of energy. I have so many images of her jumping, pulling faces, or otherwise just being silly. She certainly kept me laughing.

As you can see, every family and every individual looks beautiful. Expressions are warm and inviting, and the groupings are relaxed but timeless too. Because I don’t have any preset packages, individual families are free to order whatever they’d like.

I especially love photographing families. It’s a challenge to get kids to stand where they should, relax, and give real expressions, and I absolutely love that challenge. I love being silly with the kids and connecting with them in order to create these works of art quickly and (hopefully for the families) painlessly.

If you’d like to get some new and updated family portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something wonderful for you.

And until next time, America.

Fall Family Portrait Delivery and Install

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, Maternity, FamilyPosted on No Comments

I just delivered this gorgeous fall family portrait. It was created right here at in my studio gardens at the end of fall. My client was out of town for Christmas, but now that they’re back, it’s delivery day! This video shows how beautiful everything looks.

I love taking care of all the finishing touches for clients. That means taking the artwork and details past the shoot, and all the way through to the end. There’s a lot of work involved in making something perfect, but attention to detail at every step is crucial, including the individualized retouching, custom printing, surface coating, mounting, framing, delivery to the client, and wall installation.

I love the overall balance and grouping of the family, and how great all the kids’ expressions look. This really looks inspiring and beautiful on the client’s wall.

During a family session, it’s a great time to do smaller family groups too. Everyone can order their own portraits, plus they’re great too for smaller wall groupings and Christmas cards too.

Look at how cute all these kids are together. I photographed them about a year ago and it’s amazing how much they changed in that time. (I share those below.)

Sometimes we can end a family portrait session with just grandkids with the grandparents.

About a year ago I photographed just these four kids alone. Look how much they’ve changed and grown in just a year. It just shows how important it is to get portraits of family and kids regularly. Because they change and grow so fast, it’s wonderful to have professional portraits and wall art throughout their life. 

And during that shoot we also did individuals of each child too. These are great in wall groupings or in a child’s bedroom.

I love creating custom wall galleries and family artwork for your home. And I know it’s time for some updated family portraits for your family. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s create some wonderful wall portrait art for your home.

And until next time, America.

Design Your Own Cox Christmas Cards + Print at Wholesale Cost Too

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

It’s Christmas and we all love sending out Christmas cards to our friends and family using updated portraits. Now you can design your own cards online using your Bry Cox retouched portraits, and get them at wholesale cost too.

Choose from lots of options, sizes, foil embossing, even creative envelopes. You can even order in quantities of 5 after the first 25 cards.

Everything is beautifully printed, and you can control the overall design and color scheme to match your style.

How to Get Your Cards Going?

First, let me know you’d like to order cards, and I’ll set you up with your own online store using the retouched images from your last photo shoot. I’ll then send you your own web link.

Click that link and your store will open up and look like this. You’ll see images from your shoot along the top, and below that, lots of designs to choose from. You can even sort the designs down by Card Type, Foil, Photo Count, and Shape.

Customize Front, Back, and Envelope

When you find a design you like, click it and customize it. In the customization mode, you’ll see 3 sections at the top of the screen: Front, Back, and Envelope. Make sure you go through all three sections and choose all the options you’d like for each, shown down the right side.

Drag your portrait into the card’s design, choose card colors, layouts, shapes, etc.

On the back of the card, you have more options too. In this example, we did the same photograph on the front and back, but with different layouts and text. We also choose a shape that makes this into a Christmas tree ornament.

Then on the envelope section you can choose blank or custom envelopes. There are lots of colors and designs here to make the envelope more fun to get.

Review and Check Out

When you like everything, review your choices, and check out. That’s it!

So if you’d like some beautiful new Christmas cards this year from your latest shoot, give me a call and I’ll get a store set up for you.

And until next time, America.

Two Siblings Get Adopted, Featured KSL News, & Get New Family Portraits

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, Maternity, FamilyPosted on No Comments

These two siblings get adopted, featured on KSL News, and get new family portraits — all on the same day!

Photographing families and relationships is probably the most important thing I do. I love that we can capture in a single art piece, the feelings of love and deep relationships. And this portrait shoot is extra special because it’s of a new family because two siblings were adopted.

But initially, this brother and sister were in the state foster care system and needed to be adopted. I photograph a number of children each year for the state that are in foster care. It helps them to have great professional portraits that are beautifully lit to show prospective parents, rather than the basic iPhone snapshots that would otherwise be taken by social workers.

That’s when I first met these two, and here’s the image I did of them when they came into my studio. Being brother and sister, I wanted too show the love and affection they have for each other, and how the big sister looks out for her younger brother.

Soon after, the local news station KSL News, featured them on ‘Wednesday’s Child.’ In that interview, the older sister’s leg wiggles nervously and she admits that they may never get adopted.

(Here’s a link to that story and the video of its broadcast.)

Then sometime later I got a call saying these two siblings were going to be adopted. I was invited to the courthouse to photograph the event and do some new family portraits. From those images, I created this gorgeous family album. And this young lady made be a beautiful handmade gift in return. It’s very thoughtful and you can see it near the end of this video.

Here are some of the portraits from the album shown in the video above.

On the evening of the adoption, we had coincidently the big yearly gala for the Utah Adoption Exchange’s Heart Gallery. It’s where the new portraits taken of foster children throughout the year are displayed and revealed to the children. Each portrait is framed and hung on easels around the Utah State Capitol’s rotunda, and the kids get to eat refreshments and see all the photographs.

Again, KSL News was there along with these two newly adopted siblings to showcase their story.

(Here’s a link to that story and it’s news clip below.)

Here are some stills from the broadcast showing my portraits on the monitor behind the news anchors.

Throughout the story, they showed a number of my portraits.

But the heart of the story was this new family.

And there’s a quick glimpse of my profile, as I sit waiting to present my portrait to the family.

It was a great evening and event, and a wonderful time to see families come together, and how portraits are meaningful in that process.

If you’d like some wonderful, updated family or children’s portraits, give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something inspiring for you.

And until next time, America.

Travis’s Fall Family Portrait Canvas and Standouts

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, Maternity, FamilyPosted on No Comments

At the end of fall, I photographed Travis and his beautiful family here in my outdoor studio gardens located right outside my Utah studio. Then later for Christmas I had everything finished and delivered their final order. The morning of the delivery, I made this video showing how gorgeous their finished products looked.

It was great seeing Travis and his beautiful family again. His children are adorable and are growing so fast. I always like to photograph a few options for the large family group, and this was our favorite of everyone. Here at my Utah studio we can do either in-studio images or we can step out into the studio gardens and do outdoor portraits too. For this shoot we choose to shoot outside and take advantage of the last of the good fall weather. And having everyone sitting together on the ground close, was our favorite grouping of the entire family. Hopefully you see how beautiful this looks in the video above.

We also took time to photograph each child and then made up square standout portraits of each one. Doesn’t this little girl make you smile? She’s so cute with her long hair, crossed knees, and feminine pose? The rock stairway was the perfect spot for her individual portrait.

And each child has a perfect and genuine smile, each custom lit, each looking fantastic. These looked beautiful as finished, glazed, square wall pieces.

And to close the shoot, we did one wall portrait of all the kids together in one photograph. There’s a lot of personality in this image. And it’s a piece that they can all look back on for years to come and remember when they were all this age.

It’s always a wonderful thing to update your family portrait. And I know you probably need an updated portrait. We can mix it with larger family groups, or alone with your immediate family, then taking time with your children.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your new family wall portrait.

And until next time, America.

President Nelson Invites Families to Hang Portraits on Their Walls

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

We’ve been asked by church leaders to hang family portraits on our walls, and I agree. I have long believed in the strong but subtle messages that come from viewing portraits on our walls daily, particularly when those images show families and relationships happy and together.

In this video I share my thoughts on family wall portraits vs TV size and placement (and the messages both send), and also how self-esteem is different from self-worth.

I’d love to create something amazing for your family. Give me a call at 801-728-3317. It’s the perfect time of year to photograph your family, and get a beautiful piece finished for Christmas.

Recently, President Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints asked church members to decorate their homes with portraits of their families and loved ones. Here’s the quote:

I invite the members of the Church to place on the walls of their homes pictures of their family, pictures of their grandparents, pictures as a couple, pictures of their children, and pictures of the temple. These all symbolize God’s eternal plan. It’s all about the family.

And here’s a link to the story:
http://www.ldsliving.com/President-Nelson-Invites-Latter-day-Saints-to-Hang-5-Things-on-the-Walls-of-Their-Homes/s/88680

Happy 4th! Summer Family Promo

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

I hope you’re having a wonderful Independence Day. It’s a wonderful holiday and a great time for family to spend time together.

I’m also having a promo for the next while on family portraits. See more details in this video…

Contact me at the studio at 801-728-3317 for more details and to schedule your time for an updated summer family portrait.

Happy Independence Day!

Summer Family & Missionary Portraits

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

Families are always changing and now is the best time to update your family portrait. It’s warm weather in Utah, the studio gardens are in full bloom, and it’s the perfect time for outdoor family portraits.

This young man was leaving on an LDS mission and would be gone for two years. So we mixed a mission portrait session with a family session, and the results are a gorgeous and emotional art piece for the wall that his family can enjoy while he’s gone. See finished image and album in this video.

I like using locations that have a personal meaning to my clients. In this case, their yard was gorgeous and lush with trees. So by mixing in some custom lighting to make everyone look great and also enhance the deep lush colors, we had a number of beautiful angles from which to shoot.

And I like to create a number of family portrait options from each shoot. Some are better larger on the wall, others are better smaller on a desk. And others will just have a certain emotional punch to it, where the client just connects with it and loves it.

For this shoot, we started in casual clothes for portraits with and without the grandparents.

Then dressy for some other options.

Of course I create options of just the children individually too. Here are some of my favorites of each child.

Here’s a missionary themed image using a nearby wheat field.

This image with the flags shows the countries where this young man will serve his mission for the next two years.

And closing with some gorgeous images of just parents together.

It’s the perfect time to get some new updated family portraits. Families are always in flux and sometimes we put off our much needed portrait for the so-called “perfect” time (like when this child is married, or when that baby comes, or when I feel better about how I look). But there’s always another change right around the corner. I’m a national Master Photographer and know just how to make you look fantastic in your portrait right now.

Take advantage of this gorgeous Utah weather. Let’s talk about meaningful locations for your portraits, and if you need, I have wonderful grounds right here at the studio for both outdoor and indoor options.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk about your new family artwork.

And until next time, America.

Gorgeous Family Portraits

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, FamilyPosted on No Comments

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.