Bry Cox Featured on Pictureline’s Blog – Wedding Equipment & Preparedness

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

I was interviewed by Pictureline for their blog on my equipment list and my approach to preparedness and problem solving for weddings. It’s a short read, and as you will see, my approach is simple — be over prepared. When people are putting the most important events of their lives in your hands, to me, that’s the mark of a real professional.

Drunk people run into you and spill drinks on your gear, old people and kids knock things over, hot-shoes break off, cords start to short, batteries and cameras sometimes just stop working, extreme weather, temperature and humidity cause failures, and leafs and curtains sometimes jam up causing a colossal lens or camera failure. All of these things have happened to me at weddings and I’ve been prepared because of my rule of three.

Check out the article here. http://www.pictureline.com/blog/bry-coxs-wedding-gear-on-the-go/

 

(Pictureline is the best camera store in the country. Their staff is the most knowledgeable of any I’ve seen anywhere, and they’re the nicest too.)

Bry Cox featured in This Month’s Photography Magazine, ‘Rangefinder’

by BryCox (Admin)Awards, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Photography Workshops, PublishedPosted on No Comments

I’m featured in this month’s Rangefinder magazine, a publication that goes to all the professional photographers. This is how the cover looks (which I didn’t shoot).

It was for the big WPPI event in Vegas for which I created this collage below, mentioned in a previous post. I was pushing and hoping this would be the cover, but it didn’t make it for that. However, it was used in the story, positioned on the edge of the page to catch viewers eyes as they flip through the magazine.

Here’s the opening spread. I added little targets on my images (5 of the 8 on this spread).

The bottom left image is a multi-image stitch created by Alain Martinez, one of the other two people on the project with me. He shot me and another of other prominent photographers one by one, and put it all together for this one image.

There are more images of ours in the story, along with a little write-up of the three of us who worked on the project: me, Alain Martinez from Miami, and Henk van Kooten from the Netherlands.

There is a book that will follow, and I’m very excited to see how that comes out. It was a real honor to be asked to work on this as well as to work with Alain and Henk and get to know them better.

On another note, it’s spring time and now is a great time to get a new family portrait. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 to schedule a time. And feel free to browse my main website at BryCox.com.

Vegas Images & WPPI Assignments

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Photography WorkshopsPosted on One Comment

I was recently asked by GraphiStudio to photograph the big portrait conference in Vegas called WPPI. The project is called “Day in the Life of WPPI,” and the images will go in a book as well as an upcoming edition of Rangefinder Magazine. While doing that I created my favorite image of the project, this image collage of images from the strip.

I wanted to show the feeling of Vegas, so went driving shooting out the window with this collage in mind. The final results were better than I imagined.

I also shot some images driving with my iPhone too (below) which I like for their abstract feel.

And I also shot the strip with a time-lapse camera strapped to the side of my vehicle. Afterwards I took those images, and created this time-lapse video.

Though my main job was photographing particular speakers and events through the program, I really tried to show the feel of the event with panoramas like this group below,

and this pano showing the taking down of the tradeshow.

While working there, I was also asked to join a contest for the MGM advertising, and so I also created these images while there, both exteriors and interiors of the MGM, Signature, and spa. Knowing that the MGM has their own staff photographer on hand, I decided to give them something quite different using tilt lenses and controlled blurs. I wanted them to be more abstract, capturing the “feel” of the place rather than being just a photo of the place.

I really like these of the spa, using multiple reflections to get this first image.

Here are some shots of the rooms at the Signature.

And for fun, I also shot a street scene looking out one of the windows of the Signature hotel rooms so that I could later add myself to the shot in post production. This is the final result.

Do you have a business or an event that you’d like photographed in an artistic and pleasing way? Give me a call. Plus now is a great time to set up your Spring appointment for families or high school seniors. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 to schedule a time. And feel free to browse my main website at BryCox.com.

Come on an AMAZING Photo Tour of Iceland, July 15-21, 2012!

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography WorkshopsPosted on No Comments

Come get Lost in Iceland, and have the adventure of a lifetime!

“Ice-Land” is Actually Very LUSH! Iceland is fantastically beautiful and was named “Ice-land” to keep people from moving there. It has kept Iceland beautiful and untouched. That means there’s amazing photography moments, just waiting there for us.

Bry Cox – Icelandic Photographic Adventure 1

This Photo Tour is Open to Anyone Looking for Adventure, Amateurs and Professionals! I will coach you to amp your inner artist while we explore the most serene places on earth. Come be a part of and create breathtaking photographs!

Led By An Elite Team of Icelandic Locals! We will travel in style with an elite team of Iceland’s best local experts and photographers who know all the nooks and crannies! We will avoid the tacky tourist traps, and focus on the beautiful hidden oases. These images were taken by this very elite team. They are fantastic photographers, scenic guides, and will do everything to this a comfortable trip for you.

Come during the warmest part, July 15-21, 2012!
For more info, visit brycox.com/iceland and
http://www.focusonnature.is/photo-workshops/bry-cox-iceland-workshop-2012/

I’d love to have you come along! This will be the adventure of a lifetime!

Race Horses in Arkansas

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Photography WorkshopsPosted on No Comments

While speaking in Arkansas, a photographer friend of mine out there made arrangements for me and the group I was teaching to take some photographs in the early morning light at the Oaklawn race track. It was invigorating and fun because of the cold morning air and because photography is not normally allowed there. But with our special permission, we were able to get right up close and photograph the horses training. Here are a couple of my favorites.

This first image is so great when you look at it up close. The eyes are tack sharp and the blur in the image looks fantastic. It is all natural of course, no effects, no blurring – it’s all done in the camera. I especially like the horses position in the frame and the overall shape of his feet.

On all of these, I added my new custom edges that I’ve been working on. I really like the finished look of these images.

We had free reign of the areas that no one sees, including the back. So while walking through the back area, I photographed the stables.

As I was leaving, I photographed this tree, looking up against the sky using my Lensbaby shift lens to get a real optical blur around the edges. I love how it turned out!

If you’re in need of some really great images, whether it be some unique art for your wall or some custom family portraits, give me a call. Spring is here and it’s a great time to get in. 801-728-3317. And check out my main website too if you’re new to my work, BryCox.com.

Motorcycle Road Trip To and From Boise

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photo-Moto Rides, Photography Workshops, ThoughtsPosted on 3 Comments

I was asked to judge at the Idaho State Professional Photographers Convention, and because I didn’t need any equipment at this event or really anything other than a dress suit, I decided to ride my motorcycle. It was just shy of 800 miles round trip and I took some images along the way.

Due to safety, I couldn’t look through the viewfinder, and had to shoot one handed off the cuff, framing in my mind. I had slung my professional point-and-shoot camera over one shoulder so that I could grab it when I needed. I set the exposure manually (which is one of the things I love about that camera) and would swing it up when needed, and swing it back down after the shot, never looking through the viewfinder. Coincidentally, I have not cropped any of these images. I love how they came out exactly. Each is perfectly cropped as it is, and I love that about them.

I have not sharpened or blurred any of these images in post production. They are as I shot them. What is sharp and what is blurry is natural and only accentuates the images for me. The vibration of the bike in the image below works great, and even zoomed in the ground is crystal clear, and perfectly sharp, in a motion blur kind-of way. I love the sharp lines that the road creates, juxtaposed against the vibration of the bike.

I decided to process out these next two as black and white and really like them. In the first, I love the swoop of the clouds filling the negative space created by the mirror and handlebars. And the mirror just barely touches the side of the image.

And this broken sign was just standing like this with awesome cirrus clouds behind it, waiting for me to drive by and capture it. It’s the kind of thing you only see in small towns or off the beaten path.

There is a small grove of trees on the west side of the freeway, and I had one shot at getting it — no turning back. As you drive by, you see each perfect row flash light at you from the end – bam, bam, bam, bam, and then it’s past. This image showing one of those rows with the blurry foreground is one of my favorites from the ride.

When you’re on a bike, you’re IN the scenery. You’re not observing it from within the confines of a car, or looking at it through some frame. You instead are really in it. You see the road beneath you, you smell the fields that you pass, you feel the warm and cold air pockets, and you look around at great scenes like this that surround you.

As I got closer to returning home, the awesome skies made up for the colder and colder weather. I was trying to beat a storm at my back and didn’t want to ride in the rain. I was getting cold enough. But storms bring great, dramatic skies, and great skies make for a great ride.

I love the lines of these clouds. This was to my far right side, almost over my shoulder.

Getting closer now, crossing the border back to Utah. You can see I’m much colder as the temperature was now about 50º, which is especially cold with the wind chill of riding through the air.

And one last one getting closer to my town.

During my ride, I listened to one of my favorite books on audio, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” A book on neither Zen Buddhism nor on mechanics,   it’s a philosophical book on a man’s search for Quality, Purpose, and the search for Values. I tend to re-read it every few years or so, and this time opted for the audio version while riding. It was the perfect book for the ride to stir my thoughts during that long solitary time.

I wrote about the same book years ago after finishing it again, and I wrote this blog post (for those who follow me regularly, you may remember it). In any case, the ride was great and I’m especially excited about the images that came from it.

If you are need of great portraits for spring, something artistic and meaningful like some updated family portraits, let me know. It’s a great time to get in. 801-728-3317.

New Orleans Street Photographs

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography WorkshopsPosted on No Comments

In January, I spoke at the national photographic convention in New Orleans, called ImagingUSA. After working, and having been there before, I took some time to walk down some of my favorite streets to create some fun images.

I processed these images out using some of my new b&w and toning effects as well as come of my custom made edges that I create and sell to other photographers as well as use myself.  I’m really happy with these images and how things turned out.

I feel that these images are especially interesting, and the look I’ve used just accentuates that. These images make a great series of my trip there.

It was a fun walk, but I had to hurry and move quickly through the streets so that I could catch to my flight home in time. I found it interesting how so many buildings had similar windows, stairs and textures, even though the colors where so different. The similarities really show in these b&w images.

I also walked to an old cemetery I remember finding last time I was there. I really liked this area and wished I had more time to really play and photograph the area. Nevertheless, I still created some cool images. The trick is to shoot this in such a way that you don’t show all the people walking through, or the modern buildings behind the tombs. Those things would have been very distracting in the final images.

I had to get at least one image of me, and chose to do it in an abstract way, using my shadow.

Here’s one in color. It’s the top of a pyramid shaped monument. The others I created for b&w, but this I never even tried converting it. It was meant to be in color, even though it sticks out of the series.

I love these iron gates, with the shadows they created. The lines and textures were very exciting!

So as I was walking back to my hotel to head off to my flight, I passed one last time this large abandoned office building. It’s very weird to see such a large building completely empty and I had been passing it multiple times daily while there.

I also found my name on one of the sidewalks.

And finally, I created this painting while I was there using an image I took with my iPhone while going to a vendor party one night on Bourbon street.

I’m very happy with my street images and walk-about. It was a good way to end the trip.

Last time I was in New Orleans, I focused on people I saw while walking around.  This time I focused more on textures and lines.

If you’re a photographer and would like to know more about my workshops or speaking schedule, check out my workshop website at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

 

Speaking at Pictureline & Time Lapse Photography

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Photography WorkshopsPosted on No Comments

This week I spoke at Pictureline in Salt Lake, for the regions largest photo trade show called DigitalFest.  Pictureline is my favorite camera store and I love them for their ability to do an amazing job at everything — their staff is wonderful and knowledgeable, they carry everything, their store is always immaculate, beautiful and clean, and their events are fantastic.  They do what others don’t and really pay attention to the details.  As an artist and a businessman, I love that!  It was an honor to be asked to speak there.

I was told that my class was the first to fill up and that they actually oversold my class.  The event went great and I loved the opportunity to help and inspire others.

But I was also inspired with some new ideas.  I stayed and watched one of the other speakers, Alex Buono who is the Director of Photography for the Saturday Night Live Film Unit.  He shoots all of their parody commercials and the opening sequences for SNL.  You would definitely know his work.

Watching Alex, I was inspired to do a time lapse photography video.  He has one he did that is now the opening sequence of SNL, and it gave me an idea.  Sunday morning, I mounted a camera to the side of my car, and created a time-lapse video of me driving to Salt Lake.  Here is the result.

If you’re a photographer and would like to attend one of my workshops, check the schedule and sign up on my email list at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.  And or everyone else, browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog and give me a call if you need some new portraits for your business, or family.  801-728-3317.  

Fashion and Senior Portraits of Blue-Eyed Grace

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Senior/Grads, WomenPosted on No Comments

I had the opportunity to photograph Grace, and do some fashion and senior portraits for her.  She was so fun and had a sparkling personality, that I loved photographing her.  I had a great time laughing with her and focusing on really capturing her personality.

There are a lot of photographers all over the country who follow my blog, and for those of you looking, you should know that these images are all un-retouched, and all were created using one light!  That’s a cool thing!

This is incredibly unique because the trend with most photographers lately is to not use any lights because they don’t know how to use them correctly, but then use tons of Photoshop effects and retouching to fix the images later.  The result is weird smooth-skinned people with glowing white eyes, or images that seem flat, gray, and dull and lack punch.

The other group of photographers, are pretty good at lighting, but need to use multiple lights.  It normally takes multiple lights to sculpt a person correctly, create dimension, and separate the subject from the background.  I teach these exact techniques all over the country. (Photographers: visit my workshop site BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com)

But I also think it’s fun to do the seemingly impossible, and that is to purposefully use one light, and still do everything that you need to do with multiple lights, and in the end create images that are unique, different, that have personality, depth, and that grab you emotionally.

I love this stunning four-up composite of Grace below.  It is so interesting how all the images can be so different and yet work together so well.

I also designed her up a trio composite using some of my custom fleurs in the corners.  There are great products that when framed, can hang anywhere in the home.

I then used a beautiful Tuscan set to create these images, and felt that some warm lighting would complete the mood.  This color is not a computer effect at all, but rather how I actually lit her on the set.  Again, these images are un-retouched and have no effects.  I did however on this image below, add one of my custom made photo edges to this, to complete the old world theme.

And here is another of her on this same set, but serious.  I love her expression in these.  She was so good at both serious and smiling images.  Both types of expressions really draw me in on these images.

Are you a high school senior right now?  Do you want something that is different, unique, and that can’t be copied by other photographers?  Do you want your photographs taken by the artist who is called to train photographers all over the country and who photographs for magazines and famous people?

If so, give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s talk.  I have basic packages starting at $199 (which includes the session fee, 1 outfit, 2-5x7s, 8-wallets of your favorite pose, and a digital copy for facebook and your iPhone) up to full Senior Mix Sessions that includes both Color and B&W, both indoor and outdoor portraits using a number of sets, and multiple clothing changes!

You are only a senior once, so don’t settle for new photographers with no credentials.  If you want real magazine-style images, remember that my images are used by Capitol Records, national and international magazines like Billboard Magazine and American Girl Magazine.  I have photographed a lot of famous people like Lee-Ann Rimes, Olivia Newton-John, Mitt Romney, and the last four Utah Governors (to name a few).

I WILL do an AMAZING job for YOU, and YOU WILL LOVE YOUR SENIOR PORTRAITS!!

And visit the senior web page to be entered for prizes and to get more info.

Bry Cox on Pocket Wizard Blog

Bry Cox Interviewed and Featured on PocketWizard Blog

by BryCox (Admin)Awards, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Commercial & Headshots, Photography Workshops, PublishedPosted on No Comments

I was recently interviewed for the PocketWizard blog, and the story just posted today!  You can read it here (http://blog.pocketwizard.com/?p=3150).

Bry Cox on Pocket Wizard Blog

The point of this article was to show how I use a monopod to mount a flash fired by a PocketWizard.  This way I can custom light people with full control, and can move the light and adapt as the model moves.  The point of great photography is to always light someone in a custom way that makes them look good.  Most people just light the person in a general way.  By having my light mobile, I can constantly move and adapt to get great lighting as the client moves.

For my non-photographer followers, PocketWizard makes devices that sync your flashes to fire when your camera fires.  Normally you’d have to wire them all to your camera, but with these radio syncs, a wireless signal is sent instead.  This allows for wireless shooting which means putting your flashes anywhere, and not just where a wire will reach.

The brand new PocketWizard Flex and Mini systems have been improved to allow for E-TTL, meaning that they have electronics inside that compute how to fire a flash multiple times in a shot, and in just the right way so that you can use a flash with cameras that in higher sync speeds than normal.  This means you can get the look of overpowering the sun with a small and lightweight setup.

These devices are amazing and I have loved them.  And I really appreciate PocketWizard calling and interviewing me about them too.

Well thanks for looking and remember, that it’s the best time right now to do family portraits in the garden studio here at Bry Cox Studio.  The place looks fantastic and the weather is perfect.  Call now to schedule something soon.  I have some specials going on right now too, which is an added bonus to getting a Bry Cox portrait right now.

Also, browse some of my past blog entries (BryCox.com/blog) or even my my main website at BryCox.com.

iPhone Photos Flying into Salt Lake City

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

Flying into Salt Lake, the sky and the view was amazing!  Not being able to get out of my seat to grab my pro camera, I used my iPhone to get a few images out my window.  I love how the clouds helped direct the setting sun.  Light is everything, and I love what it’s doing here.  The colors and the texture of the mountains are just amazing.

Delta Airlines knows that if I don’t get my seat upgrade to first class, that I at least need a window seat on the right side.  It’s just automatic because  I love to look out at the city and the mountains as I fly home.  You can see the Draper temple in this image at the bottom.

This last image shows the Sandy area where I was picking out the homes of friends.  It’s always fun to look for familiar places as I fly in.

Well I just wanted to put these up.  I have a lot of really cool jobs to blog about this week, and will get them up as soon as I can.  But until then, browse some of my past blog entries (BryCox.com/blog) or even my my main website at BryCox.com.

Teaching Fashion Lighting/Posing in Illinois

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photography Workshops, Senior/Grads, WomenPosted on No Comments

I just got back from teaching a workshop on creativity and fashion in Illinois.  I’m so excited about the images I created there!  They are awesome!  I had fantastic models and a great location to shoot in too.

I created this short video for YouTube of the highlights.  Check it out!

And here’s a separate link in case the video above doesn’t show up in your blog reader.  Just click on this photo here.

I created images both outdoor on location in the city, as well as indoor in a studio.  This is one of my favorite images from the shoot.  I walked the model Kim in her high heels, out to the shore of the Mississippi River, where I could see a lighthouse in the distance.

I only knew that I wanted the lighthouse, but when I got out there, I found this big rope, and suddenly the image came to me.  Fashion is about mixing opposites, suddenly I had the image in my head.  This pretty girl all dressed up in cute clothes doing manual labor on the shore, pulling on this enormous rope.

I lit this and all of these outdoor images with one light, set manually — me personally holding the light in one hand, with my camera in the other.  That’s the way I can control exactly where the light is going to hit her face as she moves and bends.  Also, none of these images have been retouched or enhanced.  The colors, contrast, cropping, smoothness of the skin, whiteness of the eyes, and even the color “effects” or anything else you notice, are all done in camera.  This was part of the class, to learn how to create awesome images in camera, without having to “fix” them with Photoshop or other software.

I have a saying: “The trick to Photoshop is Photography.”

I was lucky that one photographer got some images of me working.  Here you can see me working my own light with my free hand, adjusting as the model adjusts.

These next images I created in a studio that we set up in the hotel.  The softness is not a computer effect, but done optically with a lens.  The warm colors were created specifically from the custom white balance that I set while shooting.  Again, no retouching or effects applied — just great photography.

Contrast the feel and look of these images above with this next image below, created in the same spot, but different lenses, different lighting.

I took this model also down to the docks and created these in a huge boathouse/warehouse.  These first couple are shot using the setting sun coming through a window.  One of my favorite things about this is shadow from the window panels on her.  Again, no color or other adjustments.  The idea of this workshop was to be completely creative while being completely technical — balancing the two halves of the brain in harmony.

I absolutely love these images using the window light, especially this portrait of the two of these girls together.  It’s so mesmerizing to me!

Then switching up the lighting and lenses, I used the same room to create some completely different looks.  Many photographers have or know only one style of lighting — all their images look the same.  I believe that an artist should be versatile, being able to do anything they can imagine.  Photographers need to be able to masterfully create images in all sorts of styles, using all sorts of lighting patterns and light sources — and the images should still be awesome!

I also created some awesome twilight images of this model using specular flash outdoors, using the docs, railings, and lights as leading lines.

And here’s one of my favorites of her friend, using the light from outside to wrap around and light her.

The idea of my workshops is to help photographers create great images on purpose, and not by accident.  Many times photographers have the mind-set that if they just shoot a lot, that by the law of averages, some images will work out.  I believe in creating the opposite way.  I believe that if someone is hiring you to create amazing photographs, that your images should not be haphazard, but rather deliberate.  They should be done right, and done on purpose, with intent, and with care taken on both the creative and technical aspects so that every image is good, and not just the lucky ones.

If you’re a photographer and would like to attend one of my events, please check out my speaking website for an updated schedule, BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.  Also, if a big event isn’t your style or if there aren’t any events in your area, you can host a small and intimate event at your place as long as at least 8 photographers attend.  If you can get 8 or more there, you can attend for free!  Call me for more details.

And if you’re a high school senior, model, or for whatever reason you need some dang awesome photography, give me a call 801-728-3317.  Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader like facebook BryCox.com/blog).