Early Sneak Peek of Rebecca’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple & JSMB

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Wedding Day, AlbumsPosted on No Comments

Rebecca’s wedding was beautiful! These two are great together and the weather worked out wonderfully.

While I’m working on and designing her album, I wanted to share some of my early favorites as a sneak peek for you all to see. Here framed in the nook, we have her veil blowing in the wind. She had a beautiful, long veil, and it caught the wind many times throughout the day, adding a lot of fun to the photographs.

I love this portrait of the two of them – a nice, mid-length portrait of them leaning together, newly married.

We had a beautiful, sunny day. So with the right lighting, I was able to make them look beautiful while at the same time capturing this gorgeous and deep blue sky with clouds glowing from the sun. I love how the light of the sun comes through the clouds, down on them, creating a directional lens flare, all framed by the temple.

Here Rebecca is holding her veil for this wonderful kiss.

And some dancing in the wind to the delight of a full paparazzi crowd of Chinese tourists behind me. They cheered and clapped, and snapped a ton of photos during this dancing sequence.

I love these long tall lines mixed with the diagonals of her veil and dress.

Then just before the reception, these dark clouds started rolling in. I got low to look up to show these deep storm clouds. Then during the reception while we were all inside the JSMB, we got a rain storm for a bit.

And to end the night, we came back outside to capture this amazing sunset to end the day. I love warm colors surrounding them, all while being framed by the temple.

If you’re getting married, give me a call at 801-728-3317. Let’s talk more about your wedding and what you’d like. I’d love to create something awesome like this for you.

And until next time, America.

Sneak Peak of Brittney’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple & JSMB

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Wedding Day, AlbumsPosted on No Comments

Brittney’s wedding at the Salt Lake Temple here in Utah was absolutely gorgeous. She had her reception at the JSMB (Joseph Smith Memorial Building), and those night images are also stunning. You have to see these early sneak peek of some of my favorites that are in her final wedding album design.

As you can see, these two are great together. The day was wonderful and emotional, and with some mobile custom lighting, the images have pop and impact. The colors and tones are deep and vivid, and the images are romantic and look wonderful.

This next image with Brittney’s hair blowing beautifully was our pick for the album cover image.

And I especially love this one of them dancing.

On the evening of the reception, we did some night portraits outside, and here are some of my favorites. 

The final album looks amazing, and I’ll share that entire design soon. But for now I wanted you all to see these. If you’re getting married or know someone who is, send them my information. Or you can give me a call at 801-728-3317. I’d love to create something amazing for you and for your family history.

And until next time, America.

Brittney’s Outdoor Winter Bridal Portraits in Utah Desert

by BryCox (Admin)Bridal Portraits, Bry Cox Photography BlogPosted on No Comments

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

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

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

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.

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

by BryCox (Admin)Bry Cox Photography Blog, Children, Babies, MaternityPosted on One Comment

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And until next time, America.

Amanda & Brant’s Family Portraits

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

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.

Chasing the Total Elipse

by BryCox (Admin)Art Images, Bry Cox Photography Blog, Photo-Moto Rides, ThoughtsPosted on No Comments

The total eclipse was absolutely breathtaking and inspiring. Words really can’t describe the feeling and overwhelming awe of being there, feeling the air on your skin dramatically change, watching the sky all around you go dark, and then suddenly seeing the sun’s white rays burst out from behind the moon in the darkness in an angelic way… it was beautiful!

I’m glad I made the last minute decision to drive the 3 hour route north to see the eclipse in totality. Here at my place in Utah it was going to be 91% which sounded pretty good to me. I debated if that extra 9% would really make much difference. It did.

The local news made a big deal about all the traffic and congestion that would be heading north into Idaho, and their daily talk of armageddon (gas stations dry and store shelves bare) made me want to avoid the crowds and just watch the eclipse near my home.

But the night before, some friends called me to join them on their drive up. They said there wasn’t any traffic and that they had a spot for me in their camp. So excited about the adventure, I loaded up my motorcycle with my bare essentials and some items of preparedness and headed out at 1:00 am to drive through the night. As I got further north, the temperatures dropped to the 50’s, which when going 80 mpg makes it feel like 25º. Freezing. I arrived shortly after 4:00 am, found my friends sleeping under the stars in a farm plot turned makeshift RV park, and I got out my sleeping bag for a few hours of warmth and sleep.

The rising sun in our eyes woke us up and we all greeted each other, made some food, and began setting up to watch the eclipse. I had a sheet of solar film from my friends at Pictureline in Salt Lake, and it was awesome. I had enough film material to cover my camera lens, my binoculars (which were an amazing way to watch), with left over pieces to give to a few close friends for their cameras.

Here a drone shot of us hanging out at camp, watching the eclipse.

As the eclipse progressed, I created a series of photographs that I later combined into this one-piece collage. Since the moment of totality was such a wondrous experience, that image needed to be much larger. And as much as I like this collage, it is just a reminder of the experience. It doesn’t do the real thing justice.

Here are all of the images I did during that procession.

I only took a minimal setup because I was on a motorcycle and hoped to enjoy the event too, not wanting to get bogged down in technology during the wondrous moment. I’m happy with my results, but we met many people at the camp who’d planned for months and years, even coming from out of state for this event. This California man shown below spent years building this elaborate setup, which included multiple computers and analyzers to track the sun and adjust for micro movements. And with all that equipment, he forgot to remove his solar filter to get a photograph of totality because he was so engrossed and blown away by the experience as it was happening. Only afterwards did he realize he forgot to photograph it.

I flew my drone around the area during some down time, and shot the nearby country side and the snake river running right past us.

Then to avoid the horrible traffic being funneled down the only road south to Utah, we instead went bridge diving with some other friends we met up with.

Here’s a video clip of us jumping, shot by flying my drone out above the water.

As it got later, I thought the traffic would be clear enough to go. Plus I wanted to avoid another cold night’s ride home. I packed my bike and headed out an hour and a half ahead of my friends. …and I hit horrible traffic. It took me 7 hours to drive the normal 3 hour route. There were no alternate roads, no turnoffs. Just one long 200 mile road in gridlock. I even got a ticket for what I consider normal motorcycle driving (i.e. passing gridlocked cars).

Nevertheless, I am so happy that I made the drive north to see the eclipse in totality. It was worth the photographs, but more importantly it was worth the experience. The difference in the last few moments (95%) when it just felt dim outside and the sun was still pretty bright without the solar glasses, versus that moment of totality when the sun burst out in a bright angelic way from behind the moon was spectacular. It lasted only a few moments, but it was an incredible experiment that is hard to describe with words.

I’m grateful I’m a photographer and lived close enough to be able to experience such a wonderful moment with dear friends.

And until next time, America.

Wilford Passes Away at Age 102

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

This week I attended the funeral of a neighbor, dear family friend, and client who passed away at age 102. A couple years ago I created his official centenarian portrait at age 100. I shared some of those images and the stories on my blog, here. They are some of my favorite photographs because of the stories they tell about this wonderful and perfect man.

Years ago, my town was mostly farmers. And because LDS/Mormon leaders are not paid for church service, many of these farmers would regularly have to briefly leave meetings to change their irrigation or do some quick work before coming back to the chapel to teach their assigned lesson. Seeing Wilford with his pitch fork, standing on his farm in dress clothes reminds me of those young memories and of the worth ethic he instilled on his family and many of us youth growing up.

He was a perfect man, kind, giving, and incredibly generous. A small symbol of his character is in these wooden pens that he made with wood brought to him by friends who traveled the world. And he made these pens with a lathe that he made and kept in his barn. I think about him building his own lathe, and I am inspired. There is a solid sense of contentment in this earlier generation that is lacking today. It was the sense that you earn the things by saving for them over time, then you made them last, and continued to fix them. And if you couldn’t afford something or couldn’t make it yourself, you did without. I am honored to have been given one of his wooden pens, and I wore it in my suit pocket to his viewing.

And a few years earlier, I photographed him with his dear wife for their 70th anniversary. They’re now reunited together again in heaven. 

I will miss Wilford. The world needs more good men like him. I hope his character, ethics, and love of God continue to be passed on through the generations of his growing family. Here’s a link to his obituary.