The theme for February’s photo contest was “Good Things Come in Small Parcels.” We received a ton of great entries, but Jeremy Cox‘s “Sweet Like Candy” screamed out at us as the winner with its cleverness, its composition, and its lighting.

We asked Jeremy how he made this awesome photo, and more, in this edition of Winner’s Circle.

MPEX: Tell us how you made the winning photo, “Sweet like Candy.” What kind of lighting setup, camera and lens did you use, where did you find that excellent green carpet, and whose baby is that?

Jeremy Cox: I shot this photo of my four-week-old son, Eli, with a Panasonic DMC-GF1 and a 20mm pancake lens (equivalent to 40mm focal length on a full-frame sensor) with these settings: ISO 100, F11, 1/160.

I used my three-light kit with the following setup:
– Key light upper left elevated three feet off the ground with Lumiquest Softbox LTp.
– On-axis fill with Westcott shoot-through umbrella.
– Bare flash accent light bottom right at ground level.

The sweet rug came from Ikea.

How long have you been a photographer? What got you into photography?

I’m a creative director at McGarrah Jessee so I spend a lot of time working with creative teams to shape the work that we do. It’s a great job, but as I’ve grown in my career, I realized that I still need an outlet for the creative energy that I used to exert getting my hands dirty as a digital designer and developer. Photography has been this outlet since 2009. What I didn’t expect was that it would make me a better creative director, but I think it has. I now have a better sense of composition, lighting and color as well as an easier time collaborating with photographers and directors we work with.

What kinds of photos do you take? Do you prefer one type of photography?

I’m still figuring out what types of photos I want to focus on. So far, I’m equally interested in travel, street, studio and more conceptual work like the one that won this contest. I mostly shoot digital, but I also love to pick up old film cameras to see what magic they hold. I have about 30 or so cameras that date back to the mid 1930s. I’m blown away by the fact that cameras used to be so simple, yet in the right hands could make pictures that are just as good, if not better, than the ones you can make with expensive digital cameras today.

What kind of role does photography play in your life?

I make photos for myself, my family and my friends. I love my full-time job and want to keep photography a just-for-fun hobby. Of course, winning a contest here and there is always welcome.

Where can we find more of your work?

You can find more of my photos on my Flickr account.