2009 flew by, and I will admit, all the weddings in I shot throughout the Metro Detroit area, Windsor, LaSalle, Toronto, and Ottawa, etc, kept me SO busy, I completely neglected writing on this blog! This will change in 2010! There’s so many big things to come, the first of which is now unveiled, a brand spanking new website! https://dcooksonphoto.com has a new facelift, and a whole new WHACK of photos to show all the hard work I’ve been doing over the last year.
New look, AND new sound too, as I’ve always had a strong emotional connection between the music I listen to and the creative spark in me, so when you visit the new site, enjoy the handpicked music to go along with it! (It’s really cool, if you move your mouse over the little equalizer icon on the bottom left of the screen, it is a full jukebox that can show you who’s playing and even let you change songs! Ok, I’m a music geek too..)
Enjoy, and keep checking back for more, as there’s so much to share, I can’t wait to share it with you!
It’s no secret, I am from Canada. I admit it freely! I live amongst the Americans, but I never forget my roots. So when my good friends Becca and George asked me to take their engagement pictures, I couldn’t wait to get a chance to shoot back in Windsor! And one of the most beautiful things about Windsor is it’s view of Detroit, so it seemed natural – lets go have fun on the riverfront!
If you ever get a chance to visit Windsor, you will know there is miles and miles (kilometres and kilometres!) of beautiful riverfront parks that has bike trails, sculpture gardens, fishing….just a great way to spend the day. So Becca and George and I decided to enjoy this beautiful area for ourselves!
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The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and we even had our little fan club. (Another photographer kept interrupting us trying to be helpful, “I have a tripod if you need it! Nice lens! I want to shoot Canon too someday!” totally oblivious to what we were in the middle of, but it’s OK, I can understand the enthusiasm.)
Becca and George were troopers through it all though….I know, it looks like such rough conditions with them sitting in the sun and smooching eh? I’m such a mean photographer!
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They are a great, laid back couple, Becca and I go way back to our early high school days, and I feel it is such an honour to share their engagement and wedding process with them. I know many couples want pictures in the fall due to all the colours, but with all the trees in full bloom right now, you won’t see THESE colours come October!
There was this wonderful rock cascade that I couldn’t resist shooting them in front of..it was so beautiful! (And a perfect spot to camp out by for the fireworks in June…mental note!)
There are so many hidden delights in the gardens, we even found this tiny little staircase nearby, that lead to a scary door. And when I mean hidden, it was in the bushes! Whatever was behind that door sounded like some sort of monster, hissing and breathing at us, so we didn’t stick around too long, but it was worth it for this shot- So thanks for being brave guys! (No Beccas or Georges were harmed in the making of this photograph.)
All in all, we had a fun time together, and got to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL morning with friends in the sunshine, who has the best job in the world? I DO! I wanted to close with a shot of that spectacular view that even I’m not doing justice to. You’ll just have to go over and see for yourself sometime. But I highly encourage taking along some friends like I did! Congratulations on the Engagement Becca and George, and see you at the wedding!
By popular demand, I’ve had lots of requests to post these, so I thought I’d make a post about them!
I am a portrait photographer. I am a wedding photographer. I am an event photographer. But one thing I don’t do a lot of is sports! So admittedly, I am a little out of the loop when it comes to the sports world, especially being from a Canadian background and living in Michigan now. (If it ain’t a sport on ice of some sort, we usually don’t pay attention..hehe)
So when I got invited to shoot for a giant Final Four pep rally for the Michigan State Spartans at The Somerset Collection, I really didn’t think much of it beyond “cool, I get to shoot some people and some basketball players!”. Boy, did I underestimate the power of the Spartans!
Yeah, there were a few people there….
This was more than just basketball fans… this was a legacy. There were children in diapers wear Spartan green, and there were Great-Grandmas showing me true Spartan pride! Every colour/age/size/age in the book was here, and you could feel the energy throughout the entire day! Since I had shown up in ONLY a Spartan t-shirt, I quickly bought a green hat with a big white S on it and tried my best to blend in with the crowd.
After some speeches by various faculty members, alumni, and others, you could feel the excitement building. Someone…no, SOMETHING big was coming, and when I looked at the crowd, all cameras were out, and pointed towards the stage….
This Spartan team walked into the mall as basketball players, but walked on the stage as rock stars. The crowd erupted and you could feel the emotion in the crowd, swelling with pride for their boys had made it to the Final Four, in the best year it could have been, while it was being held in Detroit!
But once the players had taken the stage, there was one more person who managed to take the crowd from a 10 to a full on 11 – the man himself Coach Izzo. (see swooning woman in picture above)
Now I have to admit…I was hooked. I was caught up in the pride of the day, and upon hearing Coach Izzo speak, I have to admit, I have a crazy amount of respect for him. Here he was admitting, with real tears in his eyes how touched he was by the swelling of support, and humbly spoke that he “wished he could take the time to personally thank every single person here.” And you could feel that he honestly meant it.
Oh yeah, what is it like to turn around and see 10,000 fans looking at you? It looks like this:
All in all, that night opened my eyes to something bigger than just a game, just a basketball team. The Spartans had fans, a family, a legacy behind them, and even though they didn’t end up winning the final game, they were winners already in every one’s eyes that night and for a long time to come. And because of this, I now know the appropriate answer when someone yells Go Green! (Go White!)
Congratulations on all your successes Spartans!
I got a phone call one day in January from a friend named Will, who I have worked with in the past. It went like this:
W: “Hey D-money, got a new gig to play in”
D: “Cool”
W: “S’called ‘The Catfish Project’, ya dig?”
D: “Cool”
W: “Need some shots to make us look good…you down?”
D: “Cool.”
*click*
Ok, so maybe it didn’t go EXACTLY as hip as that, but you get the gist. (I am much more verbose in person..) But the basic behind it was that I was going to get to take 3 ordinary guys in a blues-rock band, go out in -7 degree, knee-deep-snow weather early on a Sunday morning and try to make them look good. I had my work cut out for me… (Kidding, these guys are great to work with.)
We began by starting out on the railroad tracks nearby, but after nearly being run over by a train (who knew?!), we quickly packed up and brought our numb bodies into downtown Royal Oak to try a more “urban” look to some of the pictures.
Between huddling inside the truck to warm between locations and takes, we had our shots and were done with the outdoors for the time being. Heading back to Will’s house, we conceived a plan for something close up, something personal. So I introduce you to: the guys. From left to right: Will – Guitar and Vocals, John – Bass Guitar, and Dave – Drums.
Now I’m not trying to shamelessly plug a friend’s band, but having had the honour of also shooting for them at their gig at Memphis Smoke, I can honestly say that they’re damn good too! If you’re ever looking for some gritty, rockin’, and booty-shakin’ blues, I encourage you to check them out at their website www.thecatfishproject.com for where they’re playing next!
Stay tuned for ‘Part 2’ with the pictures from their live concert at Memphis Smoke – it was a great time and some great blues!
Back in early January, Stephanie and Kevin joined me out for a very cold, slightly raining night in downtown Rochester Hills for our engagement session. We really wanted to have some fun with the wonderful Rochester Hills Christmas light displays that pretty much COVER the town from roof to sidewalk. I had never been down there, so I wasn’t prepared for the visage that would be laid out in front of me….holy moly! (Isn’t it time we ALL started saying Holy Moly again? I’m bringing it back baby!) It was incredible! Driving up Rochester road, the moment you reach the top of “the hill” and see the lighted town below you, that’s really the first thing that comes out of your mouth! How wonderful would this be to work as a backdrop to our “night on the town?” Each business, a different color from the one next to it! Strings literally COVERING the fronts of each business, with the only gaps being the driveways! This truly would be a night to remember…
From the moment we got out of the car, we knew we were in for some fun….a light rain/slush was falling, the temperature was roughly 6 F or 7 F, and through it all, one thing was on all our minds…Kevin and Stephanie!
Being so dark, we walked around and looked for the great light to inspire us, and we couldn’t resist stopping under the warm flood of the streetlamps. How could you NOT love the pool of light from streetlamps? Very classically romantic.
They were such a cute couple, and you could really tell in the way Kevin makes her laugh, and the way Stephanie snuggled into him for warmth – these two are very much in love!
The best way to keep warm – sweet kisses! I was behind the camera, and I could feel the glow warming me from 10 feet away!
Blue lights? We got’em! Move down a few feet – White Lights! Move a few feet more – Red lights! It was truly a night to create sparks! While walking around, we came across a really cool little cake store, and I couldn’t resist snapping a candid moment as they marveled at the cakes in the window
I definitely can’t wait to shoot your wedding guys! The love between you is very inspirational and shows through the pictures so well….look out Detroit Zoo! (Yes, they’re getting married at the Detroit Zoo….how cool is that?!?)
I’ll end off this post with one of my favourite pictures I’ve taken lately…was such an offhand picture, and I think Stephanie and Kevin thought I was crazy asking them to kiss to much, but they “suffered” through the torture (I know, I’m so mean..hehe) and something like this beautiful photo comes out of it!
Winter can be a hard time keeping us inside, especially for kids! So when I went to take some pictures with Jack and Claire, two adorable little munchkins, I didn’t know what to expect, seeing as we couldn’t go outside and play in the two feet of snow – It would have been taller than they are! Luckily, we quickly became friends and just had some fun with them showing me around their house and we were just able to shoot wherever we wanted!
Claire had the most gorgeous eyes to work with, and even though she couldn’t yet verbalize any words, you can tell she doesn’t need to, to get her message across!
After Claire was done posing for all of us on the couch, Jack decided he had enough of being shy, and decided he wanted to show me his super cool bedroom. You know someone is super excited to let someone take pictures when they go from shy straight to jumping on the bed! What a great way to show me his name spelled out in huge letters!
Jack turned out to really have a great “take my picture” side to him, posing for me without much coaching at all; Mom and Dad were a little stunned as well! But with such wonderful colours to work with in his sheets, he managed to give me possibly one of my favourite pictures I’ve taken of a little kid in a long time!
We had a fun time that day, and I know I made some new friends with Jack and Claire! They were both adorable and wonderful little models, making us forget about the cold outside for a little while. While the goal was originally to see what we could do to get pictures of them both together, Claire, at her age, wasn’t always as happy about having Big Brother hug her all the time, but that didn’t stop Jack’s enthusiasm for it! It was fun playing with you Jack and Claire!
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