A New Chapter Begins
Apr 07, 2021
Starting longer ago than most of us can remember, picking up a camera to take pictures of wildlife seemed almost a natural succession to watching and admiring the birds in the yard, along the river, and in many other places we visited.
But we're a lot further along in time now, and it's starting to show.
We aren't forgetting the humble beginnings of Cooper Captures. Many hot summers and cold fall days spent in too hot and too breezy tents or enclosures, at craft fairs, festivals, art shows, and anywhere else where recognition was a possibility. Slogging through mud & muck, sitting through blizzards, traveling to places unknown (and sometimes getting lost, despite GPS), and waiting for that perfect moment. Equipment updates, learning new software, trying new methods, and realizing that the best method is to keep showing nature in her original, glorious best.
We've done all that with the intent to bring a little more color, a little more peace, and a little more appreciation of nature to our fans, make a few new ones, and enjoying the journey. Sometimes the best things are those you work the hardest for. And that's where we are now.
Diana is a determined artist, with a keen eye for the very subjects you will see on these many pages of thousands of photos. It isn't enough for her to just take pictures. She also wants to know everything about them. The call of a Cooper's Hawk, for instance, is quite notable, while the Chickadee actually sings its own name. Migrations, nesting habits, food choices, enemies, and even mating rituals. She knows most of it. And if she doesn't know about it when she first takes a picture of one, she will learn more about it shortly, and be happy to explain everything she's learned.
The purpose of the blog, as we have agreed, is to chronicle this next chapter in the evolution of Cooper Captures Gallery. Diana's hard work & tenacity, with a little technical help from Tony, has brought us to a point where we can not only share all these gorgeous images with you in a way that is easier to use for the purposes of "envisioning them on your walls," but also to build a natural companion of the physical gallery in Shepherdstown, WV. Diana and Tony both will be posting in the blog. Sometimes educational. Sometimes informational. But usually functional.
The next few months and years will be spent with some travel... most of it centered around capturing more images, more birds, more wildlife, more scenes. And we'll bring you along. That's for another blog post, though.
Right now, we're hoping you'll celebrate with us as we open this new chapter into Cooper Captures Gallery.
A few features to get acquainted with right away here is as follows:
- The top menu is going to show you all quickly accessible areas of the site. Entire Gallery will literally take you to a visual wonderland of every picture on the site... and there are a lot. Gift Shop is a tiny store within a store where you can pick up some really nice gift items, both for others and for yourself. Shop The Art is the main page. The rest is pretty self-explanatory... but ask if you're confused!
- The very top right of the page is the the magic section. You can save favorite images and items, and we'll remember them for you. That alone is a feat of magic, because we don't remember things like we used to. You can create an account (which is how we remember the favorites), and login when you come back. There's also a search box which will find just about anything you're looking for. Give it a try... search for "eagle" and see how many eagles there are. Of course, Cart is where the stuff is that you want to buy. Go checkout before you forget!
- Best Sellers and Featured Images are in the middle... we'll try to keep those on a rotating basis so you see something different each time. The Best Sellers section is actually the best sellers. It may change depending upon how many more things you buy. And featured images is a culmination of Diana's #todayspieceofhappy on social media sites.
- Below all that is the business stuff. We have some certifications for the site, as well as some more links to things here on the site you can get involved with, as well as links to social media.
So, go explore. Enjoy yourself. Let us know if you see something weird. We try to keep things tidy, but it's new to us and we're still adjusting. Mostly, just have fun.
Tony & Diana