Welcome to Overbrook Studio, and the online portfolio of Toronto-based professional photographer Don Cooper. Don has been a full-time photographer since 1990 and like many other photographers, has personally witnessed—from a perspective of deep involvement—the incredible changes in photography since that time.

Don started his career shooting film with 35mm equipment and soon acquired medium and large format cameras to better serve demanding advertising and general commercial clients. In 1994 he bought his first computer, a Power Mac, and started experimenting with Photo CD, which allowed affordable film scans (new and very exciting at the time). Those scans could be manipulated in Photoshop to become highly acceptable in quality, compared to the much more expensive drum scanners which then dominated the scene. In addition to all this, page layout programs were becoming sophisticated and the computer was already the tool of choice for laying out pages. Digital images were being altered in software. Photographers began to see computers in a different light—no longer were they just for word processing and accounting.

Now in 2007, digital cameras do the "scanning" and film has been almost vanquished from both the consumer and commercial markets.

Due primarily to the fact that digital cameras "scan reality" rather than a second generation version of it (film) the quality from digital cameras is first rate and Don currently shoots with digital cameras only.

A massive shift to digital has occured, which has made photography cheaper to produce. No more film processing, trips to the lab, polaroids, drum scans etc. But along with all these benefits there has been a great need for new knowledge. Graphic designers and photographers must now know much more theory than in the past. When drum scan operators made a digital file from film for print, all the relevant parameters were taken care of. Now with digital files from digital cameras, this pre-press knowledge has to be added back into the equation. Much research has been required in order to offer a true professional photographic service.

Like other pros, Don Cooper has spent years learning digital photography and all the other related subjects involved in going to print and the web, so that he can deliver reliable results and accurate colour. With technical expertise a given, what it comes down to in the end is a photographer's visual style. Don's is a very clean, "reality based" and graphic photographic style, so have a look around this site and check out the work...