Recently had a photo shoot with Darnell Gant, aka DG, aka Birdman…first met this guy hoopin’ at the IMA the summer before he started at UW. If you don’t know DG, he’s a 6’8″ forward for the Washington Huskies, and a senior captain. He is also an amazing musician – he plays the drums, organ, and piano, and there have been days at work where I’ve listened to his music on repeat while I reply to emails – as well as an actor (I went to see him perform in “A U-Dubber Night’s Dream” back in the spring of 2010). Clearly a very talented guy. My favorite part about DG, though, is that he’s just a huge (literally and figuratively) goofball! He’s always smilin’ whenever I see him. You can’t help but feel happy around this guy. Case in point: Playing pickup at the IMA, I got the ball at the top of the three-point line and took a quick shot. Darnell came flying at me with a hand up and I flinched so bad – I thought he was going to flatten me! Actually ended up drainin’ the three (in your eyeball, DG!), but he was laughin’ so hard about my reaction, which of course made me laugh. At least I scored on him. 🙂
Darnell and I have talked about doing a photo shoot for a while, but when the weather is nice in the summer, he’s usually home in LA. Two weekends ago, amidst my shoots with John and Ike, I had a few hours open and thought, “Today’s the day, I have to call DG!” And guess what, the stars must have been aligned, because he was free and ready for a photo shoot within the hour! We shot on location at his home (so that he could easily make wardrobe changes!). It didn’t stop there, though; DG has an intense shoe collection, and wanted to capture it on film (sounds better than “on memory card”). For about 45 minutes I was setting up shoes (with matching hats) for their glamor shots – and hence the title of this post, “Photo “shoe”t with Darnell Gant.”
Thanks for the fun time, DG! And GO DAWGS!!!
