I have a new novel coming this fall from Roadside Press, and with all the new going’s on of writer life I found myself in need of a photo shoot, something I haven’t considered in the many years it’s been since my senior high school photos, and I wasn’t a big fan of that experience.
When my first novel $100-A-Week Motel was published, in the true DIY fashion befitting the legendary underground Punk Hostage Press, I used a selfie for that first author’s photo. The one that graces the back cover in black and white, and I dig that picture, but it took me 27 tries and three weeks to get the right one.
This time, my publisher suggested a photo shoot for the author photo and for other promotional purposes. With my ineptitude of simple selfie taking, I knew I had to find the best photographer in Toledo if I had any chance in this close up world that shows too much of the life my scarred and wrinkled face has lived.
I knew exactly who to call. Dave Ludwig better known as Photo Dave. I met him at a MVNIFVST, LLC event, and again and again, at local music events, always working the stage like it’s the dollar trail at the hottest strip club in town, and always with a camera around his neck, sweating, laying down on dive bar floors, and damn near climbing rafters to take the best live action artist photos that money can buy a working artist in Toledo.
Photo Dave is a machinist turned photographer, and his own life story is righteous and inspiring as fuck. He’s worked at his photography skills with the same blue collar work ethic he earned in the machine shop, and grown his photography and videography business PhotoDave Photography to be one of the area’s go to artists for capturing live music and other art events, working with many of Toledo’s best, and is now mastering realtor, business grand openings, and restaurant photography.
Add that Photo Dave is an all around pretty good dude to kick it with, and he was the only call I ever considered making to take some shots of this well worn and weary mug of mine. I told him what I needed, and he said no problem. Just show up. I got you.
Photo Dave is a single Dad with a cool apartment in Toledo’s historic Old West End, a popular neighborhood for artists, hipsters and other weird and interesting humans, and he has a studio in that apartment. We met there for the formal shots. The ones with a shirt and tie. The shoot quickly devolved into a simple meandering artist hangout, and I had a chance to marvel at the ever growing investment in ever evolving equipment that it takes to be a high level photographer.
Good art shouldn’t be cheap, and everyone that has ever known me much knows that I believe in supporting working artists with my worked for dollars. Just like I often ask many of you to do when I get a new book published. Photo Dave gave me a price that wasn’t cheap, but neither were his cameras, or his three dozen lenses and 14 flashes. And he’s got this big new umbrella mushroom looking thing that either blocks out light, or draws it in, I’m not a photography critic, just a factory poet. The point is that even with a two year friendship, and mutual respect of artist to artist, he went above and beyond, and the whole experience left me proud to know him.
PhotoDave has the artist eye that makes a great photographer. That makes a great painter, poet or songwriter. The eye that catches the little details the common folks don’t see, until the artist draws them out for us all to examine in the hallways of our heart. He used some Hollywood prop ice he had for restaurant shoots, and we got gritty spilled drink and barroom blue, to go along with the title of that forthcoming book, The Dead & The Desperate.
Later we headed downtown to a secret location, where the shoot turned brick dust grit and full tilt sleeves cut off blue collar, and I can’t believe it, but I shouldn’t have ever doubted, getting photos taken by a professional blue collar artist photographer was just as natural as smoking cigarettes outside the factory at break time.
Over the course of the shoot, that lasted twice as long as we scheduled, but felt shorter, Dave shared dozens of secrets he’d picked up over the years, and a hundred ideas and promotional tips that’ll go a long way towards kick starting this next novel and subsequent cross country, and international reading tour. You didn’t think I was going to let PhotoDave out work me on working on art did you? Hell no. My goal is to work just as hard at capturing those details many miss, but with my words instead of a large and impressive camera.
Working with PhotoDave Photography doubled the value of every dollar and every hour spent, and provided me with a portfolio of three dozen photos that I’m pleasantly surprised I’m proud to own, one outstanding author photo that I can’t wait to show off soon, and thousands of dollars, and years of experience of shared advice and wisdom from another blue collar artist that’s worked his ass off to become one of the best in the city.
Proud to know you, Dave. Thanks for making me look as pretty as possible.
Looking forward to sharing more photos and other cool stuff soon, but here’s a shot Dave took that was just as natural as those 10,000 smoke breaks I snuck off to take behind four dozen different factories and warehouses.
*this post, like most, appeared first on my Patreon account, where for just $1 a month, you can help support my work.
Nice, Dan!