A local magazine chose me for the cover (no, not Lowrider Babes) and they use DBAPIX , so it was…read morefate that I met DBA himself (Danny B. Acevedo). I say fate because in just two hours it felt like he went from stranger to new best friend.
No creative artist of his caliber needs suggestions, but he was open to anything, offering to come at my school where I work, my home, anywhere. We shot in our quad for the obvious money-shot background of our school logo as expected, but he got creative, like choosing a red wall to contrast what I was wearing, or shooting me in front of block letters at less-obvious angles. When I suggested using the four-foot Mario Kart mural in my classroom, he was like "letsa go," and darkened the room and softened the focus to make it look super professional, showcasing his creativity and experience, making my room look less like the dollar tree day care meets third world yard sale it is.
Duh, I mean, he IS a professional, you may just forget because he seems like he's your friend. Not like "ride to the airport", "move a fridge", "change apartments with Rachel and Monica if they lose a game" kind of friend, but the experience is all fun, no work.
And he's super positive. I felt a little silly how encouraging he was, telling me how awesome I was doing just changing my smile and poses. I felt like a fashion model. I felt like Twiggy. But a 230 pound Twiggy. I guess I'm more Loggy.
I never got to do Glamour Shots, back in the day, so this made up for it, despite having no shoulder pads or crunchy bangs, though I'm sure he'd be up for it. It was also like getting my headshot. I've never had a stronger urge to hold a giant inflatable crayon. Which is how my wife must have felt on our first date.
He was open to suggestions, so we included my books, too (I have four self-published books-some of them are good). We also went to my house, where he was adept at finding the few spots that didn't have any of my loose socks and cereal bowls. In other words, he's so good, you don't even have to clean up first. A cat lover, he even got a few pics of my pet. My cat's sitting next to an empty Kleenex box on a pair of my undies, but he looks great!
And he was licking his butt at the time.
(The cat, not Danny).
Before each session he voluntarily stuck his phone out so I could use it as a mirror and he made sure I took whatever time I needed. After each pose he flipped through to show me his favorites, which was a good way to offer direction, I'd be like, "yeah, yeah, this is good---could you make me look less than Sloth from the Goonies?" And he did. That's why I'm all like HEYYY YOOOU GUUYS, you should hire this guy.
Anyway, he ended up talking the whole time, not just talking about our similar interests, but we both made odd self-realizations in the short time we spent together. To be clear, self-realization is not a service. Weddings, birthdays, events, headshots, newborns, family portraits, marketing, etc. But self-realization is just something that might happen at no extra charge.
