As the saying goes a picture’s worth a thousand words. How does that apply when you make a living taking pictures? Thousands of pictures mean thousands upon thousands of words. Each picture has a story behind it that is made up of those words. So one might say that a photographer is another type of story-teller. Brad Cavanaugh tells stories every day. The photographs that adorn the walls of his studio speak volumes of the people that he’s met, the places that he’s been and the lives that he’s touched. Brad Cavanaugh is a Valpo Life in the Spotlight.
Cavanaugh was born in Quebec City, Canada. He came to Valparaiso where he has lived ever since after he was adopted by his loving parents: Tom and Arlene Cavanaugh. He made his way through the Valpo school system starting with Saint Paul Catholic School and finishing at VHS. He went to Loras College in Iowa where he majored in Fine Arts, minored in Photography and played basketball for two years. Then he transferred to Purdue West Lafayette and finished up his college education with a bachelor’s in Fine Arts.
Cavanaugh's father began instructing him on flying at the age of 10. By 16 had had his first airplane license. After graduating college he traveled all the way to Florida to enroll in aviation school where he got the rest of his aviation ratings. After graduation Cavanaugh got a job flying the corporate plane and hot air balloons for La-Z-Boy. He decided a little while later that working for the airlines wasn’t what he wanted to do so he combined his aviation skills with his art background to create the business that he runs today: Air One Custom Photography.
The business started in 1995 and they specialize in aerial photography, ground photography, product photography, portraits, graphic design, large format printing, framing, photo restoration and duplication.
“Many people don’t know that we do more than aerial photography. And when they come in here they are surprised to find out that we do so many other things.” Cavanaugh said. “In the beginning I thought I’d just be doing aerial photography. But a year after we started the business we began to get requests for portraits, weddings, ground photography, and product photography. So I really had to start specializing in a whole bunch of different avenues of photography that I never thought I’d get into.”
Air One Custom Photography has two websites and a Facebook page. The first website, http://www.aironephoto.com/, deals mainly with aerial photography and the second, http://aironeinc.smugmug.com/, is for finished client work. Clients can go and look at the photos online and order prints if they wish. Go check out Cavanaugh’s work. It really is quite good. The Facebook page for Air One Custom Photography keeps you up to date on all the things related to his business.
Cavanaugh is involved with Jano Concerts on the Square which started about five years ago. He worked with Jim Janesheski -who came up with the idea- to raise money for various charities and groups around the town. Cavanaugh also designed the “Doors of Valpo” poster that he sold to raise money for the Spring Valley Homeless Shelter in Valparaiso. He makes about 20 to 30 donations to events and fundraisers every year. And each year before Christmas he donates copies of his aerial photography book called Northwest Indiana: A Different View to the local retirement homes. He does a lot for the people of Valpo because he loves his town so much.
“What’s not to love about Valpo?” Cavanaugh said. “There’s low crime, it’s very upscale, there’s a lot to do, and it’s close to Chicago and the beach. It’s very convenient to get to other places from here. And we have lots of parks that I like to go to.”
In his free time, Cavanaugh likes to spend time with his kids, spend time outdoors, and travel. When asked for any advice that he'd like to give that has helped him along in his life, he immediately refers to his father.
“What I’ve learned from watching my father over the years is that he gave and never expected anything in return. When you give you get it back tenfold,” Cavanaugh said. “Sometimes when I give something away I get asked, ‘Why did you do that?’ And I reply, ‘Trust me. In the end it’ll all comes back.’ I’ve tried to instill that in my family and it shows everyday.”
He’s right, you know. When you give selflessly you get so much more in return. This is why Brad Cavanaugh is a Valpo Life in the Spotlight.