Defoenet.com » Photography

Ex-Beauty Queen Photo Shoot

David — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:35:07 +0000

I had the pleasure of working with Ashley over the weekend. Ashley was a teen beauty queen and is a dancer. There are a few things here that could either make the photo shoot great or difficult. A lot of beauty queens have a hard time making the transition from beauty pageant to modeling. I believe that it is easier for a beauty queen to transition into being a tv spokesperson. The reason is that if you have won a beauty title the girl/woman has to be great at interview and has to present themselves well. While the pageant smile looks great on stage and in an interview is often does not do well in fashion or advertising images. So a beauty queen needs to break the habit of the one face smile look. One advantage I have found from working with pageant participants is that they know how to “smile with their eyes” or put a “sparkle” in the eye.

I enjoy working with dancers because they are usually limber and used to being able to hold uncomfortable positions. We joke sometimes that a model needs to be like a human pretzel and sometimes this isn’t far from the truth.

Are you a Michigan beauty queen or dancer that would like to try modeling or just get some pictures to add to your portfolio? Contact me at Defoe Photography. I’m based out of Saginaw and have opened a new studio in Bay City.

DoryDrive in Saginaw, MI

David — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:41:49 +0000

I had the pleasure of hanging out with the guys from DoryDrive again last night. This time they played at White’s Bar in Saginaw. Because the stage is so small and they can’t fit their gear in the club – they did an acoustic or “unplugged” set. They said that many of the songs they had never performed acoustic but no one would have known. Once again this band from Nashville put on a fantastic show and truly entertained everyone at the club – including the bar tenders!

DoryDrive will be playing one last show in Mid-Michigan at the re-grand opening of the Westown Theater in Bay City on February 4th. Don’t miss this show!

Be sure to like their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/dorydrivemusic

DoryDrive in Michigan

David — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:37:39 +0000

I had the pleasure of meeting the guys from DoryDrive and taking their pictures at a small venue in Michigan. They are on a little warm up tour and their CD is scheduled to be released in March. The weather was not good and the turn out at the small bar was disappointing. This did not stop the professionals that are DoryDrive. They put on a show as if they were rockin’ The Fillmore (which they probably will soon). The small crowd that gathered this cold snowy night witnessed an amazing show. I don’t expect that these guys will be available in small venues for long. I can’t wait to see them again tomorrow night at White’s Bar in Saginaw. Anyone who can make it should!

DoryDrive is a cohesive return to the hey day of Rock and Roll combining a modern edge. The band includes front man Mathieu Nevitt of the national powerhouse Echovalve, Joey Zak, Tom LaBrosse, Nick Mendini, and Henry Koller of the Midwest favorite Marashino. Be sure to check them out on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/dorydrivemusic

Location Glamour Photography

David — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:37:50 +0000

Every woman loves to look beautiful. And it is the photographers job to make sure that no matter the person and location that the personality and beauty of the subject comes out. I had a client ask for some glamour pictures with a guitar. She is really into music and has wanted to do this type of photo shoot for a long time. In order to feel comfortable and get the best images we decided to take the pictures at her house instead of in the studio. I packed up my gear in Saginaw and drove to Bay City. The photo shoot went well and we were able to get some fantastic images.

Need a Saginaw photographer for your picture concept? contact me

Tri-City Photography Workshop

David — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:38:39 +0000

Having just moved into the new studio I decided to invite the Tri-City Photographers Group over for a little workshop. We worked with a few lighting setups using cheap speed lights. And I mean cheap – the $50 ones from China that you can find on Ebay. In general these work great. The concept was that you don’t need thousands of dollars worth of professional strobes to get professional quality images. All you need to get fantastic results is to understand how light works.

The image above was shot with 2 speedlights. One speedlight was bounced off a 4 ft white reflector to provide light for the model and the other was used to create some interest in the background. The model was standing about 3 feet in front of a white wall. The background light had a blue gel (gotten for free from a local community theater) and a tube made from rolled up white copy paper attached with a rubber band. This is stuff that any photographer should be able to get easily or have on hand. At one point we used a white piece of foam core board just to prove that you don’t need to buy a reflector – you just need a second person available to hold it in position.

Want to attend a photography workshop in mid-Michigan? Contact me for more information. I am also looking for models in the Saginaw/Bay City/Midland area to work with.

New Flash and Softbox for Christmas

David — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:35:15 +0000

Like most hobbies photography can be expensive. There are many things on my wish list and only a few that are really affordable. Strobes are a necessity for any studio shot and I love the quality and price of the Flashpoint II strobes. So when I got some extra money for Christmas I decided it was time to get another strobe. I already have a battery back and beauty dish so I decided on the Flashpoint II 320M Monolight Kit, 150 Watt Second, One Monolight Kit with 9.5′ Black Light Stand and 24" x 36" Softbox kit. I figured this was a great addition to the equipment that I already had. Plus the price of the kit was less that a speedlight. The box arrived within 3 days and I was excited to use it!

Softboxes are not always the easiest things to assemble the first time and this day was no exception. The first time I put it together the poles didn’t line up and what should have been a rectangle looked like an oddly bulging square. Second attempt was a charm. Not so bad really it just takes a little bit of muscle to pull the box into shape. Once the softbox was assembled it was easy to twist onto the strobe and within 30 minutes I was flashing pictures.

Above is one of my first test shots with the new strobe and softbox. Special thanks to my son for being a test model!

Image Editing Software

David — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:31:12 +0000

Not sure how I found this site but today I came across http://nevercenter.com. They were offering CameraBag 2 beta for free. Looking at the retail price of $19.95 I figured this is cheap if the software is good. I downloaded the beta and was very impressed. The software is easy to use and has some creative presents. The amount of tweaking that can be performed is good enough.

My first test took about 3 minutes with no need to read a manual or watch a getting started video. Original on left and modified image on right.

Looking a little deeper at the website they have a iPhone app but none for Android. Dang! Give me an Android version and I’ll buy it!

New Photo Studio

David — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:24:14 +0000

Moving into a new photo studio. Getting ready for my first photo shoot my photographer friend Joe showed up to help me paint a wall. A few hours later when everything was done a few other friends stopped by. We hung out for a while and . . . of course . . . they became my first subjects – even if they didn’t want to. This is what happens when you just stop by to say “hi” to a photographer at his studio.

The new Defoe Photography studio is open for business!
www.Defoe-Photography.com | www.facebook.com/defoephoto

Photo Shoot with Rachel Lyn

David — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:15:55 +0000

I had the pleasure of working with Rachel Lyn again this past Sunday. The photo session was at a workshop in Pontiac with David Birdsong.

Rachel is always a professional and very creative. When I pulled Domo out of my camera bag she lit up and gave me some fantastic poses. Modeling with a prop or product is not the easiest thing to do and Rachel seemed like a natural.

I look forward to working with Rachel again soon. If you need product photography for your catalog or website and need a photographer and model contact me!

Cygnus Live at The Northern

David — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:46:40 +0000

I was having a bad day on Friday and my friend Marlo, owner of Stage Level Producton & Promotions, called me. She said that a local band was playing at The Northern in Midland. Midland isn’t that far of a drive and I needed to clear my head – so I went. Cygnus is a cover band from Bay City and they put on a great show. I got a few good pictures and had a good night. The Northern is a great venue and I hope that they continue to promote the local band scene.