This is a great looking site with some easy to read and short useful articles.  One of the only issues I found was that there were no agents listed for where I live and work, mid-Michigan.  So local agents from the Great Lakes Bay Region may want to contact the site owner to get your insurance agency listed on this fantastic resource.

So check out this website.  What have you got to loose?  It won’t cost you anything to find out if you can save some money on your auto insurance.

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 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

Now that I’ve moved into a new photo studio I wish that I had the money to make it look cool and comfortable.  Right now the space is simply that . . . a space.  It is great for shooting but there are no chairs, no desk, no anything – but lights and other equipment.  I’ve seen pictures in the magazines of these really cool studio setups with great client areas and have drooled.

So searching the Internet I can across a website for a company that specializes in “office refurbishment”.  They have some really cool designs.  I don’t need a refurbishment I need a design from scratch, which I’m sure the complete group does also.  Well this company is in the UK so for me they are kind of out.  But hey you never know!  Perhaps they’ll find this post, allow me to email them some pictures and dimensions of the space and they could put together an idea.  So if anyone from the Complete Group in Kent wants to contact me about an office refurbishment please contact me using the link above!  If you live in the UK and especially in the Kent area and need interior office design you may want to check these guys out.

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

Need a Saginaw photographer for your picture concept?  contact me

Rather than take a new screen shot I just took the one from SEOmoz:

We started out with a cucumber appetizer and some steamed edamame.  Both of these dishes were presented well and tasted fantastic!  Then came the sushi.  We all decided on some rolls.  My daughter got the veggie roll and I got the house Midori roll and some other one that I wish I could remember the name of.  The rolls looked great were a veritable plethora of palatability!  When we had finished the rolls we were full but wanted to eat more just for the taste.

Anyone going to the Mount Pleasant area should definitely check out this newer restaurant.

I tried to look up the name of the roll that we had but the website says coming summer of 2011 and now it’s winter 2012!  Ahh Michigan businesses can’t ever seem to get this Internet stuff worked out.  (if the owner of Midori sees this post call me I’ll put together the website and do the food photography in exchange for food!).  I didn’t have my good camera and flashes with me so the pictures here were taken with my Android phone.

Midori can be found on Facebook at – https://www.facebook.com/midorimp

And while you’re on Facebook be sure to like my photography page – https://www.facebook.com/defoephoto

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.

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!