Some of you may know that my wife and I have driven Saab wagons for some time now.  My wife drove a red 2000 Saab 95 wagon up until a month ago when we sold it to purchase an SUV.  I drive a 2000 Saab wagon turbo that is a bit of luxury and fast too.  Both vehicles have over 200,000 miles on them.

So why don’t I drive a domestic vehicle?  Well, you can argue what is truly a domestic vehicle these days with so many of the parts coming from overseas.  I am a research junky and I love statistics when I buy anything.  I read reviews and talk to professionals and such.  When I took our first Saab that I was looking at buying to my mechanic and he said that if I don’t buy it he will that solidified the deal for me.  Buying smart is my first choice.

Not only are these vehicles comfortable, but they are quiet, large for a family, and get great mileage.  We only changed vehicles because we wanted something that could pull, drive in deep snow, and four wheel drive for our Northern Michigan winters.  The Saab does awesome in snow up to about 3 inches then it has trouble bottoming out.

So what is my point?  I love American made products but don’t hate me for having a foreign vehicle.  My mechanics are all American, the gas I purchase supports local owners, and some of the replacement parts are American made too.  I love the ride and love the fact that we have over 200,000 miles and they run and look perfect.

There are so many advantages to these vehicles.  To bad that Saab is no longer making vehicles.

Would you like to protect yourself like a Pro?  How about not worrying about all of those family images from decades that are only stored on your desktop computer, or maybe an external hard drive.  What happens if your house burns down today?  Are you backed up?

My chose of online backup is BackBlaze and has been now for years.  I like Backblaze because of the quick file transfer rates and the unlimited backup for a very low monthly fee.  You can try BackBlaze for free right here.  In addition, BackBlaze allows for external hard drives to be backed up too.  This is huge with my business since I use a Drobo backup in house and that is all backed up to BackBlaze.  Backblaze backs up all files on any of the drives you have selected for each computer.  The account is for one computer and you can have multiple computer with accounts.  I checked in to other companies and they weren’t hip on the external drive backup.

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 Michigan Wedding Photographer | Protect your Images 

My wife and I made a last minute decision to attend the Inspire Smart Success Experience in Riviera Maya, Mexico at Now Sapphire Resort on December 5-8, 2011.   I was a bit reluctant to book since we had just moved and we are looking for a new house.  It just happened that this trip gave us both a bit of therapy.

We flew out of Flint, Michigan since the flights were the same price as Detroit.  We headed down Sunday for a 6am flight to Atlanta and then to Cancun.  No checked bags made a smooth flight for us both ways.

The customs and immigrations lines were short and we got through in less than 15 minutes total.   It took longer for us to find our driver to Now Sapphire resort.  One noticeable difference from when we traveled in February was that we had to fill out an emergency contact form before leaving the US and there were a significant amount of military people with automatic rifles.  Kind of scary.

The Now Sapphire is a nice all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya and I would recommend it for a nice vacation or family vacation for a few days.   They really take care of you at the resort.

Following are a bunch of images from the Inspired Smart Success Experience and my free time away from the conference.

Inspire Smart Success Experience Riviera Maya Mexico Now Sapphire

Now Sapphire Resort under tiki hut near pool

Reflection sunglasses near Now Sapphire Resort pool

Fire dancer Now Sapphire Resort Riviera Maya Inspire Smart Success Experience

Now Sapphire Resort beach lounge chairs

Preston Bailey at Inspire Smart Success Experience Now Sapphire Resort

HDR Riviera Maya Mexico

Professional Wedding Photographers Robert Evans and Mike Colon

Hibiscus flower Riviera Maya Mexico

Relax in Mexico

More images on my Facebook Business Page Here

Price SOLD!

Four Winns 1994 14 foot Fling Jet Boat in wonderful shape. I have owned the boat for 3 years and the engine was totally overhauled 5 years ago by Viking Marine in Hubbard Lake. The boat runs great and is a ton of fun. You can turn on a dime and get about 38 mph top speed by yourself.

Four Winns Fling has a fiberglass strong hull and a 115 horsepower Turbojet engine by Evinrude. I change the plugs and gear lube annually. I run mid grade and premium gas in the 16 gallon tank. Oil is in separate container in the engine compartment. I have the boat manual and the engine manual. The boat comes with trailer, two batteries, full removable carpet, storage cover, stereo and cd player, four waterproof speakers with lots of output, automatic bilge, cup holders, blower, and bow and stearn lights. The boat has been winterized properly and does not leak.

I have replaced the entire rub rail and sealed underneath the rail with marine grade sealant. I removed all of the stickers on the boat to give it a unique white look. Two of the waterproof speakers have been replaced with large Polk speakers with high output. The boat is clean and maintenance done regularly and on recommended schedule.

The boat weighs approximately 1200 pounds and can be pulled with almost any vehicle. I pull it with a 4 cylinder wagon.

We are only selling the boat because we don’t use it enough. I have put less than 100 hours on the boat in the three years. Delivery available for additional fee.

Watch the image slideshow below:

Address:

11419 W 1st Street

Rudyard, Michigan 49780

(231) 445-1793

Price: $98,000   Reduced: $89,000 SOLD!

Beautiful, quality brick home for sale by owner in Rudyard, Michigan, Eastern Upper Peninsula, EUP, Michigan between St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie just off of I-75.  This house is move in ready, extremely energy efficient, and has many updates to make this a modern feel with high ceilings and lots of light.  Move in date negotiable.  3.5 percent commission offered, on the accepted price, to a licensed realtor bringing a buyer.  $500 cash “finders fee” offered to non-licensed individual if buyer purchases home, must mention person’s name when placing the offer.

An agent from Smith and Company did a market analysis on the house based on homes that have sold in the past year and she came up with a high price of $98,000 and and low price of $88,000.

House and Property Overview

Three Bedroom

Two Bath with tubs and showers

Rare Rudyard brick exterior

Full basement unfinished

Blacktop drive

Two and a half car detached garage with power box in garage

Oversized 80′ x 250′  township lot size

Large fenced yard

City water, natural gas, city sewer

Energy Efficient – natural gas bills for furnace and water heater run approximately $1300/year

Double pane, vinyl, easy-clean windows

Cellular cordless shades on windows

Main floor laundry

Walk in closet in Master Bedroom

Mud room which leads to rear bathroom all ceramic tile

Covered wrap around front porch

Open deck on rear with steps to yard and driveway

Lawn, apple trees in front, lots of trees in the back, and rocks

All closets are aromatic cedar lined and contain lots of hanging space

Blown in insulation in attic and above rear bathroom two feet plus

Large modern kitchen with lots of storage

Newer drywall, roof, forced air furnace, hot water heater, electric, copper piping

Ceramic tile

Bamboo wood flooring

Maytag electric appliances including indoor water and ice on refrigerator, flat-top stove, microwave with fan, dishwasher

Lots of ceiling fans, one in each bedroom and one in living room

Outdoor electrical outlets on all sides of house

Two outdoor water spigots on east and west sides

Hot and Cold water in basement with drain

Direct basement steel entry door

Outdoor reverse electric feed for hooking up generator during power outage

Front concrete parking area, great for winter parking and guest parking

Beautiful lilac bushes along driveway and in backyard

Lots of annual wildflowers including lilacs, lily of the valley, lillies, tulips, and more

Organic garden

Minimal to no upkeep on exterior of house

Front porch separate entries to living room and kitchen

15 light door on back mudroom allowing lots of light

Heated basement, if needed

Four inch thick floor molding throughout house

Verizon and AT&T service available in house

House listed in Rudyard historical book

Location Overview

Year Round creek in back

Backed up to Rudyard High School, no future development

Walk anywhere in Rudyard

Grocery store, restaurant, bar, post office, ups, banks, huge park with large children playground, schools, Probuild, Napa car center, Do it Best Hardware, Co-op grocery and hardware

Two miles from I-75 with entrances and exits north and south

21 miles to Sault Ste Marie

25 miles to St. Ignace

12 miles to Brimley and Lake Superior

10 miles to Kinross and Kincheloe

Beaches and fishing on Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior all in less than 30 minutes

30 minutes to St. Mary’s River

25 minutes to Canada

Taxes are low when compared to Sault Ste. Marie

Lots of hiking trails and North Country Trail within 10 minutes

Tons of fishing spots nearby

Great upland bird hunting within 10 minutes

Snowmobile trails block away travel through entire UP

House on side street with little to no traffic

Safe Community

Neighbors are prison guards, sheriffs, border patrol, etc

Only one neighbor house, the other side has been removed

Small, but friendly

Other Home facts

Annual taxes $1550.00 with winter $1100 and Summer $450

Centurylink 10mb internet service available

Dish Network

Cable

City Utilities $40/month includes water and sewer

Disposal pickup available at curb

Additional Paperwork

Survey

Seller’s Disclosure

Reserved items

Washer/Dryer, wine rack, shelves in Master, Lake Superior rocks, metal hangers in garage, radio/speakers

How can you not smile when you look at yellow.  It is a happy Wedding color and you should consider it at your Wedding. Yellow can be casual, semi-formal, or formal.  Yellow looks good with both women and men.  Yellow photographs well and creates a nice bold statement.

This email is from my most recent Wedding Client.   They are just back from their honeymoon and seeing all of the work that I put in while they were basking in the sun.  This is how I work with all of my clients.  Choose Paul Retherford Wedding Photography for your Wedding anywhere in the World.

“Good mornin!  Hope you have had a great couple weeks!

I wanted to tell you how absolutely amazing all of the slideshow, images, and videos are that you created!  We never had any doubt in your creative abiilities but you have far exceeded our expectations!  On Sunday after the wedding we went to an airport suite to try and get a couple hours sleep before leaving for our honeymoon and then it all started… you posted the first of the images from our wedding!  AAAAAHHHHHH!!!  It was so exciting to see the first pictures and they were so awesome!!!  And then you posted more, and more, and more!  Needless to say we didnt get much sleep but it was so exciting!!!  And while we were on vacation you posted more for us to see.  Waiting for more images to be posted and reading the comments was so much fun!  And the final video is amazing, a tear jerker for sure!

Returning home to the proofs and the cool little keepsake album was a pleasant surprise!  We spent several hours looking at them.  And the next day the memory stick came!  Even better!  You run a first class operation Mr. Paul Retherford!”

An image from a few days ago of the house being taken down next door.  The owner took it all down himself and burned the wood and sent the rest to the dump.  It will be a welcome site in our neighborhood when it is all down.  Here is a morning image.

A couple HDR Photography images from Isla Mujeres, Mexico at Privilege Aluxes Hotel on the white sand beach of the Gulf of Mexico looking at Cancun, Mexico.

More HDR Photography in Isla Mujeres can be viewed at my past blog post from my Wedding in Isla Mujeres.

Tuesday night in Petoskey my wife and I met a couple friends at the Noggin Room in the Perry Hotel, part of Staffords hospitality, for a Breakfast and Beer dinner that was paired with Shorts Brewery beer.  It was a 5 course meal all paired with Shorts beer.  Great time, food, and beer.  This is our second beer dinner and this was different since it was breakfast and beer.  I took my point and shoot and here are some images, if only you could taste them!

beer dinner petoskey michigan photo

Staffords crepe and Shorts beer

I’m always looking for ways to help market my wedding photography services. Thumbtack is a good way for me to help me show off my expertise in capturing your wedding’s precious moments though my creative style. Check out my listing to learn even more about what I do!

Professional and Creative Wedding Photographer

I hope you get everything that you asked from Santa.

Yesterday we took a hike on North Country Trail with the dogs and Julia in the backpack.  There was a good 6+ inches all over the trail with areas of deeper snow.  We had our MSR snowshoes and they worked great.  Here is one image from our day hike.

red beetle convertible bug wedding transportation

Your Wedding should be unique and personal to you and your family.  Creating  Stamp(s) on your Wedding will not only create wonderful images but will also keep people telling the story of your Wedding day for years to come.  Accessories can be used to make you and your images stand out.  I am going to show a bunch of Wedding Stamps that I have had on the Wedding day recently.  They go from extremely elaborate planned out Wedding Stamps to just situational Stamps, and everything in between.

Stamp your Wedding with your Hero

Wedding flair coupled with your seating assignment

Stamp, or should I say Stomp, with Wedding shoes

Invite a mascot or character to your Wedding

Have a special person marry you like a Bishop

Stamp your Wedding location with a view

Paint your nails a special color

Men wearing coordinating ties like these by Jerry Garcia

Special Wedding details to personalize your Wedding experience

Here are a bunch more ideas for you to consider for your Wedding.  Best of luck to you and your creativity.  I would be honored if you would Stamp your Wedding with my Wedding Photography.

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Telling a story during the Wedding day does not just involve snapshots.  There are a bunch of techniques that can really bring the viewers eye into the intended subject.  One of these techniques is using shallow depth of field.  This technique blurs out a portion of the image to bring the viewers attention to the intended subject matter.  I personally like to use this technique to highlight detail during a Wedding while including the bride and groom out of focus.   This particular image above I used the bike to place the bride and groom on location.

This particular image was at a Vineyard in California.  I used the grape vine and bud as a detail and added the couple in the background out of focus to tell a story about the bride and groom’s Wedding location.

This Wedding couple had a Wedding ceremony location near a natural area.  This image places them in the environment and tells a story of their Wedding day.

Another stylistic idea is to create images of the Wedding favors with shallow depth of field.  This isolates the target interest and tells a small story from the Wedding day.

Using shallow depth of field to highlight details will really separate your images from the “snapshots” that uncle Harry will be capturing during the Wedding day.  There are a ton of lenses to consider and I suggest just experimenting with the lenses you have in your bag.  Maybe you will find that what you have will work just fine.  I personally prefer Canon L lenses for this technique.