Professional Services in Novi

"I believe every person is a handmade work of art," confides Amy, owner of Darkroom Divas. The ebullient photographer ditches stagnant portrait sittings for shoots that accentuate each subject's inimitable qualities. Crisp lines and contrasting textures set off senior portraits, and unconventional locales make each wedding portrait a shared journey in itself. For her boudoir shoots, Amy edits each image, smoothing the skin and touching up blemishes to render each photograph worthy of appearing in a magazine or on limited runs of the two-dollar bill.

Amy also turns a fresh eye to the community, teaching beginning and advanced photography classes as well as offering up her shutter skills to charities such as the Shiawassee County Humane Society.

"I pledge allegiance to the world to care for the earth and sea and air. To cherish every living thing with peace and justice everywhere." These words begin each morning at The Greening of Detroit's Camp Greening, inspiring in children a sense of responsibility and ownership for their planet. Yet, the summer camp isn't the only program striving to create a greener Detroit. Urban gardening and agricultural programs, workforce development, tree plantings, and gardening projects help to educate people and transform the Motor City into a verdant, safe environment. The Greening partners with neighborhood groups, churches, schools, and corporations on its mission to improve parks and transform vacant land into useful landscapes.

Nature photographer Mike Moats deals exclusively in evocative and otherworldly up-close shots. His workshops can last anywhere from three hours to three days, and cover general image-making techniques, such as controlling depth of field, composition methods, and postshoot digital processing. Moats also teaches his students to think like photographers: lessons often cover selecting a subject in any season and working in natural light. With proper grounding in the theory and practice of shooting tiny subjects, macro-photographers will have plenty to shoot no matter where they live, unlike photographers who specialize in Leap Day lunar eclipses. :m]]

Seven days a week, Duds ‘n Suds and Reynolds resonate with the gentle hum of their fleet of coin-operated washers and driers. Customers can manually cleanse their dirty apparel and towels or drop off laundry by the pound at the Duds ‘n Suds location to be washed, dried, and folded by the laundromats’ expertly trained staff. Customers waiting for freshly washed or dried articles can sip on complimentary coffee or place bets on how many tootsie pops it takes to fill a dryer.

Lori Taylor finds it easy to sum up what's unique about her photography business—"We want people to not only love their photos, but also to love their photographers." Initially, the lifelong photography hobbyist spent 20 years as a restaurant manager, learning the value of personalized customer service. It's a value system she still practices, diligently manning the LA's Photography phones seven days a week in addition to running photo shoots. Each of the photographers on Lori's team of photographers specializes in a particular kind of photography that ensure each of the studio's yearly 150–200 graduation gigs, 45–65 weddings, and multitude of family portraits shines uniquely. Lori personally listens to clients describe their needs before matching them up with the specific photographer on staff whose skills are best suited to the occasion in mind. The resulting harmonious relationship between subject and photographer seems to be what drives the company's wealth of referral business. "We've never really needed to advertise," says the cheerful owner, who mostly acquires clientele via word of mouth and by defeating other photographers with her darkroom jujitsu.

After modeling in LA and Europe, Randall Scott found himself behind the camera, embarking on a 15-year career that saw his work grace the pages of magazines such as GQ, DNR, and Vogue. Scott's extensive experience with modeling as well as photography led him to develop a style that, like Arthur Fonzarelli after a hot-stone massage, is hip, youthful, and relaxed. As a specialist in senior and yearbook shoots, Scott immortalizes each subject's prime of life with striking, personalized portraiture and expertly styled hair and makeup.