Tag Archives: Orchard Mall

Vine and Instagram continue to fascinate me and this is the third rant in a row that I’ve focused on it. In the last couple of weeks I’ve actually become a pretty big fan of Vine and I’ve enjoyed discovering some really creative and funny Vines as well as making a few of our own. Here are a few ways we’ve used Vine so far – a little humor, focusing on our community, and a fun hello to our second photographer Angela:

@reflect_o is a thief https://t.co/OHN6LdcZQ1

— Frameable Faces (@FrameableFaces) July 5, 2013

Our six second tour of the @OrchardMall! 🙂 https://t.co/KFpL4iN41w

— Frameable Faces (@FrameableFaces) July 9, 2013

Angela is here! Second Photographer Extraordinaire #LoveHer https://t.co/7vd4Wots8A

— Frameable Faces (@FrameableFaces) June 26, 2013

As for Instagram I must say I barely see any videos there… and I prefer Instagram without videos (apparently I’m not the only one). Being a fan of Vine and not of videos on Instagram is an outcome I did not anticipate, but that’s where I’m at now.

Can you Reddit? Can you Digg it?

I recently read an article on Smart Savvy Social that discussed 10 ways to promote your blog posts and the major takeaway for me was #8 about bookmarking your blog on various social bookmarking sites. I had toyed with Stumble a while back but I had never really spent any time on Reddit, Digg, or Technorati, so I went ahead and registered this blog on Technorati, created a profile on Reddit and checked out the others. I find Reddit to be the most interesting so far because of the community aspect and the points you accumulate for good “karma” in how positive your interactions are. While I am not seeing a whole lot of discussion about the photography business there, I can at least report that so far Reddit is the one that has generated some traffic back to our blog. Collectively they seem to be pretty good resources for web surfing and finding good content.

Quick Hits

Ally is working on a guest blog about using reflectors for lighting purposes on MCP Actions – be on the lookout for that for you aspiring photographers! It may be a little while before it posts but we’ll announce it on facebook and twitter for sure… I also have a couple of articles being published there soon as well.
Here’s a case of “don’t just take my word for it” as the ever reliable Rosh Sillars blogs about the 17 things photographers should not do. I counted and I’ve specifically discussed 8 of them in blog posts and guest blog posts of my own. Admission – we don’t bother with our tripod very often… we probably should a little more. 😉
By the way I’m a big fan of Snapchat as well which you may have noticed is the app interface on my photo at the top of this rant. This is another visual and social mobile app but one that I’m not sure lends itself to use as a brand profile so I use it to have fun with my family and friends just as me. A social media platform I don’t create Frameable Faces content for.

Mickey…..Kitty!

June 20, 2013

by Doug Cohen

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Sure everyone has heard of Mickey Mouse, but Mickey the kitty is “taking Mickey back” for kitty nation. Who says a cat can’t be named Mickey right? Right. Just look at him – he doesn’t care what you think. You can’t stop him…

I’m King of the World!!!

This couch is just my style…

Hey I was told there was fish in here. There are no fish in here.

3 Months Old and A Total Pro!

May 24, 2013

by Doug Cohen

4 Comments

This was a day we were looking forward to for a very very long time! These are old friends of ours whom we are very close to and we are so happy for them – they’ve got the cutest little boy! He’s a very smiley baby and this may have been the best 3 month old session we’ve ever had. Sometimes the 3 month old session isn’t the easiest for getting all of the best shots since it’s around 6 months that the little ones start to develop a lot of personality and they have a little more range since they can often sit up by then – but this little guy already has a ton of personality! He was awesome – in a great mood and so easy to work with – a total pro! We had so much fun with him! Enjoy!

Baby Photograph Family Portrait Father and Baby 3 Month Photo

“Perfect” Children!

May 16, 2013

by Doug Cohen

2 Comments

Let me explain…. We have photographed plenty of little ones. Newborns, toddlers, kids – and we love all of our little Frameables. Often when we tell parents that our sessions are two hours they react by saying “there is no way my child will sit and pose for two hours”, and we reply saying “that’s why we need two hours!” Sometimes toddlers need a little time to get comfortable, and for newborns in particular we block off 3 hours and try not to schedule anything right after just in case we need more time. With newborns very often there are feedings that need to happen, diapers that need to be changed, and sometimes we need to wait it out while baby falls asleep so we can take photos while they are sleeping. It’s not a perfect step by step choreography, but that’s okay – it doesn’t have to be. We almost always get what we need even if the good stuff doesn’t start to happen right away…

Having said all that, there was one child that we photographed three years ago that we always remember as being so extraordinarily easy to work with as a newborn – we were able to get a ton of perfect shots and it didn’t take long at all. Well, she just came back as a three year old with her 9 day old sister and sure enough, she did an incredible job again – this time with baby sis and the baby was amazing too! These parents are 2 for 2! Like the title of this post says – PERFECT CHILDREN!!! We love love love these photos… and hope you enjoy them too! 🙂

Little Siblings Newborn Baby Photo Newborn Photo Sibling Cuteness

Will Smile For Smoothies!

May 11, 2013

by Doug Cohen

2 Comments

We have been photographing these cute siblings for a couple years now and they are growing up so fast! They are at the age where they are pushing some of mommy’s buttons which all of us who are parents can relate to. Lucky for us we have plenty of tricks to deal with this – for example this time we sent mom down the hall to get smoothies so we could have some time alone with the kids in the studio, and sure enough they settled right in for some fantastic shots! So adorable, and these two clearly enjoy each other! Enjoy! 🙂

Brother and Sister Pretty Princess Handsome Little Man

Our 5 Favorite Ways To Instagram!

February 23, 2013

by Doug Cohen

2 Comments

We love Instagram! For those of you still not familiar with this (it’s okay we won’t tell anyone) Instagram is a social media platform that enables its users to take pictures (generally with their smartphone), apply digital filters to them, and share them. As with all of the different social media platforms we use such as facebook, Pinterest, twitter, YouTube (just to name a few), Instagram has its own unique purpose for us. We generally do not use it to post examples of our work, but rather to post what happens behind the scenes at Frameable Faces. If you don’t use Instagram you can still see ours by going here.

Meanwhile we thought it would be fun to post 7 of our favorite Instagrams here representing 5 typical categories. We hope you enjoy them whether you are a Frameable yourself or another photographer/small business owner looking for ways to connect with your peeps.

1. Behind the scenes on a photoshoot

We love these – showcasing the process of creating the images is a lot of fun. It’s instant gratification since I can snap a quick shot of Ally photographing a high school senior for example with my smartphone and upload it right away while we’re still on location. Instagram also has a location map feature which uses the GPS stamp from the photo to create a map of locations where the images were produced. This way people following us can get ideas for where they want to take their photos by seeing where they were taken.

2. Happenings in the Orchard Mall

The Orchard Mall is our home and it is a very cool place with many other independent businesses and good eats. It’s a central meeting place in West Bloomfield and any time there is an event or even just beautiful new decorations we Instagram it.

Events:

Decorations:

3. Fun Shout Outs Just Because

We like to celebrate our community – our brand, and life in general…

4. Visits From the #Frameables

Nothing brightens our day like visits from our #frameables and yes these visits make us want to share! #Frameables is our hashtag on Instagram which works much in the same way hashtags work on twitter. Our peeps ARE our studio and we mean it.

Seniors:

Babies: 5. Stuff That Has To Be Shared Because…Well…It’s Just Too Good Not To

This speaks for itself – you just know when you have to snap a shot and post it.

There are plenty of others – a banana tree at a greenhouse, a practical joke, our snarky reflector Reflecto, road trips, selfies (of course)….. What are some of the things you like to Instagram?

Photo Restoration – Restoring Vietnam War History

January 16, 2013

by Doug Cohen

9 Comments

Sometimes photo restoration can be just as rewarding as creating a new photo. Mike is a client who brought in an incredible photo that was damaged, creased and tattered to see if we could fix it. You can see the results below and after learning that this was what Mike called home while serving our country in Vietnam we can only imagine what this photo means to him. Actually I’m sure that most of us cannot imagine it, but you can feel that you are looking at an important piece of history – personal and national – when you see it. To be able to restore this image to such a pristine state is a very rewarding thing and Mike was gracious enough to allow us to share it on our blog. The next time you get annoyed about your living conditions – you wish your kitchen was a little bigger or you can’t stand the draft along the floor in your bedroom, think about what the soldier deals with while he/she is out there defending our country.

Vietnam photo - before photo restoration

Before restoration

After restoration

We asked Mike a couple of questions about the photo and here is what he had to say:

Frameable Faces: So Mike, tell us what is in this photo?

Mike: This is a picture of what I called home for some time when I was serving in Vietnam. I prefer not to talk too much about my time over there, but the photo definitely means a lot to me.

Frameable Faces: Can you tell us more about the photo? Did you take the photo yourself and did you have it developed once you returned home?

Mike: I took the photo myself with a throwaway camera. I wasn’t going to take an expensive camera over there and my mom actually sent over a disposable camera for me to use. I had to just keep the camera on me since there was obviously nowhere to get it developed where I was. I brought it back to the U.S. when I returned in 1967 and that’s when I got it developed.

Frameable Faces: Well we are glad we were able to restore it for you and we hope you are happy with the way it turned out. Thank you so much for sharing and for your service!

Mike: You are welcome and I couldn’t be happier – this photo deserved to be restored and I’m putting it in a frame so I can display it properly. You guys did a perfect job on this!

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Frameable Faces Photography
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Frameable Faces Photography is a small biz retail mom & pop shop of Doug&Ally Cohen located in the Orchard Mall in West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States Of America!
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Ally & Doug can be reached at the studio at tel:248-790-7317 or emailed at mailto:info@frameablefaces.com
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Being “Frameable” is an attitude, a community, a way of life – a life you would want to celebrate and display on your walls for all to see! Tell us… ARE YOU FRAMEABLE?
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“Frameables In The Hood”

December 25, 2012

by Doug Cohen

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Yo – this family is soooo GANGSTA. Be intimidated. Be very intimidated…..

West Bloomfield Photographer, Frameable Faces Photography

We have a lot of fun with them because every year they come in with a new fun theme and this year was no different! We were cracking up during this session!

West Bloomfield Photographer, Frameable Faces Photography

Frameables In The Hood!

Ain’t No Family Like A Detroit Family…

December 15, 2012

by Doug Cohen

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As you know we are big fans of the “D” especially if you happened to read our love letter to Detroit. What we have here is a family who feels the same way… which makes us fans of them too! This was a great session! We love a family who together coordinates a theme for their session and what better theme than the Motor City, Detroit Rock City, Motown, the 313, Hockeytown…. you get the picture.

It was fun having them here – here’s the evidence….

Family Photo Frameable Faces Photography

Dear Detroit, You Are Awesome. Love, Frameable Faces

December 9, 2012

by Doug Cohen

4 Comments

Image courtesy of www.DetroitApparelFactory.com

We have traveled all around the country and there are a lot of cities we love. My family is originally from New York and I love it there. I love the big city and it really is an incredible place – endless things to do, see and eat. We love Chicago – we have close friends there and it’s a short drive – a ton to do there too. We love D.C. with its monuments and history. Atlanta and Philly are great cities. San Fran and L.A. are amazing. Dallas is very cool and so is Cleveland. Cincinnati is great – awesome chili, ice cream and ribs. We love Virginia Beach and we have family there. We also love South Florida and we have family and friends there all over – all the way down to the Keys – stone crab and key lime pie! We like Nashville, Houston, Tampa, Oklahoma City, Santa Fe, Jacksonville, Columbus, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Vegas, San Antonio and Atlantic City. We appreciate the smaller cities and college campuses we’ve visited like Madison, Dayton, State College, Hattiesburg, Cedar Rapids, Pensacola, Oxford, Syracuse, Vail, Taos, Morgantown, Annapolis, Richmond, the list goes on…

We love our National Parks. We love visiting battlefields, President’s homes, mountains and sand dunes. We love Skyline Drive, the Rockies, and the Natchez Trace. We want to explore the Northeast, the West and the Northwest. We have not yet been to Mount Rushmore, The Badlands, Big Sur, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon or Hawaii. We have much more we want to see.

Dear Detroit You Are Awesome…

BUT,

Here’s the thing. As wonderful and awesome as all those places are, we still love Detroit and the surrounding Metro area the most. Why is that? It’s not easy to explain to those who don’t live here. There are plenty of specific things we love of course. The food is fantastic – Lafayette Coney Island, Mexican Town and Greektown, the best Middle Eastern food, plenty of good Indian and deli, some great chop houses, amazing breakfast options all over the suburbs in West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Royal Oak, and Ferndale, Polish food in Hamtramck – and on and on. Lots of cool places to hang out as well in the aforementioned towns. Lots of diversity. There are world class museums in Detroit and there is a music history here like few other places on Earth. Of course there is also an awesome sports tradition here. Ann Arbor is pretty close as well, an incredible college town. Detroit skyline

On paper does Detroit stack up to the other cities? That really isn’t the point. The point is Detroit is where we’re from. Detroit is where we have our studio Frameable Faces Photography (West Bloomfield to be exact). Detroit is an underdog. Detroit has been kicked and punched and Detroit has punched back. Detroit rocks. Detroit is home. So Detroit, WE LOVE YOU AND WE ARE NOT LEAVING YOU.

Love,

Doug and Ally Cohen

Frameable Faces Photography