Tag Archives: Photography Studio

KICKING OFF Class of 2018 Spokesmodels with Olivia! BEAUTY & BEAST!

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When we say we’re kicking off our class of 2018 spokesmodels we actually mean we’re kicking it off!  With a kicker – a female kicker!  We are thrilled to have Olivia representing our studio and this is always an exciting time for us as we start to look towards the upcoming senior class which we’ll start photographing in earnest this summer.  Some our favorite people of all time and very close friends started out as spokesmodels going all the way back to the graduating class of 2009 and we’ve already become fast friends with Olivia and her mom Liz.  But first let’s back up a bit to the fall of 2015 in the bleachers of Bloomfield Hills High School…

“Check It Out!  How Cool Is That?”

Our son Tony plays football at BHHS and when he first went out for the team as a freshman we were at one of his games sitting in the bleachers.  The freshman team was down on the field and they play before the JV so the JV came up into the bleachers to wait and watch until their turn came.  Ally being a nervous mom saw the size of some of the sophomores walking past and then….Olivia comes walking by in her pads and Ally and I said to each other “Check it out!  How cute is she?  And how COOL is that?”  There were no girls on the football team to speak of back in our day.  You see it more now but it’s still not that common and we think you need to be a pretty cool girl to be able to hang on a team of guys, and be a kicker where all eyes are on you every time you take the field to begin with!

Needless to say our wheels started turning back then as they often do when we’re on the lookout for spokesmodels.  So flash forward to the varsity banquet at the end of Tony’s JV season a couple months ago and there is Olivia looking stunning, so we texted a couple people during dinner to ask about Olivia and we were given the thumbs up.  Ally makes a break for it.  So creepy right?  Like, “we’ve had our eye on you for years and we want you to be a spokesmodel for our studio”!!!  Haha!  But we still had to see if she was actually interested, meet her and her mom at the studio and make sure it was a fit for everyone.  So sure enough Olivia called and said she would be interested and when she and Liz arrived we fell in love with them immediately.  Such sweethearts both of them!!!

Kicking Off With Olivia…

While we may be kicking off the proceedings we should also mention that Olivia plays lacrosse and she’s nice and she’s smart – she’s the whole package.  But before we get to the beast part we started off with the beauty part of the session….  First we’ll share this one on the brown backdrop – we find the brown to be a great option to go with pink – a good color combo for this year.

Kicking Off

We actually played around with a few different backdrops and combinations as we usually do with our spokesmodels and you can see some of the behind the scenes fun here…  Let’s start with the replay of our Snapchat story from the day which ends with the “squad selfie”!  🙂

Next we have the replay of our live Periscope broadcast – if you aren’t following us on Periscope and want to join in the fun and be a part of our shows download the app and follow us at @frameablefaces, or you can watch from your browser and/or on Twitter too!

Now let’s take a look at some of the photos we did on the black backdrop.  First we have this relaxed and fun shot on our black couch – black on black anything looks cool when it’s lit properly and we are looking forward to more of our black couch which is still a relatively new addition here on the black background.

Kicking Off

Plenty of Beauty right?  Now time for beast…

What’s fun about these next couple of shots is that it was actually hard to get Olivia to keep a straight face, because as much of a bad ass as she is, she’s actually very humble and sweet and she was giggling.  Haha!

Kicking Off

How awesome is that shot???  The football / lacrosse mashup!

Let’s take another look at some behind the scenes fun with more live video this time from Facebook Live:

And now one more lit photo in beast mode….

Kicking Off

AWESOME!  What a way to be kicking off the class of 2018 spokesmodel sessions!  Much more to come from our new crew which is starting to shape up to be a very strong class!  We hope you enjoyed the highlights from our time with Olivia!  Stay tuned….

Equipment used:

These are our affiliate links to the products we used while kicking off this session:

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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
************************************************
***************************************­*******
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?
**********************************************
Join the Frameable Faces Community – sign up for our email newsletter for the best of the week in the Frameable Faces World!  Click here!

Doug’s Rant – Why Is Social Media “So Quiet”?

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So quiet

Why is social media so quiet lately?  It just doesn’t seem to me that there has been a lot going on.  Let me explain.  For a few solid years there it seemed like it was the “golden age” of major platforms – such as:

  • Facebook Pages switched over to “likes” from fans in April 2010 a month after we set up the Frameable Faces page.
  • Instagram launched on October 6th, 2010 and we joined it in May of 2012.
  • Pinterest launched in April of 2010
  • Snapchat launched in September of 2011 (more on that in a minute).
  • Google Plus pages for businesses launched in October of 2011 and they added Google My Business last June.
  • The major Twitter redesign launched in April 2011.
  • Vine launched in January of 2013 and at the time we had to wait until June for Android since T-Mobile didn’t have iPhones yet.

Since then……not a whole lot.

All of those platforms seem to still be thriving and growing as a general rule and it has now been two years by my count since a new “major” platform has made a splash.

Is a lull a good thing?

I can’t decide if I like the fact that it’s been a little quiet or not.  The thought of feeling like I have to manage additional platforms can be stressful especially if we are only adding more and not dropping any, but the rush of starting out on a new one is exciting and a lot of fun.  For example I was pretty excited about Pano Perfect which I thought might be the next big social photo sharing platform but that one has gone nowhere…  I hear people talking about Swipe and sure there are others.  We can debate all day about what a “major” platform is – I am not using any scientific criteria here…  I’m just ranting after all.  Feel free to jump in in the comments and add your two cents.  What do you think is the next big thing?  I want to know.

Meanwhile Snapchat is the one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.  Of the big ones I listed it’s the one that we don’t have an official Frameable Faces profile for, and after weighing it I don’t know if it’s right for us as a brand at least for the moment.

Edit*** – A Curve Ball

I wrote that last paragraph earlier today and one of our spokesmodels just happened to pop in to the studio and we were chatting about Snapchat since it was on my mind, and I think I just changed my mind again.  She showed me a couple things that convinced me that it could be a good platform for us.  For example I didn’t realize how it notifies you how many people have viewed your snapchat stories and which people viewed them.  So look for it – my wheels are turning now!

So as it turns out I have Snapchat to work on.  I started out wondering why it’s been so quiet in social media, but now that I’ve got another platform to play with I’m hoping things stay quiet for a bit!

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Frameable Faces Photography
**********************************************
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!
************************************************
Ally & Doug can be reached at the studio at tel:248-790-7317 or emailed at mailto:info@frameablefaces.com
************************************************
***************************************­*******
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?
**********************************************
Join the Frameable Faces Community – sign up for our email newsletter for the best of the week in the Frameable Faces World!  Click here!

 

 

9 Things To Tell Your Kids About Photography

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We had a great morning today at West Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Hills, MI for career day!  We presented to two separate groups of 8th graders about a career in photography and it was so much fun.  The kids had really great and thoughtful questions, and it got me thinking that I should share some things to tell your kids about photography just as we did today.

9 Things To Tell Your Kids About Photography

1.  Getting an expensive camera isn’t the only route to becoming a great photographer.  It can certainly help, but it’s not enough.  If you are truly motivated and it’s in your heart you can hone your skills and become pretty good with almost any camera.  Having the most advanced medical equipment wouldn’t make you the best doctor and having a $100 football doesn’t make you a great quarterback.  I’d rather have a great person I connect with with a good eye and a $75 camera (or even an iPhone for that matter) take my picture than an arrogant know-it-all jerk with a $10,000 camera.   Now keep in mind I won’t want to enlarge an iPhone photo and put it on my wall – you will certainly be limited by a cheap camera and you probably will never be able to call yourself a professional photographer with a basic digital point and shoot camera, but equipment isn’t everything.  It’s pretty important (eventually it becomes really important), but it’s not everything.

2.  Being a great photographer only comes with experience so just start shooting.  Get out there!  Learn what photos you like to take the most, experiment and find your style.  If you like portraits take your friend or your sibling to a park.  If you like landscapes or wildlife go to a nature preserve.  Inspiration is available all around you.

3.  Being a great photographer only comes with knowledge so don’t only start shooting.  Learn how to use your camera.  Read the manual (crazy right?).  Learn about lighting.  Learn about posing.  Learn about editing – kids can play with cropping and basic post production techniques with programs as simple as iPhoto.  It’s not too early to start to appreciate the craft behind becoming an accomplished photographer.

4.  Be aware of what you share online.  This doesn’t mean don’t participate and be terrified of the Internet.  It does mean be aware of how you represent yourself, how mistakes can hurt you, and the power of enhancing your life and making connections with social media.  Social media is obviously very visual and images can be very powerful in good and bad ways.  If you are a musician you can post links to your music or you can stream it on soundcloud, if you are a sculptor you can post a picture of your sculpture but it might not do it justice, but if you are a photographer your work is ON facebook if you post it there and it shows up in people’s news feeds – bam.  Instagram is built on photos.  It is critical that your kids understand the reach of these platforms – how they can use them to their advantage but also the dangers of posting something foolish and opening up their private lives to the whole world if they aren’t careful.  Social media is here to stay and we’ve used it to build our business so it’s important to become savvy online – it will continue to get tougher to thrive without it.  The 8th graders we met with will be able to take a whole course on social media when they get to high school next year.

5.  Taking pictures for a living can give you a ton of freedom but it won’t happen right away.  The allure of being your own boss can be strong for an artist.  Whether you want to own a studio, be a freelance photographer or photojournalist you may be the type that marches to the beat of your own drum.  For me I know that working in the corporate environment and having a boss was a nightmare.  I much prefer having my own business, but I know we would not have been able to pull it off if we hadn’t had plenty of experience in the workforce learning how business works (and how it doesn’t work).  I don’t think it’s the best advice to tell a youngster to plan on never working for someone else – to go from graduating from school straight to —–> business owner.  Just my opinion…  We see a lot of photographers fail because they don’t respect and learn the business of photography.

6.  Taking pictures is extremely rewarding and a worthy pursuit!!!  This holds true for professionals and amateurs.  Taking pictures is expression, it’s connection, it’s celebration, it’s history, it’s emotion, it’s a moment, it’s flat out fun.  Kids love to snap and share pictures.  Instagram selfies, facebook profiles, snapchat, tumblr – this is how they connect and express themselves.  What an outlet!  It’s a fun byproduct of technology that some old school photographers can’t understand and they lament how it’s devaluing what real pros are doing.  We feel it’s the opposite – the more people appreciate pictures the more they’ll appreciate good pictures.  We never discourage youngsters from having fun with photography.  We embrace this new culture and here is a funny example of a guest post I wrote for another blog where I discussed ideas for good content on Facebook for photography studios.  Look in the comments where some angry old school photographer chimed in and just ripped me apart for validating these fun new forms of expression.

7.  Find mentors and ask questions.  Go to a local studio.  Go to a local independent camera store.  All of us pros started somewhere and there were photographers who helped us along the way.

8.  You aren’t too young to subscribe to blogs and websites like Peta Pixel where you can learn a ton.  There are a lot of sites like this one with tips and examples of new and creative photos.  We share many articles that stand out on our facebook page as well.  In addition to gaming or surfing silly videos on YouTube maybe your kids can mix in a few of these – they might find plenty they like.

9.  Think about the businesses you love and why.  Whether it’s a certain ice cream shop, or a clothing store, or a gaming store, or some other specialty store, think about why you like them.  Kids are consumers – they can learn from the businesses they like if they are paying attention and it can shape the kind of business people they can be.  If you are a photographer of people you will want to treat your people the way you like to be treated as a customer.  These are simple lessons that shouldn’t be lost on kids.

I hope these help!  Feel free to chime in or even better have your child chime in – if you’re local stop by and visit!  We would be happy to answer questions.

Check out the Doug&Ally Morning Show PODCAST!!!

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Frameable Faces Photography
**********************************************
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!
************************************************
Ally & Doug can be reached at the studio at tel:248-790-7317 or emailed at mailto:info@frameablefaces.com
************************************************
Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/frameablefaces
Facebook: http://facebook.com/frameablefaces
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frameablefaces
YouTube: https://youtube.com/frameablefaces
Instagram: https://instagram.com/frameablefaces
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/frameablefaces
***************************************­*******
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?
**********************************************
Join the Frameable Faces Community – sign up for our email newsletter for the best of the week in the Frameable Faces World!  Click here!

 

 

 

An Interview with Reflecto!

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Those of you who have been on location with us have very likely met Reflecto.Interview with Reflecto  He’s our sometimes rogue, somewhat snarky, and quite often arrogant reflector.  He is really a character and while sometimes he gets a little out of line he’s definitely never boring, so we thought we would sit down for an interview with Reflecto and find out what’s on his mind….

 

FF:  Let’s get right to it – it’s been said that you are a sometimes-rogue, somewhat snarky, and even arrogant reflector.  Is that fair?

Reflecto:  Listen, haters are gonna hate, so let ’em is what I say.  It’s pretty simple.  If I am awesome and I say so does that make me the bad guy for speaking the truth?

FF:  Okay…..  Uh – we won’t try to answer that question.  How about you tell us about your childhood?

Reflecto:  I try not to talk about my past too much.  My family moved around a lot and had various jobs – wrapping York peppermint patties, getting odd jobs as foil – stuff like that.  I decided when I was old enough that I would never settle and I was able to snag this gig with Frameable Faces.  Now I run the place!  Haha!  Follow me on twitter at @reflect_o!  Winning!  I’m the be-

FF:  Hey easy – let’s stay on topic okay?

Reflecto:  Whatever – fine.

FF:  What was your best moment on a photo shoot?

Reflecto: When you are supremely talented like me there are just too many to choose from.  I enjoyed smacking Doug in the face on a shoot once.  It was quite genius really – I waited for a really windy day and then “bam”!  I really think he just thought it was the wind that caused it.  Hahaha!

FF:  You must have other moments that don’t involve violence…

Reflecto:  Okay I’ll admit that I do get some satisfaction when my beautiful reflecting makes a senior look great.  It definitely validates how great I am, and if the #frameables (yes I’ll appease Doug and Ally and call them that) are happy as a result then that’s a bonus.

FF:  Who is Blocko?

Reflecto:  I don’t know what you’re talking about.

(side note – “Blocko” is Reflecto’s alter ego and he’s nicer than Reflecto – we’re not sure why he didn’t want to talk about it)

FF:  We know that sometimes you try to blind the frameables by reflecting the sun into their eyes.  Do you think they deserve that?

Reflecto:  The media embellished that story.  My talent can be “blinding” – whoever made that comment meant it figuratively not literally.  Like Michael Jackson told Paul McCartney I’m a lover not a fighter.

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Frameable Faces Photography
**********************************************
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!
************************************************
Ally & Doug can be reached at the studio at tel:248-790-7317 or emailed at mailto:info@frameablefaces.com
************************************************
Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/frameablefaces
Facebook: http://facebook.com/frameablefaces
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frameablefaces
YouTube: https://youtube.com/frameablefaces
Instagram: https://instagram.com/frameablefaces
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/frameablefaces
***************************************­*******
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?
**********************************************
Join the Frameable Faces Community – sign up for our email newsletter for the best of the week in the Frameable Faces World!  Click here!

 

 

7 Tips For Getting The Most From Professional Headshots

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In today’s world of social media and with the opportunities available for online networking and Professional Headshotsmarketing,  great professional headshots are more important than ever.  So where do you start?  How should you go about it?

7 Tips For Getting The Most From Professional Headshots:

  1. Go to a pro.  Okay so we’ll admit that this tip is a little self serving – this is a blog for a professional photography studio after all…  But whether you live in Metro Detroit and come to us, live in Metro Detroit and don’t come to us, or wherever you might be reading this, the point is do NOT leave your professional reputation and image to a friend with a camera phone, and choose your studio carefully.  Headshots are not that expensive and you need to make a good impression – it’s worth spending the extra 100 or even 200 dollars to have a high quality photo.  A good headshot by itself is not likely to land you a million dollar deal, but a crappy unprofessional headshot could potentially lose you one.
  2. Have your headshot match the type of business you are in and your approach to that business.  For example, if you are an attorney you will want a different headshot if you are in the business of putting away the bad guys or enforcing non-competes for corporations than if you are an amicable divorce attorney.  If your job requires you to be tough and serious than you may want to look serious in your photo.  If your job requires you to be helpful and understanding than you may want to look caring and inviting – with a nice smile.
  3. Try to stand out a little.  Depending on your business it helps to not be boring.  If you are in a creative business and you are trying to increase sales based on your ability to come up with a wow factor then it’s okay to be edgy.  A cool hat, an unconventional expression, a different color background – if you are an artist be true to your style.
  4. Be careful in trying to stand out.  Don’t go overboard.  If you are trying to stand out and it comes off as silly or unprofessional it can backfire.  If you find yourself asking if your idea is a little too cheesy than it probably is.  Use the advice of your pro who is in the business.
  5. Be prepared.  This would seem to go without saying, but think about your clothing ahead of time.  Make sure your hair is done/combed properly, and if you are a woman a good rule of thumb is 30% more makeup than usual.
  6. Make sure you update often enough to match how you look.  If you gain or lose a considerable amount of weight, if you have decided to shave your head or shave your beard after wearing one for 5 years, if you have gone grey since your last headshot, it’s time for a new one.
  7. Update your profiles.  Once you get your headshot make sure you update every profile you use online – especially the personal profiles you use for business.  This includes your website as well as your LinkedIn, twitter, and others for example.  As an extra tip within a tip, consider how you use your different profiles.  For example you may use facebook purely for personal purposes and therefore you may not want to use your professional headshot for your facebook profile.  That’s fine, but be aware that just because you’ve distinguished your personal profile as personal that doesn’t mean that how you conduct yourself there may not impact your professional reputation.  It can – absolutely.

We hope this helps and we wish you success!  What other tips do you have that have helped you for getting great professional headshots as a client or taking them as a photographer?

**********************************************
Frameable Faces Photography
**********************************************
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!
************************************************
Ally & Doug can be reached at the studio at tel:248-790-7317 or emailed at mailto:info@frameablefaces.com
************************************************
Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/frameablefaces
Facebook: http://facebook.com/frameablefaces
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frameablefaces
YouTube: https://youtube.com/frameablefaces
Instagram: https://instagram.com/frameablefaces
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/frameablefaces
***************************************­*******
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?
**********************************************
Join the Frameable Faces Community – sign up for our email newsletter for the best of the week in the Frameable Faces World!  Click here!