Author Archives: Doug Cohen

So Fun Getting Krazy with The Kamen Family!

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Getting Krazy with the Kamen family proved to be one of the most fun family sessions we have ever had here at Frameable Faces!  We love these guys.  You may recognize Courtney from her days as a high school senior spokesmodel for the class of 2014 if you follow our blog.  This time we had the whole fam here including their dog Shadow who was definitely the star of the shoot!  Haha!  This session had everything including jumping, family hugs, silly faces, Shadow “sitting on a throne” and various other shenanigans so let’s get to it…

For starters they chose to go with black clothes on the black background for colors which really looks cool.  Sometimes people wonder if that will work because they fear the clothing will blend into the background, but it looks great if you know how to light it properly.  The first shot is a classic hug between three siblings and a spouse.  Love it!

Getting Krazy

Next it was time to get Shadow involved and he’s quite a stud.  He holds an extremely important position and status within this family so it was critical to convey that in this next photo which is why we had him sitting on his throne for this one.  We think we captured the moment here…

Getting Krazy

Next we started to play around some and get some fun candid shots and that’s when the hilarious shenanigans started…  here’s a great one:

Getting Krazy

And here is our hilarious behind the scenes vine of the session…  so funny!

Lastly we’ll share this fun shot where Shadow jumped back in for another…  This was the photo we teased in our last year-end recap post.

Getting Krazy

So there you have it!  We had an absolute blast getting Krazy with the Kamen family!  We hope you enjoyed these highlights from their awesome session!

2014 Was A Wonderful and Frameable Year!

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2014 was a wonderful and “Frameable” year that we won’t soon forget and in many ways it was the best year yet for Frameable Faces!  As we charge into what should only be the best, happiest and healthiest 2015 possible for ALL of our peeps – we take a happy look back at the past year!

The Class of 2015 Spokesmodels

Okay so the fact that we assembled a new crew of spokesmodels wasn’t something unique to 2014 since we do that every year, but every class is indeed unique and this one was no exception!  A bigger class than usual, we really fell in love with this group and ended up with some great new friends out of it – not just friends of the studio but of our family.  We spent a good part of our winter and spring photographing these awesome seniors and I was playing with the panorama function on my iPhone camera the whole time.  Let’s reveal all of the behind-the-scenes panoramas from those sessions together here – these aren’t professional shots and they aren’t filtered or retouched but together they are kind of neat!

2014 201420142014201420142014201420142014201420142014That’s how we spent a good part of the first 4 months of the year, culminating with our spokesmodel party with our usual dinner (catered by Pine Lake Market) and Just Baked cupcakes and that’s where we create our composite which stays in the window of our studio until the next class!

2014

Summer – Relay For Life, more seniors, road trips…

Team Frameable Faces participated in the Relay For Life once again to try to help beat cancer and we had a fun and rewarding day raising a nice chunk of money this year.  We also continued photographing a whole bunch of seniors and we even took a couple of road trips including one where Ally took some breathtaking photos up at Sleeping Bear Dunes.  We worked hard this summer and at the same time had to plan and gear up for our son Tony’s Bar Mitzvah!  Our heads were spinning most of the time… but it was all good stuff.

Tony’s Bar Mitzvah!

What an awesome weekend this was!  Tony did a great job, the party was a blast, and our photographer – well she’s the best.  We hired our own event photographer Angela and it was really cool to be on the other side of the lens and in her capable and talented hands.  You can see a handful of highlights from our day here!

 

2014New Website, other highlights and cruising towards 2015!

Meanwhile plenty of other topics were on our minds and on our plates – the launch of our fantastic new website designed by our friends at EPK Design, continued Instagramming, Vining, Tweeting, Facebooking, YouTubing, Pinning, Google Plus-ing and blogging!  We photographed plenty of families including this recent one which we’ll give you just a peek of before their upcoming blog post…

2014

Reflecto had a bit of a rebirth as well after recovering from an injury and continued to focus on his favorite topic……himself.

So that’s our recap – we are thankful for all of you and for a great year and we are looking forward to what will be an amazing 2015!  We wish for all of you peace, health and happiness, and we will see you all soon!

All our best,

Doug and Ally

 

The Twilight Was On Point For Tristan’s Senior Photos!

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The twilight was on point for Tristan’s senior photos!  Every now and then we plan a nighttime shoot if it works into everyone’s schedule and when we shoot after the daylight savings “fall back” we get darkness by late afternoon.  For city portraits this can make for some really cool opportunities.  We don’t always get to try some of these creative shots with the different lighting that night shoots require.  Meanwhile we had a great senior model to work with – Tristan is a North Farmington Raider for starters which is always a bonus for us as Raider alums!  He’s a great kid with a great mom who came along for the shoot and we had much fun.  We’ll get to the city shots in a bit…

First let’s start with the studio photos where we went mostly formal.  We started with the grey backdrop which we like especially for guys in the formal wear and North Farmington’s yearbook headshots need to be on grey anyway so it’s convenient to boot.

The Twilight

From there we moved on to the black backdrop which always works well for this next close up shot:

The Twilight

We love these shots…  Tristan nailed them – really he nailed the whole session.  Here’s our fun behind the scenes vine where you’ll see us on location at night in Birmingham for the next couple photos:

The off-camera flash gives us great lighting and the shadows have a really dramatic effect here…  We use this wall all the time but this is the first time we’ve done this particular shot at night.

The Twilight

So cool right?  Totally on point.  Okay let’s take a look at one more nighttime photo…

The Twilight

Love the city flavor and the textures…  Tristan had an awesome session and we hope you enjoyed the highlights from our evening with him!

On Location With Old Friends In The Chicago ‘Burbs!

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We were recently in Chicago for a family event and while we were there we connected with my best friend from college in the suburbs for a family session on a brisk fall day in the park.  It’s fun to photograph old friends and to be able to get their kids and ours together for a visit during our road trip.  We go back over 25 years and it’s always a lot of fun when we get together.

Anyone who knows my buddy Barry knows he’s pretty passionate about his dogs and of course Half-Face and Omar were going to be included in the family portraits.  That’s where we’ll start – with all of the family!

Old Friends Great family and are those dogs beautiful or what?

Next we focused on getting some photos without the pups and if you have been a frequent follower of our work you know Ally is a big fan of the “family hug”!

Old Friends

The kids are getting to be so grown up!  To you they just look like great looking kids – for me it’s different because I’ve known them from the time they were born!

Here is a fun little behind the scenes vine from the session:

Next we focused in on getting some shots of just the kids as you can see from the vine.  Here are a couple of great ones…

Old Friends

So cute right?  Little sister loving on her older brother!  Having a boy and girl ourselves we just know this is exactly how they always get along!!!  Right?

And one more of the two of them just relaxing and hanging out together.

Old Friends

So there you have it – on location with old friends in the Chicago ‘burbs – it’s about as good as it gets for us!  We hope you enjoyed these highlights from the session!

We Just Couldn’t Wait….To Show You Kait(lin)!

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We just couldn’t wait to show you the highlights from Kaitlin’s senior session!  The plan actually was to wait because we’re not done!  We covered a lot of ground on part one of her session but we left a little time to grab a few winter shots when the snow comes so this session is to be continued.  However the same way money burns holes in people’s pockets these photos are burning holes on our Macs and they basically fell into the blog because they’re too good.  It’s pretty much beyond our control.  Kaitlin is a total star and she’s a cool girl to boot!  So without further adieu, let’s take a look!

First we went with the cosmopolitan look which is perfect for this girl.  These shots in the city brought a few looks from the paparazzi around!

Just Couldn't Wait

And now you see why!  Kaitlin just owned this sidewalk – or is it a runway….?

Just Couldn't Wait

What’s really unique about that shot above is the metro look but with the pretty fall colors framing our senior.  So cool!

Next we made a quick stop at the park to get a natural shot before we headed back to the studio and here we get to see Kaitlin’s winning smile in this playful photo!

Just Couldn't Wait

Here is our fun behind the scenes vine of the afternoon:

Lastly we stopped back at the studio for a few on the black background and well, this black and blowy shot is just spectacular…

Just Couldn't Wait

Enough said right?  The best part is that we will still get to photograph her again in the snow!  She’s a delight and now you know why we just couldn’t wait to show you Kait(lin)!  Ha!  We hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks from her session!

Some Applause For Ariana’s Senior Photos Please!

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Some applause is definitely in order for Ariana’s senior photos because she was a total trooper on an absolutely freezing morning!  You would never know how cold it was by looking at the results and that’s precisely my point.  She still killed it.  Alternate titles for this post were “Ariana’s Arctic Adventure” or “An Anarctic Session With Ariana” – haha!  But seriously, the lighting was great and we had a lot of fun with her and her mom at Heritage Park!  Ariana has a great sense of humor with the perfect mix of snark that we love.

We eventually made it back to the studio for some indoor photos in our toasty warm studio, but let’s start on location shall we?  We love this shot on the big rocks – she just looks pretty and happy and it’s a great photo.

Some applause

Next we moved over to a little meadow where the vegetation had turned to a light brown fluff which happens later in the season and it made for a really nice backdrop.  The backlight is great here too!

Some Applause

Here is our fun behind the scenes vine of the morning:

So at that point we had enough of the cold and it was time to head back to the studio.  We started with the black and blowy set up that we feature quite a bit, and Ariana just nailed this shot.  Love this!

Some Applause

Lastly we broke out our red couch which you see Ariana posing on in the vine for this beautiful close up photo!

Some Applause

So there it is!  As we said before, let’s have a round of applause for Ariana for rocking her session like a star despite the cold!  She looks amazing!  We hope you enjoyed these highlights from her session!

Joining Fall, Fire and Finesse With Jenna!

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We are happy to share highlights from the day we were joining Fall, fire, and finesse with Jenna!  For those of you who know us you know we are both North Farmington Raider alums and how much we love the brown and gold!  Jenna comes from a great family tradition of Raider athletes and I personally have known her dad and uncle since I was a kid so this was really a special session for us.  This session had great variety which fits this girl because she’s the whole package – she’s smart, athletic, pretty and funny!

Okay let’s get to the photos!  First we went on location to Heritage Park with Jenna and her mom and we were able to get this shot in the barn doorway – a unique shot for us since I don’t think we’ve ever been there where the door was open before…

Fire and Finesse

Love it!  This next photo is another unique shot with the deep mahogany colored leaves framing the photo, and Jenna’s eyes look amazing here!

Fire and Finesse

So after getting the “Fall” part it was time to head back to the studio to get the “Fire” part!  It’s no secret that we like to set things on fire here in the studio and a volleyball is the perfect prop!  We think shots like these just convey the energy, drama and fierce commitment required for athletic competition, and Jenna just nailed it.

Fire and Finesse

Here is our fun behind the scenes vine of the day!  We always love when people see these and say “Whoa that’s real fire!  We thought that was just photoshoped!”  Yes it’s real fire!

Lastly we went to the red background for a little more “Finesse” in a dress and we love this glam shot with the sneakers!

Fire and Finesse

So there you have it!  We hope you enjoyed our joining of fall, fire and finesse with Jenna!

 

Jacob’s Senior Session Was Sweet In More Ways Than One!

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Jacob’s senior session was sweet in more ways than one and we’ll be returning to the sweet theme frequently as we tell the tale of our day with him!  For starters he’s a sweet guy and he loves to laugh.  We all had each other cracking up for much of his session!  Jacob has a great sense of humor and we weren’t surprised since we know the family – Ally is related to them and they are great people!  We photographed Jacob’s older sister Shaina a couple years ago for her senior pictures so we were excited to photograph Jacob.

We started on location with Jacob and his mom at the Franklin Cider Mill which is a fun (and tasty) place to shoot!  We shoot there a couple times per year and of course we got some sweet cider and donuts while we were there – more sweetness!  There are a couple of cool bridges there which we used for this shot…

Session Was Sweet

Handsome guy right?  The lighting was really nice too!  Here is one more shot from the cider mill:

Session Was Sweet

Next let’s take a look at our fun behind the scenes vine from the day!

Now here is where the session really took a sweet turn!  Often with our seniors at some point in their session we do a themed shot if there is something that really defines them, or if we want to recreate a fun photo from their childhood, or any type of extracurricular activity – some of these get really fun and creative!  In Jacob’s case we called ahead to Plum Market to see if we could take a photo in front of their Godiva chocolate display and they said sure!  Like I said – here’s where things get really sweet!  Haha!

Session Was Sweet

At this point it was time to head back to the studio and we’ll leave you with this awesome shot on the blue – love the cool scarf!

Session Was Sweet

So as you can see this session was certainly sweet in more ways than one!  Sweet guy, sweet cider and donuts, sweet chocolate – life should always be so sweet!

 

We Are Unabashedly And Openly Admiring Alayna!

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We are unabashedly and openly admiring Alayna and we don’t care if we embarrass her a little by saying so!  This girl is unassuming and modest, but she is beautiful and she has a cool style all her own.  After moving away for a while she came back to Michigan to finish her senior year and we are happy she did!  Her grandmother joined us on her session and what a cool grandma!  Our day with them was really just a total pleasure.

Okay so let’s get to the photos.  We started in the studio on the black background and we love Alayna in the grungy look with the ripped jeans, sneakers and flannel style shirt!

openly admiring alayna

We grabbed a few other photos on the black background before we headed out on location and here is a nice close up of Alayna’s lovely smile!

openly admiring alayna

Next it was time to head out on location and the fall colors were still at their peak on the day we spent together – this year it really seemed like we had an extended window with the colors over previous years.

We love everything about this next image – the fall orange behind her, the breeze slightly blowing her hair, the jacket, her eyes – all of it!

openly admiring alayna

Here is our fun behind the scenes vine of our session!

Next we moved across the street from the nature preserve where we were shooting to a different park in order to use one of our favorite bridges.  There we produced this photo that we will leave you with…

openly admiring alayna

All in all we had a great day and enjoyed hanging out with Alayna and her grandma!  You can see why we are “openly admiring” her and we hope you enjoyed the highlights from her session!  🙂

 

A Pair Of Our Favorite Senior Twins – Ethan’s Turn!

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In our last post we highlighted photos of Claire from “a pair of our favorite senior twins” and this time it’s twin brother Ethan’s turn!  We mentioned how their spokesmodel session was so memorable and that this repeat performance didn’t disappoint, so let’s continue the fun…

The storyline follows pretty closely to Claire’s since we did this all together.  We started in the studio on the black background:

Ethan

Ethan is an outgoing and personable guy – very confident and a pleasure to be around, and he and Claire get along really well.  At least from what we’ve seen anyway…  Ha!

Next we headed out on location and yesterday we mentioned that not only was there a scenario with a frog but a Titanic reenactment.  In this vine that highlights the twin photos we took you’ll see a little of that.  😀

Okay next let’s take a look at a couple more awesome shots of Ethan – first on the rocks…

Ethan

And then this next full length shot on a pathway….

Ethan

We also shot a little more behind the scenes footage of just Ethan in this fun vine!

We made two more stops after that location as you may remember from Claire’s session – first to the graffiti wall where we’ll share this photo of the two of them:

Ethan

And then to the meadow where we photographed a thoughtful Ethan “pondering his future”!

Ethan

So that will do it for now – we have had a great time photographing these two over this past year and we are thrilled that we’ve had the opportunity to hang with them and be a part of their senior year.  We look forward to fun times and visits with them in the future!  We hope you enjoyed the highlights from their sessions!