Tag Archives: Ally Cohen

Traditional Clothing Makes Us So Happy!

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It is such a treasure to be exposed to different cultures especially when it includes the traditional dress of that culture.  This family wore some of the most beautiful and colorful clothing you will ever see – a portrait photographer’s dream!!!  Before we get to that though let’s take a look at them in formal wear – a handsome bunch!

Family Photo

Not only are they a spectacular looking family but they were a joy to be around!  Very nice, fun and polite young men were these three boys!

Brothers

We learned a lot getting to know these folks about the country they are originally from and we tried to make them promise to take us along the next time they make a trip to Africa…  haha!

Here is a behind-the-scenes vine of the proceedings once they changed clothes with the brown background…   🙂

…as well as a stunning result with the red background, and how gorgeous is this mom!

Family Photo

We can’t say enough about this family – we hope you’ve enjoyed these photos!

“Part Two” – It’s Noah’s Turn!

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We already posted “Part One” which was Kyla’s session, and now here is Kyla’s twin brother Noah getting his turn (with a return guest appearance by Kyla of course)!  🙂

With Noah we focused exclusively on studio work – he changed into a couple different outfits, we used a couple of different backdrops and Noah did a fine job!

High School Senior Picture

Here’s a fun vine with a little behind-the-scenes action from the photo session!

…and a resulting picture from that series!

High School Senior Portrait

Next we moved to the grey backdrop.  This has become one of our favorite setups with a senior boy in suit and tie on the grey!  Very GQ – although most of our seniors have no idea what we are talking about when we mention GQ…  ha.  What a stud – Noah killed it with this pose!

High School Senior Portrait

Lastly, Kyla joined her twin brother for a return appearance for a really sweet photo together!  We love seeing these two together – they are really close and it shows in this photo!  Overall it was another fantastic session!

High School Senior Twins Portrait

Hangin’ and Laughin’ With Calvin!

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This is a session that we’ll remember for a long time.  Calvin came in with his older sister – what a fun dynamic that was!  Usually seniors come in with their parents but this was a nice change of pace and we really enjoyed our time with Calvin and Amanda!!!

High School Senior Picture

Calvin did an awesome job and he’s got great style so the session turned out GREAT and we stumbled upon a couple of new spots while we were on location.  New spots are really exciting for us and when you go to an urban setting there seems to be a never ending array of nooks and crannies on walls and in alleys if you open your eyes and look.  We started with some studio work as you can see above, and then we headed to the city before coming back to wrap up with a couple more shots indoors.

Here are a couple of the city shots along with a fun behind-the-scenes vine of the proceedings…

High School Senior Picture

This vine cracks us up as you hear Ally yell at Calvin to “laugh”!!!  Haha!

High School Senior Portrait

While you can see that Calvin has a great smile, he also has the serious look down.  All in all it was a great day and we laughed plenty – we had so much fun hangin’ and laughin’ with Calvin!

High School Senior Picture

 

 

A Twin Sister Senior Double Bill!

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This does not seem possible but while we have photographed several sets of twin high school seniors before, each time it was a twin brother and sister.  This was the first time we had ever photographed twin sisters!  We love all of our seniors but photographing twin sisters together was a unique experience and a total blast!!!

Both of these girls are stunning and they are soooo funny together.  All five of us (mom included) were laughing our tails off for most of the session.  We started out on location first, and first we’ll focus on Mary’s individual shots.

High School Senior PictureHigh School Senior PortraitHigh School Senior Pictures

Gorgeous right?  Here’s a little 6 second peek into the making of this session with the girls posing together…  🙂

It was quite chilly but you would never know it from the results and the lighting was just right!  These two were jabbing at each other with the full sibling rivalry on display one second, and then laughing and cheering each other on a second later!  Their mom sometimes played a little referee and then other times just stayed out of the way.  Hilarious!  You can see how much fun these two had posing for some pictures together in these next two images!

High School Senior Twins PortraitHigh School Senior Portrait - Twins

Last but not least let’s take a look at Natalie’s individual photos!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures of these fun and adorable sisters!  We certainly had a memorable day with them that we will not soon forget!

High School Senior PictureHigh School Senior PicturesHigh School Senior Portrait

 

 

 

A Growing Family – Right Before Our Eyes!

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This was a very special pair of photo sessions!  This family came in just two days before the due date of the new baby girl’s arrival into the world!  Maternity sessions are so beautiful and this one was no exception.  Then five days later they came back on the way from the hospital with the baby!  A brand new three day old newborn!  Love, LOVE, LOVE!!!

Family Portrait (maternity)

First for the maternity session…  Anticipation was high and they knew that a baby girl was coming so pink was the theme!  Ally always says guys look great in pink and this baby girl will have several men to look out for her who were pretty excited for her arrival!  Here are a couple peeks from the session:

Couple Maternity PortraitBrothers Portrait

Then a few days later we got the call that the little princess had arrived and that they would be coming straight here from the hospital on her third day – we were so excited!  And not only was she a beautiful baby, but this was the easiest newborn session we have EVER had.  She slept almost the whole time and didn’t even poop during the session once!  🙂  This baby had the most pleasant disposition we have encountered.  Take a look!

Newborn portraitNewborn baby photoNewborn baby portrait

Simply Delicious Siblings!

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These were seriously two of the cutest siblings we’ve ever had here.  Period.  I know it can sound like we say that about everyone sometimes, but look for yourself and see if you don’t agree!  The thing is if you toured around the world and ate at every one of the top 100 restaurants on the planet and each meal was deliciously amazing would you be lying if you raved about every one?  Of course not, and like I said – these two were truly special.

Sibling Portrait

You can get a glimpse of how fun this was with this behind-the-scenes vine…  🙂

Ally wanted to eat these two right up – they were just so cute and sweet…  Little man does not like to sit still now that he has discovered that he has mobile capabilities (haha) and mom was a little worried that we would have a tough time getting the shots.  Not so.  Besides, big sister helped out – she was able to keep him in place here and there with a couple of hugs and kisses.  Truly delicious siblings!  Enjoy!

Child PortraitYoung Baby PhotoSibling Portrait

Ryan Is Ready!

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While some people might be blah blah blah-ing about today’s youth on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that “selfie” was named Word Of The Year by the Oxford English Dictionary – that they are self-centered, shallow and whatever else the curmudgeons may say, our latest senior is the total opposite of all of that!  Ryan is the editor of the school newspaper, has his sights set high for college and beyond, and is an engaging and very impressive young man – much like plenty of the seniors we meet!  We love this generation and we love this guy!  He’s the perfect type of kid you would want as a representative of “today’s youth”!

High School Senior Picture

We had a great time with him and for this session the focus was on studio portraits.  We had a lot of fun with Ryan and his mom as well – she hung out for the session and even provided some coaching!  Haha!

High School Senior Picture

Ryan was definitely “ready for his close up” and we would say that he is ready for life – Ryan is just plain READY! High School Senior PortraitHigh School Senior Portrait

Rachel’s Session Was Worth The Wait!

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We had been on a perfect weather streak this year for our class of 2014 seniors like never before with no rainouts until the last couple weeks when we were rained out three times.  Rachel’s original day had to be completely rescheduled, but as they say patience is a virtue and we got a perfect day for a great girl who really deserved it on the second try!

High School Senior Picture

A Family Affair

We started at the studio and Rachel’s siblings jumped in for a couple of fantastic shots before we headed out on location.  Lots of fun to see these three together with the girls having some fun with their baby brother…

Sibling Portrait

Then we headed out on location and the conditions were just right.  Rachel looked fantastic in some really nice fall settings – you can see some great fall color in this shot…

High School Senior Portrait

…and here’s a little behind the scenes vine from the session.  🙂

All in all we had a great time together and we think you will agree that Rachel’s session was absolutely worth the wait!

High School Senior Pictures

On A Crisp Clear Fall Day You Can See… Alanah!

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Alanah picked a perfectly beautiful day for her session – it was cold but the lighting and the location were perfect and we had a lot of fun.  We don’t want to embarrass her by saying this but when we met Alanah we thought she was really shy and quiet.  Alanah is another senior we have known for years and we photographed her brother two years ago, but it was not until she became a spokesmodel for us this past year that we really got to know her and discovered that once you get to know her she’s not shy at all!  She’s actually very outgoing and pretty funny!

High School Senior Picture

Her mom had the idea of having Alanah in a boat (you have to give credit where credit is due haha) and she had the perfect spot for us, so we went to the location first since we had great sunlight and an early morning start.  Getting the boat into the water provided a few laughs and the whole scene was pretty amusing as you can see in this vine…

…but it was worth it – the results are great!

High School Senior Portrait

We then got a few other spots and one of our favorite trees turned red earlier than we thought it would so that was a bonus!  We love the way this one turned out and Alanah looks stunning!

High School Senior Picture

We did all of Alanah’s spokesmodel shots in the studio earlier in the year so we didn’t plan to spend a ton of time indoors this time around but we still headed back to the studio to get a couple more and here’s a highlight from those.  We hope you have enjoyed these highlights from Alanah’s session a fraction as much as we enjoyed photographing them and getting to know this adorable young lady over the years!

High School Senior Picture

A Dream 5 Years and Counting!

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5 year business anniversary

Yes that status was 5 years ago!  It’s hard to believe…  Ally’s dream of having a real studio of her own has become a reality and we love doing this together.

Humble Beginnings

Those who were around us and the mall back then might remember that this really started off as an experiment of sorts.  The mall had several vacancies but tenants were starting to move in which at the time was really bucking the trend – this was right in the middle of the Great Recession and Detroit was the epicenter of the whole thing.  Things were quite bleak around here but there were exciting things on the horizon at the Orchard Mall.  As for Ally, the first few months were basically spent just her by herself in this space with a desk, a temporary backdrop, her camera and a banner in the window to see if this could be a viable business…  She had been building Frameable Faces out of the house before this, photographing on location and this was a big next step.

5 year business anniversary

Starting to take shape – Frameable Faces in early 2009 – we had our new sign but no paint, furniture or much else!

The “Rescue”

I was working a dead end job at T-Mobile as a National Account Manager selling BlackBerrys to auto companies who were mostly in bankruptcy at the time.  I knew my days were numbered and Ally convinced me that when the time came that they showed me the door that instead of looking for another job we should pour all our energy into Frameable Faces Photography together.  It was a struggle to be sure growing a new business in a really rough economy, but we had never been happier.  I like to say that Ally “rescued” me from corporate America and I used to use the line that I was “way happier struggling than when I was miserable making money” and it was true!

5 Years Later

So here we are 5 years from that first status update about getting the keys to the empty space in our beloved mall and opening up the studio, and in some ways we feel like we’re just getting started!  We’ve come a long way – we’ve made so many friends and met so many incredible “Frameables” along the way.  We are forever grateful for all of you and we look forward to what’s next!!!  Cheers to 5 years!!!