Tag Archives: Ally Cohen

The Frameable Faces 2013 Campus Tour! First stop… MSU!

We have been saying for a long time that it would be fun to visit our seniors when they go away to college, so this year we launched the first annual Frameable Faces Campus Tour! We started out with a trip to East Lansing to visit our Frameable Spartans, and we had a great time!

Frameable Faces Photography, El Azteco

Frameables at "El Az"!

As usual this get together centered around food.  We arrived on campus and picked up Lainie, Jessica, and Chelsea at their apartments/dorms and headed over to El Azteco which is a Mexican dining favorite at Michigan State for the famous Topopo Salad.  We had lots of laughs and it was great to catch up!  If you enjoy a good salad and you haven’t had one of these you are missing out….

Topopo Salad

Two Topopos! Yum!

Frameable Faces Campus Tour 2013

Ally with some of her favorite Frameable Spartans!

Doug with Jessica, Chelsea and Lainie

Doug with Jessica, Chelsea and Lainie

We then walked a few blocks over to Insomnia Cookies – one of the best concepts ever.  Cookies served warm and even delivered until 2:45 AM – wish we would have had this when we were in college….

Insomnia Cookies

The Insomnia Cookies didn't last long...

 

Each one of these girls were responsible for some our best “iconic” shots of all time – Lainie actually IN the water with a dress on, Jessica in the snow in a white dress, and Chelsea on the pink background on a huge canvas that hung in our studio for a long time.  Three of our all time favorites!  All in all it was a great night and we hope to do this every year!  Next stop, Ann Arbor….!

When You Fell Did You Get Back Up? Our Top 8 Wipeouts

Top 8 wipeoutsThis post really has nothing to do with photography, but there might be a life lesson in here somewhere by the time you are done laughing at us.  I poke fun at Ally for being a clutz but I’ve had a few good spills myself over the years.  So here we go with our top 8 wipeouts in no particular order (even though I saved the best for last – don’t cheat)….

Our Top 8 Wipeouts…

  1. Doug vs. his shoelaces.  This goes back to the summer of 1987 while playing high school football for North Farmington against Detroit Denby in a summer 7-on-7 tournament at Wayne State University.  Summer 7-on-7 tournaments are non-contact – no pads and no tackling.  I went across the middle for a pass and got hit hard by one of their linebackers.  I got up and squared off with him and all eyes were on us.  “What the H was that?” I yelled.  “So maybe I tripped” he said.  We stared each other down for a second – suburban kid vs. city kid, and then I turned to walk away…. and tripped on my shoelace and fell flat on my face.
  2. Ally shows her graceful side on the honeymoon.  Ally and I got married in 1996 and went first to Disney for 4 days and then on a week long cruise.  We were dressed to the nines for the formal dinner when Ally pulled a spectacular faceplant just outside of the dining room in front of about 100 people.  She survived and we laughed our butts off.
  3. Doug decides not to be outdone on the honeymoon.  I believe the story went something like this…  We were on our way to the tender to take us to the island from the ship when I realized I forgot something at the room.  I went back to get it while Ally waited only to find out I went the wrong way and ended up at the wrong end of the ship.  Not wanting to miss the boat (literally) I sprinted down the hallway of the ship in flip flops which I can now tell you is dumb.  My flip flop got caught and I went flying – I saved my fall by instinctively grabbing on to the rail and I sliced my right hand in the process.  When I finally got back to Ally my hand was covered in blood.  I still have a pretty nice scar from that one….
  4. Ally vs. a Bosu ball. This happened in the summer of 2012.  Three weeks before our daughter’s bat mitzvah Ally was working out and fell off of a bosu ball chipping a bone in her foot.  Luckily she was able to get away with wearing a bootTop 8 wipeouts
    Top 8 wipeouts

    Bosu ball

    Bosu ballfor a couple weeks and she was good to go for the bat mitzvah.  It wasn’t easy though – especially when we found ourselves deeper into a forest than we planned for a senior photo shoot and that hike was pretty tough on Ally in her boot with a still freshly broken ankle….  what a trooper!

  5. Doug “leads” the team through the hoop. As I am fond of pointing out (with love of course) Ally has never “saved” a potential fall in her life.  If she trips at all she’s on the ground.  As with my own honeymoon wipeout this was another one I “saved” but it was no less embarrassing.  For this one we go back to high school for our opening football game on September 5th (my 17th birthday)…  It was at Southfield Lathrup and I was a captain of the team so I led the team out onto the field and through the big paper hoop the cheerleaders had made for us to bust through.  However the girls didn’t notice that they were holding the hoop right over the edge of the paved high jump pit and I stepped right on the edge which sent me stumbling for about 7 steps through the hoop.
    Top 8 wipeouts

    Doug gets a sack

    I’m sure our opponents were very intimidated….  We still won though 17-7 and I even though I had an unfortunate fumble I did still have two sacks.  Here’s a picture of one of the sacks (I’m #31 in white).

  6. Ally on the sidewalk.  Ally was strolling along one winter day in front of the student union while she was in college at Michigan State when she went down hard on her butt on a patch of ice as she was saying hello to someone on the sidewalk.  Ally tried to play it off with her “cute little outfit on and cute little boots” as she tells it, but she was definitely a little embarrassed.
  7. Doug on the driveway.  Ice strikes again…  I slipped on a patch of ice on the driveway maybe about 6 years ago or so.  Legs went straight out and I landed hard on my butt – to the point where I was pretty sure I broke my tailbone.  It was bad enough that I went to the doctor for x-rays but there was no break.  I was sore for a couple days but no major injury.
  8. “Mmmmmm Strawberries”.  This is really the most epic of all of them.  We were up North spending a weekend with friends at their house in Boyne City.  We were hanging out on their dock on Lake Charlevoix when my buddy’s mom brought some fresh strawberries down.  It was a beautiful day and Ally was enjoying a perfect moment with her strawberries when the back leg of her chair slipped off the edge of the dock sending her head over heels and crashing upside down into the water about 5 feet below.  She survived that one without a scratch, but that was definitely one of the most intense moments of pure chaos I’ve witnessed.  Absolutely gut-busting hilarious.

There you have it.  The top 8 wipeouts.  I kept it to 8 in order to keep it even – I could have mentioned Ally’s dive on her first senior session or her tumble into a couple bikes at spinning class, but that wouldn’t be fair.  Hehe…

The point of course is that this post is a metaphor for life.  We all fall from time to time.  Life is not about whether you fall.  You will.  It’s about whether you get up, and hopefully you can laugh at yourself a little and enjoy the whole experience along the way.  What was your best wipeout?  Share it in the comments!

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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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Our Cover Baby is Growing Up!

Remember this little angel face???  Frameable Faces Photography Brochure 2011

Well, she’s back from gracing our brochures and is now a big girl!!!  She just turned two and was STILL such a blast to work with!
Family Portrait, Photography, Frameable Faces, Allyson Cohen, West Bloomfield Photographer
Since little Miss H was born, she’s been a fun one to photograph.  This time, she was all on her own schedule.  She was absolutely adorable and kept Ally moving (because Ally LOVES H, she totally didn’t mind chasing after her!).  We were able to get a bunch of really great images from the session…It’s always so much fun to watch our past “baby planners” grow up into little people.  It’s such a blessing to have amazing clients like L and M that trust you to capture their sweet little ones.  Yet another reason we love our job…We meet the most amazing people, get to hang out and have fun talking with them, and photograph some awesome kiddos.  Personality and all…H is one of our favorite Frameables!!!

Little Miss HDaddy's Little GirlThe Happy Family

The B Boys Being Boys!

You’ve heard the saying “Boys will be boys”?  These guys were no exception!  But they were completely and totally adorable!  Lots of laughs and LOTS of personality!

Mom was a bit worried that we wouldn’t “get anything good” from this session and she warned us before the session that the boys might give us a hard time.  But since we’re complete “professionals,” we were able to get some awesome expressions!  You know how we do it… silly words and of course screaming really loudly…You know…Totally professional!  Ahhhh….the things we do for our clients!  Ha!!!

 

The E Family Session

A few weeks ago, we had the E family in the studio.  They were such a blast to work with!  J and Ally had been friends since high school, but had fallen out of touch until recently.  We had such a nice time working with her, her husband M and their sweet kids!  So much personality in the studio!!!  The sounds of laughter were echoing throughout the mall.  Those are the kinds of sessions we love!

 

Child Photography, West Bloomfield PhotographerFamily Photography, Frameable Faces Photography, Metro Detroit PhotographerFamily Portrait, Frameable Faces Photography, West Bloomfield PhotographerFamily Portrait, Frameable Faces Photography, West Bloomfield Photographer

No sibling rivalry here!

Not sure these guys could’ve been any sweeter! They truly love each other and as a mom of an older daughter and a younger son, this was HOPEFULLY a glimpse of things to come. H and M were so happy together – like best friends! A true gift that every parent dreams of!

H was a total trooper!She was completely into the photo session and put on a great smile even though it was absolutely FREEZING outside! I think that even if we had her in the water, she would have had the same gorgeous smile on her face. She was like working with a true professional and I loved every moment of it!

Frameable Faces Photography

Sitting pretty at one of the most beautiful locations!

M is absolutely adorable.His freckles were AWESOME and he has this great infectious personality!A very genuine person, very warm, friendly and was willing to do just about anything I asked him to do! He didn’t even put up much of a fight when I asked him to plant a kiss on his big sister’s cheek for a photo. Super sweetie!!!

Frameable Faces Photography

Such a cool guy!

Add in two amazing locations, and I think that’s a recipe for an exceptional photo session. These two kids were a complete and total pleasure to work with. Great kids, warm (personality, not outside!!!) kids, and NICE kids!Way to go Mom!!! H and M, you guys were the best! Thanks so much for a super fun afternoon!!! Can’t wait to show you the rest!xoxo,Ally

Boy meets girl…..

Boy courts girl through high school, college and several moves throughout thecountry. And then he enters a contest to win an incredibly beautifulengagement ring from Tapper’s Jewelry Store.

E and M have quite an amazing love story. It started back in high school (to know me is to know that I’m a sucker for couples that meet in highschool. These two actually DATED in high school. So cute!). You can read the whole story here.

Well…when we found out that E won the ring, we were asked how late we were going to be at the studio that evening. When we asked why and were given the answer, we JUMPED at the opportunity to photograph an engagement.

At 7:30, Tracie from Tapper’s came down to get us. We all but ran down the hallway (with our super excited 12 year old and 10 year olds in tow – they were almost as excited as we were!).

We walked into Tapper’s and waited while E and M were “interviewed” one last time. It was really a diversion tactic that E set up so that his whole family, M’s whole family and we could get down to the store to be able to photograph the question being popped.

Frameable Faces Engagement Photography

Down on one knee. M sees her ring for the first time.

Frameable Faces Photography, Engagement Photography, Tappers Jewelry

M realizes what is going on!

Frambeable Faces Photography, Tappers Jewelry

YES!!!!!!

Frameable Faces Photography, Tappers Jewelry

The first kiss as fiancés.

When the door opened, and E and M came out, M saw every one around. E got down on one knee with an opened ringbox, and asked M to marry him.

I was teary, my daughter was teary, both moms were teary, E was teary….you get the picture! And ya know what? SO DID I!!!

This was such an incredible event to be a part of! There’s nothing like the beginning of something absolutely beautiful. Family, love and diamonds…. Does it get any better than that???

Frameable Faces Photography, Tappers Jewelry

In front of the winning video that E submitted to win the ring.

Many congratulations to you, E and M! We hope that you’re as happy for the rest of your lives as you are now! Thank you for letting us help you capture this amazing milestone in your lives!

Such a gorgeous family…

Frameable Faces Family Photography

Such a beautiful couple! No wonder they have two stunning kiddos!

The D family was in the studio a few weeks ago and did we have the BEST time!!! Seriously, I think we laughed for the entire session. Doug and J bonded over football in the good old days and K and I bonded over football and how the boys are SO enthralled with it! It makes a good session great when you can chat about common interests!

And then there were the kids…. J and K are so photogenic and so funny! They had me in stitches with their karate poses and attempts at blowing great big bubbles from their new package of Bubble Yum.

Frameable Faces Family Photography

Isn’t she a beauty? What an angel face! Such a sweetheart!!!

Frameable Faces Family Photography

Hands down, one of the most amazing smiles from a young man. Mr. Personality here!!


The session ended with a bunch of high fives and hugs all around. You just gotta love when clients leave from the session and you talk about them for the rest of the night. All good things, of course! Like how they’re the kind of people you’d like to be friends with…good, kind, nice people.

Oh! And it doesn’t hurt that ALL four of them are VERY EASY on the eyes… 🙂

Frameable Food at Zoe’s House of Pancakes!

Anyone who has spent considerable time here at Frameable Faces Photography knows that we are total foodies and it’s not uncommon for there to be food in the studio – lots of food.  So when we had the opportunity to photograph the new menu items at Zoe’s House Of Pancakes here at The Orchard Mall we salivated at the opportunity (pun intended). What a morning that was – photographing and feasting for hours until we couldn’t move. Flash forward a few months and the new menu is official with our images gracing the cover and the back! As for the food, I truly believe Zoe’s has elevated their game significantly with the new items. Zoe’s has always been a very good breakfast joint with a really good whole wheat pancake option, some yummy specialty items like pumpkin pancakes, the chicken pomodoro omelete and they’ve always had good lunch too. However in my opinion they have become the premier breakfast option on the block with the new items they have added and the line out the door on the weekends proves it.

My favorite is the Chilaquiles – tortillas, chicken, and salsa verde on top of hash browns and cheese with scrambled eggs on top – soooo good. The Huevos Rancheros is great too – love the latin flavor choices!

Zoe's House Of Pancakes

Huevos Rancheros

As for the pancakes – Red Velvet Pancakes!!!

Frameable Faces Photography, Food, Zoe's House Of Pancakes, Photography

Red Velvet Pancakes

Yes the red velvet pancakes are quite delectable and I’ve never seen these anywhere before. The carrot cake pancakes are unique too, and the very berry cream cheese stuffed french toast is out of this world.

West Bloomfield Photographer

Very Berry Stuffed French Toast

Yes we’ve tried all of these already – all in one morning actually…. (oy).  The conclusion: Eat at Zoe’s – and then walk down the hall and say hello after you do!