Tag Archives: Doug Cohen

Doug’s Top 10 Songs About Photography

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Is there really such a thing as an original idea?  Plug that question into Google and it seems that most would say no.  The idea to write this post just popped into my head – to write list of top 10 songs about photography.  So I jotted down a couple off the top of my head and then went through my iTunes to come up with my list.  Then I did a little research and it turns out there have been plenty of articles written on this topic.  Heck there’s even a Wikipedia entry on songs about photography!  That’s okay, I can still put my own spin on it, and Wikipedia actually missed two of my picks – one of which is a glaring omission to me and another much more obscure…

Music Fanaticism

Yes I’m a music fanatic and you might even say a music snob…  I started collecting records when I was 5, memorizing all the lyrics I could and having KISS concerts in my basement with my friend Chris.  I played the cello in my high school orchestra, was the guy who made all the mix tapes for all my friends in high school, and now I sing in a rock band.  I used to read through the All Music Guide books all the time and now I just hang out on their website.  Music and photography have a lot in common since they both can elicit very personal and emotional responses and connect us to our past in extremely powerful ways.  With this being the case it’s a wonder that there aren’t more songs about pictures and photography in general, but there are several great ones and here are 10 of my favorites:

The Top 10 Songs About Photography

Pyromania coverPhotograph – Def Leppard – 1983

Those opening three chords are unmistakable – just enough time to crank the volume up for the drums right?  He wants the girl (Marilyn Monroe?) but all he’s got is a photograph…

 

 

Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With JimPhotographs & Memories – Jim Croce – 1972

Such a poignant song that Jim Croce wrote not long before his untimely death where he sings about how he cannot believe a loved one is lost as he looks through photographs and thinks about the times they spent together.

 

 

R.E.M. - ReckoningCamera – R.E.M. – 1984

A beautiful song which is said to be about the band’s friend Carol Levy who died in a car accident.  From piecing it together it seems Michael Stipe has made reference to this (?) as the point where he got clean from drug addiction.  “If I’m to be your camera then who will be your face?”

 

The Cure - Pictures Of YouPictures Of You – The Cure – 1990

Robert Smith’s song about finding his wallet in the remains of a fire at his home with pictures of his wife Mary in it.  He even used one of the photos as the cover of the single.  A beautiful dreamy Cure song from an otherwise dreary, murky and fantastic Cure album.

 

Deep Purple - Machine HeadPictures Of Home – Deep Purple – 1972

Okay not about photography per se, but a classic with the word “pictures” in the title…  A song about being in a strange cold place and yearning for home – images and “pictures” in our mind can comfort us from time to time to be sure.

 

 

Echo And The Bunnymen - CrocodilesPictures On My Wall – Echo & The Bunnymen – 1979

This song has the distinction of being the very first Echo & The Bunnymen single and I love it.  An eerie sounding and foreboding tale but we’re not quite sure why…  “The pictures on my wall are about to swing and fall”.

 

 

A Flock Of SeagullsWishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) – A Flock Of Seagulls – 1982

Unlike Joe Elliot of Def Leppard the lead Seagull sounds like he’d be okay with just a photograph – he wouldn’t spend his life just wishing if he had a photograph to remind him.  More or less a three-hit-wonder (I apologize to any diehards because I’m the first to admit I hate when one of my favorites are slapped with a tag like that), you have to love these guys as a classic slice of MTV 80’s nostalgia.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel FoxtrotKamera – Wilco – 2001 (released 2002)

This sounds like a confessional from Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy who seems to not be feeling too good about himself.  It seems like he needs a camera as opposed to a mirror to look at himself and remind him of the lies he’s been hiding and the echoes in his heart.  It’s a great song that the band recorded and released two different unique studio versions of and both are worth checking out.

Filter - Title Of RecordTake A Picture – Filter – 1999

Sometimes you just need to take a photo otherwise no one will believe or remember what happened later right?  This song is one of those lush anthemic sounding songs that swirls and lifts you up even if you’re not sure why…  and why shouldn’t a song about a guy getting naked and causing a scene on an airplane lift you up…..right?

 

Rush - Moving PicturesThe Camera Eye – Rush – 1981

The last song Rush recorded over 10 minutes long, it’s a two part song that attempts to contrast and highlight New York City and London respectively.  The title apparently refers to sections in the U.S.A. Trilogy written by John Dos Passos.  “The Camera Eye” sections are written in an autobiographical stream of consciousness style.  I suppose taking pictures can be just that – your stream of consciousness as you interpret the world through your lens.

Here are the links to the songs / albums in order on Amazon – where digital downloads were available I provided that option otherwise the CD is linked.  I can vouch for each entire album being amazing by the way (with the exception of Flock of Seaguls – I never owned an entire Flock of Seaguls album).


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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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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 – It’s Selfie Time! – August 30, 2013

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Let’s celebrate the selfie and give it its due now that it’s become an official addition to the English language!

Selfie word of the year

Whoa – now THAT’S a serious selfie! Amateur photo taken by Doug with his smartphone. 🙂

Yep, that’s right the selfie has a seat at the table and has been validated as a legitimate word as announced by the Oxford English Dictionary this week.  There has been plenty of dialogue and debate about the selfie.  Here is the official definition if you have been living in a cave are not sure what we are talking about…

Selfie: “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website” – Oxford University Press

Old School Photographer Lament

Some professional photographers lament the popularity of smartphone pics, instagram, selfies and the like.  Some of them worry that these amateur photos are passing for good photos when they’re not, and that this is bringing down the photography profession.

Our Position

We disagree.  We enjoy Instagram, snapchat, and even the occasional selfie.  We use them ourselves and we feel that the more people enjoy everyday photography the more they will appreciate and enjoy professional photos.  Rather than be threatened by it we choose to embrace it and have fun with it.  If a selfie doesn’t make you smile you might be a curmudgeon.  Lighten up!

Just Be Smart About It

As for the negative side of the selfie, you certainly have to use common sense just like anything you do online.  Don’t post pictures of yourself in ways that are inappropriate or that you might regret later and maybe you should consider not completely overdoing it because according to three business schools in Britain too many selfies may actually ruin your relationships!!!

What do you think?  Do you post selfies?  On Selfie Sundays only or all the time?

 

Book Review: Must • Girls • Love – by Sabrina Must

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I’m going to start with a little background to explain how I came to read this book and review it for our blog.  Monni Must is an acclaimed photographer based in Sylvan Lake only 10 minutes from our studio, but we actually met her in Nashville, TN 3 1/2 years ago at Imaging USA – a huge photography convention.  We knew who she was and we were still very much finding our way and growing our studio in terms of it being our full time family business so we were really pleased to find her to be such a down-to-earth, kind and supportive lady.  We felt a connection with her right away and every time she has been in the mall since she has stopped in for a quick chat and an encouraging word.  We may be “competition”, but we’ve never felt “competitive” with Monni.

Book Review Must Girls Love

Why A Book Review

We also knew that Monni had suffered a family tragedy when her oldest daughter Miya took her own life at the age of 28 in 2007, but for a time we didn’t know too many details.  As fate would have it our son became very close friends with the grandson of Monni’s next-door neighbor and we ended up spending time at their house and Monni’s as well.  I hadn’t known that Monni’s youngest daughter Sabrina had written a memoir focusing largely on Miya’s death, and our mutual friend put us in touch about writing a book review.  I had been thinking about a way to highlight Monni on this blog – focusing on another photographer in the area whom we admire – and my thought was to base it on the books she has published with Sabrina about Holocaust survivors called Living Witnesses.  I knew that the Living Witnesses project had a dual purpose – to preserve the stories of the survivors but also to serve as a coping mechanism for Monni and Sabrina to deal with their grieving (I had read that on the Living Witnesses website).  I didn’t know Sabrina personally but we messaged each other and talked a little about Must • Girls • Love which has been released on Kindle and this seemed like a good place to start to gain some understanding.  I hope to follow this up with a “part two” to highlight Living Witnesses.  This is my first book review and boy did I get more than I bargained for.

The Story

Through the use of excerpts from Miya’s journal leading up to her suicide as well as Sabrina’s own journal entries from that time period and after, we are led through a harrowing yet riveting account of those desperate months.  Sabrina explains how Miya was a girl who struggled somewhere between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder most of her life, but makes it clear that this is not simply a tale of someone who was mentally ill and just went off the tracks.  The book details in Miya’s own words how the abusive nature and imminent failure of her brand new marriage gave her feelings of shame and failure that pushed her over the edge.  The family is left to try to make sense of it all even as Miya’s husband tries to maintain control over the aftermath basically rubbing salt in their wounds and prompting suspicions of what role he may have played in pushing Miya to her decision.  Sabrina goes on to detail her own very personal struggle, baring her soul about missing her sister and wrestling with her own demons along the way.

Thoughts on the book – I Am Changed

The phrase I used when I messaged Sabrina after completing the book was that it hit me like a ton of bricks – it had a huge impact on me unlike any book I’ve read since Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I felt so much sadness and anger while reading it, and yet there is no doubt in my mind I am a better person for having read it.  As the father of a teenage daughter (and soon to be teenage son) it had the effect of helping me to count my blessings with my kids, my wife Ally, and the family I was brought up in as well.  I found myself being able to relate to many of the thoughts and feelings Sabrina had within her family dynamics with her sisters and her parents, and it was a good exercise.  Sabrina wrote in the book of the importance of “giving people the okay to open up, express their emotions, share their failures and learn from them” – and I feel the book accomplishes this.  Her style is masterful and her approach to storytelling in this book is astounding – weaving family history with journal entries in a way that keeps you buried in this book and unable to put it down.  The story is not told in a linear fashion but more in a way that is perfectly calculated to provide context for understanding the whole picture from one detail to the next.

I highly recommend this one and though I never met her I will never forget Miya – her story and Sabrina’s, and I applaud Sabrina for giving us this gift.

Here are the links:

Sabrina’s website

Must • Girls • Love – for Kindle on Amazon

 

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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!
************************************************
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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Doug’s Rant – More on Buying LOCAL! – August 2, 2013

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I have written plenty about buying local before but something happened today that made me want to revisit it…  This is a single-topic rant.

Buy Local

A silly story

We source most of our products and services from local businesses, and we always look local first, but once in a while there is a product we need that we get from a bigger company out of state.  I’m not going to name names but this particular vendor based 4 states away just sent us a paper statement with a zero balance.  With a return envelope.  In an envelope.  Is this silly or what?  Keep in mind that every statement we get from this company will always be a zero balance because we pay at the time we order.  Okay fine, so I called them to see if they can just email them to us in the future to avoid the waste and the cost and I was told they do not have the capability to not send those statements.

They literally just told me that they are not able to stop themselves from wasting money and resources.

They have a “system update coming at some point” that may allow them that capability but for now they will continue to spit out empty mountains of paper and mail them across the country for no good reason.  So the lesson here is wherever it’s practical – BUY LOCAL!!!  Generally speaking it seems the bigger the company the more red tape there is, the more politics, waste, and fat – sometimes big corporations just can’t seem to get out of their own way.  Granted this isn’t true of all big corporations, but small independents usually don’t have big automated systems – they typically have real people pouring their personal passion, blood, sweat and tears into their livelihood, and they will give you fewer counterintuitive answers like the one I got today.

Reality check – Local doesn’t get you everything…

Now listen, I understand you can’t buy everything local.  You can’t get a Joe Phone from JoeComm on the corner and get a signal from Joe’s towers…  you have to get service from a national or regional carrier.  I’m not going to say I never shop at Target or Costco – I do.  I don’t know any neighbors with their own oil company and refinery who can sell me gas.  But if there is a choice and you have the practical option of buying local (or eating at a locally owned restaurant) you should consider it where possible.

Keep the money here

Sure I have a stake in this subject since Frameable Faces is a local independent studio, so I am biased.  But keep in mind that as a rule, by buying local you are keeping more money in your local community which helps your local economy, and we Detroiters / Metro Detroiters know a thing or two about the importance of that – especially now with our city in bankruptcy.

You don’t have to agree with me, but at least you know where I stand!  🙂

What Would You Do With More Free Time?

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This is a post about life, work, kids, balance…

What Would You Do With More Free Time?

Our kids are at camp for a total of 3 1/2 weeks and they have two more weeks there before they come home.  When we tell people this they say “Wow!”, “Party Time for you two!”, “It’s like a vacation!”, “Are you going anywhere?”, and “What are you going to do?”

Yes it’s like a vacation in a sense even though we are not taking any trips.  When the kids are at camp it means more free time – you don’t have to drive them anywhere or pick them up.  You can’t spend time with them because they’re away.  We don’t have to worry about planning or making meals for them.  So yes we have free time but that hardly means we are kicking back and laying by the pool for a month…  Here are some of the things we are doing while our children are away:

  • We are missing them
  • We are enjoying the time alone
  • We are launching a canvas business for other studios with the local folks who have printed our canvas for our clients for the past 4 years and we’ve used some of the time by working hard on this.  We are excited about it and there will be more to come on this topic!  If you are a professional photographer please give us a try.  The quality is top notch as our clients know.
  • We are meandering and browsing at the library and the bookstore – and we are taking our time when we do
  • We are going out with friends
  • We are staying in and reading books, watching movies, sleeping in occasionally
  • We are meeting with a bunch of seniors and scheduling senior sessions – can’t wait for the class of 2014 – new senior frameables will be gracing this blog soon!
  • We are strolling around Royal Oak and Birmingham
  • We are spreading the word about our leap into events with our second photographer Angela Bell
  • We are working hard
  • We are loving work
  • Ally is working on the photography lessons she is offering
  • We planned a little impromptu 25th high school reunion for Doug’s graduating class
  • We are taking stock – of lots of things
  • We are going to Eastern Market and Ann Arbor
  • We’ve had a drink or two
  • We are exercising
  • ….and we are missing our kids.

What would you do with some extra free time?

Doug’s Rant – Facebook Comment Photos, Events! and Glipho – July 20, 2013

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It’s that time again….  🙂

Rant

Several topics to discuss this time out – please share and give feedback in the comments!

Facebook Makes a Cool Change

Facebook adds photo comments

I discovered this little tidbit on allfacebook.com and I think it could have some pretty big implications for how brands interact with their followers on facebook.  I think the fact that people can join in conversations on a facebook page with photo attachments is very cool.  As you can tell in the above photo by my little avatar I’m logged in as Doug Cohen, I’ve clicked on a photo on Leaf & Berry’s page that we took, and I can include a photo with my comment if I want.  We embrace the popularity of photography at all levels and this could bring new opportunities for our peeps to participate in fun and creative ways by attaching their photos.  Our wheels are turning… stay tuned and let us know how you have seen this used and what ideas you have.

An About Face… To Event Photography!

As you may know in the past if you asked us if we photograph events our answer would be “no” with a few exceptions.  Well that has changed…  Ally and I are still not personally looking to be event photographers – we have our obligations as parents on the weekends for starters.  However, our fantastic second photographer Angela Bell has proven to be fabulous with events!  We tested her out on some informal affairs such as out-of-towner dinners and engagement parties and she did really well.  Then she stepped up to a couple bar/bat mitzvahs and she really blew us away!  More on this to come but suffice it to say Frameable Faces is indeed now in the event business and we are excited!

Glipho – Another Cool Social Network

I signed up for a Glipho account and you can follow me here.  What is Glipho you ask?  It’s a social blogging site – a cool way to pull content in from multiple platforms (instagram, twitter, blogger, WordPress etc.) into a very simple blog interface.  You can blog on Glipho, make friends, follow and like other blogs and interact with people.  I’ve chosen to use it as an outlet for myself as me – Doug, as opposed to another branded Frameable Faces page.  Yes I will be posting some FF blog posts there and hopefully bringing more attention and readers back to this blog, but I like to dabble in other topics like music, food, and football and I guest blog elsewhere so I like the idea of this being an outlet for my “personal brand” so to speak.  Do you “Gliph”?  Let me know if you do!

Quick Hits

  • A photo definitely made huge news this week with Rolling Stone putting a photo of the surviving Boston Marathon bomber on the cover.  Let’s just say this sparked a LOT of controversy and debate as you probably know….
  • Detroit made huge news this week with the bankruptcy announcement – I wrote a love letter to “The D” a while back that warrants a repeat link here….
  • Scott Bourne has written another buying guide – this time for camera lenses.  Anytime he shares this type of info it’s worth bookmarking.

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013 – Team Frameable Faces!

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This was the first year we entered the Relay For Life West Bloomfield with our own team and we found it to be a very fun and rewarding experience!  For those who don’t know, Relay For Life is a community fundraising event put on through the American Cancer Society to raise money for research to find a cure for cancer.  We had donated in the past and Ally had attended several of the past Relays.  I have to admit that this was my first Relay, and now that I’ve been I don’t plan on missing another one…

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Photo Credit Hala Eliya Photography

Go Team Frameable Faces!

As pretty much everyone has, we have certainly been touched by cancer in our families and with our friends and so we thought it was time we did something about it – using our brand and our resources to try to raise money to make a world with more birthdays and less cancer, and for our first year I am happy to report we raised almost $1500.  Just so you know you can actually still donate to the cause for this year’s relay through August 31st if you like at our team page.  We had a few partners worth noting who helped us – we did fundraising days at Zoe’s House Of Pancakes and Leaf & Berry, and Hiller’s Markets donated fruit which we made into fruit kebobs and sold at the Team Frameable Faces tent at the Relay.

Disclaimer – the following photos were snapped with a Droid and are of varying quality, but they are included here to tell the story of the day.

We started with a fruit kebob-making party here at the studio Friday night June 7th…

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Fruit Kebob Party!

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Joel Ben-Moche cuts up some watermelon! Yum!

 

Then Saturday morning started the Relay with the walk of the survivors…

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Walk of cancer survivors

We spent the day manning the Frameable Faces tent with our team!

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Fruit Kebobs!!! Get your fruit kebobs here!!!

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Frameable Faces Senior Carly Simko shows off her awesome decorations!

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

JC Sidaway sells origami canoes to raise money to fight cancer!

Several dignitaries came to the event including Senator Debbie Stabenow…

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Senator Stabenow addresses the crowd

Okay this was amazing….  on a day when people spent a lot of time remembering those who lost their battles with cancer an amazing rainbow circle around the sun appeared directly above the event….

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Incredible

We then decorated luminaria bags in memory of those we’ve lost, and then the entire track was ringed with lit bags at night time while everyone walked a lap in silence.  An extremely touching and powerful moment.

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Team Frameable Faces luminaria bags

Relay For Life West Bloomfield 2013

Luminaria bags lit with candles

Parting Comments

The Relay is a 24 hour event and Ally and I spent about 17 hours there.  Now that I’ve done it I get how special it is.  I don’t have a good reason why I hadn’t been before.  There was a nice turnout of people, but frankly there weren’t enough.  There is no good reason or excuse for not going to your local Relay For Life.  You don’t have to have the means to donate huge chunks of money in order to attend.  No one will hound you to give.  But you certainly can give, and you can certainly support the cause even if it’s in spirit.  Even if you just come hungry and eat at the Relay – every bit helps.  You will see a ton of people you know and you will feel a really nice sense of community.  As for Team Frameable Faces this year was a good start but we can absolutely do better.  We truly hope you will join us next year as we come together again to CELEBRATE, REMEMBER, and FIGHT BACK!

 

 

 

Doug’s Photography and Social Media Rant – May 31, 2013

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Doug's RantIt’s been an interesting week or so in photography and social media – from a certain Internet-based company CEO’s assault on professional photographers, to facebook’s announcement (finally) of verified accounts.  A couple of interesting nuggets happened here at Frameable Faces as well, so while I’m not sure if this is something I’ll do weekly or monthly (or ever again haha), I thought a little column about various current events as they relate to our business, the photography industry, and social media might be a good idea.

Not feeling so “yahoo” about Yahoo.

We haven’t used Tumblr or Flickr before so while Yahoo acquiring Tumblr and making changes to Flickr didn’t affect us, the comments Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made during the announcement that “there’s no such thing, really, as professional photographers…” caught our attention a little.  I watched the news conference and while I don’t like the stuffy overly “professional” suit and tie approach in corporate America, I also think your CEO should sound slightly more articulate than this person.  I was not impressed.  Scott Bourne has shredded her and she is treating him like some random troll to be ignored.  Scott Bourne is a very influential professional photographer (maybe that’s why she hasn’t heard of him) and I believe her comments and her subsequent non-apology will come back to bite her.

Facebookus Promotionus Interruptus

We pride ourselves on being pretty savvy when it comes to social media – we try to do it the right way and follow the written rules and (more importantly) the unwritten rules, but we still make mistakes and we are still learning.  Heck, there is something new to learn every day if not every hour.  For example we got tripped up last week in some changes to facebook terms that we were unaware of.

Email notification from facebook

I must say I find this “no more than 20% text” policy a little arbitrary and bizarre.  We spent 5 dollars to promote a fundraiser for Relay For Life West Bloomfield.  We created it as an “event” on facebook, and there is an option to add an event cover photo.  The dimensions for this cover photo are 714×264 while the standard timeline photo is 851×315.  Not sure why the slight difference here other than to encourage users to create unique content for your event different from your timeline photo?  Fine – makes sense I guess.  Logically I figured I’d keep it simple and include the three logos of the participating entities with a simple phrase “Let’s Help Defeat Cancer!”.  When we created the graphic we didn’t think it represented a call to action with phone numbers, websites etc. which we thought must have been the issue when we received the email.  However it turns out that facebook “quietly” updated their terms on March 6th to allow for calls to action so that wouldn’t have been a problem.  The problem is this new 20% text policy, which I’m fine with when it comes to a timeline cover for your brand, but isn’t an event by nature a call to action which requires a little bit of text to announce the event?  They let me keep the cover photo up, they just wouldn’t let me promote the event.  I didn’t think my promoted post was going to include the cover photo in it anyway so I’m still a little confused.  Weird…  No biggie – I suppose this year (our first year at the Relay For Life) we can take some photos and next year include those as a collage for the cover photo for any fundraiser events we are doing.  That will look better anyway than this quickie we put together this year…  While I’m at it, here is the link to our team page if you want to donate to help us fight cancer.

Relay For Life Fundraiser - Facebook photo

Our event cover photo which violated the new 20% text rule....

 

Yes This Is The Real Doug Cohen

I must admit that there have been times when I’ve had to do a double take on fake facebook profiles of famous people – wondering if it’s really them.  Some of the fakes are obvious and some can fool you even if it’s just for a second.  With twitter you always knew because of the little “verified” check next to the profile.  This is finally coming to facebook and facebook will determine who gets the verified label.  First will be celebrities and public figures but eventually it will come to highly followed people and pages.  I’m wondering since the limit for personal friends is 5000 for everybody what the threshold will be for personal verification.  Pick me!!! Pick me!!!  I wanna BE somebody!!!  😉

Other quick hits…

  • Really want Vine to be released for Droid!  Hurry up Vine developers!!!  Thinking this could be a cool platform for Frameable Faces and this seems to be taking forever…
  • I’m becoming more active on Yelp (yes this is a link directly to my profile) as a way to connect with people – spend some time there – you’ll see what I mean.
  • Had a really nice genuine interaction on twitter (I know right?) with a charming Australian tweeter I met named Susan Israel.  Reflecto was a little snarky to her of course (remember he tweets) but she took it in stride.  You should follow her at @bondi_izzy.

How To Become a Photographer

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So how do you answer the question of how to become a photographer?  Let’s start by saying that you obviously cannot become a photographer from a blog post.  However I’ve gathered a few resources that combined together will give you a good guide for getting started whether you are just interested in photography as a hobby or if you want to become a real pro.  It’s certainly not the last thing you should read to become a photographer or a complete guide, but this post along with the links provided will be a good first thing to read.

How To Become A Photographer

How To Become A Photographer

Inspiration

Find out what inspires you and pursue it.  With photography there are plenty of ways to discover this.  One way is to simply take pictures.  LOTS of pictures.  Odds are you have a camera – even for now if it’s just the camera on your phone.  Take pictures every day and find out what moves you.  Another is to look at pictures.  This link is to the inspiration category at the Photo Argus – these posts of images are designed to inspire and there is some wonderful content here.  Here is the inspiration category at PetaPixel.  You should also read and follow these five steps by Scott Bourne, one of our go-to experts in the field – and find other articles like these.  Think in these terms and follow your dream!

Equipment

Keep in mind it’s not the camera that makes great photos – the photographer does.  But having said that, once again here is a fantastic article by Scott Bourne on what you should think about in considering a new camera.  As for where to buy one, just check out a local camera store and buy local where possible!  If you are in New York City you should visit B & H which is the Taj Mahal of camera stores – the place is incredible and downright inspiring just being there.  They also provide fantastic help over the phone AND they provide free shipping on equipment.  Once you’ve invested in a camera take the time to learn your way around your camera.  As you gain experience make sure you are taking the time to learn technique, lighting, post processing and the tools that go with all of it.

Business

If you want to be a pro you MUST learn the photography business.  Photography can obviously be rewarding even if you are just doing it for fun.  But if you want it to be your career then you need to really understand what makes it profitable, what makes it sustainable, what makes it rewarding, what makes it special.  Go to conventions, sign up for seminars, read books, hire an accountant.  Take the time to connect with other photographers, hone in on your specialty, find your niche and become the very best at it.  Learn how to use social media as a brand.  Learn how not to use social media as a brand.  This list goes on and on – there is so much to it.  It takes years to perfect your craft, learn the business and build a real studio but it can be done – after all, we are doing it….  and notice I didn’t say we did it – it’s an ongoing process – we are still learning every day.

If you are a photographer what advice would you give to someone starting out?  If you are starting out, share with us why you want to be a photographer – what inspired you?

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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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Love For Boston and All Of Our Cities

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This post is not about professional photography or social media, or running a small business, but I feel it’s appropriate.  We capture images here – that’s what we do day in and day out, and most of what we do is a celebration of life and relationships.  After the horrific images that came from the Boston Marathon a couple days ago I got to thinking about that city, the resilience it is showing and how important our cities are.  I haven’t been to Boston but I still have some thoughts that I just wanted to put out there – thoughts on our cities in general with Boston as a backdrop.  We are all thinking about Boston now like we all thought about New York, D.C. and flight 93 after 9/11, and like we all thought about New Orleans after Katrina and any of the other tragedies that have touched us all.  As Americans we wrap our arms around a city that has been hurt and we feel for those who were injured and grieve for those who died.

Boston Marathon

Love for Boston

We have never been to Boston as I said so we can’t rave about it first hand, but we are aware of what an awesome city it is.  It is definitely on our list of places to visit someday.  It has been noted and emphasized that many people – first responders and ordinary citizens alike rushed in to help after the bombs went off by the finish line on Monday.  Locals were helping out-of-towners who may have been trying to connect with family members amid the confusion.  Boston, just as other cities have, has given us yet another great example to follow…

Love for other cities

I hope by saying this I’m not minimizing the tragedy since that’s not my intent, but I think we should take this opportunity to remind ourselves that we should love all our cities, and subsequently (as cheesy as it may sound), each other.  We should reinforce the sense of community that our cities give us – a mass of humanity all functioning together in a huge and complex living breathing machine.  A gigantic display of life and relationships.  This might be obvious but when you visit a city take the time to enjoy what is unique about that city – if you go to Philly for example eat a cheesesteak sandwich (even if it’s a veggie version) and check out the history – the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall…  Take photos of the skyline.  Soak it in.  Take the time to strike up conversations with strangers and let them know you are visiting their city and how much you love it.

Love for your own city

Over our Spring Break a couple weeks ago we did not go out of town.  We stayed home and worked that week, but we did take one day to do a Detroit “staycation” day where we ate breakfast at Toast in Ferndale, went to the Detroit Historical Museum, drove around Belle Isle, took in an iMax movie in Dearborn, ate dinner at Slow’s BBQ in Corktown, and finished up with dessert back in Ferndale at Treat Dreams.  A celebration of Detroit food and history.  We love Detroit.

It’s easy to love our snow peaked mountains, our national parks and our beaches with their natural beauty, but in times like these let’s be thankful for our mighty cities too.  Let’s work together to make them great.  Here are a few (amateur) snapshots from some past visits to other cities…

Philadelphia - Independence Hall

Independence Hall in Philadelphia – 1989

Washington D.C.

I always thought this shot I took in 1986 of the Washington Monument was cool…

Doug and Ally at the Chicago "Bean"

Snapping our reflection in Cloud Gate – the Chicago “Bean”

Family snapshot from the Empire State Building

Family snapshot from the top of the Empire State Building – New York City 2010

Boston is wounded, but Boston is tough and Boston will get through this senseless act.  Boston, the rest of the country is sending their thoughts and wishes your way.  I know we certainly are, and we will be adding pictures of your resilient and beautiful city to our collection someday when we come to eat your food, learn your history, and meet your people.