Adina St John Photography

city crush.

I can't help it. I'm infatuated. It's like that boy in high school that your parents and friends told you to avoid, but yet you find yourself sneaking out your bedroom window to go make out with him in the high school parking lot. (As an aside, Mom, if you're reading this, I never, ever did that. Ever.)

You've heard the rumors, the warnings. He's too old, He drives to fast. Parties a little too much. He has...gasp...a tattoo.

But then. The longer you know him, the more you see. He saves orphaned puppies. Helps little old ladies across the street. There's the grit and the edge that make it darkly appealing, but there's the resilience and optimism that pushes your simple crush into full blown infatuation.

Detroit, you fascinate me. And whenever I'm out wandering, and stumble across another little piece of amazing, I love you even more.

Don't be surprised if one day we come home with matching tattoos.

I was out yesterday, after seeing a link on facebook for a new place called The Detroit Mercantile Co., which opened on the 19th in the Eastern Market. Housed in a converted fire station, they carry a little bit of old, and a little bit of new. Carhartts new jackets and old letter press letters. T-shirts and vintage cameras, dog collars with seat belt clasps, typewriter keys made into jewelry. A copper-plated bike from the Detroit Bicycle Co, and a marlin.

It's like walking into a treasure chest. And I'm pretty sure I need a print of the Detroit bus lines for my dining room. And as soon as Ginge ruins her Lions collar, she's getting one with a seat belt buckle.

Photos are here...https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adina-St-John-Photography/358568037504029 and as soon as typepad stops thwarting me, I'll add them here.

 

The Purveyor of Fun.

Recently, I took my youngest daughter clothes shopping, or as I've come to think of it, my afternoon of payback for every terrible thing I ever did.  Don't get my wrong, my daughter is very easy to shop with, and very laid back about the whole thing.  It's the trips the mall that I've grown to loathe.  Long past are the days when we could safely enter a children's store, choose the sizes we need, and be on our way.

Now, we have to frequent the dreaded "teen" stores.  Our latest trip landed us in Aeropostle, which, from across the mall, looked innocent enough.  Imagine my surprise when, after trying on a handful of t-shirts, I had to veto V-necks across the board.

Fortunately for me, my brother and his wife had babies.  And my neice clearly needed a little wooden farmer, with all his animals, and butterfly socks in multiple colors, which she prefers to wear on her hands.

One of my favorite new stores...kid's clothes without cartoon characters and toys I would (and have, but don't tell anyone) buy for myself.

The Purple Bear, in Birmingham, and the Purveyor of Fun, Patience.

Argh.  For some reason the photo is clipping.  Just click on it to see the whole thing.

Until next time...

 

*find me on facebook*

if you look for it.

A while back, I had a conversation with someone about hidden messages in music.  He had heard someone speak, or read somewhere about an artist whose music had somewhat controversial messages, and had gone back to listen to it again, and sure enough, there were the messages.

While I don't doubt that he did hear what he thought he heard, I also really believe that if you're looking for something, you'll generally find it.

Which, in a round about way, leads me to something I drove past a few weeks back, that reminded me of a blog I had stumbled over a few months after we moved.

Prior to moving out here, the only thing we knew about Michigan, specifically south-eastern Michigan, was what we had caught on the news every now and then.  Generally, it was about Detroit.  And generally, it wasn't flattering.

Fast-forward to when we actually got out here, and I happened across a blog written by a guy who lives in Detroit with his wife and two small children, and their by-no-means-ordinary, everyday life. 

Last spring/summer, they spent a good chunk of their time working in an empty lot, taking it from an abandoned space to a thriving garden.  Along with the successes and failures from the garden, he touched on some of the challenges living in, or gardening in, such an area.  One post that stuck out was concerning the less-than-attractive graffiti on the building across the street.  Rather than spend the remainder of the summer staring at the wall and bemoaning the graffiti, he talked to the owners, and took action.

Fast forward to this spring, the lot has been leased for parking, so the garden is gone, but the revenue will help a local business stay in business, and the graffiti-covered wall?  Still sporting bee stripes instead of tags.

The blog post is here...  busy bee garden  and the blog itself... Sweet Juniper.

 

If you're looking for it, you'll generally find it.  Good or bad.

 

 

Find me on Facebook here...

buttons.

I drive by this little antique store probably 2 or 3 times a week.  Every time I drive past, I look at what they have sitting out front, and tell myself one day I'm going to stop there.  A week or two ago, I was having lunch with J, and we had a little time to kill, so we wandered in.

It's was like finding a treasure chest.  We poked around for about an hour, and then had to be on our way.  I went back the following week with my camera, and asked if she (the Button Lady) minded if I took a few images. 

I was reminded of 2 very important things...  1) you will always learn so much more from listening than from talking.  As someone who's made her living in an unusual manner, the Button Lady has some facinating stories to tell.   and 2) if you have the drive and ambition, you can make a life through your passion, regardless of what it is.  Who would have thought you could support yourself via buttons?  Not me, that's for sure.  But if you're the leading button expert in Michigan, and supply buttons to jewelry makers and museums, you can do just that.

www.gibbons-shop.com is her site, with the address and contact info.

Amazing.  Really, really amazing.

More photos on fb...

find me on facebook...

headshots.

Who's gorgeous?

This girl.

More on fb...

Adina St John Photography

america's pasttime.

Just a quick break from the mountain of computer work that I'm buried under today.  Wrapping up editing, sending some things out for printing, backups, banking, you name it.  If it gets done on a computer (in my pajamas, so there's a bright side), I'm doing it today.

A recent family...when Mom mentioned they were baseball fanatics, and wanted to highlight that, I knew it was going to be a great session.  And the cupcake dress was pretty much the cherry on top. 

 

*find me on fb here...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adina-St-John-Photography/358568037504029

a recap.

On my way home from Milwaukee Sunday night, around midnight, because I stayed way too late and chatted with people I now see a few times a year, instead of a few times a month, I had planned out this entire post, points I wanted to remember, photos I wanted to include, I actually had mentally typed out the whole thing.

Now as I sit here, 2 days of naps and errands later, the only thing I can remember is that I use too many commas.  So.  Later this week and early next, I'll be further along with the sorting and editing, and will highlight a few of the sessions I had this past weekend.  But for now, I leave you with a smattering of images and a few random thoughts.  Which may or may not be comma free.

My best boy, who I last saw on the day he was born.  Funnily enough, his birth coincided with my last trip into Wisconsin to shoot, and his baptism with this one.  For which I am eternally grateful.

Best surprise all weekend?  Walking into this house, to be greeted by this dog, who's name is, wait for it, Gingy.  Granted, my dog is actually Gingerbread, Gingy for short, but what are the odds?  I've been laughing about that since I got home.

6 day old baby feet.  I've un-officially dubbed this past weekend "Baby-palooza 2012".  6 kids under the age of 6 this weekend.  Too much fun.

Sisters.  Love.  Enough said.

And one last one...because what's a trip to Wisconsin without some jumping on beds. 

I've still got sessions to sort through, and will post them as I go, but for now, a quick highlight.  You can find me on facebook as well, where I'll generally post more photos than make it to the blog.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adina-St-John-Photography/358568037504029?ref=tn_tnmn

A huge thank you, again, to everyone who is willing to work around my travel schedule.  It's greatly appreciated!

Adina.

life at the ranch.

And by ranch, I of course mean the 'burbs. 

A Happy New Year to everyone, a bit late!  May the best of your 2011 be the worst of your 2012.

I'm trying to think of what my worst of 2011 was, so I have something to measure 2012 by, but for the life of me, I can't think of anything.  Not that our 2011 was freakishly awesome, but nothing stands out as truly horrible.  At least, it doesn't from here. 

So I'll highlight our 2012 so far...

Best thing so far?  Has to be Stumptown Coffee.  I know, it should be something like time with family, or something equally mushy.  But if you know me, this is huge.  One of my biggest objections to moving our here was we would be leaving Alterra.  J solved that one, and makes the trip in to buy me beans every other month or so.  Okay, he's in Milwaukee to work, but most importantly, he brings beans home with him.  But I was in Ferndale just before Christmas, and stopped at the the Pinwheel Bakery/Red Hook Cafe and bought a bag of the Stumptown (Hairbender, if you're curious) and it's delish.  Like knock-over-small children-to-get-to-it delish.  www.stumptowncoffee.com if you're lucky enough to be near it.  www.theredhookdetroit.com is the link to the cafe here.

Worst?  I'm going to have to give this one to the dog, and her attempt to off herself.  Even with it up on a shelf, she managed to get a hold of a chocolate orange (solid milk chocolate, the size of a baseball, if you're unfamiliar with them), and ate the whole thing.  I'll spare you the details, but it involved an emergency trip to the vet, a ton of vomit, and 8 hours of observation at the dog E.R.

Oh, and 10 years off my life. 

Here's what's funny though.  I'd have thought, after her ordeal, she'd be a little more cautious about what she's eating, at least for a few days.  Nope.  Had to pry a nail file out of her mouth the next day.

Happy New Year!

outtakes.

Otherwise known as "why I'll be re-shooting our Christmas card photo".  Those of you who have ordered cards from sessions over the past few years know that I've been putting a smaller photo on the back of the  card, above my logo.  Generally, an outtake or silly faces, just something fun.  Which, fortunately, I've got plenty of now.

The idea was to get our Christmas card photo done this afternoon, so I could get them sent out to print this week.  We'll be reshooting this weekend, hoping to send out Monday to print...

Reason #1 we're reshooting - I was kind of thinking I'd like to be able to see both kids in the photo.

Reason #2 - Our dog is not possessed.  Really.

Reason #3 - Yeah... I'm not sure what's going on here. But at least it's somewhat in focus.

Reason #4 - Well, okay...aside from being way out of focus, and the dog in the process of what appears to be shapeshifting, this one's not to bad.

 

color.

Generally, I'm strictly a black and white kind of girl.  It's what I love, and aside from high school seniors, it accounts for probably 95% of what I shoot.

But dang.  Check out that color.  Love.