Adina St John Photography

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.

time.

What are you doing with yours?

This past Halloween, my parents were out to visit.  As we've been celebrating my oldest's birthday with a Halloween party since she was 4, it was one of the things she's missed most after the move.  So she's always excited to hear that my parents are going to make it out.  A week and a half later, every now and then, she smiles and says "man, Halloween was awesome."

Last year, my mom, my girls and I drove over to the Eastern Market.  This year we drove over to the Heidelberg Project, which is sort of like an outdoor art museum, spread across two blocks on Detroit's east side.  The jist of it is, 25 years ago, this guy got tired of watching his neighborhood decline, while the city ignored it, and took it upon himself to change that.  Whether you see it as art, or just a bunch of old stuff, it definitely makes a statement. 

One of the things we noticed right away was all the clocks.  Nailed to trees and painted on walls, over and over.  The docent explained that it was a reminder that time is limited, and to make people question how they are using theirs. 

http://www.heidelberg.org/ is the website...definitely worth a look.

And our group, which the docent offered to take for us.  Love it.

wisconsin part something.

I'm not sure how many sessions I've posted, or how many I've edited and haven't posted at this point.  But I'd like to point out that it doesn't count as "still" in your pajama pants, if you are "back" in pajama pants.  Aside from a quick trip to the store, today has been one of those marathon editing days.  So if I saw you in WI this past trip, I should be getting your gallery up sometime before Monday.

My Saturday late afternoon session from when I was there...backlighting is in my top 5 favorite things, right up there with lattes and non-glittery vampires.

new puppy part 2.

Another session from Milwaukee...

Way back when, when I started doing this seriously (as opposed to occassionally, for shoe money), this was one of the first familes I met.  And can I just say, Thank Goodness.  At 6 months, N was beyond cute and squishy, a photographer's dream, and took it easy on me.  Fast forward 6 years or so, and he's still super cute, not so squishy, and still a dream to photograph.  Last year when I saw him, we drew maps.  He had the continent of Australia, which was a bit more impressive than my Michigan mitten.  This year, I met his newest family member, and again, beyond cute and squishy.  And a photographer's dream. 

Meet Riley...

Tobey tolerates him...

And N?  Well, he's still awesome.

"we have a new puppy!"

Those might be my 5 favorite words.  While I'm clearly a dog person (although we'll be adding a cat at our house, as well as something else, but not the alpaca my youngest is talking about), nothing makes a kid less camera-aware than 20 (or 80) pounds of wiggly, slobbery fur.

Best kind of dog?  Well, okay, clearly I'm partial to beagles, but more than that, I'm partial to any dog that doesn't mind the affections of a kid who's just super excited to see that dog. 

milwaukee, part 1.

Two weekends ago, I spend a few days in Milwaukee, photographing some families who I've been watching grow for the past 5 or 6 years. While I'm thrilled that these familes are willing to work with my schedule after the move, and I love that I can continue to watch these kids grow from babies into little people with their own personalities, my favorite part about these sessions is that these kids remember me from year to year. Which is great, in that there's no "getting to know each other" period anymore, we go straight to the fun stuff. It also means that I want to end on high note, otherwise they'll remember it next year. Plus, how on earth can I pass up a ballerina witch?

 

October/holiday sessions.

I've got my holiday(ish) dates nailed down for Milwaukee this year, and already have my days mostly scheduled.  I've got probably 2 or 3 more sessions I could schedule, call or email me soon if you're interested.  Right now I'm looking at Friday morning/afternoon, and possibly Monday morning.

In other news...I've got this running list of things I want to get out and photograph, and every time I set aside time, it ends up raining.  Lots.  While I don't mind the cold, or even the snow, I hate getting rained on.  So in the meantime, I leave you with this....

 
 

apparently it's true.

Fruit does taste better fresh off the vine.  Or fresh out of the tree.  Whatever.

More later, as I've got the details for my next trip into Wisconsin, which will also be my last before the holidays...