A day in the life of Kate, Adam, Frank & Baker
11.2.2021
Tamaracks and cheesesteaks. Two things that will always remind me of this day with Kate and Adam.
There’s something truly special to the timing of this day documenting their life. Kate reached out in early 2021 to set up a family photo shoot on their new farm, soon-to-be vineyard, on Beaver Island in the spring. I hadn’t seen her in over a decade, likely since high school, but was super excited seeing all they’d been up to. Traveling the US in their airstream, buying a farm on Beaver Island, and planting roots. Spring didn’t work out. The trees blossomed, they got busy planting their vines, and I got busy with wedding season. Fast forward to Halloween weekend. I was in Detroit wrapping up my wedding season and got a message from Kate during our dinner break. “ok, so clearly this was the busiest summer of all time! I’m still kicking myself for not having you out for photos. Any chance you are available in the next couple of weeks?” My response was “yes, but let’s do it right away!”. She told me that they would be heading back to the island on Tuesday and I insisted on flying over with them, as I thought it would be neat to document that part of their story. It is a testament to their character that Kate was all-in for this idea. She shared that they had been up until 3am drinking wine with their friends the night before they left the island and that their place would be in disarray. This didn’t matter to her and it didn’t matter to me. We were going to capture their life, in true form, as it was, with no bells and whistles. We had scheduled an hour photo shoot, but I knew I’d be snapping candids from the moment I met them at the airport. We flew over, grabbed some breakfast, made our way to their farm, took some photos, toured the island, grabbed lunch, went for a hike, and they dropped me off a with only minutes to spare before my flight back was set to depart. We really crammed a lot into this short 4 hour visit, in true Kate and Adam fashion. I only wish I had waved goodbye and snapped a photo, but the hugs will suffice.
As many of you know, their next trip back and forth to the island ended in a tragic plane crash that took all 4 of their lives. The news was unfathomable and still is.
Looking back on it all, it seems so special that we did the shoot when we did. Instead of doing it in the spring with a blank slate, we were able to document all the hard work they put into their farm this summer. We were able to document their lives as they were. And let me tell you… they had it figured out. Living the airstream life on their own land, planting a vineyard, running an emergency planning consulting firm remotely while catching sunsets from their boat. They truly lived life to the fullest.
This was a tough edit to get through. When it came time to finish it, I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to close that chapter, but I knew these photos meant so much to their families. I’m so grateful and honored to have been able to spend this day on the island with them. Just in time.
What follows is the photo take from that day. If you knew Kate and Adam, then make sure you have a few minutes, grab a box of kleenex, press play on the song below, and remember our friends. These photos are hard to look at right now, but in Kate’s own words in her last instagram posts… “I always want to remember us like this.”
