The {Other} Cross Family :: Personal

A few weeks ago, in the midst of the Colton graduating / moving to an unknown state / packing up our life chaos, we had the opportunity to spend some time in the Shenandoah valley with Colton's family. In attendance were Colton's parents, grandparents, brother + sister in law, and, the newest addition to the family, our niece. While I'll be the first to admit that small children intimidate me to the fullest {they're tiny, flawless little deliveries from heaven} after a few days in a cabin in the woods I was begging for my own sliver of snuggle time with Fiona. She's super cuddly, sleeps in excess, and hardly ever cries - which, quite frankly, is the perfect combination for an amateur baby holder like myself.

And on that note, it's my joy to introduce you to Tristan + Jackie with their precious new girl, Fiona. Let's just say I'm pretty blessed to have married into such a wonderful family.

Jackie, you are gorgeous and your laugh is stunning.

This is happiness.

Congrats on your new bundle of perfect. She's wonderful.

Michelle

Emily :: Kea Lani Fairmont Portrait Photography

Technically we met last March in Las Vegas. It was the fifth and final day of our conference and I had just a few short hours remaining before I was to hop a plane back home. I walked into the Photographer's Unite meeting and, as fate would have it, found myself an empty seat beside Emily. This Emily. The naturally beautiful, oddly fascinating, and easily approachable, Emily. We exchanged a few words before the program began, but I left quickly after the session assuming I would never see this sweet girl again. In fact, when I ran into her a month later at the Jasmine Star Workshop, I didn't even remember her name. But I knew her face. And her smile, and her laugh, and the way she made everyone around her feel comfortable. And so our friendship began. Since that April morning when Colton and I so (so, so, so) nervously modeled for Jasmine's workshop, Emily has, in the truest sense of the word, been my friend. While we are both at similar stages in our businesses, we have had the joy of sharing a summer full of texts, tweets, and phone calls discussing photography, life, and everything we love about the both of them. I remember standing in H&M when I got the text from Emily saying she had big news. Big, big news. I responded with a hundred exclamation marks and begged her to tell me everything. When she let me know that she was headed to Maui for the Making Things Happen workshop, I started shaking. Shaking because that's my default reaction. To exciting and disappointing news alike, my body immediately searches its reserves for every last ounce of adrenaline before shooting it through my veins like an IV drip of strong, black coffee. Too shaky to type I called Emily back. I was excited, yes, but mostly I was speechless. Speechless because only a few hours earlier I had discovered I too would be joining Lara Casey and a handful of other amazing individuals at the Maui intensive.

Last week Emily and I shared tears, laughs, and a week full of changes for our lives and our businesses. When asked if I would capture the new portraits for Emily's website, I was elated. Hawaii, the Fairmont, a flawless blue sky, and my friend. I could not have orchestrated a more perfect day if I tried. Enjoy.

And I'll leave you with what is easily my favorite image from the day. Easily.

Happy Monday, Friends!

Michelle

The Bracewells :: Virginia Family Portraits

I'll be honest, family portrait sessions mortify me. They scare me so much I'd rather lock myself in a shoeless closet and live without rations for months on end before voluntarily placing myself in a situation where I'm asked to take one picture of twelve people smiling. Including the baby. It's because of this that I know I need to shoot more family sessions. While I technically am a wedding photographer, it is a fact of life that weddings happen to have a fairly solid portion of the afternoon devoted to capturing Uncle Bob and Aunt Kitty smiling in the same picture as little Sally and baby brother Timmy. And instead of being stressed out on the wedding day, I would much rather have the occasional family portrait session to keep my time management and baby cooing skills sharp.

When Laurie said she was in search of someone to take her family's holiday portraits, I admit that my first inclination was to hide. In the closet. Without food or water or even my pillow with the new flannel Christmas pillowcase. But after thinking it over I realized that part of being good at a trade is continually practicing my skill. I agreed to shoot the Bracewell's family session and was immediately happy with my decision. Not only were Laurie and her family an absolutely wonderful group of fun loving people to photograph, but shooting their portraits helped teach me how to be a better photographer on the wedding day.

So I guess that means I owe the Bracewell's a round of applause. For letting me into their worlds for an afternoon. For allowing me see the beauty in capturing family portraits. And for helping me become a better photographer. ...I suppose I really just owe them the world!

It can be ridiculously intimidating to photograph other photographers. And while I'd be remiss to not say that I was shakingintheknees nervous to shoot Laurie, I quickly found out that she is an amazing model and a dream to shoot. And her husband, Chris? Well, he's quite the model himself!

And I'll finish this post with one last picture of the Bracewell family as a whole. If you ask me, they are a pretty beautiful looking group of people!

Happy Friday!

Michelle