Traveling Light :: Personal

I'll go to great lengths to avoid checking my bags when flying. I'd like to think I have some deep seeded moral obligation to travel with only what I need, but the truth is that I have the patience of a three year old and checking my bags means extending an already long and exhausting day of travel. I'm also slightly weak and the thought of lugging 50 pounds of clothes around a foreign location is somewhat demoralizing. This added to the fact that while Colton would be a true Gent and carry my bag, he'd also give me that look that says I love you, but you're annoying and I'm only taking your bag to keep you from becoming even more annoying. So, I only travel with a carry on. This afternoon I'm getting ready to head home to Oregon. In the next ten days I'll be shooting one wedding, seven portrait sessions, and a product shoot that I seeeeriously can't even wait for. Additionally, I'll be enjoying the ridiculously beautiful view of the mountains from my parent's deck, some much missed time with friends and family, and the Central Oregon summer evenings that truly cannot be beat.

Most importantly I get to snuggle with this guy, Abe. I tried, really, really, really tried to bring him to Virginia with us, but my dad kept using his puppy voice to ask Abe if he was excited to trade in his 40 acres of farmland for the 900 square feet that is our apartment. Then Abe gave me this look and I'm all "How am I supposed to say no to that?!".

I just couldn't do it. Not to this face.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Michelle

CreativeLIVE + Jasmine Star Workshop :: Photography

I really did think this post was going to be about the CreativeLIVE + Jasmine Star Wedding Workshop I'm attending this week via the internet. I had this clever* idea to take a picture of my workspace and write about the unconventional day to day work of a photographer. This was before I opened up the file of my workspace and realized that the list making, organization crazed, calculus loving left side of my brain had just been annihilated by the right brained four year old within me who was drawing on her mother's white walls with a red Sharpie marker. My desk was a disaster. The worst part of this discovery was that, truth be told, when I took the picture I actually believed my workspace was tidy. Wait, whaaa?!

So, Internet World, consider yourself lucky that even after discovering the right side of my brain has had a little too much power lately, I'm still sharing this painfully revealing photo with you. That's LOVE.

For what it's worth, I just decided that a busy desk means a busy worker.

Have a splendid night,

Michelle

*My 'clever' ideas are rarely ever clever. I know this.

The Perfect Saturday :: Personal

We're not especially good at staying in a given place for any length of time. In a word, we're flighty. I've always found this ironic given the fact that we both cherish home so much, but the truth is that we are always in search of new air to breath. The rain last Saturday was a welcomed reprieve from the relentless heat that has been this Virginian summer. Colton and I saw it as an opportunity to drive West with the windows down and the music loud. After making a quick stop for the essentials - Pelligrino + those sour neon gummy worms that are most likely preservative laden enough to stay in shape for a few centuries - we hit the road. With no destination in mind we drove for hours, enjoying good company and clean air all the way. We spotted homes we wouldn't mind living in and waved at old men driving tractors. We found an old white church with a picnic table and made ourselves at home. Us, Pelligrino, gummy worms, and three rolls of 35mm film. Oh, and an extra large dose of love.

I hope your weekend is perfect.

Michelle