About Stephanie Cross

I have the same kind of questions occur very often from people and today I am going to get ‘em down in this blog to fill in those gaps.

How did I get into photography?

Well, this is kind of a funny thing to me. Originally I wanted to become a top chef owning my own catering company or restaurant.  So all throughout high school and even some college I was in culinary management and operations. Once I got to college and started the course, I felt like something wasn’t right. Like this wasn’t what I was meant to do and there was something else for me. So I completed one semester, and dropped the course. At that time I was 18 years old, living in Canada by myself, and felt like I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. So to try and get my mind off of this whole, “where am I going in life” situation, I headed to a party at a friends house. Once I get there, music’s playing, everyone’s having a great time, and I just loved watching all my friends interact with each other, I grabbed my little point and shoot and started taking photos of all the excitement going around. As the night went on, the thought came back into my head of “Stephanie, what is to come of you, what is in the future for Stephanie” I was slumped over the table with  a sad look on my face, and my buddy, Travis Mason came over to the table to ask me what was wrong, so I explained the whole situation and how I was clueless as to what to do. Right away he looked at me, and looked down into my hand and said “Photography!” I raised a brow and repeated him, then with a question, “Photography? Why photography?” He kinda laughed and said “Yes, photography, every time I see you, you are always have that damn camera in your hand and your always taking photographs. So why not do something you love?” My head immediately perked up, and I got a rush of excitement just thinking of all the possibilities I could have with photography. I mean, I already knew how to use Photoshop to work on some of the photos I had already taken. Wow, and that moment it was kind of like a “Durrrr!” situation. Why didn’t I think of that!? What a great idea. So onward I went… moved back to Florida with the family and went to a great digital photography school, never to look back on culinary arts again, although and can still cook a mean meal!

How long have you been using Photoshop?

I have been using Photoshop for over half my life. Wow, sounds crazy to say, huh? Now I don’t mean I was using filters and layer styles and things like that at the age of 5 years old. It started out with my Dad  scanning coloring book pages, and I would sit there all day coloring them in with the paint bucket and using the brush and eraser tool to fix any mistakes. Thanks Dad! Without your help getting me set up with Photoshop, who knows how else I would have become as talented as I am now ;-P

Did your Dad teach you everything you know about Photoshop?

So as most of you who know about me, know of my Father, Dave Cross – Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, better yet “Chief Photoshop Guy” The quick answer to that question would be no, my Dad hasn’t taught me everything I know about Photoshop. I can tell you that he IS one of my mentors in life, as well as a huge inspiration AND he also was the one to introduce me to Photoshop. He is such a great Dad that he would actually scan in coloring book pages so I could color them with the brush tool or fill in the lines with the paint bucket. As the years went on, I started practicing different techniques in Photoshop on my own, just playing around. But there have been some times where I have gotten little tips here and there from my Dad, of course. It has just been up to me to take those tips and play around more to see what kind of results I can get. That’s the great thing about Adobe Photoshop; the possibilities are endless on what you can do to a photograph, or even what you can create from scratch!

How did you meet Moose Peterson?

I believe the first time I met Moose, I was 16 or 17 years old. I was working as a news anchor for Photoshop User TV when it had first started and I was invited to attend Photoshop World, not only to learn but to be put to work. I was sitting in the staff room with my Dad and he said “Oh, there’s moose!” at that point I gave my Dad a weird look and started to laugh. I looked around the room for this moose he was talking about and I saw nothing… “Uh, Dad? I think you have lost it” He quickly replied with “No, no, come here you need to meet someone” He brought me over to this tall, husky gentleman with the coolest moustache I had ever seen!  My Dad turned to me and said “Moose, this is my daughter, Stephanie” I immediately, without thinking said, “Oohhh! You’re Moose! I get it now!” And with that said, this unforgettable, very distinctive laugh came out of Moose’s mouth, “Hah! Hah! Hah! Yep that’d be me!” A great friendship with him and his wife, Sharon was to start that day. And as they always say, the rest is history!

Do you feel that maybe you’re too young to be an assistant and taking on these assignments and responsibilities already?

Not in the least bit! I have had my time to go through the normal teen “wild child” thing. I have grown up and matured very quickly since those years and I take every opportunity and chance in life very seriously.  I hope that with everything I do, people see that I have grown and have been working hard to get on the path to where I want to go in life. I look forward to every moment working with Moose to further better his company and even to teach him a thing or two. ;-P

What are some of the things you see yourself doing in the next years to come?

From giving advice from my personal life experiences, to teaching a thing or two to someone from the knowledge that I do hold. I have always found myself having a passion for helping others. One of my main goals is bettering my knowledge and skills and becoming an instructor in photography and Photoshop. But besides the digital world, I would like to get back into singing, learn to play drums, start writing music again and possibly get back into modeling. I bet most of you didn’t know I could sing huh? Yeah, I’m alright at it I would also like to start creating more YouTube videos again, yeah that’s right, I’m one of those vloggers online. Except maybe a little zanier!  Eventually down the road, I would like to start my own family, and to be an awesome, kind, and supportive Mom, like my Mother is to our family.

Everyday is a new day, with something new to unfold. I am just so thankful to have the people I have in my life, my Mom and Dad, my brother, my “adoptive parents” Moose and Sharon, my friends and family, and even my two puppies, who all have helped motivate, and support me to let me know that I can achieve anything I want, I just have to keep my head up, work hard and never give up on myself!  And of course I have Travis Mason to thank for making me realize what I was really meant to do in life, photography!