Sophie & Betsy

Over the weekend I had the GREAT pleasure to photograph one of my best friends, Betsy and her adorable 5 month old Sophie. We have been planning to take pictures since April but we both have been busy during the weekends and/ or have been delayed because the weather has been bad. FINALLY we had our shoot! It may have been hot and muggy BUT I believe I captured Betsy and Sophie at their best. Everything about photographing a mother with a new baby is amazing! There is something sacred about the bond between a mother and new born. I believe you can see that bond between them both. To see more photos visit my website: www.laurenpigford.com and or my facebook page

Why love Photography

Why Photography?

Before there were cameras a "portrait" was a painting that took long hours, several days, grueling weeks and tons of critical evaluation. No wonder the "master" artists of the days were just a wee bit wacky!

I like to think that Photography is an artistic evolution. First you must learn how to draw, then how to play with color, then learn to paint, then learn how to manipulate your paintings to appear realistic. People outside of the art world probably think that photography is the easiest form of the visual art world; however, I think it may be the most tricky to master.

What makes a good portrait painter is an artist that is able to capture a person's soul when painting. Some say they have to capture that look in the eye. The body posture, or perhaps the smirk on the lips. Sure realism painting is hard enough but just think about learning everything you need to know and practice painting every waking hour AND then going to a STRANGER and looking deeper than what is on the outside to try to paint that stranger's "personality" or even harder, "soul."

This is the role that photographers, especially portrait photographers now have to master and they must master it while looking through a small viewfinder and finding that "personality", the "soul," the look in one's eyes that make that person different from everyone else in the world.

That is the fun of this "hobby." Photographers must know how an angle can bring out the beauty of a single moment. A photographer must know how to watch their subjects and learn who they are in every second that ticks by. A photographer must learn how to make their subjects be comfortable and draw out the subject's personality. A photographer must know the exact timing to capture the height of the funny moments, the happy moments, the personal moments, the tranquil moments.

I love to capture the natural moments in between the posed smiles, and the tilted heads and the hands on the hips. I also find the challenge of making a moment like that the WOW factor for my subjects. It's the real moments, the raw moments, and the personal moments that I try to strive for. I like the challenge of making my subjects comfortable and becoming a friend. I like that I have to constantly be focused and evaluate my subject. Basically I like the challenge. It is what makes photography fun for me. Each snap is different, like a finger print. Each object changes and each picture tells it's own story. That is why I love photography! And it really does beat cleaning paint brushes ;)

Jack of All Trades!

Anyone in the Media Field will tell you "media" is changing. Now with fast pace technology it is getting harder and harder for media professionals and journalists to keep up.

Online Media sites and the economic recession have played a vital role in the Media Career Field. Websites offer readers the same information at any time of day and at a faster pace. Not to mention for free! People, these days, prefer the computer screen, the cell phone updates and the social media sites over the t.v. scheduled news, paper, and magazines. Advertisers are also saving money during the rough economic times by promoting their businesses through online social media sites for free. Why pay for print advertising space or t.v. air time when more people can learn about a business or product through a facebook fan page?

So what can the Media Professional do?

The most important thing to do is to find your niche! Since advertising dollars are hard to come by because of a bad economy journalism and media professionals are losing jobs simply because there aren't enough dollars to pay their paychecks. Men and women who have been in the industry for years are having to start over and even go down new career paths because it is said "Journalism is dying." The fact is Journalism is not dying, Journalism and media are evolving and we, the people in the industry have to learn to accept change and try different things to keep the industry and careers alive.

Advertising dollars are no longer enough. The daily newspapers are no longer timely enough. The televised news shows are no longer the leaders for breaking news. It is all one click away on the computer. Journalists have to find their place, but more importantly find their place where they can make a living. What does the average man and woman want these days? They want to feel connected, they want the most amount of information the fastest way possible. They don't want to flip through pages trying to find the story they want to read, they don't want to read over 500 words, they don't want to wait until 12, 6, or 10 p.m. to learn more about the shooting that took place in their neighborhood, and they don't want to wait until the next morning when the newspaper lands in their driveway to read over available jobs when they were laid off the day before.

It's time for transition. We all know what transition is like. We had to transition out of a child and into an adult, out of high school to college, school to job and paying bills, single to married to being a parent. Our whole lives are based on transition so why, as professionals, are we having such a hard time transitioning our careers from the old way of journalism to new media.

Make a place for yourself in the changing career field. Spend an extra hour before or after work researching media trends. Learn the pattern of the trends to stay one, two or three steps ahead. Be organized with your own work. Work on a blog, then connect it to your social media network. Promote your blog or your online newspaper, magazine or business' website through social media to save advertising money. Practice public relations by networking with other companies through social media. See what your competitors are doing and posting on their websites and facebook or twitter pages. Make a connection with your readers or fans by having interactive discussions. Let your readers know that you need their help to keep going. If you establish yourself online then you have made a place for yourself. That is the first step to transitioning yourself from a writer or a journalist to a multimedia guru!