As we all know, I love photography. Any chance that I get, I always love talking to other photographers. Three days ago, I interviewed a person whose work I love and always look up to. Sophie Alexander is a local photographer who specializes in weddings and travel documentary. She has been in photography for two and a half years, and she plans on continuing with this passion for the rest of her life. Starting off as a hobby, photography came easy to Sophie as she has an eye for what looks perfect in a picture. When I asked her about how difficult her job is, she answered by telling me that what she enjoys is easy, but what she doesn’t is hard. When it comes to taking photos, Sophie loves her job, but as soon as it comes to the business management, she begins to stress. This hard-working student does best under pressure and will always love to have her one-man business. Being able to manage her own schedule and work flow is a massive benefit and she thoroughly enjoys the capability to do so. When I asked her where she saw herself in ten years, she didn’t quite know. She plans on being a successful wedding photographer by then and maybe even have moved to Africa to follow her dream of documentary. Sophie has already been to Africa, and she thrives in the different lifestyles of what is around her. Getting to more of the local side of her work, I asked what she thought was the most important part of making a customer happy with her work.“The most important thing one can do is to fully communicate with your client and always ask lots of questions.” She stated. Making sure you know what the customer wants is number one priority. Over her two and a half years of working in this field, Sophie has gradually increased in skill and business. At times her job will flatline, but it always begins to pick up pace after some advertisement. When it comes to getting herself out into the world of business, sometimes it is very hard her to promote what she has to offer. Publicity is one of the biggest factors for a photographer, so when nothing is being prompted, no business will be made.  The last question I chose for this photographer is a question that is always asked at some point in time. This question determines whether or not this person is your friend or your foe. Do you like Cannon, or Nikon cameras. In this case, Sophie is a Cannon user and maybe that’s why her and I got along so well. Looking back over her business, I can say that she is very successful and very good at what she does. Her passion for this job is what lets her strive and succeed with photography. Along with her positive attitude, Sophie Alexander is by far one of the top photographers that I personally would choose for any work that I need done.

Her website is- http://www.sophiealexanderphotography.com

I chose Holt International Children’s Services for my informational interview because it was the agency my parents chose when they wanted to adopt. They chose Holt International because their first priority is to serve the children in their care. They work to support birth families and children so they can stay together, and if needed, they help find adoptive families for children in their birth country. Only then is international adoption an option they consider for a child. As an adoptee, I thought it would be interesting to talk to someone who works there.

Before I contacted Holt International, I explored their website and blog for various media. I found many articles, videos, and photos that talked about different adoptive families’ stories. I liked how the written articles told the stories and then in the video, the child or family would talk about the story from their own point of view. They were very professionally done, and very meaningful.

On October 30^th, I interviewed Brian Campbell. He works at Holt International as a manager in the multimedia department. Travel is a part of this job because Holt provides services in many countries. As I interviewed Mr. Campbell and asked him my questions, he told me some interesting stories about his trips. One story he told me was when he was in the Philippines. He saw a group of young boys and wanted to take their picture. The youngsters followed Mr. Campbell and as soon as he turned to take their picture, they instantly started smiling, laughing and dancing for the camera.

Mr. Campbell also told me about when he was in Thailand and had to cross a lake to get to the other side. The only way he could get there was to walk on this very “dodgy” bridge. He told me it was not very wide and when several people were walking on it, the bridge started to waver and bend. He couldn’t afford to get the camera wet, so he handed it over to his assistant before carefully balancing his way across. I enjoyed hearing about his experiences in other countries.

When Mr. Campbell goes traveling it’s not always with the whole crew. Sometimes it’s just himself and the writer. He takes the photos and videos while his assistant writes the stories. Afterwards they bring their work back home to the Eugene office and do their production work with the rest of the team. In Eugene, on a day-to-day basis, Mr. Campbell prioritizes current tasks and also plans ahead for the next week. Like most people, I didn’t know how much time, effort and work goes into making everything look professional and presentable. It takes a good amount of time to get all of their work done and finished by a certain deadline, which is one of Mr. Campbell’s daily challenges. One of the biggest opportunities in the department includes digital marketing for social websites like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Mr. Campbell mentioned they’re always open to offering internships because their job requires many hands and their work is very intense. Holt’s staff also looks for employees who are motivated to help children and families. They care about why people want to work for them.