Meet Lauren

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

Taken time for myself, away from work is super important because I am never really off the clock between photoshoots, editing, doing admin and social media. My favorite things to do is spend time outdoors, especially time riding my horses. Its the best stress reliever and helps me get my mind off work for a period of time and helps me reset.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started photography during covid to help support myself when my Job shut down. I genuinely started shooting and never looked back, which looking back now, was a little crazy. I started photographing anything and everything for free and did anything I could to gain more experience. Over the last few years, I have grown into different fields of photography. When I started I was doing graduation photos for college grads and small family sessions. Now, I am photographing weddings all around the world, shooting for different brands, as well as families and maternity sessions. I love that this job gives me the opportunity to meet so many different people and travel to so many amazing places. Every session and wedding is unique, so I am constantly pushing the limits of my creativity. Photography has not only changed my life career wise, but it has also brought some of the best people into my life as well! I want my brand to come across as authentic and genuine. I hope to keep doing this for a very long time and continue to branch out and reach even more people. Every person I work with ends up feeling like a friend by the time we have wrapped up working together and I think thats one of my favorite parts about this job.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I am completely self taught so three things that I think were most impactful on this journey would be that I never looked back or worried if I would fail, I was always trying to invest in myself, and I continuously am trying to be better than I was the last time I picked up my camera.

My best piece of advice to any starting their own business or pursuing a dream would be, to only focus on you and trying to be a better version of yourself every single day. There is so much comparison and imposter syndrome out there especially in creative fields and it can be really challenging to not constantly comparing yourself to everyone you see on social media. Putting blinders on and just honing in on what excites you and putting out work that you love and not needing validation from anybody but yourself.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always dreaming up people and brands I would love to work with. Recently, I have been wanting to expand my brand work so I would love to collaborate with larger brands. There are so many that I would kill to shoot for but a few that I am in love with at the moment are Anthropology, Dairy boy, Wrangler, and so many more! Big names I know, but a girl a dream! The best way to get in contact me is usually my instagram @laurendidonatophoto

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laurendidonatophotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: @laurendidonatophoto

Image Credits

Lauren Di Donato Photo