Elizabeth's Q & A
 
 

Q- Can you tell us a little about your photography career?

A- Sure! Even back in high school, it was huge interest of mine. But it took off in 1996 when I was accepted to Ohio University’s School of Visual Journalism. I knew at that point that this was going to be my career path. I did various photojournalism internships, including a memorable time at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I learned so much from the talented photographers on that staff.

Q- What was your hope after graduating?

A- After those internships, I wanted to become a staff photographer for a newspaper. It was such an exciting field at that time. We were given access to situations and stories that were interesting, educational and visual. Journalism showed me a world that was much more diverse that what I had lived up to that point. It opened my eyes to many other points of view besides my own.

Q- Were there jobs in the field when you graduated?

A- Looking back, I’m amazed at the opportunities that we had. Vincent & I graduated together, and were so fortunate to get staff jobs together at a newspaper in Evansville, Indiana. It was an amazing opportunity for our careers and our relationship.

Q- How was your time in Evansville? What were the highlights?

A- It was life changing in so many ways. Career wise, it was a phenomenal experience. Some highlights included being able to photograph President George W. Bush, going on assignment up in the Goodyear blimp, and some heart wrenching, in depth photo stories that I was able to work on.

Personally, we were married in 2002 and had our first two boys, Andrew and Nolan, when we were in Evansville. Andrew being born, in 2005, coincided with a collapse in the newspaper industry. I had to rethink my career and, more importantly, my priorities. I went part time at the paper, and left not long after that to be home with Andrew. 2005 was also the year that we started Elizabeth Vincent Photography.

Q- Was that a scary time for you?

A- It was scary, but very exciting. My career was always very important to me, but once I held Andrew in my arms, it all changed. No assignment was more important to me than being there for him. So we did without a lot of material things. We put intense effort into starting our photography business and worked on it with every spare moment, which was usually early in the morning or late at night. Nolan was born in 2007 and it became even more important to make the business work. The next year, after a successful three years in business, Vincent left the paper to devote himself fully to our family and our business.

Q- So how did you wind up in Pittsburgh?

A- That’s a great question. I’m from Cleveland, and Vincent is from New York. About a year after we left the newspaper, we looked at each other and wondered why we were still in Indiana. We loved it, but we didn’t have family anywhere close. We had great friends and a great business, but thee was no other reason to be that far from family. Vincent had worked in Pittsburgh often, and he suggested looking at the city. Geographically, it is between both of our families, so it made sense.

It’s hard to get a girl from Cleveland to move to Pittsburgh, but I loved it from the moment we drove through the Fort Pitt Tunnel to see this incredible skyline. We had weddings booked for more than a year out in Indiana, so in January, 2009, we set July, 2010 as the move date. In the meantime, we networked with other wedding and business vendors to build our business here. It’s a big challenge to start over and leave all of our business momentum behind, but at the same time, it was incredibly exciting.

Q- How has Pittsburgh treated you family?

A- With open arms. Dylan, Our third son -yes, three boys!- was born in 2011. Pittsburgh has given us more than we could have imagined and we are so fortunate to base our life here around our family.

Q- So outside of your business and career, what does life look like in 2015?

A- Well, we just began homeschooling our kids! They are 10, 7 and 4, and it gives us the flexibility to have more time together as a family and to travel more. Time with them goes by so quickly.