I spent most of last week attending the North Short Course photojournalism conference in Iselin, NJ, but I still needed to hunt for some features for my photo class. I found a mother and daughter in the hotel who were practicing for a beauty pageant in a different wing of the building. Amanda Anthony takes her daughter Skyler to pageants and coaches her through the whole process. “It is great for confidence,” says Amanda of the pageants. “The amount of confidence and self esteem you build is huge.” Most imagine them to be like the contestants on Toddlers and Tiaras (and Amanda and Skyler have actually been on the show Momsters), but they don’t see it like that. Just a good way for Skyler to be confident and practice her social skills.