I am not Bill Gates. I do not have millions from developing computers and therefor feel I could tell the world how to act during COVID. I am just a mom, wife, sister and photographer. My thoughts are my own from what I have seen, read, and know from previous experience. The media seems to be filling us with fear. We read articles about people who have died from COVID. But I find it weird that we never knew of the people who died from the flu, viral and bacterial pneumonia, AIDS, or for the babies- RSV (a common cold in adults, but a deadly disease for infants that claims up to 500 lives a year).
My brother died on the night before his 30th birthday when a person did an illegal u-turn in front of him. I know loss, but more importantly I have learned that we do not have a guarantee to live beyond today and this minute. In that, I have learned that I want to live and to love fully. And while I will take precautions and not live haphazardly, I do choose to walk outside and do my best to not be in constant fear. Our lives, are fragile, but they are also short and can easily be diminished through worrying over the unknown and uncontrollable.
As I continue to create art for my clients I have done a few things that may help. However, with the constantly changing information we won’t be for certain that our safeguards are guaranteed. Until July, I am not taking any clients other than Maternity and Newborns to lower my possible exposure when I am at risk the most. Yes, it is during my clients sessions when they are not wearing masks and I am, that I am at risk of exposure by them. So client sessions will be limited to a few a week until July, as well as non-time sensitive sessions.
Maternity sessions will look something like follows. We will discuss parks and locations that are currently open. During the session I will not be able to help physically with posing as I have done in the past. I will be unable to fix dresses and hair and move faces to flattering positions. I can no longer carry many props to put you in as they would all have to be wiped down before they went back in the car. I must also adhere to the 6 feet rule we have all become accustom. Which means no close ups will be taken, only far landscape like views and 3/4 crops will be produced during the session. I will also being wearing a mask to help ease my clients during their session if it is below 95 degrees. If it is hotter, I can not guarantee I will be able to go with a mask and not overheat. I will do my best to steer clients to locations that will help me to stay cool and to be successful in wearing a mask. As a photographer, I am not allowed to ask any bystanders during our session to move, so there is no guarantee that people in local spots will stay away from my clients, and be wearing a mask. I can not guarantee that during a session a client will be without risk. I can only do my best with practicing safe precautions while also being aware of my own safety.
Newborn sessions will be the trickiest. As a newborn photographer I am aware of newborn immature immune systems. My twins were very young when they contracted Croup. It was so scary that they were having such a hard time breathing and needed several ER visits during that time. Learning that adults often carry croup but show no symptoms, the idea of getting one of my clients babies sick has always weighed on me. Wiping down props, cleaning wraps, bonnets, and outfits have always been in place during a session as part of cleanliness. I always wear clean clothes during the session and always have just showered. I wash my hands before the session and I use so much hand sanitizer during the session. I do my best to use hand sanitizer as I move baby and in-between set ups. I do my best to not touch my face or hair and if I do use hand sanitizer, or wash my hands and arms completely... But with all that in place baby must be in my arms- breaking the 6 feet away rule. Parents have their portraits taken while I am wearing a mask and they are not. So, I am at risk, during the session, of exposure. I do require newborn parents to quarantine at least 10 days after their release from the hospital. It is my belief that if I am to be exposed, it would be most likely from parents having just left the hospital. I ask for 10 days in hopes, and a gamble, that signs of the virus would be making head way and a reschedule would be posed if those symptoms were to develop. So newborns will not be seen in their golden window between 5-10 days but rather between 12-17 days old. Posing will be more difficult with these babies, but it is in interest to my family that it is so.
My home studio is detached from my home. It is my prized she shed. It is wiped down after each session and heated to 95 degrees for at least 3 hours (or longer because we are about to enter into the hot summer) after each session to get the places I might miss during cleaning. I do not go into my studio between sessions so that it stays clean and unexposed. Having my family not be in the studio and having its own fresh air supply helps limit it’s exposure to my family members. It is in that, that I believe it is safer then my clients home and my home.
No one in this world can offer a guarantee that exposure will not happen. Our lives must be lived and bubbles can not be crafted. Portraits of my brother are among my most prized possessions. So too are my children’s baby portraits. I will not deny my clients baby portraits during this time. I will also not make guarantees of their safety or my own. I am human. I can only do my very best in practicing safe hygiene and implementing as many safeguards as possible. The rest is in God’s hands.
I do require a contract to be signed. A small portion of that contract talks about waiver of liability during the session and the inherent risk of COVID.
As movie goer I want to sign off by Saying- “May the odds forever be in your favor” but instead I will say; may you be blessed by your God to keep you safe, may your heart be filled with love and joy, and may you find peace within your soul during these times. It is my hope to create with you so that we might find joy. As Dumbldore said- “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.