Coronavirus Update: Let's Keep Preserving Memories
I wanted to take a moment to post some updates as I’ve had a chance to digest all that’s happened over the last few weeks. Aside from my thoughts and musings, feel free to scroll to the bottom to see what all this means to you and the new services I will now offer.
Things Have Definitely Changed
Like so many of you, I’m a parent. My family has adjusted to a new norm of all five kids quarantined at home. The older kids now have virtual school on weekdays, friends who they only see on video calls, and a mom now playing the role of teacher. A typically day now involves multiple zoom calls for kids, me running back and forth between kids and the printer while helping with assignments, someone upset as mom is “doing it wrong”, and ending with socially-distanced dance lessons over an iPad.
Then I have the littlest ones running amok. In fact, the two year old and his baby sister sidekick have opened 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that were set aside for donating and organized them in a dog cate while I did a lesson with another child. Another time they “painted” with the water from the dog bowl, and yet another they unloaded all the hair ties, brushes, and combs from my bathroom and kicked them around the floor.
The photography studio has become the homework/ virtual dance studio. The dining room is now the school zone. The China cabinet is filled with school supplies and educational resources. And the daily walk around the neighborhood is my chance to breathe and find some sanity.
Nominal Tasks are Now Mentally Draining
On top of these changes, you add in the new stresses of how to get food, sterilizing the food packaging, and the general worry of stay at home orders. You can’t always get supplies when you need them or items are just plain unavailable. It’s impossible to meal plan when you can get key items for a meal.
Laundry hasn’t stopped. The house can’t stay clean with 7 people and 2 dogs stuck inside 99% of the time. Oh, and the news is super helpful with relieving stress…
It’s a lot to process. And I’m POSITIVE you are in similar types of trenches right now. And I’m not even on the front lines with healthcare professionals fighting this virus, which makes all my struggles seem small in comparison.
Small Business Heartbreak
On a professional note, I’ve had to cancel and stop photographing sessions. Basically my business is closed with an unforeseen “reopen” date. This has been an exceptionally hard pill to swallow, one that hits me at random times on any given day.
Jennifer Lynn Photography is my dream.
This business is my entrepreneur outlet. It’s how I express my creativity. It’s how I share my heart and gifts with others. I truly take my motto to heart – my goal as a photographer is to “preserve memories”, and right now, I can’t do that.
Someone gave me a great mental image that I think applies to all that’s been happening. Picture you are in a wave pool, and waves are crashing into you at random times. Sometimes the water seems calm but then another wave comes, or the ripples from a previous wave reach you a second or third time. And when that happens, you feel certain losses all over again while dealing with new ones.
Rising Above the Tide
I feel like that’s how I’ve been lately. I grip one reality when another takes over, and I have to start the learning/unlearning process all over again. Things have changed so quickly both personally and professionally that it’s taken me a moment to put into words how I’m feeling. And shaped how I want to move forward.
So, the questions I’ve asked myself include:
How do I help other people during this time?
How can I use my gifts to help families still preserve memories?
How can I balance professional aspirations in a new world with virtual learning, social distancing, and quarantines?
How do I maintain my own health and wellness while serving my family and clients?
Basically, how do I rise to the challenges set before me to rethink photography, rethink family life, and emerge whole?
What Does It Mean For You
After consulting with close friends, praying, and learning from other photographers in the community, I’ve decided on a few different ways I can offer myself and my knowledge to you.
I can guide you in real time on angles, lighting, and camera settings so you get at least a few key memories preserved of your newborn of child.
You can use whatever kind of camera you already have, a cell phone or DSLR, and I can help make the most of what you have to work with to capture that special fleeting time.
Newborn PDF with Tips and Directions
I have a document from professionals in my photography community who came together to create this awesome resource. The document is a collaboration of knowledge from other photographers who actively photograph at-home lifestyle sessions.
Since I focus on studio photography for newborns, I believe this resource from others has great examples from those who truly specialize in this area.
Editing Services
I would be happy to take images that you’ve photographed and edit them to bring about a polished photo. I can guide you on how to send the best files so I can make the most of my editing skills and software to clean up key things like baby jaundice, acne, blemishes, and stray hairs.
We Are In This Together
I’m not a doctor or a nurse. I am not on the front lines fighting this virus. I haven’t had to sacrifice time with family or quarantined away from loved ones. I know I have much to be grateful for and more blessings than I can count.
And I want to offer what I CAN to others to make a difference. However small, I want to help families continue to preserve memories and document their days. It isn’t much, but I can offer my knowledge of light and shadow, angles and camera settings, and a way to turn a photo into a piece of art.
Diamond Under Pressure
My biggest regret would be for a family to forever lose a moment they can’t recreate or reschedule when the dust settles. So I say let’s just capture memories in the midst of the dust. Let’s continue to preserve memories in this new, uncharted terrain.
And if there is a way I can help you do that, all you have to do is ask.
