Photography in the Time of Coronavirus

We have been in business for 30 years, weathering recessions, political coups, economic bubbles, and a myriad of crises. But, of course, none of us have seen anything like what we are seeing now with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Yet I know we will outlast this as well, because we will come together as a community and creatively, proactively find ways to help one another thrive.

We are all rightly wary of close interaction with others, and want to avoid closed, indoor spaces, large groups, and anything that puts us or those we love at risk.

Yet we also should be thinking of ways to make the best of our shelter-in-place reality. It is likely to continue for months.

I have two suggestions:

1. spend quality time with loved ones, and
2. invest in the future of your business and yourself.

These can take many forms: doing online education (learn a language or new skill), attacking that stack of novels teetering on your nightstand, catching up on communication with distant family and friends, indulging in hobbies and hands-on activities, and getting out to appreciate nature in a safe way.

Meanwhile, we all also want to support our local businesses and service providers, so that they too can survive this dark time. We must be creative in searching for new ways to achieve that, so as to keep Amazon and Costco and Google from taking over our lives and eviscerating our local economy.

One way to make a great investment in your business, your personal brand, and yourself, is to get a new professional headshot for LinkedIn, your website's About page, and elsewhere. These can be done in studio (which is fully cleaned after every client, and where we practice safe, one-on-one interaction with proper social distancing – we have long lenses!), or in the wild. There are plenty of beautiful locations in and around Montpelier and Central Vermont, and with spring's arrival, we will soon revel in backgrounds of blossoms, evergreens, blue skies and bubbling streams.

For businesses, this is a perfect time to take stock, to make wise investments in your marketing infrastructure so you can come roaring back when the tide turns. This means things like:

• refreshing your website copy;
• doing a site makeover with new photography;
• developing and shooting a professional web video for ads and your website;
• finally getting that product photography done;
• new headshots (of course).

These are all in our wheelhouse at StoryWorkz, and all can be done in a safe, social-distancing sort of way. So get in touch; we would love to help you make lemonade with the lemons we've all been dealt.

We will soldier on, and we will all get through this together by supporting one another, being creative, and investing in our mutual future.

This too shall pass.