When the Coronavirus pandemic hit the world, and social distancing became the new normal, I introduced front porch sessions.
My plan from the beginning was to make the community know that I am offering them to families who want to celebrate each other during the dark times.
I never planned to actively promote the sessions.
But one post in a local county Facebook group and I had countless families reaching out with questions and booking requests.
While these short sessions might sound easy, they’re actually quite difficult. Mainly because I am wearing protective equipment, including a mask that could look scary to children.
I am also far away using a very long lens. Literally around 50 feet, and in one case 84 feet (according to Google Earth). That means I can only engage with the parents and children so much. So at times, keeping the attention of children can be difficult.
But I made it work, and came out with a bunch of beautiful photos for each family.
So I thought I would share a few of those here.
One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is the chance to brighten the day for someone. Especially in such hard times like we are right now in this pandemic.
When things are hard, you do what you can to make the best of it. This family asked for a porch session to celebrate each other during the pandemic. The son is a fan of spider man, so I couldn’t resist asking him to “web” his parents.
During a pandemic, you can still celebrate family and Easter. That’s exactly what this family did. When I showed up I was greeted by a beautiful Easter scene.
I stopped by my brother’s house to photograph him with my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. It was strange photographing them from so far away, but that’s what has to be done during a pandemic like this.
Sometimes you pick your favorite from a serious of photographs based on poses. Sometimes it’s because of facial expressions. But in this family’s case, I picked my absolute favorite based on their landscaping and how I was able to utilize it from such a great distance. There was a beautiful, and vibrant, plant, at the end of the walkway. I positioned myself behind it and photographed the family through it. Doing so created this warm glow that’s actually a blurry plant.
The front porch session for this family set a new record for myself. Usually, I am close to 50 feet away from a family when doing a front-porch session. But in this case, I was 84 feet away. That is 28 yards!
After I finished photographing one family and was packing up, a neighbor was yelling for me. She asked if I had time to photograph her family as well. I had another session booked shortly after, so she rushed to get her family ready for a quick porch session. You might be able to tell by the father not wearing shoes.
Sometimes families do not have a front porch, so you use the next best thing. In this case, it was a gazebo in the complex. The structure of a front porch session during a pandemic stays in place. I am still protected and at a distance as to not risk any contact with the family.
I am no longer be offering front porch sessions.
However, my standard family sessions are always available, so once the pandemic is over, please get in touch if you’re interested in one.
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