Update: 26th March 2020

As of Monday 23rd March, all bookings up to the end of April have been postponed. I have been contacting customers individually to rearrange.

Bookings for May and beyond will be reviewed as and when government advice is updated. If you currently have a wedding booked later in 2020, please read the advice below (and feel free to give me a call - I'm always happy to chat and will be as flexible as I can to contribute to the big day you've always dreamed of).

If you would like to make a booking for May and beyond, please contact me. I am keeping a list and will be booking those on it, on a first come first served basis, once social distancing measures are eased.

Thanks for your support. Hoping you all stay well!

Original post: 19th March 2020

The current situation with Covid-19 (coronavirus) is an unprecedented and challenging one! I've already contacted everyone that has a booking with me in the next month, as well as all weddings booked in the next three months. I thought it may also be helpful to share information here regarding bookings in the near future.

For those whose photoshoot has already taken place, I remain open for business working from home to take orders. My print labs are all currently open for business as usual so your orders will continue to be processed and delivered to you. If this situation changes I will let you know.

For existing bookings and anyone considering booking in the next month (and possibly beyond), I am open for business as far as is practical whilst following government guidance on social distancing, as follows:

Pop-up mini-photoshoots

As of Monday 16th March, I have cancelled/postoned my pop-up photoshoots in cafes and baby & toddler groups for the next month (and will review the situation at that time). The location of these falls under the category of 'social gathering' so I felt that this was the responsible decision to take.

Newborn photoshoots

For newborn baby photoshoots, it's a difficult balance as I know your baby is only tiny for so long, and would hate to deprive anyone of those memories should you really want them. However, I do have to handle baby during the shoot, so 'distancing' is not really possible.

As such, I'm leaving it to individual families to decide whether to proceed with their shoot. Should you decide to go ahead, all fabric backdrops are washed before each shoot, and my other equipment is wiped with disinfectant. I always wash my hands before a shoot and use hand gel throughout, I will continue to do this with additional handwashing. As has always been the case, I would never attend a newborn shoot if I feel unwell.

If you decide to postpone, remember there are many key milestones during baby's first year. It's possible to achieve newborn photos up to about 5/6 weeks and sometimes even older; as baby gets bigger, these will be more natural of baby wrapped on their back with fewer posed images, but will still capture the essence of their newness. After this age, it's best to wait until about 3-4 months when baby will be smiling more and able to hold their head up a little whilst supported. Age 6-12 months is one of my favourite ages for photos - once baby is sitting and particularly before they are crawling, you'll get some gorgeous photos with personality shining through!

Outdoor family photoshoots

I'm continuing to take bookings for outdoor shoots. The lenses used during these shoots mean that I'm rarely closer than 2m to you, and in fact, there's no need for contact during these sessions (I'm sure you'll forgive me for giving you a wave hello rather than shaking hands!). As such I feel it's safe to continue with these whilst we're still permitted to circulate in the great outdoors!

Weddings

If your wedding is taking place, then I'll be there as long as I'm permitted to by government guidelines. I hope that I stay healthy enough to do so, but if I am unwell or required to isolate, then you may find it reassuring to know that I am a member of the Guild of Photographers and have a network of local photographers, so have many hundreds of photographers that I can call upon for back-up should it be needed (and would obviously discuss this with you first should it become required).

Should it become necessary to postpone your wedding, then my standard contract has always included a postponement clause that allows the contract and booking fee to be carried across to any new date (subject to me being available) within 6 months. Given the current circumstances I'm extending this to 12 months for weddings originally booked for April, May and June 2020.

As a small independent business I appreciate your support during this difficult time for all of us. If you have any questions, then please don't hesitate to get in contact.

Footnote: Isolation diaries!

We're currently in self-isolation (ending middle of next week for me - hurrah!), so I'm 'enjoying' home schooling my kids. As we're ahead of some of you with schools closing this week, I thought I'd share some tips that have made our days run more smoothly...

• Discuss and agree a timetable  With two games-console obsessed boys and two parents that work from home, I was worried we'd end up in situation where we work all day ignoring them whilst they play online all day. We sat down and agreed a timetable - everything we need to do (schoolwork/ work), want to do (XBox for the boys, pilates for me!), and chores to keep the house in order. By agreeing it all between us it's got everyone's buy-in; it also means that we've agreed split supervision of the kids to give us both time to work. Whilst we're not planning to stick to it rigidly, it at least gives us structure, routine and a reason for turning the console off!
• Agree some isolation rules  At the same time we agreed some rules to ensure we all get along happily (for full transparency, we've already had an argument over what the kids were going to eat for dinner!). Rules include not skipping any schoolwork; and taking yourself to a different room if someone (your brother!) is annoying you, and a promise from that person that they won't follow you!
• Ensure you have food in the cupboards and freezer, and/or helpful friends and neighbours on hand  We were fortunate enough to get a supermarket delivery slot and, albeit with a few missing items, have enough food to get us through the next week. Whilst I'm in no way endorsing panic buying, do make sure you have a few essentials to cook meals if you find yourself unable to get to the supermarket (or the pizza takeaway number on hand!). We're also blessed to have had lots of friends and neighbours offer support, and whilst we've not needed to call on it yet, it's nice to know we can shout for help if we run out of milk. You also realise you've chosen friends wisely when a box of cakes is hand delivered by said wonderful friend!

And as no post from me is ever complete without a picture. Here's one of my littlest getting on with his work yesterday... Keep well everyone!

Working from home with kids in towblack and white photo of boy working with colouring in book