My heart goes out to anyone impacted by this pandemic: families with children with schools shut down, seniors in assisted living, local businesses struggling, and many others. I put off writing this for weeks, since this is a photography blog, and I try to stay on topic. Unfortunately, this has pretty much taken over our lives at this point, and while it will pass, I fear it will be with us for some time to come.

I count myself fortunate that - so far at least - no one in my family or immediate circle has fallen ill, and only business has suffered. Needless to say, it has devastated countless small businesses - especially photography, which after all consists almost entirely of gathering large groups of people close together! Of course, the real tragedy is not that I can't photograph weddings and events - but that the weddings and events are no longer happening. Smaller weddings are still possible in some areas of the country, but not here. I am still trying to book some for the regular season - September and October - for the brave souls willing to schedule anything these days. The present restrictions will surely be lifted by summer, if things continue to go "well," but if it mutates, or comes back for successive waves (as happened in 1918), there's always a chance they will be reimposed.

Anyway, this is not supposed to be a "downer" post - but a story of perseverance and hope! I am still working to the extent possible - limited as that may be. Just last week I booked a headshot session, showed up in full mask and gloves (felt ridiculous, but that's the world now) - and it went off without a hitch.

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I had been looking forward to visiting family in New York for Easter (upstate at least) - obviously that's not happening now. So instead, I'd like to do something else over Easter weekend. Most of my family portraits and some headshots have been outdoor shoots anyway - and now that "social distancing" is the only way to go -- why not take memorable family portraits or headshots from the street? People are out on their porches anyway, especially now that the weather has broken. What a great opportunity to capture and memorialize this historic time!

I thought of this a couple weeks ago, and since it's a fairly obvious thing to think of, I wasn't the only one. Down south a photographer started the Front Porch Project Facebook Page, but so far I haven't seen anything like that in Pittsburgh. 

So this coming weekend, I'd like to do this in my local neighborhood. I'll post an update if I can pull this off. Wish me luck!