A Message to My Photography Clients During COVID-19

A COVID-19 letter to my clients:

Friends, there has been such much I have wanted to say over the past few months, but before I do I want to first apologize for the ways I have been at a complete loss as how to show up in this season. While I have talked with the many clients I’ve had to post-pone sessions and weddings, I still in many ways have been hiding out. You all mean the world to me and hiding out is not how I want to show up. So please know I am sorry for that. I want this letter to share what has been going on in my heart during this time, and what commitments I want to make for those clients who have been impacted.

When I took the leap to go full-time this year, it was because of you all who have supported my work in amazing ways enabling me to live this wonderful life of doing my passion full-time. But then, COVID-19 hit. Little did I know, just 3 months after going out on my own and leaving employment behind, the option to serve my clients would be taken from me in many ways. I haven’t known how to show up or even exist as a photographer when I’m unable to do the fundamental element of my business - taking photos of incredible people and helping them document the milestones in their life, whether they are brides, business owners, or families.

For me, as a photographer documenting life and where my clients are at in each season is what fuels my passion for my business and because this means so much to me, knowing that I am unable to this tears me apart, and so I have gone quiet, however that stops today because I want you to know above all else, I love you.

To my 2020 brides…

I am committed to you in a magnitude you may never know. From our first call and I hear your story, I become invested in learning what I can do to become your biggest fan. The more I can grow in connecting with you and your story, the more I can show up and help you document your love on your wedding day. I want you to feel the photos I take when you look back on them for years to come. That’s why I’m crying behind my camera while you share your first kiss or your first dance with your sweetheart; my heart is invested in your story and your love.

Which makes it so painfully difficult for me to know what you’re facing because you’re getting married in 2020. Multiply your story with 20 other brides, as a result, I’ve been frozen as I realize I can’t make this all go away. I want you to have the wedding day you’ve been planning and investing in for so very long. With the majority of my brides coming up with another plan for their day breaks my heart, and when the rescheduled date is on one I’m already booked, it breaks it all the more. And I know this is as devastating for you as it is for me.

I feel you. I see you. I hear you. And even if I’m not showing up online right now, please know you are ever present in my thoughts and prayers. This time has brought an unprecedented level of added stress on top of the already-present stress of planning your big day that no bride or groom should ever have to go through.

My commitment to my existing brides who are rescheduling for next year with the same wedding package, if we have already shot your engagement photos I want to shoot an additional FREE engagement session for you.

To my business owners…

Oh, how I see you. In many ways, I have grown in my branding photography exponentially the past couple years and have so many clients who are small business owners just like me. I so deeply connect with your experience so much so that I’m on the verge of tears as I type this. I know what it’s like to start a business and to launch into a space where the uncertainty is great, and the only certainty you do have is that you can show up and do the work. So, when that is taken from you, the reality becomes so scary.

I see the heart and passion behind what you do and the people you want to serve. Those of you that have been deemed “non-essential” during this time, I understand how heartbreaking that is. And to the clients that have been unable to move forward due to financial circumstances, my heart is with you, too. I hurt for you and I’m so sorry. I look forward to when we can shoot again and will do everything in my power to promote your business after we get to return to it.

To the businesses that were just starting out and you had booked me for the session needed to launch your great big passion and purpose, I’m holding space for you, too. I know I can’t take back the damage that the pandemic has done to your initial dream, but I hope we’ll get to taking photos again in no time and I’ll be fully there for you when that time comes. If you were perhaps considering becoming a branding/business client of mine but hadn’t yet booked, I want nothing more than to show up and document the heart and passion behind your biz so that when you get back to work, you are set up for success with images that tell that story and connect with your clients / customers.

My commitment to business owners, if you had an hour session previously booked with me OR if you book a session with me within one month after I can return to normal operations, I will throw in an extra half an hour for FREE. If you know me then you know that the additional time results in a large number of photos!

To my families…

This time of the year is thankfully a slower slower season, but sadly, there are many families that have been impacted with cancelled shoots, such as maternity or newborn sessions, who experienced these milestones during quarantine. In addition, multiple extended family shoots have been cancelled, after family members who were flying in can no longer do so. These memories cannot be replaced or done over, and my heart aches for this.

But if I were to hope or wish for anything, it’s that we would use this time to reflect on how much those people we are quarantined with matter to us. Because there is beauty in a missed moment, as it adds more value when the next one comes. So while this is a great loss, let’s consider it as an opportunity to add to your family’s future. Helping to reminded us of the importance of documenting future seasons of each kid, and your family all together. This tragic situation is an opportunity to see value in our lives in such a crazy way.

For those of you who were deemed “essential” in your jobs and have had to continue your work while the rest of us are moving at a slower pace, I want to say THANK YOU. You are the ones who are helping us continue to have some level of normalcy to our lives and that comes at a great cost to you and so thank you.

My commitment to my previously booked family clients, if you had a milestone that passed during COVID-19 that we were unable to capture, I commit to shooting a FREE mini session with you at some time later this year.

All in all, my heart goes out to each and every one of you during this time and I look forward to the day when we can connect in-person again soon. Until then, stay safe, stay home, and hug each other for me!