Your safety and comfort is and always has been my primary concern. Since I began, I was committed to making my families feel safe and stress free from my booking process all the way through to the delivered product. This was achieved with constant communication and information (as much as I could saturate you all with before people glazed over with boredom!) I always wanted to remain as flexible as possible, because life happens. This is even more important and closer to my heart now than it ever has been. I want you to know that I am here for you and I wanted to let you know what steps I’ve taken to make this as stress-free as possible. Every family’s needs are different, as are their beliefs and practices. Just know that I will do my best to be as flexible and accommodating as you need me to be. Paranoia is never the answer, but being informed and communicative with everyone we interact with is prudent.
Because this is such a big unknown right now and things are moving so quickly and in so many directions it’s hard to lock things in. I understand and have always been flexible to my families. Nothing will change. If you read my reviews, I have always remained flexible to change dates to accommodate sickness and unforeseen circumstances. Life happens! I don’t plan on changing my policies. I don’t require a retainer for my portrait & newborn sessions and full payment is just due on our session date. As a small business this will of course affect me and my family more than those with a steady guaranteed income, but we’ll all get through this. Thankfully my husband still has a 9-5 job and health care benefits.
If you or your family members have any unexpected changes to their health then please just keep me informed and we can reschedule. I will of course notify my families if I experience any of the following: sore throat, cough, fever, diarrhea, or breathing difficulties as listed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It’s better to be safe than sorry. I don’t want to carry the responsibility of infecting an at-risk group.
If you prefer to wash it yourself, I can arrange to mail it to you if that’s a possibility/enough time. If you prefer this last option, please select your wrap at least 7 days prior to our session. Please note my wraps are hang-dry only. Do not put them in the dryer or they will shrink and become unusable. They are gauzy and pretty fragile.
I’m just like the rest of you and I have concerns about the virus and the impact it will have on our day to day lives. An interesting chart I saw relates to
The empty street photos in China showed how seriously people took quarantine measures. If you look at the numbers, Asian countries have slowed the increase in the number of infected, while other countries have caught up and even surpassed the number of cases. Do what’s best for your family but I just wanted to provide some information.
As a photographer, I have always been very careful with handwashing as I meet so many people and I rely on my health to be able to work and generate income for my family. If I’m sick and make my clients sick, well… there are so many implications. It’s always mind-boggling how often I see people employ poor hygiene practices when out in public. When I photograph weddings and events documentary-style, the reason why people think I am taking way too many photos is because someone is always touching their face or picking at themselves which renders an image useless. It’s pretty constant once you are looking for it like I have for the past several years. The best thing is to follow best practices as outlined by the CDC:
If you’re sick, do everyone a favour and self-quarantine. Common sense says you should stay home and not come into contact with vulnerable people. Be a hero by maybe saving a life.
I’ve also been regularly taking natural supplements. It’s of course not proven, but I haven’t had the flu or any nasty colds in years. Placebo effects are sometimes just as great as the real thing. I take echinacea and elderberry supplements and drink lots of herbal teas on a daily basis. Do what you think is best and can help keep you healthy. It’s just something I’ve always done to ward of colds, coughs and other general maladies so I’m just going to keep on doing it.
Eat a healthy diet and keep a regular exercise routine. I find whenever I neglect myself, my health suffers. Busy season is generally when I stress eat and fall off the wagon with my exercise routine. I feel like a total disaster and I look like one too. Listen to your body and its needs. If you take care of it, it’ll take care of you.
This isn’t a time to prepare for the doomsday and freak out unnecessarily. I just know many of you are having concerns and I thought I would take a moment to address those concerns and show you what I’m doing to take active steps in my small business to make things less stressful for you. Communication, information and reassurance can hopefully comfort you in this time so I’m doing my part. If you have any thoughts or suggestions for best practices, I’m open to feedback. You can always reach out to me via social media, my contact form, or my email. If you have a session booked with me you also have my cell. Again, I only want to inform and keep everyone updated with my preventative measures. I’m not putting on a tin hat and banging on my pot in the town square. If there are additional measures you’d like me to take before our session please do feel free to communicate those thoughts to me.
We’ll all get through this as a community. Best thing is to stay calm as that’ll keep your immune system in peak condition. The purpose of this post is only to ease your minds so that we’ll continue to have a great relationship! Again, never hesitate to reach out and communicate any concerns to me.
Much Love,
Bella
Be well and everyone stay healthy and safe.