Believe it or not- I still do photography for a living so if I don't shoot I don't eat (well- eat as much, as well, or as often
- Plus I gotta pay the rent the shop, etc. There are 2 of us at home, 2 staff at the shop, and a cat to feed.
I have been fortunate. Even during that past and current lockdown the construction industry still working and 3 of my clients are planning annual reports, trade show displays (post-Covid hopefully) so I have 3 assignments on the go. Also, thank goodness, someof my regular commercial clients have shifted to heavy online sales and need all kinds of photography for their E-business websites. The construction stuff is all out-of-doores and the others can just ship the merchandise to my studio.
Weddings and portraits NADA!
Marijuana is now legal in Canada, so next week I have a shoot at an industrial size grow-op! That's gonna be fun! Gotta wear a hazmat suit to go in there! Wall to wall pot for medical use! No- I don't smoke!
On days off- that's the problem. Right now all the non-essential retail stores and malls are closed- can't go to the camera store! The gym is shut down- working it in the living room, Can't go to the movies. It's Winter- I can't work in the garden. So... my lovely wife and I have gone on an anti-procrastination crusade- all the stuff in the house and the studio that we were putting off, neglecting, didn't wanna do. I cleaned up and finally organized my workshop- power tools, screwdrivers, pliers, and junk- what an unmitigated MESS! 35 file drawers filled with old negatives and transparencies! Digitize them?- Nah- that would exceed our life expectancy- so we just purged the discards. We finally cleaned out from behind the refrigerator and removed the new lifeforms that were festering in there. The room that used to house the darkroom is full of stuff- it looks like the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Up here the vaccination program is moving lie molasses in the Winter and we got some long and cold winters up here in Canada. It looks like business, life and photography won't normalize 'till 2022. Just trying to make the best of the down-time.
Could be worse- the guy who lives 2 houses down the street makes tombstones- he doesn't like that term- he calls them "monuments". Sadly, his business has doubled with Covid. I asked him to design one for me- I like Old English fonts- how about " Ed Shapiro (1944- ain't dead yet)" I can keep it on my front lawn! My wife thinks I am suffering from cabin fever and have developed a morbid sense of humour.
Listen y'all- stay safe and well, stay home, mask up, get the shot ASAP!