Wow. Did anyone imagine that we would be surviving a pandemic in our lifetime? Double wow. We already have a new normal and probably can’t expect life to ever go back to what it was just even a few months ago. We remember we lost several businesses during the Great Recession a decade ago that have not come back. We hope the same thing does not happen now.

While we have seen stories of selfishness and silly behavior, the majority of what we see is people helping each other and stepping up to make positive things happen. We have seen that the essential workers are maybe not who we thought they were, but we sure do appreciate the effort and risk they are putting in to help us out. We appreciate the humor we see every day, on-line and in person, of people dealing with this crisis with grace and humor. What a great community we are! If we keep up the good work we can get through this and be even better and stronger on the other side.

We are signing people up for Porch Portraits in Yolo County, Sacramento, and SoCal, all the places we have photographers. These portraits are done in your front yard/porch with proper social distancing (a minimum of 8 feet) and masks and hats for the photographers. We sanitize our cars and equipment after each session and shower and wash our clothes when we get home.

So far, families are in good spirits and eager to talk to someone new! They all seem to be getting along and finding creative ways to keep the kids entertained. People have embraced the theme and have included photos wearing their masks and stretching a tape measure out six feet. We have taken some pretty fun photos.

Most importantly, as photographers, we feel it is our duty to help document this unexpected event. We feel we are doing so with no risk to our clients or our staff and meet the required guidelines provided by the state. Hopefully, something like this crisis will never happen again and photos will be valuable as a way to explain the circumstances to future generations. The loss of life and sickness is devastating. But one positive is families and neighbors coming together and standing tall.

We hope that, in the future, a big coming out party on 1^st Street will be the way for Woodland to shake away the pandemic and reunite. It may be a long way off, but it will happen. And we would love to include a public exhibition of some of these photos to remind us how our families helped us get through a very heart-rending event in our history.

What do you miss most right now? And what business or event or product will you miss if it doesn’t survive the next year?

Right now we miss our families. And the whole family recently became seriously addicted to escape rooms. How sad if they don’t survive financially. They were actually something the entire clan enjoyed!

What about you?