Lockdown Growth
Sitting in my garden, July 2021, it’s “Freedom Day” and yet I am still full of anxiety about the Covid situation we have all been reluctantly embroiled in for the past 16 months - should I go out more, mix more, stay in and keep distance, wipe the shopping? so many questions with more muddled answers than ever.
Despite the confusion and nerves however, lockdown has been a time of fantastic opportunities for the business! Going into it in March 2020, I was awash with mixed feelings but was expectant of an all-clear within a few weeks, at which time previous exploits could resume. As we’re all too are, that didn’t happen and I became more and more aware of how fortunate I’d been to have been living at home the whole time. Let alone the fact that this had allowed me to risk starting the photography business in the first place, it now allowed me to simply survive with relative ease compared to so many others during such a difficult time. And that’s very much where I ended up - in survival mode - the business very much taking a back seat as I become far too familiar with the nature reserve across the road and heavily exploited the offer to have an login for my friend’s Netflix account.
As the months wore on, I became aware of a growing nag in my mind of what I was going to do with my photography - could it continue? Could it build or function in the so-called new normal that was supposedly coming? Then slowly, things began to change.
BMW M5 for Collecting Cars
The previous autumn I’d had begun doing automotive shoots through a company that use me to photograph clients’ cars. It had predictably slowed as lockdown hit but then the shoots started to come in waves, presumably as owner’s started to sell some of the cars they’d collected. The childhood petrolhead in me still finds this work brilliant as I’m out taking photos of Ferraris, Porsches, rally cars or classics. This work wasn’t without it’s challenges however, being restricted as we were it was difficult to find suitable locations within distance and finding ways to work with clients within the boundaries of social distancing, but we managed and it was enjoyable - despite my brain’s insistence on wiping all my gear after every shoot.
The in the autumn of 2020 is was contacted by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s Communications Manager about the idea of an ongoing project documenting their reserves throughout the seasons and building their photographic records. As landscape photography is my favourite, I jumped at the opportunity and so began an ongoing project in which I visit a number of reserves every month, explore, take photos (and occasionally video - more on that later). Such a dream way to make an income!
Until now, I’ve neglected the blog posting but may start sharing more about the trips and the reserves I visit as part of this, including of course, photos.
