2020 - the year we learnt about Social Distancing!

Traditionally at this time of the year, I take the opportunity to sit back and review the goings on in the world of Photos by Pennie.

This year, that task somehow feels a little harder than the previous 10 years! In the past, I have mentioned bumper years - percentage growth from new clients - how many tens of thousands of photos I have taken for clients.

Yet this year, for long periods, my kit has stayed tucked away in my camera bag waiting for restrictions to be lifted and for my clients to be back at work. However, as a generally 'glass half full' kind of a person, I have looked for the positives to see what can be learnt from this experience and how to make 2021 even bigger and better. After all.....as D:ream once sang......"things can only get better"!

So, grab a frothy coffee and sit back for a quick whistle stop review of 2020. Here goes:

After 10 fantastic years in business, with growth in turnover every year, I was feeling pretty confident that 2020 would continue in the same vain. However, as Boris informed us all to lockdown at the end of March, like many other businesses, everything got cancelled. My business was temporarily on hold. So, I took the opportunity to update my website and do all those admin jobs that I don't usually get round to doing. My office has never been so organised!

Also, with 7 of us Locked down in the house, there was certainly plenty going on - some working, some doing uni finals online and one getting her head around the fact that her A' Levels had been cancelled! There was never a dull moment.

Lockdown v1.0 still felt full of positivity though - it felt like we were 'all in it together' - a joint effort for the greater good. Yes, my business was shot to pieces, but so were many others and I was confident that with continued efforts on the digital marketing front (thanks as always to Lisa Vassallo from One to Three Marketing Solutions ) my business would pick up.

By mid-May, businesses started opening up and lots were realising that this wasn't just going to be a short-term issue and that marketing their businesses was more crucial than ever. So, I was able to dust off my cameras and socially-distanced shoots were on the agenda. Business got back to 'normal' levels for the time of year. Things were looking good (even if my glasses steamed up everytime I shot with a mask on!)

Then came Lockdown v2.0 and again, bookings in the diary were cancelled (or as I prefer to hope....postponed). This time it was tougher - our extended family were mostly back at uni so the long, summer evening socials in the garden were no more. Even though legally, I was allowed to work, my issue is that I need my clients to be working at their premises too - and of course, most employees were working from home!

I decided to pivot the business slightly and worked with previous clients who wanted to benefit from creating videos from photos I had taken for them in the past - creating new content from existing photos has worked well. And I have learnt a new skill along the way!

Lockdown learnings.....
Despite the negatives of this year, there have definitely been some highlights which are worth mentioning....and a lot of things that I have learnt, including:

• Thankfully, I get on with my family! 7 of us spent over 6 months together in the same house and were still talking to each other at the end of it! Despite other holidays being cancelled, we did manage to grab a lovely week together in The Gower at the end of the summer before 4 of them headed off to uni.

• Another important learning was to keep an eye out for low-lying objects when shooting at events. I didn't quite do this in February when trying to creep discretely back along the aisle, I managed to walk straight into the corner of a TV set and cut my forehead. Cue a sharp intake of breath and not quite such a discrete exit for me after-all 🙄 🤕 !

• I also learnt that cutting hair is more difficult than I realised - as is correcting the mistakes! My husband will be happy to hear that I will not be giving up the day job.....
• I already knew I was an outdoor person - but since Lockdown, I have realised that I really HAVE to get outside every day - whether that's running, walking with my dog, or outdoor fit camp - Heidi Strickland-Clark's Fast track fit camp has been a life saver!

• But probably the biggest thing I have learnt this year is that I LOVE what I do - and I really miss it when I can't do it. As Confucius said...."Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
  
  It took a global pandemic to really remind me of this and it is helping me to approach 2021 with enthusiasm, renewed motivation and passion to continue to help businesses show who they are and what they do using professional photographs on their websites, social media and marketing materials. I'm not going to let some pesky virus knock me back!
  

So - here's to 2021 being a little like 2020 (the kindness to each other and the taking time to breathe) but much, much better!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy festive period. Pennie