By Josh Hall

focusing on safety

Brighter picture for photographers with stage two of Alberta’s relaunch

Jun 17, 2020 | 9:24 AM

While stage two of Alberta’s relaunch has provided some relief for photographers, there are still barriers.

Paige Koster of Paige Koster Photography says businesses have been given the go-ahead to start taking pictures of newborns again. However, physical distancing is of course a requirement, and photographers should get parents to help pose their baby.

“Things are close to back to normal, but we are encouraged to have parents pose, and can only photograph people from the same home,” Koster says, adding they’re typically very hands on in helping customers get into the right position.

“It is a huge relief. When we had to have no hands-on, it was not only frustrating for us not to provide the same quality to our clients, but frustrating for our clients who were paying us to essentially coach them through a session, and in some cases right after having a baby.”

To Koster’s understanding, photo shoots involving large groups of people or sessions with multiple families in the studio are not permitted.

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Meantime, her business has lost multiple wedding clients, and others are hesitant to start booking again.

“It’s hard to say if or how this will change the professional photography landscape because although there are precautions and directions for us to follow, we’ve already seen that many people aren’t following those,” she says.

“What we will see for sure is an increase of uninsured photographers shooting large weddings and events because ultimately they aren’t worried about legalities.”

Koster believes the government is doing the right thing.

“That said, they should have more direct guidelines for all businesses and a better understanding of our policies before, during and after COVID-19.”

Jennifer Donnelly of Donnelly Photography in Sylvan Lake admits shooting wedding party photos would be difficult because of distancing rules right now, but individual grad shoots are possible.

“Most photographers are pretty sanitary, and certainly newborn photographers. We already clean all props and studio items between each session,” she says.

“Going forward we need to do just a little more like wearing a face mask, and cleaning the unwashable items with a UV light box. I do shoot a lot of schools, sports clubs and large corporate events, so that might be impacted this year. Luckily I do a lot of green screen work, and can digitally create those team/group shots with each person individually.”

Koster has reached out directly to Premier Jason Kenney, Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, and to the province’s Biz Connect service.

She says Notley is pushing for more focus on the arts — including photography — as the province navigates its relaunch.