Wow! Where do we begin? What a curveball of a year 2020 has been. I try and do a year in review post every year and I think this has got to be one of the most eventful and yet least eventful (at the same time) years ever! I remember in January, as soon as the new year came, I felt great about the upcoming year. I had just launched Harris Creative, LLC. in 2019 and planned on really pushing it in 2020. I already had quite a bit of work lined up for the commercial side of my business too! Weddings, I had three destination weddings lined up for 2020. I was super excited about that. Cancun, Hawaii, Florida, it was going to be a very beachy wedding season! Family sessions were already starting to come in, even in January. There was just a lot in the works that I was feeling extra excited about the coming year. I even had a full year planned for themed sessions. It was the first time in 11 years I was going into the year with a full plan ready to roll!
February came and the news of Covid overseas was starting to flood my social feeds. It was troubling seeing what was happening overseas and I knew it would eventually get to us, but I had no idea just how much it would affect us. Then March came. I remember the announcement was mid-March and Governor Pritzker made the announcement that Illinois would go on a stay-at-home order on March 21st. I remember this because I had a wedding on March 14. The wedding still happened, but many people did not show up. I thought for sure, after this first month, things would get back to normal and we’d be back in business. I mean, nothing really happens in March as far as outdoor sessions because it’s still pretty cold and dead outside, so I didn’t think this would affect me too much. How wrong I was. It was looking like May would be the soonest that I would get back to work, including outdoor sessions. Spring mini sessions were canned.
I spent this stay-at-home time working on Harris Creative. I used this time to reach out to so many businesses in the area, I lost count. I received a lot of responses back and a lot of future business scheduled. May came and I was allowed to do outdoor sessions. I remember scrambling to see if we would have permission. I contacted the state, the county, local representatives to get official permission. I didn’t want to deal with fines. There was a lot of misinformation being spread during this time, so I wanted to make sure I got the word directly from those in authority. I honestly thought by this point, families wouldn’t care so much to do pictures. I thought after 2 months of being stuck at home, they would be okay doing family pictures themselves. Then I thought, how many of us try and do family pictures ourselves, such as on our phones, and fail? I was proven wrong with a tremendous wave of families wanting pictures. Many of whom wanted Spring sessions but couldn’t get them due to the stay at home order. I ran a back to work special as well as a pretty unique marketing video.
June welcomed in the return of weddings for me. I had three weddings that month and they decided to move forward with their plans. This brought back signs of normalcy and it was such a relief. The mood was different at these weddings. You could tell people really wanted to be with each other. Something about them seemed a little extra special. They were also far more laid back than weddings of the past, I think primarily because so much had been changed from the original plans, by the time the wedding day came, no one cared how things went so long as we were able to be together. I loved it!! By this point, however, I had learned that Florida was not going to be happening. Cancun was getting reschedule to 2021. But there was still hope for Hawaii having a wedding.
July saw the cancellation of the 4th of July, I’m not sure how that’s even possible, and the cancellation of the fair being announced. I was so upset about the fair being canceled. I do fairground mini sessions every year. These are my favorite themed sessions I do, and I was so looking forward to loading up on caramel apples. I realize I can get these anywhere, but they are better at the fair, that’s a fact. I tried to come up with an alternative, but couldn’t seem to make things work out. August came and things were sort of back to normal in regards to business. Sure, we didn’t know what was going to be happening with school, and with the exception of face masks requirements, we were out and about like normal at this point. By August, I had begun doing quite a few real estate pictures with Harris Creative. I’m so thankful for the agents I’ve been able to partner with and provide great imagery for.
September and October continued this “feeling normal” sort of vibe with business. Again, with the exception of face mask requirements, business seemed pretty normal. Both of these months were pretty busy with weddings, as they typically are. October saw one of the most normal transitions to Fall I can remember. I mean, we had a couple of weeks of amazing weather, lots of colors, and it provided the perfect situation for family sessions. It was an extremely busy time, but it was a great couple of months. In October, Natasha and I were also in a wedding. Yes, we were actually a part of a wedding, not working it this time. What an honor that was watching my best friend get married. I’m not going to lie though, it was a little weird not bringing my camera to a wedding, I felt naked. The next day was our son’s 4th birthday, so it made for a pretty busy weekend. But it was so nice being around everyone and celebrating a wedding and birthdays.
Then November… oh November. It was election month and we all know how crazy that was because as I write this at the end of November, we are still dealing with a lot of stuff. November also ushered in another wave of lockdown. As I write this, restaurant lobbies are closed. Retail stores have to limit how many people can be inside. Gatherings are supposed to be limited to just a handful. I thought we were past all this lockdown stuff and now I have 2021 weddings looking to change their date or split their celebration to factor in the new orders put in place. As a business owner, this is frustrating. While I’ve been extremely fortunate to not have been affected too great this year, I do not see how another year of this will work out for all businesses because I know there are a lot of people really hurting right now. But here we are again, trying to figure out what the future holds and what to do to not only be safe but make things work out as well. In either case, November saw the Fall colors stick around just a little bit longer than we were able to do quite a few Fall sessions!
December is now here and as I reflect on the past year, we can all agree it’s been quite a year. One thing I think we can all take away from this year is just how important being with one another is. Whether it is your family or your closest of friends, or even the person taking your order at a restaurant. As I look through my images of families and weddings one thing sticks out more than anything else, contact. Going into 2021, I want to re-evaluate my priorities. Along with this, I want to step up what photography looks like to me. I do not simply want to take your pictures and that be it. No, I want to tell your story. I get that is extremely cliche to say and I don’t just say that because it’s what just about every photographer says, but I mean it more than just taking a candid picture. When you look through your pictures, I want there to be an emotional response to seeing them. I want you to see the pictures and through viewing them you are able to hear the laughter, feel the emotion, hear the conversations, etc. Photography today is something that is so widely available to us that pictures can almost lose their meaning or power. But the power of photography is real and my goal for 2021 is to not just snap your pictures, but to tell your story. Here’s to 2021, a new year and a new outlook on life.