Surviving Covid-19 Quarantine|Greensburg Family Photographer
Surviving the COVID-19 Quarantine
Hey there friends. This is some crazy SH**, am I right? I never thought that I would see a day when we were shutting down theaters, arenas, stadiums...the NHL, NBA, Broadway. Mandates from our governor, asking us to close the doors of our small "non-essential" businesses to the public in the interest of public safety and "flatten the curve". You can't find a single roll of toilet paper ANYWHERE! Guys, what are you all doing with all of that TP? hahaha I am sorry, if I don't laugh I will for sure start to cry.
In all seriousness, I am straight up worried. If this is just two weeks and we successfully flatten the curve and can leave our homes and start working like normal, GREAT! But what if that isn't what happens? What if we are stuck being non-operational for MONTHS? I can't even wrap my mind around those consequences. I can only imagine that they will be catastrophic for some and devastating for others. This. Is. Crazy.
But today, today I decided I was going to just keep creating. I don't have all of you to help me with that like I usually do. Photographing your babies, kids and families. But what I do have is my 9 year old. He was, after all, my inspiration to start this business. So I am going to take it back to my roots. I am just going to keep shooting. I am going to get back to photographing our everyday life, work on creative projects with him as my subject, teach him to edit photos (he has literally been begging me and we havent had the time), I am just going to create to create. Making my art is what is going to help me stay sane during all of this. So I thought no time like the present. haha I am not short on time, all I have is time! Just like the rest of you, right?
It is no secret that my kid is a theater kid. I have written about it on here a few times. You can find those stories here and here. If you know me at all, you know that Brody spends at least three days a week at Stage Right, more if there is a show going on. He has been attending class there since he was 6, and he will be 10 in the fall. This year, he was SO EXCITED because he could finally be in the talent show at school. He chose a song from his favorite musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Unfortunately, he won't get that chance. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, school and all school functions have been cancelled and closed down for at least the next two weeks.
This gave me an idea! What if we made a video? We could share it with all of our family and friends and he could show off his hard work. Not quite as good as the talent show, but better than nothing. Right? I was planning for a photo shoot of him anyhow, in the costume that I so painstakingly put together. Amazon Prime, Goodwill, and Target. You know all the regular places. Anyhow, that is what we did today. He got into his Seymour costume, we got our tiny Audrey II plant (Thanks Stage Right!), and we headed over to my studio.
We took a few photos first.
The funny thing about this is that his favorite character in this musical isn''t Seymour, it's Audrey II. He has always loved the villains in stories.
I have to say, I am pretty proud of this costume! I have always had a thing for dressing up and creating the perfect costume. I have written about that before too, if you want to check it out! I found those pants at Goodwill in Latrobe. That vest, it used to be a jacket, I cut the sleeves off hemmed the edges. That piece is also from Goodwill in Latrobe. The shirt. I had the toughest time coming up with the perfect shirt. I did pick up a beat up, old flannel from Goodwill but it wasn't quite right. Afew days later I happened to be at Target, and this one caught my eye. Now, if you have ever watched the movie, Little Shop of Horrors, you would know that Rick Moranis' Seymour is by far the best ever. The costuming for that movie is definitely iconic too. Wait until you see the side by side.
How totally cute is my kid though? This is why I knew I had to do this project today. These missed moments due to COVID-19 and this quarantine, we wont get them back. So we have to make the best of what we have and make them happen in our own way! We both had so much fun working on this together. That is what I am going to focus on, and how I am going to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but i feel like I kind of killed this costume. Right? Ok, so enough about me. I really want to show off how awesome this kid of mine is. He has been working on this song for weeks. At home, and at private voice with Christopher McAllister at Stage Right.
So check him out! Here he is, singing "Grow For Me," From Little Shop of Horrors.
I hope that this has given you a ray of sunshine during this dark time. I have lots of ideas, and plan to keep sharing what we are working on. Hang in there friends. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay happy!
