Making The Best Of Things Right Now – COVID-19

The Coronavirus has disrupted the whole world. There is not one person or business I can think of that won’t be in one way or another affected by this virus. This is the stuff movies are made of and now we are all living it. The repercussions of this outbreak will be felt for months and years to come. My wife Debra and I are stocked up and are social distancing ourselves for whatever time it takes. For the most part, that means staying at home and avoiding any kind of public or social interactions for the foreseeable future. Like you, we are doing the best we can to remain healthy and follow the guidance of the CDC and the WHO.

It’s been crazy seeing what has happened at grocery stores and the like. Total panic on toilet paper. What’s that all about? Lucky for us we were already stocked up on that and paper towels. For food we have several grocery stores close by but will be using Instacart for many deliveries. Last night we went out for dinner for what we decided will be the last time for a while. The restaurant (one of our favorites) was just about empty. We’ll do our own cooking for a while and that just might be better for all us. We are now planning menus and ordering the food we need to cook at home. That could be fun.

So many things we take for granted have been closed and canceled. It’s quite a lifestyle change. photoPXL.com will use this time to do a number of things. We have some ambitious new features we are going to be adding to our website and this is a good time to work on them. I have also been thinking a lot about the type of articles we will be publishing. I will do my best to publish articles that will give you things to do while remaining self-isolated. I’ll try to do my best to feature articles that allow you to explore photography indoors or outside in isolation. I’ll feature books and magazines I’m reading and topics about working on your photographs. It’s a good time to explore your old images, re-edit images, and try out new techniques of photo processing. Maybe, it’s time to gather images together and try publishing a book. Or, learn a new program. I have just signed up for a course on video editing with Adobe Premiere.

I will also be going through all my gear and deciding what cameras are due to be traded in or sold. I’ll rethink a lot of things photography-wise. I’m making a list. I’ll share this list as it becomes a bit more focused. My goal is to come out of this pandemic more focused and prepared to get on with life with a fresh outlook. While I plan to stay indoors as much as possible, there is nothing that will prevent me from going out on my own and exploring areas close by and taking pictures. I would go completely nuts if I couldn’t take photos. But I can go places by myself and shoot where I don’t ever come in close contact with people. Maybe I’ll try shooting areas like cityscapes where there is usually too much traffic and show the city from a new perspective. Or, maybe I’ll just get in the car and explore the countryside. I know I’ll be happiest when I am pushing the shutter button.

I will be sharing a number of long-overdue stories on trips I have made. Expect articles on Antarctica, Punta Arenas, Valparaiso, and numerous other places. I have a number of products I can also review. So, for me in many ways, I’ll stay busy and it will be business as usual. For now, my kids and family are safe, which is the most important. We can all speak by phone, Skype, and other methods. We’ll get through this no matter what it takes.

You also may know that we run another company – Rockhopper Workshops. We managed to complete our Antarctica Workshop before this whole COVID-19 thing got out of hand. We have canceled our Faroe Islands workshop and have rescheduled it for next year. Over half the attendees have already moved their reservation to next year’s date. We will be announcing this workshop as well as the 2022 workshop in the coming weeks for others that may be interested. The Palouse workshop for June remains on the calendar. It’s a small workshop and we will wait to see what happens and announce one way or another when we can. The Svalbard workshop for early August also remains scheduled.

As I have mentioned before we have been working very hard on a fine art printing workshop series. When we get a better handle on the virus updates we will announce dates. We do hope that this summer and fall we can run these workshops. We have a number of partners that are going to be part of this workshop, and it will be a good time to hone your skills on printing your photos. Speaking of printing your photos, I will be starting a series about getting into printing and printing from home very soon. This could be another activity to keep you busy during these isolated times.

The coming months are going to be hard for a lot of people and especially photographers. It’s harder and harder to make a living taking photographs these days. Following many photographers on social media, it is scary to read how many do not have any jobs on their calendars now. Those that count on running workshops and teaching are being hard hit too. During these tough times, we need to try and stay positive and come out on the other side of this mess with our heads held high and the energy to pick up the pieces and get on with our lives. Just as 911 changed many aspects of the way we live today, the COVID-19 virus will too.

We will do our best from the photoPXL side to keep the photography side of things fun and upbeat. I’m not going to let some little virus stop the way I live. I’ll adapt and learn to live with it and through it. My passion for photography will not be dampened by this. I will long for the day, like many of you, when I can get back out there and go to the places I love and share my photography with others. Until then, I’ll make the changes needed to enjoy my photography in new ways. I’ll do my best to share that with all of you. And, I invite you to think about sharing how you are getting through all of this with the readers here on photoPXL. This site is a community and every day it feels more like family. So, consider sharing articles that can be published. Share your images on the community page and participate in the forums where everyone can come together and be part of this small community. And through this community, we will find a way to persevere.

Thank you for being part of the photoPXL family. Please stay safe and healthy and I hope to see you out there in the not-so-distant future.

Kevin, Debra, Chris, and Michael

Kevin Raber
Indianapolis, IN

Photography is my passion and has been for 50 plus years. My career in photography has allowed me to travel the world, meet some of the most interesting people on the planet and see things I could never have dreamed of. My goal is to share the passion of picture taking through photographs and teaching with as many people as I can, hoping it brings them as much joy and happiness as it has me. I do this through photoPXL.com, this site, as well as Rockhopper Workshops, and other projects, as well as teaching as Artist In Residence at the Indianapolis Art Center.