Studio Wellness Policy, 2020

Many of my clients know that I’m very strict on my wellness policy as I work with newborns. I am very strict with my own family’s exposure as we have severe asthma in the house and one child prone to pneumonia. Because I am so strict with my family’s exposure, it’s been over a year and a half since any of us have had a cold.

*Please read to the end to see what I do with my family when we experience illness. I will be limiting my children’s extracurricular activities and we are homeschooled.

I always reschedule sessions in my home when any of my family has shown sickness and I have asked clients even recently not to come in the house when they appear to be sick at the door. Please know that I am VERY strict in adhering to these guidelines.Although, this has always been my policy, I wanted to share my updated Wellness plan to keep you and your precious little ones safe. I encourage you all to stay updated with our Governor for our state and to rely on the CDC’s website. I truly believe it’s important to not panic but to be prepared and cautious.

Please notify me if you or your spouse work on the front lines in the medical field or your job has not allowed you to work from home.

General health policies for the studio:

Everyone is welcome to wash their hands with soap and water upon arrival and hand sanitizer will be utilized frequently during the session. There will be paper towels to dry your hands with instead of hand towels.
The studio, the studio props and rugs and furniture, as always, will be fully sanitized in between clients and is vacuumed and cleaned before each full session.
The studio and studio bathroom will only be used by clients and not by my family.
Only those being photographed with parents are permitted to attend the session to decrease the risk of exposure/transmission.
All props/wraps/clothing/backdrops will be washed between uses for newborns.
Photographer will be wearing a mask when appropriate during the season of Covid-19.

Session Admittance Policies effective immediately:

The following criteria will be utilized to reject admittance into my home studio and delay the session:

Anyone in your household or mine showing any active cold/flu symptoms (including but not limited to fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, chills, etc).
Anyone in your household or mine who has traveled outside of the country in the last 30 days (prior to your session).
Anyone in your household or mine with known contact/exposure with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 30 days (prior to your session).
If anyone in your household or you are waiting for results from a Covid-19 test.

Please do not show up to my home studio if any of these criteria apply to you. You will be turned away at the door and no refunds/reschedules will be given.

If you or someone in your household is sick and you give prior notice, the session will be delayed until your household is no longer contagious.

Mini Sessions in Studio (updated as of 6/4th – mini sessions in studio will not be happening until future notice).

I will be inserting a time slot in-between mini session time slots so that I can sanitize between families.
I will be refraining from touching your kiddos and will be asking for your help in posing them if I need it.
I will be limiting the time slots to include less clients in one day.
I will be changing out the props they sit on so less families can use them.
I have postponed all mini sessions in studio to the end of April with the exception of 6 families for Easter.

Policies that may be in effect for Newborn Sessions in the near future:

It may be requested by the client or required by the photographer that we split the family portion of a newborn session to a later date (shoot baby only with one parent present initially and then shoot the family portion at a later date to limit the number of people in studio).

I appreciate your cooperation and understanding. These policies are being put into place not only to protect you and your family, but to protect my family and other clients as well. I will be keeping an eye on the situation and making adjustments as appropriate and will keep you informed and updated of any changes via this page.

An example of what I do when my family has symptoms of illness

My family recently had a virus (Flu A). I sent each family member to the doctor the day it started to get a diagnosis..
We started the correct prescriptions.
I cancelled all sessions while we kept those family members quarantined and did not schedule any until well after they were well.

Lots of love to you all as we navigate this as a community supporting each other,

Tonya