The Photographic Lounge

Coronavirus Update (February 2021)

Hello everyone, 

We hope you are all staying safe and well during these uncertain times. Please see below to see what we are currently doing regarding Coronavirus. Please get in contact with us if you have questions or concerns.

We will keep everybody updated on our progress via our social media and would love to hear from you if you would like to get booked in or find out more.

George, Swain and Sam @ The Photographic Lounge

Portraits

Due to the national lockdown announced in January 2021 our studio is once again closed. Under the current “roadmap” we should be allowed to open again from 12th April. Our studio has all the required social distancing and Covid secure measures in place.

We can however start offering our lifestyle / location sessions again from 29th March. These are our outdoor shoots and have be a maximum of 5 people from the same household. These sessions can be done locally in a park or woodlands and even your own garden if you prefer.

We have launched new packages for our photography sessions and can also offer location photography if you would prefer, rather than coming to the studio. Billericay and the local area has so many lovely spots for family photo shoots!

We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Weddings & Photo Booths

We have now had over 130 weddings have to postpone not just once but twice now. This obviously means dates for 2021 and 2022 are now very limited for new couples booking with us and for other couples having to psotpone.

With the new roadmap set out and the restrictions on weddings being slowly eased, we hope it has made things a bit easier for all of our couples. We will still work with you to change your wedding date if it falls before the restrictions are fully lifted.

We know that changing wedding plans is not easy and we will do whatever we can to support any of our couples. Please let us know as soon as you can if there is a chance you may need to postpone and, most importantly, please check with us (and your other suppliers) that we are available on your new date before agreeing with your venue. 

We have been working with each couple individually to do our best to accommodate rearrangements and this will continue to be our approach.  If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Risk Assessments

COVID-19 Risk Assessment For Wedding Photography

Activity/Process/Operation

Taking photographs of people on various locations (indoors and outdoors) during COVID-19 pandemic,

Identify the hazards (anything that can cause harm)

Transmission of the virus in:
1. Person to person contact,
2. Person to object/material contact.

Who might be harmed and how?

1. location staff, wedding guests and the couple could be at risk of contracting COVID-19, putting them at serious risk of illness.
2. The photographer could be at risk of contracting COVID-19, being exposed in an environment out of their control.

Estimated risk level - medium.

What measures are in place to reduce the risk?

1. Photographer has referred closely to government guidance including but not exhaustively:

• Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19),

• Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Shops and branches,

• Managing risks and risk assessment at work.

2. Photographer to maintain a high level of personal hygiene:

• Photographer to wash hands frequently for 20 seconds or more following government guidelines,

• Hand sanitizer will be used where washing hands is not possible,

• No physical contact

• Being alert of possible hygiene issues.

• Wearing a mask if unable to maintain a 2m distance

3. Photographer to daily clean areas and equipment that are receiving high traffic usage or are frequent contact surfaces:

• Personal belongings (such as mobile phone, car keys, etc),

• Assets (such as a car and it's interior),

• Business equipment (such as a camera body, light stands, etc).

4. Photographer to avoid:

• Wearing jewelry, watch, etc,

• Handling cash if possible (use contactless payment where possible).

5. Photographer and Client to maintain social distancing according to government guidance.

6. Client to maintain personal responsibility for their own hygiene practices inline with government "stay alert" guidance:

• Washing hands when arriving on location and when leaving,

• Washing hands as frequently as needed and using hand sanitizer if needed.

• Avoiding touching their faces.

• Avoiding cross contamination with the photographer (by touching the photographer's equipment, such as cameras, light stands, bags, etc).

By following all of the above procedures the estimated risk is of anyone contracting COVID-19 is Low

What further action is needed to reduce the risk?

Please note that although the photographer has put safeguards in place to minimize the risk of a client contracting COVID-19, it is not possible to eradicate the risk completely. Therefor the client takes responsibility for their own personal health and safety and must make a personal risk assessment in order to identify whether they deem the residual risk too high.

In this risk assessment the client should take into account their own individual vulnerabilities, including whether they're within one of the "at risk" categories as identified in government guidance.  

Date of Assessment: 01.08.21