TOWSON, Md. — Snapping photos of families is not at all unfamiliar to photographer Jessica DeLeon, but doing very short shoots while being six feet apart at all times is not something she's use to doing.
"I would be shooting families like this, but normally I would be in their home," she said. "I follow families for half a day, telling their story, taking portraits that kind of thing."
DeLeon owns Jessica Leigh Photography and does a lot of shoots with families, pregnant moms, parents of newborns, as well as some businesses. When the coronavirus began spreading rapidly throughout Maryland in mid-March, most of the shoots she had booked for the spring were canceled.
She needed to fill her calendar of now-canceled appointments, so she began offering families what she calls "Front Porch" photo sessions. It's a nationwide movement that DeLeon says other photographers are also doing to try to make up for lost income.
"So right now it’s just a really interesting time that a lot of families are going want to remember and document," she said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Front porch photo sessions with Jessica Leigh Photography
DeLeon managed to get in a few shoots before Governor Hogan's stay-at-home order. She came to the family's home, snapped some pictures of them on their front porch or stoop and in their yard, and left. The sessions were only 15 to 20 minutes long and social distancing was practiced at all times.
While staying at home day in and day out might be something most of us want to forget as quickly as possible, DeLeon says there are a few positives.
"I think there’s so much good about it for families. They’re together a lot more, they’re playing outside there’s definitely some positives. It’s really hard for parents too. So it’s just capturing that."
