Premium – the virus is everywhere…

I don’t know if I am happy or sad that most of my predictions in the earlier posts have come true. I hope you managed to create some suitable images and have got some traction. I must admit to a big failure on my part. I created a few using my face masks ordered from Amazon, but then went off on an overseas trip and have spent much more time working on processing those images and videos than I have on creating new time sensitive ones. I guess that proves a point that I make regularly – to be successful, you need to treat this as a business, not a photo hobby, and in a business you would look at the options for how best to spend your time and focus on the most critical activities, not the most enjoyable ones. I have to admit that I took the latter option and I’m largely missing out on the virus opportunities. So I guess the advice is – do what I say, not what I do!

Is it too late now – I think not! In this post, I’ll go through some of the likely aspects of our futures and what sorts of images and videos might support that. One image that I often see is one of a small test tube with some red blood in it, with the results of an apparent Covid-19 test marked on the label. There are variants with the tube being held in a gloved hand, a person in a mask out of focus in front and also behind the tube etc. Someone did a great job in getting ahead of the story there. I plan to see if I can find some of those tubes and create a new range – I believe there is a big story still to unfold in the USA at least about the lack of testing and that the virus has circulated far more widely than anyone knows because the government has been slow to get accurate testing solutions out to the various states. That is bubbling around a bit, but effective images illustrating that would be popular I think.

Going forward, I think there is a fair possibility that this will result in widescale quarantines – of areas and also of people in their homes. So images and videos of signs in front of famous landmarks (especially if they have no people in them) will be in demand. I see ones using Milan and Venice, but think more widely. Of course, not all will be used, but if you simply take images you have and add various composites to suggest the virus, the cost of production will be very low. If residents are restricted from traveling, you could add suitable signs to your landmarks about controls on travel as well. Images of railway stations with no people (if you have them) are probably less well covered than airports. Remember also that people will spend a lot more time at home and probably get pretty bored. Some of those shots are not easy to do, but worth thinking about as you go about your daily life. As schools will be cancelled in many areas, images with bored and out of control children are probably going to be in demand.

I think it is also very likely that a major recession is coming with multiple company failures – airlines and cruise companies are in big financial difficulty. So images of a recognizable company with signs about failure, bankruptcy etc. are going to be useful. This unfortunately leads on to massive layoffs of people and unemployment. In the US, we call that being handed a pink card – probably similar phrases are used elsewhere. So images illustrating people leaving an office with their belongings in a box would be good. These obviously exist, but could be a bit dated. Now people might leave with less physical things and more technology perhaps? Keeping up the doom and gloom – one big aspect of the US health system is that many people getting sick (or needing tests) will have to pay for them either in cash or via deductibles on their health plan. That will add a big strain and there are bound to be many stories about people not being able to afford this, hospitals in financial trouble because of lack of payments and so on. So think of financial stress, health care costs, stressed hospitals (for financial and also overloaded with patients) for your subjects.

Remember, simple shots that quickly illustrate the message are what are needed here. The news and story editors will get many images of real life events – they just need something that quickly illustrates what the story is all about in a quick to understand image, or video clip to splice into their reality shots. I think images with the added text to reinforce the message are important. Although editors could add their own text, increasingly they are thinking of speed and ease of use. So make their life easier by putting the common phrases onto the image – in the appropriate languages as well if the agencies accept it.

I think we are also going to see a lot more financial volatility – massive market swings (mainly down) and so refresh those stock market graphs to bring in the latest technology. Having editorial shots of these will be fine – that is how the images will be used and so use the latest smartphone with current market conditions on it to bring the image right up to date.

Finally, to end on a happier note, I mentioned in an earlier post that meatless meat products are going to be all the rage this year. I noticed in my local big supermarket chain (Krogers in the US) that they now have their own brand of meatless burgers. Of course I bought one to photograph, so when you are stocking up for your own quarantine, make sure to get some of these new products and come up with ways to photograph them! It will keep you from getting bored!

If you do get a successful image from any of these ideas – please let me know! It would be great to hear that someone has profited from all this doom and gloom!