We may not be in the office, but we’re still here for you!

As the spring semester begins, we’re now ten months into safely working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a crazy thing to think about and also a great time to reflect upon how productive we have been as team—even though we are interacting with each other and our clients in very different ways. At this point, it’s a regular practice in our lives, however it’s worth restating that for the safety of our staff and clients, our team members abide by all campus COVID-19 guidelines, wear masks, and keep physical distance when interacting with clients.

What’s changed?

Portraits

John is currently working onsite 1-2 days a week to take portraits by appointment only. Along with protecting himself with PPE and following all campus physical distancing guidelines, some things that have changed in our process are:

• Clients fill out all contact information themselves with a sanitized writing utensil.
• Maintaining at least eight feet of space between the client and photographer in the studio.
• Sending digital proofs via email instead of viewing the photos on a shared computer.
• Wiping down and sanitizing the studio stool and all shared surfaces after each portrait session.

Email mediasolutions@med.wisc.edu or call 608-263-6027 to schedule a portrait.

Photography

With a lot of creative thinking, planning and safety protocols in place, event and other on-location photography can still happen during a pandemic. One project that comes to mind are the photos Todd and Pathum took for the Virtual White Coat Ceremony that took place outside the HSLC in August. The best ways to limit risk during shoots are:

• Restrict the number of people at shoot to only those who are essential and ensure that any human subjects are spaced at least six feet apart.
• Shoot outside whenever possible. If the weather or subject matter does not allow, we consider alternate locations with large open space, high ceilings, and low-traffic. Additionally, we have purchased a portable backdrop to make on-location portraits easier and more visually consistent.
• If a large groups of people need individual photographs, we can determine an appropriate time spaced-schedule to complete shoots efficiently and safely.

Videography

Very similar to the changes to our photo shoots, we’ve used our creative thinking caps to accommodate client video requests during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pathum is now accustomed to shooting in full PPE and improvising new ways to capture footage for virtual tours and department overview videos.

Additionally, clients have been capturing their own content and our videographers can then use their talents to edit self-captured video and compile footage together to meet client needs. We even put together this helpful PDF that walks you through some best practices for video production.

Other things

As you can imagine, there’s been a strong, intentional push to create digital assets for the new remote workplace we are all experiencing together. It’s pretty cool to be at the forefront of this shift and we are all proud to have the skillsets to make a difference in our little ways. One exciting thing about the digital world is the opportunity to create interactive multimedia experiences and embed links for enhanced usability. One such project was the highlight of the New Faculty Orientation event in September. The previously held in-person, all-day expo event could obviously not happen, so an interactive magazine was created by Sarah and the event team to provide a similar exhibit-like feel that allowed new faculty members the chance to connect with representatives from programs in SMPH and UW Health.

Reach out today if you’d like to talk about your digital flyers and presentations, or even to brainstorm ideas about a possible solution to your online conundrum.

We’re here for you!

The world is different right now, but thankfully not everything has changed. We’re still here for you and we can help. Contact us today to chat about your upcoming project or idea!