Coronavirus lockdown certainly has the ability to squeeze the optimism out of the best of us. It has also brought on our collective creativity. What we seek to do is what we did before. Who we seek to be with is who we wanted to be with before. I am noticing we, as a people, are finding alternative ways within the parameters of social distancing to adjust and make change. Car parades or gatherings on front lawns to celebrate birthdays, zoom meetings to visit loved ones, or making large signs on poster paper to communicate feelings to those we cannot visit are a few visible signs of finding creative solutions. An abundant amount of creativity is seen online such as four second videos on TikTok that make us laugh or ponder, stories on Instagram for promotions or otherwise, song writers being inspired to write new songs such as Kelly Clarkson’s Dare to Love. There are a myriad of examples of people finding creative solutions so life can move forward; just look at what is happening in the field of education, itself.

Such was my motivation to find a way to do what I do. Knitting, of course has been no challenge, in fact the added time at home has in itself been helpful. I have knitted more, organized my yarn more, and been able to plan future projects with a clearer head.

However, how was I ever going to pull off the photo shoot? That involved another. Could we keep our safe distance and figure a way not to share in the equipment? Was asking another adding potential exposure to the virus and ultimately that person’s health risks?

Issue/what ~ I began researching the possibility of a home photo studio. I studied the needed equipment, thought about available space in my home, wondered if I had the know how of sophisticated tools. I watched many videos for ideas for backdrops, lighting and the like. I even viewed a video on making a DIY backdrop by painting splatters of color. The more I researched, the more involved I felt a home studio would be to create, and ultimately more time away from what I want to be doing and that is knitting. Also, I was not motivated with the end product of an indoor photo against some artificial backdrop. And, most certainly this was going against everything we, late hubby and I, had ‘invented’ when planning fashionscape.

Issue/who ~ This brought me back to desiring photos to be taken outside and the ‘who’ of the problem. What could replace a person? I went on Amazon just to peruse equipment. It was there that I discovered tripods. I had always known about tripods for serious photographers, however, I did not know about tripods for iphones. And, then I learned about a tripod with a remote! bingo! Would I really need any other equipment? I realized then that this one simple tool could be a game changer. I could go anywhere, anytime, set up the iphone in its holder, and when ready, I could snap the photo.

Well, here ‘she’ is. I’ve affectionately nicknamed her Sally. She is a tripod from Ubeesize, lightweight, pulls out to 60 inches, holds a wide variety of phones, and doubles as a selfie stick. I am now able to go out during coronavirus times, be safe and respectful to others, and keep the photos to the aesthetic I desire when sharing my knitting online.