How we spent the quarantine in Burlington.

The year 2020 had started so well for me. Things were going great and I had so many plans for the months ahead. My husband was turning 50 in March and I had planned a nice celebration for him. But we spent that week going back and forth about having the party or not, as we were concerned about his mother’s health. Finally, we decided to play it safe and we canceled the party. The border to the US closed on his 50th birthday and remains closed to this day, more than five months later. In April I was supposed to go to Brazil to spend Easter with my mother and siblings for the first time in twenty years. Well… that one got canceled too.

As a photographer I couldn’t work with clients, but I still

had to get creative.

That first month of quarantine was brutal for me. I couldn’t work and had no idea when I would be able to. My chronic pain came back because the pain clinic had to close its doors (shouldn’t the pain clinic be considered an essential service?). Some days I didn’t get out of bed; mentally I was a bit of a mess. My son had a pajama month and loved it; so unaware of what was going on in the world. He knew about the pandemic, but 10-year-old boys only really care about Minecraft and video games. Those crazy days made me realize how much I needed a routine. We already worked from home before the pandemic, but having everyone at home all the time was challenging. Oh… don’t even get me started on virtual learning. Let’s just say that I have no talent for homeschooling.

Looking at the bright side, we did enjoy spending time together. Lots of good homemade meals and countless puzzles were done with only a few missing pieces, thanks to our crazy cat who probably ate them, as they were never found.

It was surreal to drive around an empty city on those first days. We all thought this would only last a few weeks, and here we are… the days getting chilly, and Fall is just about to start with almost as much uncertainty as when Spring arrived.

As I looked for things to do when I couldn’t work, I started to think about a composite photo to remember the lockdown. I needed to get creative. The image had already been formed in my mind, and when I saw on Instagram about an image competition for professional photographers, I knew I had to get my photo done. It’s all there, in just one photo… boy in pajamas, the Corona beer, Lego everywhere, non-stop cell phone scrolling… too much wine, and an excess of Lindt chocolate bunnies.

I was happily surprised to find out one July morning that my crazy family photo had won 1st place in the Family Portrait Category. I also received two Bronze merits for a Maternity Portrait and a Child Portrait. This was my first time ever submitting my photos to a competition, and I have to say it was a really nice start.

A while after I entered the Canadian contest, I also submitted this image to the Portrait Masters Awards from photographer Sue Bryce, which received over nine thousand entries from all over the world. Only 357 images received the Silver and I’m so proud to have created one of them.

Have a look at the other beautiful photos on the Creative Images Awards page