How did I survive the COVID-19 pandemic as a photographic educator? Well, it was not easy to start with. The whole world went into lockdown and the rug was pulled out from under me — the same as every other photographer out there.

It’s true, I did sulk for a little while. After all, my bread and butter was made by running classes, workshops and teaching one-on-one. So now what?

Luckily, I already had the answer there in front of me. I just had to grasp it and convince people that online sessions were just as good, if not even better, under some circumstances.

So what did I do?

I went totally digital and totally online. Initially, I spent my time in lockdown capturing videos of behind-the-scenes and post-processing. Capturing it all and put together several brand-new online classes. From still life to Lightroom Classic.

I also completely ran a four-week beginners guide to Lightroom Classic via Zoom and a Facebook online classroom. Since then I have also run one-on-one classes via Zoom as well. These are fantastic as you can record them and the students can watch them again and again.

People are hungry for knowledge

Once people got over the initial shock of lockdown, many people went looking for things to do. So many people have turned this downtime into a time for self-improvement, learning and creative endeavors. Photography is no different. Keeping many of the classes to subjects people can shoot without leaving their house or property, or at least not going far.

I also wrote some eBooks and put my knowledge to use in various aspects of photography. Next, I bundled them all up and sold them at discounted prices (let’s face it … money was sometimes in short supply as well).

Add to that, I spent some time at the beginning of the lockdown, revamping my website and increasing my social media presence. It was just a matter of letting them know it was out there and available.

The hard work had already been done

In every sense of the word, the hard work had been done. Zoom had come from virtually nowhere and was connecting people all over the world. Zoom calls and chats had become a thing. People ran business and conference calls over Zoom .. it was becoming a normal thing to do. What I did was in part an extension of that.

I also run all my online classes on Teachable.com, which puts everyone and everything together in one place. People wanted to learn and create in their own time and their own space. Taking everything online allowed my classes to keep going. Zoom and Facebook allowed me to connect. I managed to extend the range of my classes to five different continents, as well as my own hometown.

Want to see what classes I have to offer? Check out my Teachable.com classroom.