We’re Back!

We’re Back!

Hello Friends, us girls are safely back in our Rock and Rose Studio! Hooray!  We are both doing everything possible to get back up and running and maintain our lovely Surbiton High Street. We are working together to adapt the studio and make it work safely for everyone through this new situation that we find ourselves in until we reach some normality again.

It’s been a tough few months wouldn’t you say!?

Cate and I found it extremely daunting closing our doors in March, there were many tears and the sheer worry of what would be left for us at the end of this crisis. (Covid-19 to be precise!) It was the not knowing what financial situation the studio would be in after this and whether we could pull through, but with a little magic dust from the government we had some help for our small independent business and we have just about survived. NOW with a little help from YOU we plan to open our doors again next week.

What are we up to in the studio?

We are prepping the studio in line with the new Covid safety guidelines and making sure all risk assessments are completed to ensure our studio is fully compliant.

We are now open by appointment only- you may notice our new sign on the door from tomorrow. We are asking you to please knock for any assistance and wait outside or get in touch through our social media pages if the studio seems busy. We would love to see you but where possible please let us know if you plan on visiting us.

We have social distancing measures in place and a new rule of only one family in the studio at any one time. We will still be our usual bubbly, friendly selves – our aim is for you to have the most enjoyable experience in the studio to capture some amazing photographs.  

Sessions may seem a little different and we will be relying on you to follow our posing guidance with us maintaining a social distance. We have plenty of creative ideas to make your session with us enjoyable and fun from a suitable distance… plus as you can see we get to model our new face masks! My mask is by the lovely Suzie at MonkeyPupSews

How can I help?

So this is where you come in, our local clients, Suburbitons, Londoners, our customers from France, Paris, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, the only way we can succeed is having you walk through our pretty pink door again! We have committed our lives to photographing people, families, pets, couples and most of all children and we would love the opportunity to continue. Family is more important than ever and we want to open our doors again to be here to capture your memories, your family life and your baby’s milestones.

This is our passion, our love and now our new beginning like many other small businesses to start again.

Can I book a session with you?

Yes! We will be opening limited slots so please keep an eye on our social media pages. You can contact us through the tab above here on our website, give us a call or send a facebook message. During this time of uncertainty we will be asking that sessions now booked in the studio are prepaid to ensure studio time is used efficiently and that we can reserve slots exclusively for those customers who are investing in us. This ensures that for the limited days we are reopening per week, until we can resume normality, that time in the studio is not wasted and everybody is able to access a slot.

Whilst the weather is on our side why not consider a location session? We are looking into scenic places for our location sessions and will be releasing some dates for photographs in the lavender fields so watch this space!

  

Above is my daughter Annabelle amongst the bluebells with a giant balloon and below are photos of Cate’s daughter Florence on photoshoots taken during the lockdown.

  

When you get these opportunities as a photographer you just can’t resist using your own child! If you have an idea for a location session do give us a shout!

Can I book a Maternity or Newborn session? 

Pregnant women are considered to be a vulnerable group and should be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures. Whilst we will do everything possible to maintain a safe social distance during your session anyone wishing to attend a maternity session would need to discuss procedures before coming in.

We are carefully following health and Safety guidelines to enable us to resume shooting newborns safely. We are happy to offer sessions where parents can handle baby and we can help guide and position. We can also now start to take bookings in advance for the coming months with the hope that we are able to resume full and normal hands on shooting.

Send us a message of when you are due and we will get in touch with all the relevant info.

To our existing customers

If you had a session with us before lockdown and are awaiting products, frames and photographs, we ensure you are at the top of our list and we hope to get everyone’s orders dealt with asap, thank you for your understanding, patience and kind messages through this time. We have tried to contact everyone but if you haven’t heard from us in a while please give us a little facebook message and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.

So, what have we been up to during lockdown?

I won’t go in to the lows and the emotional rollercoaster that both Cate and I have been through during lockdown but I will talk about the positives and show you a few pictures of our family life and the arts and crafts that we have been up to!

It was certainly a new way of life to adapt to and having our children and loved ones by our side certainly helped us during lockdown. We were both fortunate enough to have loved ones that helped us through the lows and were there to show us there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Being a Mum is top of the list for both of us and making sure our babies were loved, safe and happy throughout this time was our number one priority.

 

Florence celebrated turning 4, enjoyed riding her new bike, had an art lesson with her Mum and had a beautiful photo session amongst bluebells!

 

   

 

Annabelle and Theo have been busy gardening, sowing seeds and planting veggies and herbs. We dried flowers from the garden and decorated a frame. I bribed them with lots of chocolate for a photoshoot in the garden and they have been feeding and caring for their guinea pigs! I got back in to crocheting and Theo turned 3 early in the lockdown!

  

  

  

Both Cate and I complied with the social distancing rules religiously and the hardest thing for both of us was not seeing our parents, family and friends.

My two enjoyed story time over FaceTime with both sets of grandparents and shared kisses over a screen!

 

and this photo by Cate totally left a lump in my throat when I saw it.

Both myself and Cate would like to thank everyone for your patience, particularly those who have existing orders with us or those who have enquired over the last few weeks. We are slowly catching up with everyone and really thank you so much for being so understanding during this time. With everyones help we hope to continue capturing all of your special memories for years to come.