Renewal in the frame
FOR Bell Park photographer Ric Gentiluomo, the road to recovery from the coronavirus shutdown started with getting his head back in the game.
Adapting to the realities of COVID-19, Mr Gentiluomo recently launched a low-cost “Open for Business” package pitched at helping the Geelong SME market tell its stories through pictures.
“Trying to be positive to help others is helping me too,” Mr Gentiluomo said.
“We all have to survive and we all need a helping hand.”
The change in headspace is significant for the father of one, who was overwhelmed by the suddenness and completeness of the coronavirus lockdown.
Mr Gentiluomo has been running his professional photography business for 28 years, mostly specialising in weddings and portraiture under the brand Riccardo Photography.
In February, he launched “Image to Brand Corporate Photography” and towards the end of March, when he was forced to lock up his studio, the new venture had a healthy 14 bookings lined up as well as his regular portrait work.
“Once we went into lockdown, within the space of a week, they started falling over,” he said.
Mr Gentiluomo said the business had zero income in April. After the blood, sweat and tears invested in his business, he feared for its future and that of himself and his family. “For me it was like, this is the end … I just saw the negatives,” he said.
“That is what I was like for most of April. I spent the month trying to work out what to do next … and what I had to do to survive.”
But after the COVID-19 “kick in the arse”, he started to take ownership of the situation he was in.
“I thought, ‘If you keep doing this, you are going to fail … so just get over it and start putting yourself out there’,” he said.
He started being more heavily involved in business networks, did more research on marketing and photography and looked for opportunities to help, and be helped.
Hearing from other
Geelong businesses doing it tough led to the idea for an “Open for Business” package.
Mr Gentiluomo said too many businesses were using poor quality photographs to promote themselves online.
“People are not doing themselves any justice,” he said.
The $300 “Open for
Business” package consists of Mr Gentiluomo taking pictures that personalise and tell the story of that business.
It is early days, but he said there were encouraging signs, particularly from small businesses that have bricks and mortar stores or tradespeople who need to get their brand to cut through online.
Most importantly, Mr Gentiluomo has a new mindset and he’s determined to rise to the challenge rather than wallow in the mire.
He now considers COVID19 as a “wake-up call” that has made him realise that you shouldn’t rest on your laurels and that “you can do better than this”.