New Jersey photographer offers ‘porch-trait’ sessions amid pandemic

“Porch-trait” of Jaime Dutkin’s family.
Photo credit Courtesy of Ken Romm
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio)  Photographers are getting creative, coming up with ways to sustain their businesses while still adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Instead of portraits, Cherry Hill photographer Ken Romm is now offering porch-traits.

"I have telephoto lenses and I'm able to stay at least 6 feet away and still get some really amazing close-up shots,” Romm said. 

Everything is done remotely, from exchanging money through Venmo to sending his customers a link to their photo session through email. 

The porch-trait can be anything the customers want it to be, from casual photo shoots to more formal ones.

Jaime Dutkin of Marlton had her family's porch-trait taken, and she said it's not like your typical photo shoot.

"He can't move us with his hands of course, so it's more, ‘move to the left, move to the right.’ My daughter's like, ‘your other left, your other right,’ so it's definitely harder than a typical shoot,” she said. 

Romm said taking photos of families on their porches has allowed him to document this unusual moment in time. 

"They're open to having a raw moment if you will. Some people don't shave, some people haven't had their hair done in months. They don't mind, they just want to come out and kind of capture the moment,” he said.