Penarth Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling some of these businesses and organisations in a feature called 'Up Close in Penarth'.

This week, a tale of ingenuity from a local photographer.

The effects of the firebreak are wide-reaching. As the Welsh Government discovered earlier this week, it's easier to list things not affected than things that are.

And for photographers like Katrina Dimech, conventional income streams have totally dried up.

For the next two weeks there will be no wedding ceremonies to shoot and she has been forced to once again close down her Dinas Powys studio. It's scarcely been a worse time to be a photographer.

"I've had £900 worth of shoots cancelled in this week alone," she tells Nub News. "I've lost all my income."

However, last lockdown Katrina hatched an ingenious solution: if the work can't come to her, she will go to the work.

"I wanted to find a way to get out and use my camera again and knew that I could photograph families at their homes," she tells Nub News.

''I had seen others doing doorstep photography on some of the Facebook photography forums I'm a member of, it looked like a great idea."

During 2020's strange spring, Katrina did 90 doorstep photo shoots. All the money she raised went to a local charity: Anna's Cat Rescue.

"It was crazy. Now I've got in there and decided to do it again."

With a new lockdown comes new rules. But unsurprisingly, Katrina has some new inventive solutions.

"This time you're not allowed to go out apart from exercising, so I do it on my daily exercise route.

"They get given a time slot after booking through an online system (they also pay on the system, so there's no handling of money).

"Once I've got everyone on-board, I put the addresses into a route planner. Then I let people know the exact time I'll be there - that way I don't need to ring people's doorbells.

"Then they stand in the doorway and I tell them what to do, basically. If it's a family with small children I might get them all in one photo, then just have the kids and then mum and dad in one. You can even get the dog, and guinea pigs involved.

"Everyone who I did it for before have had the photos printed and framed or on canvas to put around their house.

"It's very personal, because it's your home."

Over the next few days, Katrina will be offering Halloween shoots.

""I've chosen to do it on Halloween day, which is obviously really sad and upsetting for the kids. 

"It breaks up the day then for mums and dads, they can't take their kids anywhere or do anything Halloween-themed.  

"Maybe they can break the day up by saying 'surprise, we're going to do a photoshoot'. You can decorate the house and kids can help do that."

The digital files just cost £50. Given the difficult times, the money will not be donated to charity.

To book a slot, follow this link.