Its a photo of the photo, but you can see the quality I'm having issues with. I'd sure like to know how to get that gig. The guy had all the tools, even a light meter, but seems to have no settings on his $2000 camera but "auto". The flash he set up was too direct and should have been diffused. To top it off, they print on the spot with a high quality (but still desktop) desktop inkjet photo printer. I did another organization's Santa photos last year (filled in for a colleague) and no one complained about having photos mailed to them. I understand the need to have them now, but as a client would forgo STAT photos at the sacrifice of quality. Maybe that's just the photographer in me talking.
Anyway, while we waited, we had hot cider, a volunteer read children's books, and there was a big table full of coloring and activity pages. Santa gave each kid a bag with an apple, a candy cane, and a handful of chocolate. JC got one, too (thanks Santa!). PM refused to sit on Santa's lap but at least held it together and stood by him for a photo. MD told him he wanted an Indiana Jones Sound Whip, AM an iDog. PM gave him a cold stare. JC did not deposit any bodily fluids on him (you're welcome, Santa!). I did manage to coax PM into a timid "thank you". Then JC was hijacked by Mrs. Santa (ok, not really, just one kid's grandma). She walked him around the entire time.
The girls and AM's BFF "J" catch a story. "J"'s family showed up right after we had our picture taken. They were planning on next going out to a Christmas tree farm. I wonder how it went, the temp was in the single digits and the wind was gusting to 30 miles per hour. If you watch the NATIONAL news, nearby Fargo made an appearance for the fantastic 40- F temps this morning as a big storm rolls through. The cold started yesterday, the snow late night. I'm fairly certain I can't get my car out of the driveway today. I even got a personal call that church was cancelled. Not sure if that was because of my job there, or if a group called all the regulars. Given the forecast I had already made arrangements not to be there, anyway. Good thing Santa showed up yesterday, I'm pretty sure even magic reindeer freeze solid when left on the roof in this weather!
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3 comments:
I think you may be right...those reindeer & Santa may need a little more than hot cocoa to get them thawed out enough to roll. (maybe spike the cocoa...you're welcome Santa!) LOL
None of my boys are willing to 'sit' with anybody to take pics of anything except for Uncle B (and you saw we had to fight for that) so it looks like Santa will be informed via the internet this year. Santa is one of my Twitter buddies so we can send bits & pieces of requests whenever we think of something.
The kids are still adorable and thank goodness you will not have to mail out those pics to everyone and if you did, then just make sure they understand these are not through your lens. ;)
Your children are beautiful and the picture is cute but I can understand your issues with it and I'm not a photographer. I have no doubt it would be frustrating for you. I haven't made up my mind yet whether to try for a Santa picture. I had better decide soon!
The so-called professional photographer sounds like a poser: either he bought the equipment or was using the camera/flash from the company that hired him. Either way, I've seen this happen all too often. Barely qualified photogs hired on the cheap to take posed shots. The automation is a crutch - that hopefully the pix will be just good enough to satisfy the majority of customers.
I know you know better, and can empathize with your frustration. Had I been in your shoes, I would have had grave difficulty resisting the urge to reach in and grab the camera :)
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