Photographing Santa Bob
I was so excited to find out that our group would be welcoming Santa Bob and his red sports car this week!
We had a beautifully overcast day and the clouds diffused the light just perfectly for some hand held, no flash photographs at 6:30pm until the sun went down. He also changed into "Casual Santa" clothes for some variety.
Santa Bob was very prepared, to say the least with lots of costumes, different looks, props (including his beautiful vehicle) and funny faces creating a wide variety of images that he can also use for his own website and portfolio.
Capturing that twinkle in Santa's eye was my goal at this shoot and I think I nailed it when I asked him to put his hands together and pretend to go to sleep. Seeing that genuine smile come through with ease was picture perfect!
You can see his true heart and happy demeanor just from a simple still shot sometimes. That's part of the reason I absolutely love taking portraits of various characters. They love face to face interactions and this translates so well when being photographed.
Getting a great headshot was important to me too!
Of course there are many faces of Santa and his finger wagging side telling kids to be good is a crucial part of who Santa is!
Those rosey cheeks, well taken care of suit, attention to detail and caring nature really makes Bob the perfect Santa!
His wife Kathy came with to help with costuming, accessory locating, hair brushing and general support so we even got a chance to photograph the two of them together!
He even brought ornaments, candy canes, and a cool train pocket watch to pose with.
We had Santa look over his "Naughty/Nice List" (which was actually the Museums check-in book) but with new items for him to hold, especially in the right color - this prop worked out perfectly!
And finally pretending to catch 40 winks after a long day at the mall ended this series pretty accurately I think!
I have to hand it to these hard working characters, even though they get to sit down, it's a lot of work being in character all day whether it's for kids or for photographers!
Thanks for viewing and reading!
-Crystal Olguin
September 17, 2017
