Pictures with Santa is a holiday tradition that my family looks forward to every year. The main point of the tradition is the experience. We spend time baking goodies to take to Santa and all of the people helping him out. Usually one of the kids will write a thank you note to Santa as well. And of course, all of the kids spend time thinking about what they would like to ask Santa for, Elmer our elf often comes up as a topic of conversation while chatting with Santa. It is always a fun experience that will leave lasting memories.
We always get a picture with Santa, in fact every year my wife puts up all of the pictures from the past years on our wall above our Christmas village. I absolutely love this tradition, but the sad reality is that I always bring my cell phone along. You just never know what kind of quality you will get. The above picture is a snap from my cell phone, the following is the picture that I was sold from the mall with packages starting at $35 and going up to $50 plus extras. The Christmas tree in the background is too dark and it is hard to tell that here are lights in the tree.
The mall was set up with the typical umbrella flashes which is why the people in the picture are properly exposed, but they needed to tweak the camera settings a bit to bring up the background exposure. It would not have been a difficult change to make but often the camera settings are determined by the company providing the photography set up and not the actual person running the camera. It is unfortunate that a cell phone picture gives a better result then some of these onsite studio set ups. These types of setups should look as good if not better then a cell phone picture without a lighting set up.
I also like to bring my cell phone along to capture the moments before and after the official picture. It is fun to capture the moments of the kids giving Santa the baked goods and the letters that they have written. Often, when they are chatting with Santa is when the best reactions happen, the playfulness of Santa is what brings out the genuine laughs and smiles. Maybe next year I will talk with Santa and see if he would be willing to help me with a whole Santa Experience. Something involving a hot chocolate bar, a Christmas book, maybe some cookies, and a chance to chat with Santa. Oh, and pictures of course, quality ones!