Pictures with Santa

I want to thank the Mall of Louisiana for screwing up a Christmas tradition. A new company took over the Santa village this year and now you cannot take your own picture of your kids with Santa. The smallest price is $20 for a 5x7, and it is a crappy picture taken by people with zero photography skills. I did sneak my own shot while Santa and the "photographer" were distracted. My shot was not the greatest but still 1000x better than the crap they tried to sell me. I just told them it was a crappy picture and I didn't want it.


The focal point was on Santa's face, so I missed the girls' eyes. I only had a split second to take it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8...07d89a6a_b.jpg

Not bad for a quick pic. I wonder if they really have any power to enforce the no photography rule...

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Originally Posted by Realist

Not bad for a quick pic. I wonder if they really have any power to enforce the no photography rule...

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It is basically a photo studio, so it would be like shooting at someone else's studio.

hmmmmm, Lets see, I spent my time and investments to set up a Santa Session at my mall, why would I allow you to take your own pictures there? The old company more than likely closed down because they weren't making a profit anylonger!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Ernst-Ulrich Schafer

hmmmmm, Lets see, I spent my time and investments to set up a Santa Session at my mall, why would I allow you to take your own pictures there? The old company more than likely closed down because they weren't making a profit anylonger!!!!!!!

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The mall brings Santa to the mall to get people there to spend their holiday money there, not to drop any anywhere from $20 to $200 on REALLY bad pictures. I offered to buy the image on CD so I could fix it myself, they would not do it.

If maybe the quality of the image was better, but it was just BAD!!!! I almost wish I would have bought it just to show HOW bad it was. I konw there is a bunch of professional photographers here that make a living off of this very thing (and similar stuff). But for this company to claim exclusive rights to photo with Santa should be insulting to all you professional and is doing nothing but hurting the mall business. I saw several people try to take pictures with their iphones (etc) and they were shut down. I heard several say, such and such mall/store has Santa as well, we are going there.

I am going to go to Bass Pro Shop, where there is a Santa as well, and re-take my photograph, and spend some money there. I did not spend a dime in the mall after this, we left and went to a museum.

I brought this topic up on another forum. A good solution would be a sitting fee. I would pay a $10-$20 sitting fee to shoot one image myself. I offered to buy an image if I could take one, they said no, so I took it anyway.

If you see that the photos are that bad, don't buy the Frick'n photo! But I'll buy the image on a CD!!! Don't matter how bad the photography is!

I'm sorry but I don't sell images on a CD either and I feel I'm a pretty dam good portrait photographer.

Nice candid portrait AT.

A very good pose you captured. All the faces are in-view and seem to be involved. Better than a posed look-at-the-camera shot. I wouldn't fret too much about taking your own photo (even though you shouldn't have). You can't compare the knowledge and efforts of someone hired off of the street for a temp job with the basic skills of a photographer. A background in photography is not in the requirements for similar seasonal jobs here. The only person making the money is the opportunist who owns the equipment and did the sell-job to the people running the mall. Everybody wants photos of their kids with Santa so the bad ones will probably still sell. Next time you're in the mall, drop in to the admin office and pass along your concerns about the quality of work and their policy. If they are aware of any negative impacts on their mall they may check and make changes.

That's a pretty good effort for a quick shot. From what you are describing much better than what they were trying to sell you.

"I wouldn't fret too much about taking your own photo (even though you shouldn't have) "

If you were to do this at my studio or any other place that I might be set up doing portraits, I would show to the door very quickly and you would have to find another photographer for your needs. The other day I was set up at our Boys & Girls Club, taking portraits at their annual auction, had one lady tell me blatantly that she was going to scan and copy my portrait. Guess what, my efforts stopped!! I gave her donation back, $30 for a 5X7 and she never saw her portrait as it was deleted.

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Originally Posted by Ernst-Ulrich Schafer

"I wouldn't fret too much about taking your own photo (even though you shouldn't have) "

If you were to do this at my studio or any other place that I might be set up doing portraits, I would show to the door very quickly and you would have to find another photographer for your needs. The other day I was set up at our Boys & Girls Club, taking portraits at their annual auction, had one lady tell me blatantly that she was going to scan and copy my portrait. Guess what, my efforts stopped!! I gave her donation back, $30 for a 5X7 and she never saw her portrait as it was deleted.

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That is the difference, you are a real photographer, I respect that, you have a quality product. You are not some part time help shooting with a middle of the road camera, turning out trash for $20 a pop; plus like I said, it has been ok to take your own shoot for the last 10 years. Santa is at the mall to get people there, not to rob them of money for a garbage picture.

Both my daughters take dance. One time, the dance studio was taking pictures for the recital program. After the photographer took the pictures of the girls, I asked if I could grab one. He told me, "Not on his backdrop." I respected that because he was a real photographer, wanting parents to buy packets.