Santa Photos... Looking For Constructive Criticism!

[joedelbecq]

Hi Guys,

My wife and I are by no means Professional Photographers, but we do have quite a bit of experience in Event Photography. We do a lot of Kids Events... taking quick photos with Characters, etc. We recently signed on with a local Mall to manage their Santa Photo Operation. Wow... talk about hectic!

We have tried to put a unique spin on our process so we can offer the parents something other than the traditional "look here and say cheese" photo.

We seem to be getting good feedback from our customers, but I thought we'd turn to the experts for some feedback.

If any of you would be so kind and check out some of our work... your constructive criticism would be VERY much appreciated. I'll post more of the specifics of our set-up later (have a 12 hour day ahead of us)... but in the mean time if you'd like to peruse our photos, please follow the link below.

If you click on the event days: 11/28, 11/29, or 12/4, you'll find quite a few photos to get a feel for what we are doing.

Sun and Fun Photos

We are adding a second flash this next week to help with the shadows you see on "photo right". I'm currently shooting with one Alien Bee for both shots. See the attached photo for an idea of our "set"

Thank you for your time. I'll post more info and some of the challenges later. I don't want to keep Santa waiting! ;o)

Joe

[Jennilyn76]

I think they're really cute! Most parents would love to get a nice photo of their kids with Santa like that!

[kleidascope]

Your lighting seems really nice. These are great pictures - I looked at a few and the kids don't have the Afraid of Santa Look. It looks like you are making everyone at ease and the pictures are great.

My only suggestion is... watch chopped limbs. There are a few where body parts are cut off...

[joedelbecq]

Thank you for the responses. We are trying really hard to make the experience a good one and offer the parents some unique shots. I'll post a few of the best photos so far in the next day or so.

Joe

[joedelbecq]

Good Morning. I thought I'd share my favorite Santa photo so far this season.



This was taken with a Canon G9.
ISO 200
F 4.5
SS 1/250
Alien Bee Strobe

We have shot this season with a Canon 30D, an Olympus E1 and the G9. I personally enjoy the G9 because of the live view LCD, that way I can interact better with the kids. We compared image quality between the cameras, and I think the G9 quality is as good as the DSLRs.

Again... we are not true PROs, and any constructive criticism is welcome. Anything we can do to improve?

Thanks for looking.

Joe