This Years Card

It's something our family does every year...black and white picture of the kids wearing Santa hats with the hats in color. It's become something that recipients of our yearly holiday greetings have come to expect. People have commented about how much they look forward to getting it, so we keep doing it.

Every year it gets harder and harder to do because the kids are older and have decided the whole thing is silly. They're at the age where, at least for my oldest, it's embarrassing to pose for a picture like this. And now I'm posting it on the blog...  

This could very well be the last year. Not just because the kids think it's silly, but because the Santa hat will barely fit my 6' 1" tall son. There's no way he'll let us take him Santa hat shopping.

Meeting Santa

Is it a rite of passage for children or parents? I haven't quite figured it out...

As a child, my mom took my sister and I to the Searstown Mall (later known as the Shore Mall) in Cardiff, NJ just down the road from where we grew up. Every year we got our picture made with Santa, an instant picture that they placed in a card. That card sat on top of our TV until we took the tree down after the holidays. Then the picture took it's rightful place in the family photo album.

As parents, my wife and I always let the kids decide if they wanted a picture with Santa. In most cases, they'd take one look at the line waiting to see Santa and decide they had better things to do. They did meet Santa a couple of times, but not in the typical mall setting.

The picture above is from 1969. My dear sister, only 14 months old, absolutely did not like the idea of sitting in a strange man's lap whose breath smelled like vodka and cranberry. BUT...damned if she's letting go of that free puzzle box!  

The photographers at those old mall Santa set-ups obviously had no idea what they were doing and seemed to care little about getting a good shot. They were always badly composed pictures. It's no surprise since they were only concerned with keeping the line moving. And some of those backgrounds...yuck! The one above is obviously supposed to bring candy canes to mind, but all I see is a barber shop.   

But, as bad as the quality of the photography is, the pic above sure does capture a moment. That's what it's all about anyway, right?

A Thanksgiving Tradition

As a kid, I always thought it was kind of silly to do certain things on holidays for no other reason than "because we always do this."  As my sister and I got older, we became less interested in doing things out of tradition. We couldn't see the reason for putting on Christmas music whenever someone opened up the Sears catalog because "that's what we always do.." or not putting up the tree until Christmas Eve because "that's when we always do it..."  It's better to be practical and not force others into situations they don't want to be in. That's my opinion, anyway. 

For the last several Thanksgivings we've been taking the kids to the playground behind Bennett Elementary where I usually photograph and videotape them playing. I edit the video, add some funny music and it usually makes for 2 minutes of mildly entertaining shenanigans. The kids love it, and watch it throughout the year.  We always ask them if it's something they still like to do and they always say yes. But....the kids are much older now, and some of the silliness I've managed to capture in the past just doesn't happen anymore. That makes editing much more challenging. I still haven't edited last years video...

This year was the first year I've had the 5D Mark II to record video with. I also managed to get a few pics. The picture above was given the "retro" look I've been playing with recently in Photoshop and the one below was made using Silver Efex Pro and Photoframes.

So while our tradition of going to this particular playground on Thanksgiving may not seem like any big deal, it has been a big deal to the kids for some time and I think we might be approaching the end of it. The video editing is still a long way off. I really need to get to work on last years..

Christmas Pictures / Holiday Photos

Hard to believe it's that time again, and it's always a busy season for photographers. Doing all those family pics with the kids, the dog, Dad wearing that ugly Christmas sweater in front of a fake fireplace or outside in front of an old fence with fake snow and a broken wagon wheel....yawn. 

We send out a card every year to people on our "list" which is really everyone that sent us a card last year. Most of these folks don't see our family pictures throughout the year, so I try to throw them one that will probably be different than any card they get

So one year I made a portrait of the kids with Santa hats...completely in black and white except for the hats. Above you see the result. Now, it's turned into a tradition...when you get a card from the Haberkern's it's going to  have a similar look. Same kids (just a year older) in b&w with color Santa hats...just a different pose. It's become our holiday trademark. Everyone knows to expect it when they get our Christmas card.

I'm working on this years picture but can't disclose what it will be until after the cards are sent out. Don't want to spoil the surprise.