This is another room from my mansion Christmas shoot this year. This scene was done by a local doll club and they are always one of my favorites among the participants. The club did everything but supply the real Santa kneeling there and the packages on the left which I supplied. This shot was a little more difficult than I originally had counted on and a few complications made it a tough shot to finish. First I shot a series of exposures lighting different elements with my spotlight,then Santa came in to the scene and my friend Larry helped light him with a flash. Well everything went fine till I got home and realized Santa had leaned on the bed a few times between shots and it had moved,and I had bumped my tripod ever so gently at some point creating alignment issues.

Every piece I layered on top of the base shot had to be put on difference mode in Photoshop to make sure they were aligned correctly and it became more laborious than I had planned on. Despite all that,I am very pleased with the final result and Santa did an outstanding job,despite my making him kneel there for 15 minutes on a wood floor. He has a real beard,a great outfit and I think we created a very magical image. I met Santa during this event and he is part of the festivities each year,but I had to get him out of bed this morning because we shot this at five thirty in the morning as we waited for the light of dawn to illuminate the windows.