Most of the time I'm too busy to do any shopping. My job keeps me busy even during off hours, not to mention the evening classes I attend during the semester. As soon as the class was officially over and my final exam was behind me, I was ready to do something for Christmas... more specifically for my wife.
I asked my wife what kind of picture of Santa she would like to hang over the fireplace in our home. I could get a full body shot, a child sitting on his knee, a portrait, a profile, etc. Which would she prefer? After some thought, she suggested a portrait. Then she said she wanted the portrait to be of a Santa who didn't wear the traditional red velvet and white fur-lined clothing. She wanted something more realistic. The Santa who we had seen roaming the main street in Weston, Missouri years before came to mind.
So, on Sunday, 16 Dec 2007, my oldest daughter and I decided to visit Weston, Missouri in search of this Santa. Upon our arrival, we parked in front of some shops in the quiet little town on a brisk, but sunny afternoon and proceeded on our search. We walked down one side of the street visiting a few of the shops along the way. Christmas is a consistent theme in Weston. When we finished one side of the street, we decided to head back on the other side. Our pace quickened because my daughter wanted to get back home at a decent time to meet with some of her friends. We visited fewer shops on the other side of the street to speed things up.
There was one last store on that side that I wanted to visit to do a quick look for an old license plate. He didn't have it, but the owner was a pleasure to visit with. We took our time but hurried as much as possible.
Finally, we finished at the antique store and headed back to the vehicle. My daughter got into the truck and I was walking around to the driver's side. A young cat came trotting over to me so I bent over to pet it. My daughter is a cat lover, so when she saw me petting this cat she had to get out and pick it up. The cat was very friendly. I took a few pictures of her with the cat. During this time, my daughter happened to glance across the street just as this Santa character came out of one of the shops on the other side of the street!
He was the reason we traveled to Weston. The cat slowed us down long enough for us to finally get a glimpse of him. I hurried across the street and asked him if I could take a couple pictures of him. He was very congenial and even offered advice on some photographic techniques that I may try sometime. He promoted his town effectively too, informing me of some of the various shops in town.
This guy was the most non-commercial Santa, if there is such a thing, that I have ever seen. His robe may have been red velvet, but it was a full length robe and was lined with brown fur instead of white. He wielded a wooden staff with several trinkets hanging from it and had a nice leather pouch strapped over his shoulder that was adorned with small sleigh bells.
While taking his picture against a rock wall back drop, I interviewed him. He told me he had been walking the streets of Weston dressed as he was for 20 years during the Christmas season. Originally, his beard was black, but it turned completely white in a year's time when he was in his early 40's. If I were to be a Santa or Kris Kringle, I would want to be like this guy. He is a class act all the way.
We finally left having gotten what we had gone for. When home, the next task was to look through the photos for the right pose. I had portaits, profiles, and one full length shot. Some had the rock wall background and others had part wall and part snow. The full length shot had him holding his staff in his left hand. It was the only one that showed his staff. All of the other photos were more portrait or profile close ups. The pictures I took in the sunlight, unfortunately, included my shadow cast across the lower part of his body. Not good. The best picture turned out to be the full length photo.
So I went to work cropping and converting to sepia or black and white. I finally found the right portait cropped from the full length picture. Then I realized that it would look really cool if it was desaturated (converted from color to black and white) and, using Adobe Photoshop, bring the red of his suit and hat back to its original colors. The hat also had some orange in it. In the color photographs, it looked okay, but in the b/w version with the red suit, the orange didn't fit in. So I selected the orange portion and changed it to red. Not to brag or anything, but the result was stunning. My wife loved it! She has purchased a frame that it would look good in. She is ready for the finished product.
As can be seen, my idea was meant to be. My oldest daughter and I had a nice shopping trip to Weston, Missouri, a cat crossed our path as we were about to leave to stall us long enough for Santa, or as I like to refer to him as Father Christmas, to appear. Then, an awesome picture was created, and my wife received a Christmas present she thoroughly enjoyed. The matted and framed picture will be a new tradition in our home when it is decorated for Christmas. Father Christmas will proudly hang over the fireplace for many years to come during the Christmas season reminding us of the day it almost didn't happen.
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