Families who book a Santa photo visit in Philadelphia can find that the best picture of the night happens on the front steps, with the wreath on the door behind him.
After the visit inside
Take this picture at the end of the visit, just before Santa leaves, so the children are already happy and the gifts are open. Coats go on for the minute outside, and everyone comes back in right after. Families in Fishtown, Passyunk Square, Fairmount, and Queen Village ask for this step picture when the wreath is already on the door. The visit inside still happens first; the steps are the last picture, not the whole evening. Wait until the last gift is open so no one is still sitting on the living-room floor when Santa steps onto the stoop.
Where everyone stands
Santa sits or stands on the top step with the front door and the wreath behind him. The children stand on the steps below and beside him, the smallest closest to Santa, with a grown-up’s hand on the little ones. Leave the sidewalk clear so the person with the phone can step back. One grown-up stays on the steps with the children and another takes the picture from the sidewalk. If there are more children than steps, the extras stand on the sidewalk beside the railing, still in the porch light. Everyone looks at the phone, not at the door, so the wreath stays behind Santa and not behind the photographer.
Light and a neighbor on the block
Turn the porch light on and leave the lights in the front window on. Hold the phone low from the sidewalk so faces catch that porch light instead of the dark sky. A neighbor walking by may want to wave, and a quick hello from Santa makes the block’s night. Then the children go back inside before anyone gets cold. The coats stay on only for that minute outside. If a child is still opening a gift inside, wait until that gift is open so the step picture is the last thing, not an interruption. The wreath behind Santa is the background; nothing else needs to be in the frame.
A real bearded Santa is the choice for close-up portraits on those steps. Traditional Santa, in the traditional suit with a full styled beard, is the lower-cost choice. A child can hold the letter Santa read aloud in the step picture if you kept it after the reading inside. The rest of a photo visit follows Santa photos. To set the date, get in touch and say you want the last picture on the front steps.
The wreath, the porch light, and the children on the steps are the whole shot. Santa still wears the full red suit. The picture takes a minute, and then Santa leaves from that same stoop with a grown-up at the door. Fishtown and Queen Village fronts work the same way as Passyunk Square and Fairmount: wreath on the door, porch light on, smallest child closest to Santa. Hold the phone low so the porch light is on their faces, then bring everyone back inside. The step picture is extra, not a replacement for the visit inside. Santa still greets the children in the living room first, and the stoop is the last picture before he goes. The coats come off as soon as everyone is back inside, and Santa is already gone from the stoop by then for the rest of the night.