1.  What should my child wear?

The concept of the meeting with Santa is that your child wakes up from a dream and finds themselves in Santa’s workshop.  We ask that you dress them in simple pajamas that have a classic or vintage design.  For boys, classic Pipe Pajamas with a button up top and collar in either dark green, navy, or red are best. If you bring them in a light blue long sleeve cotton dress shirt we can out fit them in a train engineer's outfit! For girls, a classic smock gown in white is perfect, but any simple night gown will do fine. Girls can also wear boys pajamas. An entire family of children in white can also yield very elegant Christmas portraits. In all cases, AVOID patterns, characters and outward displays of branding.  All of those types of things will create distracting elements will serve to date the art. We suggest you look through the portraits under our portfolio for ideas.  Our goal is to produce a timeless classic for your home, and it is IMPORTANT that the clothing be in line with the art.

*We have invested in a limited number of Pajamas for boys and you can used them free of charge. Check with us to make sure we have the sizes you need.  They can be used for girls also if you like.

2.  Do we need to bring anything with us?

     A. We encourage you to bring family heirlooms such as a bible, or a vintage toy from your childhood.  Girls can bring special dolls, vintage tea sets, and boys might bring an old train set, a favorite truck, a special action figure, or vintage sports equipment.  Your personal touches will serve to bring a sentimental value to the finished art and will always bring back a good memory when you view the image. We don't guarantee they will be used, but they give us options in personalizing your art pieces.

     B. Have your children bring a letter to Santa. They can talk about their favorite wishes for Christmas or let him know they've been good!

 3.  What is included with the session fee?

     Our goal with the Santa experience is to provide your children with a memorable experience interacting with Santa Claus, one they will never Forget. At the same time we want to provide your family with beautiful heirloom portraits that will be treasured for a lifetime. After you book your portrait session, your children will receive a personalized letter from Santa inviting them to his Alpine workshop. When your children arrive they will meet Santa at their own pace after which they will participate in a myriad of activities with him from checking the nice list to eating cookies, listening to him read The Night Before Christmas and much much more.  It's a magical and oft times humorous event.  During their hour with Santa we will be taking photographs to capture the event for you. After the session we will make an appointment for you to come in to view 10-15 of the best images which we have turning into beautiful art pieces. You can purchase one or all of the portraits, it is up to you! We offer a variety of products from Christmas Cards and gift sized portraits to beautifully framed canvas and metal wall portraits. Our most cherished item is a custom storybook heirloom album that tells the story of your children's time with Santa!

Our session fee is $399 plus tax through Thanksgiving. Our session fees change to$499 plus tax after Thanksgiving. (But your print credit goes up with that increase.)

  Here is what you get:

- About a 50 minute private interactive experience for your children with Santa Claus - real beard and all!

- A $199 Print Credit to be applied toward your product order ($299 print credit after Thanksgiving when we charge a higher sitting fee).

- A wooden Gift Box filled with Santa’s Magical Reindeer Dust.

- An opportunity to purchase hand-finished art under the direction of Master Photographer Ted York.

- 10 to 15 beautifully crafted art images to choose from. You can buy one or all of them. It's up to you!

- A private appointment with a slideshow of your images and ordering consultation.

- Complementary social Media files for sharing all of the images you order.

- A signed copy of "The Night Before Christmas" with illustrations created from our Santa.  *while supplies last. 

How to Book your Experience:

1.  Complete our request form - but you must be easily available for us to contact you after we receive your request for. You can speed up the process by calling us direct at (801) 310-3336 to reserve your children's session.
2.  After we determine a date and time you must pay your reservation fee to reserve your spot.
3.  Please familiarize yourself with our materials to make the most of your session.
4.  Have a wonderful Santa Experience!

4.  Do you offer a payment plan?

YES.  Take as much time as you need to pay for your order.  We'll produce your order when it is paid in full.

5.  Where is the studio?

We are located at 304 W. Meadowlark Dr. Alpine, Utah.  We are about 30 minutes South of Salt Lake City, and 25 minutes North of Provo. Google knows where we are so just type in our studio name. Our phone number is 801-310-3336 if you need directions.

5.  What if I need to change my appointment time?

We will do our best to work with your changing schedule.  Your session fee is non-refundable if you have to cancel within 72 hours of your session.  We hire a professional Santa and pay him whether you are here or not.  Hopefully, if you need to change your appointment, we can do it with enough notice to let Santa know and schedule you in at a later date. If something happens the morning of your session call or text us. Understand we will be busy every Saturday photographing children with Santa and may miss your call. But once we get in contact we will do what we can to reschedule you.

7.  Do you offer a CD or download of the images?

Each of our Fine Art Santa portraits are hand finished digital art pieces.  We have spent years in training and have carefully blended our finish to be unique and enhance the story of the magic of Santa Claus.  We have also taken great care to select the media that we print with so it will look impressive on your wall or in your album.  We understand the importance of digital media in today’s world, however, we do not release our digital artwork for reprinting.  You WILL, however, receive web sized copies of any image you purchase to share on Social Media. 

8. Santa's Alpine Workshop Address is:

Ted York Photography

304 W. Meadowlark Dr.

Alpine, UT 84004

9. What if my child is scared of Santa? Sometimes young children do not respond well to Santa. Fortunately we have about an hour to work with and we have developed a few techniques that enable us to come out of each session successfully. The following items are examples of tools we keep in our belt:

     A. I greet every family at the door and take a few minutes to establish a relationship with the children before we escort them in to see Santa. At times that relationship enables me to encourage youngsters to go up to Santa.

     B. Santa will be asleep when the children enter his workshop so they can approach him at their own pace. Often younger children will follow their older siblings. We are in no hurry so don't force the children. We are experts, let us handle the situation.

     C. Occasionally hiding a parent behind Santa's chair or one of his Christmas trees does the trick.

     D. Occasionally parents have left the studio so as not to be a distraction to the younger children.

     E. I have had parents holding small children from behind. When the child gets distracted by Santa the parent pulls back just a little and I'm able to edit them out of the scene.

     F. Sometimes parents know a trick or two that works with their children - Please let us know. We do ask that parents do their best to be invisible and encourage them not to do things on their own because its distracts them and makes it difficult to keep them from looking at the parents rather than Santa's activities.

     G. It's always a very good Idea for a parent to bring a nightgown or pajamas so if absolutely necessary they can join the scene to calm a child who is struggling. Mothers in the scene with a baby can be a great option.

 

10. How much are our products?

Our price list is shown Below.  We do not offer prepared packages in the traditional way some photographers sell their prints.  We allow you to purchase the image(s) you want in the size(s) you like best.  There are a few things to highlight in the prices below:

Our most popular products are our Framed Metal Art, Canvas Wall portraits, and our Our Santa Storybook Albums.  All of our wall portraits are ready to hang. Our price list includes our most popular sizes Custom sizes are available and priced at the next largest printed size.

After the one-hour session we will schedule a time for you to look at your portraits. We will present 10 to 15 images to you during your ordering session.  You’ll find you love most of what we show you, and we recommend you combine all of your favorites into our very popular Storybook album.  The album contains a customized rhyming story that tells the story of your children's visit with Santa Claus.  They are beautiful heirloom keepsakes that will be treasured for a lifetime.

We also offer canvas prints enhanced with brush stokes and oil paint for a truly hand painted look.

10. Finally - Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching your kids laugh and smile as they experience the magic that only Santa can bring. We will do the rest!