Whitby Santa Claus Parade 2024

Whitby Santa Claus Parade 2024

The Whitby Santa Claus Parade is a project near and dear to my heart not just as a resident, a parent of three boys and not just as a Rotarian in charge of making the float shine for the big Santa Claus himself (and Mrs. Claus).

Here are some memories we captured from the 2024 parade which we shot from the four corners as my knee is causing some issues with long walks/runs backwards for 10 km! I am pretty sure these are not in order so enjoy the community spirit regardless.

(Shown above our Rotarian crew and volunteers from Father Leo J Austin Catholic Secondary School)

 

Above (L) Whitby Fire – through the window of Aerial 35 | Above (R) And Elf and her grownup

Above (L) Comets Baton crew at the four corners  | Above (R) A wee Vickery Electric Truck participant

Above (1) Dashing along the parade route | (2) Marine Rescue | (3) Dance crew piggyback

Above (ALL) By far the cutest dog in the parade supporting Durham Muay Thai & Kickboxing 

Above (L) Air Cadets Band | Above (R) Girls Inc bringing the Girl Power Spirit

Above (L) Rotary Reindeer | Above (R) Deidre Newman is a tireless Rotarian and community volunteer, she will also be our 2025-2026 Club President

Above (L) Reindeer Energy | Above (R) Carrying on the tradition of marching and weilding the sucker props (which I love)

Doing double duty as Mrs Claus has a family emergency to cover – the one and only Santa Claus with an audio set this year so his HO HO HO energy can be heard loud and clear

Above (L) The joy of finally seeing Santa | Above (R) More Rotarian reindeer spirit.

Interested in joining our Rotary Club of Whitby? Visit here to learn more: https://www.rotarywhitby.org/

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Kirsten McGoey | Visusal Storyteller (and sometimes reindeer)

What to Expect: Holiday White Box Experience

What to Expect: Holiday White Box Experience

So you booked your Holiday White Box Experience 2024 and you are wondering how to prepare this is the article for you!

Get ready for FUN with your humans.

The White Box is fun, we have done over 100 sessions and by far it is the favourite session of most of our family clientele. They are a chance to get a reluctant partner or child excited because they are quick, allow for creativity and are full of laughter. Yes, you actually sit inside a 4x4x4 box.

 

What to wear and what not to wear.

The White Box is “white” so it is what we call an alternative universe to regular family photos. The white means leave your dark and black clothing at home and embrace colour. A lot of families like to do christmas pjs – we only ask not to all match, because you all get mixed up. Instead pick coordinating outfits, so we know who is who by clothing as well as the “story” in each box.

These images show you how they all look the same until you focus on the face.   

upside down child in a box in christmas jammies
White-Box-Large-Collage

Many of our studio items are shown in this version from faux snow balls, head pieces like antlers and so many Santa hats, too many to mention!

How to plan your boxes.

We encourage you to bring items from your own Christmas celebrations to use in the box. While we do have a HUGE choice of items here for you from books, signs and other holiday items – your own adds that personalized storytelling.

See images for a sample of items we have in the studio for holiday sessions, the collection has grown so you are welcome to have use of anything we have in the studio.

 

upside down child in a box in christmas jammies
upside down child in a box in christmas jammies

We did this amazing card for the ladies of Elm Law group – each session includes a 6 image collage 5×7 .jpg to create Christmas cards (actual cards are not included).

During the session.

Here are some more handy tips:

+ Arrive 5 minutes ahead, no sooner please as we have back to back sessions all morning/early afternoon.

+ A session is 15 minutes with 5 minutes buffer between sessions.

+ Come dressed – there is not room for changing when we do this many experiences in a row – there is however a bathroom and in studio mirror.

+ Work with us to plan the 6 images for your card and then we also shoot as many other options for larger items which you can order at your in person review.

+ We cannot go past your 15 minutes, if one of your humans is not cooperating we can sort out another option at a later date. 

+ If you are a glasses wearer put in contacts or remove them, our light set up will show light reflections and impact the image. If you are okay with that then we will do our best to reduce the impact glare.

+ Let us get your littles to look at us, I will have an assistant on that day and we know how to get a child’s attention.

+ Worried about your weight? We have poses that work well for all body types and sizes. 

+ We have fit four grown men in the Box at one time, it is strong and can hold a lot more than you think. It is also reinforced with two by fours and raised off the ground – which all our knees will be thankful for.

Shown above is a styrene mounted print on a wood block (blocks are no longer sold) – but we have lots of great products for you to choose from to gift to family this holiday season.

Reveal and ordering session.

 We host all sessions in the studio for an in person reveal to accomplish a few things:

+ We review your images in proof form and make your collage for your card – 6 images in total. This is included in your session – a 5×7 .jpg (no physical cards are included).

+ Then we determine if there are any other products you wish to order from prints backed with styrene, to mounts and a few specific items that work well with this type of session. 

Note – ordering additional products is not mandatory. We do need to order them before mid November in order to get them by the holidays as our provider gets very busy.

Have to book yet?

 We would love to have you at the studio – click here to book:

Join us for the return of a day of limited edition Holiday White Box experiences.
+ Shot in our home studio in an actual box.
+ 15 minute time slots.
+ Up to 6 persons (due to time constraints).*
+ 1 collage included – 6 images in a 5×7 card format
+ In studio reveal to build card images AND order additional items such as larger collages, mounts and more.
* If you have a larger group we can book a solo session for you.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

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