I don’t know her real name, but she went by Mrs. Claus. I was visiting at a nursing home in Mayfield, Kentucky sometime in the late 1990s. They had an activity for residents to play the part of Santa, or Mrs. Claus, and take Christmas requests from children on the phone. I was carrying a Canon T-90 SLR loaded with Kodak B&W Tri-x film and a Vivitar 283 flash unit, which I bounced off the ceiling and a white index card for fill light.
There were other residents, too, dressed for the part and reading scripts for the children. They would answer the phone with a hearty “Ho, Ho, Ho! What is your name?” Mrs. Claus would introduce herself and let the kids know that Santa was out feeding the Reindeer, but she would let him know what gift they wanted for Christmas.
This Mrs. Claus caught my attention and she truly seemed to be enjoying playing the part. I snapped a few frames, and knew I had the shot that I wanted. The B&W shot is a favorite of mine for Christmas. However, this year I decided to see what it might look like in color. I played around with it for a while in Photoshop, trying to get the effect of a hand colored photo. I hope you like it. Merry Christmas!
