The Picture of Yule Joy--Sometimes

They arrive at malls and shops all over Ventura County this time of year, full of eager smiles and dressed to Dickensian perfection in red velveteen and green knickers.

But after parents and their spiffed-up children wait up to three hours to snare their bounty--the family Christmas portrait--some turn less than jolly.

“We get a lot of grumpy parents,” said Mona Morgia, manager of the Sears Portrait Studio at the Janss Mall in Thousand Oaks. “When they have to wait and their kids get cranky, they take it out on us.”

Sears has been snapping up to 200 portraits a day, trying to keep up with a Christmas rush that changed from a trickle to a flood after Halloween, Morgia said. Everybody wants their pictures early so they can put them in Christmas cards, she said.

The scenario is much the same at Kinderfoto in Oxnard’s Esplanade Mall, said manager Judy Nicholson. A few people, however, get Christmas pictures done as early as July, Nicholson said.

“They’re the really organized ones,” she said. “But it really picks up in November.”

Taking photographs of children under age 5 is always a challenge, photographers say, because they are unpredictable. But when preschoolers are asked to stay near their mothers for hours wearing hot, ruffly garments, coaxing a smile becomes much more difficult, they say.

Although many parents cope patiently with the hassle, inevitably there are some who are less sympathetic, photographers say. Nicholson said she has seen parents leave when told pictures are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

And others get angry after waiting an hour or more just to see their child spill a soft drink in their lap minutes before camera-time.

“It’s a frustrating thing to watch your child dissolve into a crying mess while waiting for a photograph,” Nicholson said.

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On a recent Saturday, a young family--mother, father, preschool-aged son and baby daughter--came to Kinderfoto to take a traditional family shot. The little boy had his hair neatly groomed and wore a thick white cable-knit sweater.

His little sister wore a lacy white dress with a tiny pink rose. But there was something wrong with this picture: Neither child would smile.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the mother grabbed her daughter’s hand and huffed out of the studio. Her husband and their whining son trailed close behind.

“Don’t even talk to me!” the mother fumed at her unhappy son.

Kinderfoto photographer Vicky Carmona said it is hard to predict which child will smile happily for the camera and which will be uncooperative.

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In general, toddlers are less predictable than young babies, Carmona said. And children 3 and older tend to follow instructions better, she said.

“You just have to go with the flow,” said Carmona, who has been photographing children for seven years. “Sometimes they smile when you just talk to them and sometimes you have to get more animated.”

At the Janss Mall, Simi Valley mother Becky Miller expertly pulled her daughter Briana’s hair into a velvet green barrette to match the 5-year-old girl’s velvet-and-lace dress.

Miller also instructed her son, Frankie, 10, to stop eating multicolored candy.

“I don’t want your teeth discolored,” she said.

To which Frankie replied: “Well, I just won’t smile, then.”

The candy went uneaten.

Miller is a veteran of what kiddie-photographers call “Christmas craziness.” Besides Briana and Frankie, she has a 9-year-old son, Brandon. And every year since the children were born, she has had their Christmas portrait taken, Miller said.

“It’s become a tradition,” she said.

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Photographers say parents think of portraits when the holidays draw near because they can slide them into cards going to out-of-state relatives and friends. And large portraits in frames make a nice gift, they say.

Parents are lured to the studios by promotions offering picture packages for as little as $8.95. But the discounts are often limited to certain poses and parents frequently end up spending more for extra pictures.

“You see all these pictures and you think, ‘How can I give any of them back?’ ” said Araceli Soto, an Oxnard mother who brought her 6-month-old daughter, Marissa, to the Esplanade Mall for pictures. “That’s how they get you.”

Soto and her husband, Juan, arrived at Kinderfoto just before it opened one recent weekend, hoping to beat the crowd. But when they got to the studio, three other families were already in line.

After waiting an hour, the family was ushered into the studio. Little Marissa, decked out in a bright red velvet dress with Swiss lace, refused to smile. Both her parents started singing her favorite song, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

Still no smiles. Then, to top it off, the baby began hiccuping.

Photographer Carmona finally settled for an inquisitive look and shot five poses. The Sotos paid for the sitting and made arrangements to come back in two weeks for the finished pictures.

It was worth the wait to get a portrait recording Marissa’s first Christmas, the couple said.

“We’re new parents,” said Araceli as she and her husband fussed over their daughter. “Can’t you tell?”

Picture-Taking Tips

Professional photographers offer these tips for getting the best photographs of children:

1. If the child will wear a fancy dress or suit, put it on at the studio. This will reduce the chance of soiling the outfit. Also, children tend to get fussy in clothes they don’t usually wear.

2. Make sure your child is fed, happy and well-rested before going to the studio. A tired child is likely to turn cranky in front of the camera.

3. To avoid a wait, go to the studio on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. The worst time to go is Saturday morning.

4. Stick with solid, bright colors. They contrast well with backgrounds.