The McKee Photography Studio Christmas Card - 2024
For those that are coming to this for the first time, we started photographing custom scenes for our holiday cards about the time our first son was born. That was 25 years ago.
(You can catch up on all the cards and behind the scenes for these photo shoots and photo illustrations here.)
Every year was a different vibe in the studio. Their humor, and tolerance/patience, changed from year to year as they grew.
Now, the boys are grown and starting building their own lives. It has become much more of a challenge to get together and plan out these scenes.
However, as long as they are willing to play along, we’ll keep on creating them.
This year’s theme was based on the boys’ love of tinkering on cars and various shop machines (the older the kids, the bigger the toys!).
The original concept started with the boys working on a robot. That quickly morphed into fixing the Charlie in the Box from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys.
The Misfit Toy Box
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The Misfit Toy Box Story Excerpt:
From the inside of the card:
“I know that screws fall out all the time. It’s an imperfect world, but it’s the one we got. And, we’re here. So, there’s that.”
“Gears, pass me the 10 mil left spring dongler, please,” said Rocketboy.
He was so deep into the mechanism at this point that only his feet were visible.
Gears sighed loudly, reaching in to hand Rocketboy the tool. “I just bought a five pack of those last week. Why are they always disappearing?”
Just then, the sound of a wrench slipping off of a nut echoed in the box.
It was quickly followed by the pinging sound of a small metal tool, as it bounced off of every interior part of the mechanism.
It ended, not with a clang, but with a splash.
“That’s why,” Rocketboy sighed. “I think Charlie has sprung a leak. And, I hope you have another 10 mil spring dongler out there.”
There was silence, except for the steady plip of liquid dripping into a growing pool on the floor of the machine. A faint groan and tick, tick, tick began above their heads.
“Gears?” Silence. “Gears?”
When Rocketboy backed himself out of the mechanism, he saw that Gears wasn’t looking into the box any more.
He was staring into the gloom near the ceiling, where Charlie’s giant head was ever so slowly leaning down toward them. It was silhouetted by the cool moon light coming through the high windows.
“RB?” Gears’ voice was quiet in the large room. “Which way did you turn the crank?”
Some Notes on this year’s card:
My high school history teachers would marvel at the research I put into these stories. Or maybe not.
The excerpts for these cards tend to follow the themes that the “book covers” come from: Young Adult book series like “The Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew Mysteries”.
This year’s excerpt was based on the stories of tools falling into the various vehicles the boys had dragged home over the years.
Add in a couple of movie quotes that we have thrown around, an inside joke that would take way too long to explain and you end up with The Misfit Toy Box!
A History of The McKee Photography Studio Christmas Cards
A long time ago, my Creative Muse and I were debating the merits of the Studio/Family Christmas/Holiday card. I loved the idea of doing something creative and interesting. And, she wanted to feature our latest creation: our first son.
Standard family portraits never really interested me. To my eye, they never fulfilled the magic feeling I get around this time of year.
Sure, it showed off the family to friends and relations. They are nice and let me know what Peter and Nancy looked like now. But, they all felt, somehow, generic to me.
And, on a long car ride, our First Studio Card was born. See all of the cards here
A few years later, the boys realized what was going on. And, they got involved!
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Stay Safe and Healthy out there.
Related Holiday Card Stories from the Studio . . .
However you celebrate the winter solstice, may this season bring you happiness and peace. Never pass up an opportunity to be creative!
The Frost Brothers were the first inklings of what would later become the Adventures of Rocketboy and Gears
We created a Rocketboy and Gears Adventures Photo Studio Holiday Card to celebrate our Photo Studio abilities. Here's why and how we did it.
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