The McKee Photography Studio Holiday Card: Photography, Photoshop and General Mayhem
We started making these holiday cards 22 years ago to show off my photography, photoshop and general mayhem in the studio. And, to say thank you to all of my clients for another great year of making photographs for various marketing projects.
Of course, we also used them for our family cards as well.
What can I say? My family knows I’m a little weird already. So I put my kids in odd “Hardy Boy”-esque situations. Big deal.
Well, my boys are not Lil’ Adventurers any more. They are adults. They have (mostly) moved out and are living their own adventures.
Luckily, they still want to come back and hang with Pops (not that they call me that!) and do that weird brainstorm thing where the ideas come fast and furious. And, in those moments, I am both proud and terrified of what my wife and I have let loose on the world!
I certainly hope that you have enjoyed reading them as much as we have creating them.
And, without further ado:
Happy Holidays to all of you and yours. We, at McKee Photography, want to wish you a warm, safe, happy, and above all, healthy holiday season.
See you in 2022!
Check out the card and the Rocketboy and Gears Adventures FAQ below!
The Evergreen Paradox Story Excerpt:
“The tracks are all confused here. Someone got jumped bad!” Gears muttered. “Is that a hat?”
He picked up the crumpled piece of cloth and it made a sad, broken jingle sound, like a muffled, pixy sized cowbell.
“Wait!” exclaimed RB, spinning around slowly. “Did you hear that?”
A low moan rose from the snowbank, barely rising above the wind whistling through the dark evergreens.
“Oh, man. This just isn’t right. We have got to find him quickly, before the temperature drops further. You check that side and I’ll follow these tracks,” Gears directed.
They trudged and dug through the knee deep snow, each following around the outside of the scene in opposite directions, their flashlights cutting small cones of illumination through the murky twilight.
Gears suddenly shouted. “RB, I found him! Bring your medkit and leatherman. Quick!”
Feet crunching through the crust, RB stumbled over to Gears’ position, pulling out his survival blanket as he ran.
He pulled up short and looked down at the lump half covered in new snow.
“The Season of Giving should never include beat downs on the list!” he quipped.
They got to work stabilizing the Big Man, who groaned softly.
“He’s going to be okay, once we get him out of the woods. We’re serving up First Aid, this season,” Gears finished with a laugh.
“Followed by some justice!” said RB.
Humming under their breath “Here Come The Consequences” from an old TikTok trend, they carefully wrapped up the unconscious man and prepared to move back to the lodge.
Just then, a whistling sound cut through the woods, and a shadow crossed over the clearing, rapidly.
RB glanced up just as the shadow crossed in front of the full moon.
“Hold on. If he is down and snowbound,” RB mused. “Then, who is driving the sleigh?”
Rocketboy and Gears FAQ
2021 Photography. The Year That Was.
Well, we are slowly finding our new normal. We are surviving and making images. Knock on wood, we are all healthy, although there have been more than a couple of scares that had us holed up in quarantine.
But, we are all vaccinated and boosted and facing into the wind, ready for whatever 2022 might bring.
Sadly, some of our crew has gone on to seek new career paths in other fields. And, some old clients (and friends) have, sadly, not reopened.
We figured out Covid Photoshoot Safety protocols and remote shoot supervision methods for current clients. Even though it does slow down the workflow, better safe than not!
I am very grateful for those clients who have adapted to the times and hired my team and I to create their photography, photoshop and general mayhem.
I am also eternally grateful to my family, without whom this series would not exist. We all worked together to stay safe and sane… and keep me from Doom Scrolling all night.
How We Make The Studio Holiday Cards
Every picture tells a story. But, that story has to come from somewhere, right?
We usually start brainstorming a scene that we think will be visually interesting. Through that process, the story of the book comes out.
Sometimes, it is really dark, too! The Candi Canes story started with Santa’s illegitimate daughter having an addiction to candy canes.
We, ah, dialed that back a bit.
Then, after spending time editing the picture, I start writing as if I was an author. No, I am not an author.
At least, not yet.
But, I do my best and plunk down an action scene, as if it was a page from the middle of the book.
Oh, and one rule is that one of the characters has to make a bad joke at the bottom of the page.
When Gears, er… Hunter, our oldest, was born, we wanted to create a photo studio holiday card to send to family, friends and clients.
However, I was not a fan, creatively speaking, of the standard generic family portrait. So, my wife and I collaborated to create something a little more interesting. It kind of snowballed into … well… photography, photoshop and general mayhem
And, has continued to snowball for the last 20+ years…
My favorite comment was from my young second cousin. She mentioned how much she loved seeing the cards every year. And, that she really wanted to read the “books”!
Yes. I have heard that before. (Thanks, Aunt Peggy!)
In the beginning, it was just my wife and I spitballing ideas and trying to figure out how to show people how the boys have grown and give me an opportunity to show off my retouching/compositing skills.
Now, however, the planning process for the photo studio holiday card usually starts with pitch meetings in the first quarter, followed by various updates.
Such as: “Wouldn’t it be cool to do it in a library that could be attached to last year’s office? What would that look like?”
When my wife and I were growing up, The Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew Mysteries were always on our respective reading lists. And, I was always excited when I saw a collection of those books lined up on a bookshelf. To this day, that still gives me a thrill.
When the Rocketboy and Gears concept really gained steam for us, those book covers, which have shown up as excellent memes now, became a touchstone for our creative process.
When my wife and I were growing up, The Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew Mysteries were always on our respective reading lists. And, I was always excited when I saw a collection of those books lined up on a bookshelf. To this day, that still gives me a thrill.
When the Rocketboy and Gears concept really gained steam for us, those book covers, which have shown up as excellent memes now, became a touchstone for our creative process.
In the beginning, we were shooting film and scanning the image for some retouching. Nothing too serious.
Then, with digital cameras, we got much heavier into compositing.
The last few years, we brought heavy duty cgi, through the magic of Blender, to the party. That is when the sets got a lot more minimal and the worlds got much bigger.
This year, however, I found myself going back to photoshop to drive the concept.
That is an excellent question! We have out grown the cute little boys battling the giant robot. We are even starting to push past the YA version.
The boys college plans went a little sideways this year, so scheduling the shoot was fairly easy.
But, at some point, I am sure they are going to be out of the house and then it will be much more challenging to organize these.
The short answer, for me, is that I will keep on making these holiday cards as long as my fellow collaborators want to come and play with me!
I can see, someday, in the future a few years, Rocketboy and Gears may pass on their batons to a new generation of crazy McKees…
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Stay Safe and Healthy out there.
Related Holiday Card Stories from the Studio . . .
The Studio Holiday Card: The Man in Red has a new mission for the boys when a mysterious key gets delivered. Only one clue: “SHARE!”
The Annual Studio Holiday Card gets lots of questions! Although, generally, they are along the lines of "Why did you do that??" But, some people do ask the question "How?"
Our 23rd annual Studio Holiday Card features some pretty cgi and retouching, to hang our heroes off of a clock tower. Throw in a little existential philosophy and see what you think!
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.