Why do so many people around the world love to have their pictures taken with Santa Claus? There are numerous reasons, all of which every professional photographer should know and understand.

First of all, we live in a society where Christmas is, by far, the most important retail time of the year. Every business ramps up for Christmas and each year it starts earlier and earlier. Other than the obvious and very important religious connection of celebrating December 25 for the birth of Jesus Christ, the other reason is in short “retail sales”. 

This alone, should be plenty of reason for any photographers ears to perk up and pay attention. A leading statistics company, Statista, shows that the Christmas quarter of sales can be as high as 40% of a company's gross revenue. In some cases it is even more. 

Then there is Santa, who is a towering figure in folklore and legend. I will venture to say Santa Claus has no second when it comes to legendary characters....