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CANDY HOEHN
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CANDY HOEHN
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CANDY HOEHN
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CANDY HOEHN
by Bob Waite
The Christmas season is a time when the world lights up. Houses are decorated with lights and front lawns with nativity scenes, town trees are lit, carolers walk the streets singing Joy to the World. And hope abounds. We welcome the king who came into the world to end the curse and abolish sin and death. It is called the incarnation, the day when God became a man. It is a day full of hope.
Another kind of hope also abounds in the heart of children, who wait eagerly for Santa Claus, who is coming to town after town making a list that classifies each child as either naughty or nice. This oversized elf is jolly and portly, and he laughs with a hearty “ho, ho, ho.” He wears a red suit trimmed in white to match his large white beard. He usually wears spectacles and gets around on a flying sleigh powered by nine reindeer. He comes down the chimney of every house in the world in one night, delivering toys to the children on the nice list, and if you leave him cookies and milk, he will have a short repast in your living room by the Christmas tree where he leaves the presents.
Although the real Santa doesn’t come to our homes until Christmas Eve, we can see him on street corners and in front of stores ringing bells for the Salvation Army, in Christmas parades and in shopping malls where children sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. On his side are a couple of elves and in front of him is another elf taking a photo. These sessions last, at most a couple of minutes. But there is a way that children can have more than a 10-minute photo session with Santa and that’s if their moms make an appointment with Candy Hoehn at SugaShoc Photography in Doylestown. With a studio that has four rooms and a wardrobe room to boot it is nothing less than a Christmas destination.
Candy, throughout the year, does women's portraiture—maternity, newborn and boudoir. She says, “My friends always joke about it, because I get them when they want to come in for their boudoir pictures for their wedding. Then they get pregnant, and they come back again when they want photos for their newborn. So, I do it all over again.”
Her actual career did not start with boudoir photos, then pregnant photos and then newborn babies. It actually began with newborns. She started taking photos after her second son was born. Candy says, “I started taking photos when my second son was born and I wanted to do his newborn photos, but they turned out horrible. Because when you're first starting, you don't know anything about lighting, posing and so on. So, I started doing workshops and training. I first started with photographing newborns and then with the newborn babies came maternity photos. And so, I started doing maternity, and then they kept wanting to have nude maternity portraits. So, that kind of flowed into boudoir photos.”
And Candy’s clients come back. “I have clients who come to me in their 30s, and then 10 years later, they come back in their 40s, and they still appreciate their body, which I love.”
Candy loves to photograph children of all ages. She has three herself—Tyler 16, Cameron 13, and Ella 9. And what time of year captures the precious expressions of children more than the anticipatory days leading up to Christmas. And beginning in November Candy is taking appointments for photo sessions with Santa.
SugaShoc’s Santa Claus is Santa Fred from Hatboro who decided early into his personification of Santa that he would not wear a fake beard. This decision came about when he was filling in at a Breakfast with Santa event that was held in King of Prussia. A child baited Fred Standaert into eating a certain cookie which ended up in a twisted beard and a half-on half-off mustache, and this caused Fred to vow that he would never be in that situation again.
Fred likes being Santa and actually was awarded a Bachelor of Santa from the International University of Santa Claus. Keeping a real beard, he has joined several Santa organizations and has been awarded various honors in his pursuit to be an authentic representative of that jolly elf.
Candy’s photo sessions last about an hour. They are interactive and the child in her studio gets to know Santa in a way most children do not. Candy says, “They color with Santa, they read with Santa, they eat cookies, and drink hot chocolate with Santa. They do tons of activities with him.” Their reaction to all this yuletide attention: “They're loving it.”
Santa personally gives each child a gift. “I have the parents buy a small wrapped gift and bring it to the session in a plastic bag, and I grab it from them and put it in Santa's sack. When it’s towards the end of the session, Santa will pull out the child’s present and give it to him or her.”
Christmas photos are often a family affair. “During a session we do family portraits, first without Santa, but some families like their family portraits with Santa, so we do some of those too. And then after their family portraits, we do the children with Santa. We do some with pajamas or casual clothing without Santa, because sometimes my clients like to have pictures up all year round and not only on the holidays,” Candy explains.
Candy asks the parents and children if they want to see the wardrobes that she has in her wardrobe room. In the wardrobe room Candy mainly has clothing for girls because they are easier than boys clothing, since there is more to a boys outfit (pants, shirts, jacket, vest ) and they come in all kinds and sizes. Her boys’ clothing is up to 18 months while for girls she has clothing that fits older children, since keeping a variety of different sizes in dresses is much easier.
After they leave, Candy sets up an appointment over Zoom to see the photos and select the ones they are going to purchase. She also can make a storybook album. “I write the story based on the family with their names and what activities they're doing, so it's their own very special Christmas storybook.”
Candy loves what she does. She says, “I like interacting with the kids and I like photographing women. I love their reactions to their photos, because many women hate how they look in photos. So when they come here, they get dolled up and get their hair and makeup professionally done. And then, because of the way I pose them, they see themselves in a totally different light. So I love it when they're sitting here looking at their photos on this TV and they get really emotional and they actually find themselves beautiful in a photo. And, of course, I love photographing the babies. They're so cute. I love, being able to print albums and have them blowing up their pictures and hanging them on their walls. It's really nice.”
To make an appointment with Candy Hoehn at SugaShoc Photography in Doylestown, call 202-455-0306 or visit www.sugashocphotography.com.
Bob Waite is the editor of Bucks County Magazine.