A Not So Merry Christmas


We’re confused, did Santa do this as a gift to their parents or is this some kind of fauxtog ransom note?

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38 Comments

  1. The thing that bothers me the most about fauxtogs is that they usually can’t even manage to get their awful ideas in focus.

    • ROFLcopter

      Exactly. On top of an entirely hideous photo idea..they don’t even nail the most basic things that make a photo worth looking at.

  2. Tribsy

    How… creepy.

  3. Angela

    Bwahaha! If it wasn’t such bad lighting, this would almost be cute!

  4. My God. Not only are the Christmas lights ridiculously over-exposed (you can scarcely tell what color the lights are), but the faces aren’t even well-lit. Can we at least try to get ONE thing right?

    Maybe the fauxtog could ask Santa for a new profession for Christmas that doesn’t involve ruining special times for others?

  5. Angela MacIsaac (@that_angela)

    Is it just me or does the kid on the left have a look of murderous rage in his eyes? Kind of like ‘somebody get me the F out of here or I’m gonna poop in your bed tonight.’

  6. This is just wrong and not funny at all. I’m sure the parents have a great sense of humor, but seriously duct taping your kid’s mouth shouldn’t even be on the radar. Hope those are well taken care of kids because the authorities ever see this and well, it won’t go over well. That being said I don’t even want to see what else this “photographer” does

  7. well it seems like their friends liked it… yeah its not great but its a cute christmas card photo, should it have a watermark on it? hell no, is it professional quality, absolutely not. it would be okay if it had a date at the bottom left (like a point and shoot) but theyruined it with a watermark, trying to be pro :/

  8. Please can father christmas come and do this to my kids. Well, the gag at least! Anything for a quiet christmas!

  9. Maybe it’s just me, but wrapping children in electrical cords and covering orifices with tape doesn’t make a ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ Christmas photo. Doesn’t matter how ‘safe’ the cords are, or how many people are supervising, you are telling these small kids that this is acceptable (no matter how many times you tell them these aren’t toys, you just showed them otherwise) by allowing this insanity to take place.

  10. I Would never allow anyone to duct tape my childs mouth! Nothing about this us cute! Photography should convey a feeling and the only feeling this gives me is fear for these kids safety!!! Creeps!

  11. They probably saw this on pintrest and tried to recreate it http://pinterest.com/pin/80783387036679196/ soooo sad

  12. FoilGamma

    SHUT UP!!!

  13. TollTollPhotography

    I get that they want to be cute and have that “Silent Night” thing going, but this pose is not fitting. If they were tied up and pursed their lips, made their eyes big, it would be much better than duct tape. This just looks like a Casey Anthony in the works.

    • I didn’t get the “Silent Night” thing until you said it. Totally agree with everything else you said.

      • TollToll

        Well there’s a pose that the kids are like this and the photographer puts “a silent night” and it’s cute, but not with duct tape. Maybe JUST with wrapped in SAFE Christmas lights would work.

  14. TollTollPhotography

    Plus the photography… but we all know that’s bad.

  15. How is this cute? I find it disturbing and really bad taste. There is nothing good about this photo.

  16. those lights are hot!!! so not safe! i did a christmas card similar (with lights) to this… the dad wanted to be wrapped in lights b/c he decorates his house in a ton of lights a year but anyone who got their christmas card understood that that was his personality… id never put kids in those lights… even he got burned a couple times and he was wearing long sleeves and pants!

  17. Michael

    Don’t forget to add dangerous to the list of things wrong with this. Those old style bulbs get hot fast (experience), break easily, and carry 120 volts on them.

    Fauxtog need to be charged with child endangerment.

    • Not to mention, those old bulbs contain lead. FUN times! 😉

      • TollToll

        YEP! I was thinking the same thing. They can get in SERIOUS trouble with that.

  18. Elizabeth

    I’ve seen something similar where it’s a couple holding each other, wrapped in lights, and it really is amazing when done correctly. I think this fauxtog’s idea had potential, but I also think tying the kids up with lights goes far enough without having to duct tape their mouths…

  19. BurninBiomass

    Is this a Christmas card to Pedophiles? I would assume only one of them would like to see this under their tree.

    • There’s a Jeffrey Dahmer joke in there, but I’m not going to be the one to post it. lol

  20. Pelham

    I’ve done a couple shoots wrapped in lights, but had enough sense to use LEDs, not the old-school bulbs used here. They break easily, and get hot very quickly. Please people use your frickin brains before ripping off of someone else’s work!!

    ETA: I could be wrong, but don’t think Jeffrey Dahmer was a pedo, just a sick murderous bastard. I think his youngest victim was 14, but they did go willingly to his apartment…originally :-/

  21. It would be a funny gag photo if it had been done more safely and properly executed. Those kinds of bulbs burn very hot and are too easy to break. Cool-burning minin LED lights wrapped LOOSELY ought not present a danger to children who are old enough to know better than stick their fingers into electrical sockets. The duct tape over their mouths poses the most danger though. Providing the kids are made fully aware of the desired humorous affect and would only need to have their mouths covered for a scant few seconds, removing that tape can still hurt like the Devil. I think I would look for a different prop to give the “bound and gagged” look.

    I think the most important thing to consider with these sorts of shots is that they need to be done in such a fashion that it is OBVIOUS that the viewer isn’t looking at a crime scene. These kids don’t look particularly terrified at all and otherwise look well cared for.

  22. Kookie

    This brings bad memories for me. CHRISTMAS is suppose to be joyful. NOT F-ING getting tied up with Christmas lights! I’ve been robbed twice and this is definitely NOT a joyful photo to me. And how could the commentors in that photo say it’s “awesome?” What so awesome about getting tied up with Christmas lights? If I were the client, I’d want all my money back.

  23. Wsroadrunner

    I guess that’s one way to keep them from opening presents early

  24. Wsroadrunner

    Mommy & Daddy are into BDSM

  25. TollToll

    Casey Anthony is a Photographer now?

  26. darrelltwo

    I don’t know this photographer, and certainly don’t seek to defend their use of the green square setting at the top of their hard-won Canikon, but…. Those are C7 lights, which burn cool and only use about 4-6 watts. They’re not hot or dangerous (and you can certainly use google or go to christmascentral dot com to verify). As for the duct tape, it’s easy enough learning from the Costumers Association the details necessary to work with many things not bought off the shelf at your local Professional Portrait Prop Shop. The picture itself is technically poor for a pro, sure,but all of the add on criticism about burning kids alive and the child abuse tripe seems misplaced for critiquing. It’s ironic how many in this thread throw around the photographers “lack of knowledge” like a displaced dictator’s dead body, and yet know nothing about what they’re saying within that very criticism.

  27. What I find funny is whilst this is a “fail” in pretty much every way, at least the person is TRYING to have some fun and do something different. Though I love this website, I find it sad the amount of shit talk happening from people to cowardly to even post links to their own work. (Nice work Thrideye and Blacklight btw!)
    I think YANAF should make posting your own work link a prerequisite to shit talking… Courage through web anonymity has gone too far, really.

  28. And PS if you’re going to mock, AND post a link.. you’re fair game.
    May I make a suggestion for a submission to this site?:
    http://www.creatingmemoriesphotography.org/images/albums/NewAlbum_7b77a/tn_1200_20110702_0114.1.jpg.png

  29. Eh, actually I think it’s pretty clever – but then I like dark humor. Compositionally I’d do a couple of things differently, and it needs more lighting – but it’s not that bad of a shot.

    And everyone screaming “child endangerment” needs to grow a pair. This is nothing.

  30. RachelEngel

    Duct tape HURTS when removed. Ugh.

  31. If you put duct tape on clothing before applying it it’s fairly easy to get off in a painless manner. I think the idea is actually pretty cute, but this is a very poor execution of it and it’s obvious the kids aren’t into it. The picture mrs B posted is much better.

  32. It’s people like the commenters shown that are the reason parks get shut down when their kid falls and scwapes their wittle weg. There isn’t anything wrong with the actions in the photo…and it’s certainly not any worse than anything they’d do to themselves. These aren’t “small children”, and their also boys (which are never into anything like this). Yeah, it’s not a great picture overall (but certainly not as bad as most others, so I’m unsure why it’s even featured here), but when people start bringing up arresting the parents for child endangerment, I get highly pissed. There are WAY worse parents out there, and kids of those parents that would LOVE to get wrapped in Christmas lights for a fun, Christmas photo. I don’t care how much of these comments were said in jest, because crap like this is said way, way too much over trivial things, and actions are taken that separated decent families instead of actually finding people that DO hurt their kids.

    And also, I have a strand of those lights hanging in my room, and I leave them on for hours at a time. Not only do they just get warm to the touch, but it’s a warmth that isn’t really felt through clothing (which is where any of the bulbs are hitting the kids). Duct tape also isn’t that f’ing sticky, especially if it’s not pressed down and left for a long period of time. Besides, do you honestly think the kids spent much time in that position?

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