Looking for a Central Coast Santa photographer or a festive photographer? You’ve come to the right place.

We’ve found the best-of-the-best Central Coast Santa photos and Christmas Mini sessions – all taken by talented local photographers on the Central Coast and the surrounding region! Many of these photographers offer Sensitive Santa sessions. Plus, we’ve found spaces where you can bring your fur babies along for a snap too.

Christmas photos are a wonderful annual tradition and each year we’re blown away by the stunning backdrops, festive flair, and Christmassy creativity brought to us by the Central Coast’s many talented photographers. And with so many incredible settings to choose from, 2024 promises to be no exception!

This year you’re spoilt for choice.

You can visit Santa in a snowy wonderland, at a historic homestead on a farm, in a fig tree-dotted park, fireside in a cosy loungeroom, or at your own school! Or, you can opt to forgo Santa – and the risk of tears – and instead get some festive photos taken that shift the focus from Saint Nick and onto your kids.

All of these Santa and festive sets are so beautiful, the only tricky part is deciding which one to do…

We have lots of photographers working on their stunning sets and we’ll be adding more Christmas and Santa photographers over the coming weeks, so bookmark this page and keep checking back. And don’t dilly-dally on making a booking – many sell out very quickly.


Jump To…



Natural Lights Photography – Festive Photos and Santa Sessions

This year, we’re excited to announce that Danielle of Natural Lights Photography has three locations to choose from. Two locations – a farm and park – come with old Saint Nick, while the bush location forgoes Santa to keep the focus of the imagery on you and your family.

Natural Lights Photography – Christmas Wonderland Portraits and Festive Family Sessions

Nestled in the heart of Catherine Hill Bay, Natural Lights Photography’s gorgeous Winter wonderland-style setting makes a perfect location for Christmas photos!

Talented photographer Danielle spends 30 minutes with every family to ensure she captures your kids’ beautiful, real and honest moments in this gorgeous outdoor setting! Given the extra time Danielle offers, you come away with a series of stunning pictures that work double duty as Christmas card snaps and a family photo shoot, and we know for busy families, that is golden.

Danielle has a wonderful way of ensuring she captures timeless images that keep the focus on your beautiful family, so the end result is a series of stunning snaps you’ll want to frame and hang on your wall.

All that’s left for you to do is to get dressed in your favourite red party dress, angel wings, or twinkling Rudolph nose and head to Catherine Hill Bay where you’ll find an enchanting scene just waiting to be explored.

Natural Lights Photography festive family photoshoot
Cost: This is a 30-minute on-location photoshoot. The package includes 7 digitally downloadable images and 3 matted gift 5×7 images – all within a password-protected gallery. $249
When: Every Saturday and Sunday from 26 October until 15 December 2024! Bookings essential.
Location: Catherine Hill Bay.
Dogs are welcome too!
More info: Sensitive Santa sessions and pet sessions are also available.
Contact: Danielle on 0410 117 328 or [email protected]
Website: https://nlphotography.com.au/christmas-photos/

Natural Lights Photography – Santa at the farm

The historic Tocal Homestead and surrounding grounds is a stunning wedding venue, but for a few months each year, Santa arrives to take photos with Natural Lights Photography. It’s a green farmscape dotted with mature fig trees, wooden barns and a dam, and it makes for a scene that’s beautifully rustic and elegant. It’s like nothing else we’ve seen before.

Cost and who: $70. Each family of up to 5 members per session can spend up to 5 minutes with Santa. (If you would like more than 5 family members to attend, or would like more time with Santa, please book multiple tickets).  
The package includes 5 digitally downloadable images – all within a password-protected gallery. You can of course purchase more images, prints and wall art if you wish.
More info: Sensitive Santa sessions and pet sessions are also available.
Location: Tocal Homestead, 957 Tocal Road, Paterson.
When: Every Sunday from 3 November until 8 December 2024! Bookings essential. Hurry, these sessions sell out super fast.
Contact: Danielle on 0410 117 328 or [email protected]
Website: https://www.nlphotography.com.au/santa-in-the-park/

Natural Lights Photography – Santa at the park

Ray Lawler Reserve, commonly referred to as Morpeth Common, is a beautiful park in historic Morpeth and makes a gorgeous backdrop for Natural Lights Photography’s Santa snaps.

This lovely parkland has a small pond, a shaded playground and lots of picnic tables, so we recommend you bring a picnic rug and basket of food and make a beautiful day of it. After all, when you’ve made the effort to get the family out of the house, you want to make the most of it.

Cost and who: $70. Each family of up to 5 members per session can spend up to 5 minutes with Santa. (If you would like more than 5 family members to attend, or would like more time with Santa, please book multiple tickets). 
The package includes 5 digitally downloadable images – all within a password-protected gallery. You can of course purchase more images, prints and wall art if you wish.
More info: Sensitive Santa sessions and pet sessions are also available.
Location: Morpeth Commons, Edward Street, Morpeth.
When: Saturday 23rd November and Saturday 7th December 2024. Bookings essential.
Contact: Danielle on 0410 117 328 or [email protected]
Website: https://www.nlphotography.com.au/santa-in-the-park/



Whiteman Photography Santa Sessions


Whiteman Photography and Santa Trevor are back again this Christmas with their brilliantly fun home studio mini sessions. With every session you have access to two different sets – a cosy log cabin and a wintry tree farm where Santa will happily roll around in the snow with your kids! Can’t decide which one you prefer? You can get images for both!

Each session runs for 20 minutes, giving the kids heaps of time with Santa. We absolutely love this, as we think so much of this experience for kids is the wonder of meeting Santa himself. Twenty minutes gives your kids ample time to have a chat with Santa and tell him what toy they’d like to discover under the tree. It also means that there’s plenty of time for babies, anxious children and kids with special needs to warm up to Santa and to feel more comfortable in his presence, so you’ll likely get a photo with smiles than tears and a stack of beautiful images.

Whiteman Photography
Cost: Studio Sessions are 20 minutes long and include use of both indoor scenes, plus access to a client gallery of approximately 20 Images. Single sessions are limited to 9 people; if you have more than 9 people, you must book 2 sessions.
+ Base Package $130: includes 2 high-resolution digital downloads of the client’s choice from their gallery, with the option to purchase additional images for $20 each.
+ Full Gallery Prepaid Package $180: includes high-resolution digital downloads of all the images in the client’s gallery (usually 20-30 images).
When: Every weekend from 2 November to 15 December 2024.
Location: Charmhaven
Dogs are welcome too!
Contact: Call 0466 496 767 or email [email protected].
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCSantaPhotos
Website: https://whitemanphotography.setmore.com/



Jessie Walker Photography – Christmas Mini Sessions


This year we’re excited to share that Jessie of Jessie Walker Photography has two Christmas minis settings. You can have your snaps taken at a Christmas Tree Farm or in her studio with full access to her stunning clients’ closet of adults’ and children’s clothing.  

Jessie Walker’s Studio Christmas Mini Sessions


Jessie Walker’s studio Christmas Minis look like they’ve been pulled from a magazine. Jessie’s styling and photography is stunning, effortless and timeless! Her studio Christmas lounge has a beautiful understated neural palette that puts the focus on your family. The traditional lounge feels luxurious and is full of gorgeous textures that add warmth to the image. The result is luxe, festive and homely: the perfect backdrop for families looking for natural-style photos that can take pride of place all year round.

Jessie’s images also come with that bit EXTRA. Jessie’s in-studio sessions allow clients access to her client wardrobe – a stunning array of flowing dresses, kids overalls, linen shirts and even festive attire that ensure you’re looking sensational and your images are both frame- and Insta-worthy. Plus, she promises snacks and treats to keep the wolves from the doors.

Jessie Walker’s Studio Christmas Minis
Price: This 30-minute session with access to Jessie’s stunning client closet (more than 80 women’s dresses, men’s outfits, kids clothing plus festive garb). Package includes 12 hig-res digital images. $350.
When: 17 and 23 November 2024.
Location: Toukley studio.
Contact: Jessie Walker, 0434 011 225, [email protected]
Website: https://jessiewalkerphotography.com/mini-sessions



Santa Paws Christmas Minis

Santa Paws sessions | Images ©Santa Paws


Your pets are very special family members, so we absolutely love that Santa Paws invites your pets to be centre stage in your festive photos. And it’s not just dogs that are welcome: cats, birds, lizards, fish, guinea pigs and rabbits can all have their photo taken at Santa Paws, too!

Photographer Courtney started Santa Paws in 2020 after finding it difficult to find festive photos that allowed her to bring her own pet. Courtney says, “My fiancé Brendan and I got our Golden Retriever Willow in 2020 which obviously meant we wanted to start our own tradition of an annual family Christmas photo! However, when I started looking into where to get one done with Willow as the main star, it was proving difficult to find places that accepted animals and those that did had limited session times that you could attend”. And so Santa Paws was born.

All Santa Paws sessions are pet friendly and, of course, pet-free families are welcome too! Courtney understands that some animals might find the new environment a little stressful and she invites people to contact her prior to their appointment so she can make adjustments to keep your pet as comfortable as possible during their photo session.

New this year, and for one day only, Santa will be visiting Santa Paws! We recommend you snap your spot quick-smart, cause they’ll be barking popular.


Santa Paws Christmas Minis
Cost:
Classic session $80 | $100 Santa Photo session on 1st December.
Included: Each session runs for 10 minutes. You get five digital photos emailed via Dropbox within 7 days (guaranteed by Christmas Eve if booking within 7 days of Christmas). The five photos can include a mix of pet + family and pet-only Christmas photos.
When: Most Saturdays and Sundays from 2 November to 8 December 2024.
Location: Santa Paws studio at 15 Forresters Beach Rd, Forresters Beach.
Contact: Courtney on [email protected].
Website: https://santapawspetphotography.com.au/



More festive and Santa photographers coming soon…


We’ll soon be including Santa Haus, Dear Juniper, LookPro Photography, Mala Moon and Imy & Me on this feature. Bookmark this feature as we’ll load details once these fab photographers have finalised their 2024 sets and plans.


Local Favourites Not Doing Santa Pics in 2024

We often get enquiries from people asking if certain photographers are running their Santa and festive sessions each year, so we’ve started compiling a little list of past favourites who are sadly no longer operating.

Santa on the Central Coast

Santa on the Central Coast

Santa on the Central Coast has been taking gorgeous Santa snaps for many years, and they’ve long been popular for their beach, bush and garden settings. Sadly Simone and Mel have made the difficult decision to not do Santa photos any longer.

Soul Story

Soul Story Photography

Renee’s studio festive photos have wowed families with their beauty and whimsy, but sadly, Renee has decided to move into another field.

Brilliant Santa on the Beach | Shelly Beach Central Coast
Brilliant Santa on the Beach | Shelly Beach Central Coast

Brilliant Santa on the Beach

For all of those people enquiring, the very special team behind Brilliant Santa on the Beach are no longer taking Santa snaps. These guys donated all proceeds from their photoshoots to Aspect Central Coast School, so they were pretty spesh.

Santa on the Sand

Santa on the Sand

This wonderful fundraising event has now retired. Michelle said, Santa and his wonderful Elves “unfortunately don’t currently have the time in their busy work schedules to give Santa on the Sand the love it deserves.

We are so grateful to all of you for being part of this since 2011, raising over $22000 for St Vincent de Paul, helping local families make ends meet at Christmas… We absolutely loved every minute of sharing this with you all and watching your families and fur babies grow!”

This feature was created in partnership with Natural Lights Photography, Jessie Walker Photography, Imy & Me Photography, Whiteman Photography, Dear Juniper Photography, Santa Paws, Santa Haus.

+ Want your photos or business to be included too? Reach out to Katie on [email protected].

Don’t let your friends miss out! Click below to share these gorgeous Christmas photo sessions with them.

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Header image: Whiteman Photography



Written By: KATIE STOKES

Founder & Editor

After working in print and online media for more than a decade, Katie launched Playing in Puddles in 2017. A mum of three young boys and local of the Central Coast, Katie loves discovering and sharing all that’s happening in our region.