I think, sadly, it's maybe a matter of "you get what you pay for". I go to Petsmart every Christmas for their Santa pictures and although they aren't great, they aren't too bad. A charity does the pictures and most of the money goes to them and the Santa is usually always a happy guy that tries real hard to get the best pose of the dogs. I don't expect much so I'm not usually too disappointed.
They are fairly cheesy, but then I think that's part of the humor of having doggie Santa pictures.