Holiday Photo Shoots: With or Without a Setup?

When it comes to holiday photography, there are really two approaches:

• With a setup – festive backdrops, props, and carefully arranged scenes.
• Without a setup – natural, candid shots that capture the season as it unfolds.

Every year, I’m asked if our studio will feature Christmas setups and whether I can share photos of them.

But here’s the truth: you don’t actually need one. Today, anyone can hop onto an online greeting card website and instantly create a holiday‑themed card, complete with snowflakes, ornaments, or twinkling lights. The “setup” is already built in digitally.

So here is what the final product looks like after each photo shoot.

As you can see from this image that there is nothing in these pictures related to Christmas or the holidays if you look at them individually. However when inserted into a template, in this case a template from Shutterfly the regular pictures transform into a classic Christmas card.

Here are a few more examples…

Now below you can find a picture with an actual Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations. This pictures itself is holiday themed and all you need is some writing to make it into a card.

Advantage of having a picture with out a theme is that it can be used for anything else, but when you have a Holiday Theme or any other type of theme then that pictures cannot be used for anything other than that holiday/theme.