As far as seasonal props go, I tell everyone who contacts me looking for Christmas portraits of their children, we tend to lean towards a minimalistic approach, letting the subject do the “talking” and choosing not to include distracting and, in my opinion, gimmicky props.

Alexandra’s parents, one of the many that came in to the studio for some seasonal portraits, were looking for some Christmas themed pictures for a seasonal greeting card.

What brought them to our studios was partly our portfolio and location, but mainly our policy of no minimum order requirements. All they wanted was a picture or two of their daughter for their card, and we were only too happy to help them out.

Alexandra, a small 16 month old in her dad’s words, looked adorable in her black and white poofy party dress with a crimson sash accent and a matching hair band which stayed in place most of the time.

We set up some red Christmas ornament balls and let Alexandra play.  She was a mover, so thankfully the zoom lens could catch her moving. We would set her at the back near the backdrop, encourage her to play with the ornamental balls, and then she would get up and walk back to the front of the room.

Over the brief time they were in the studio, we ended up getting some very cute looks.