A Christmas card from the Lowcountry has more in common with a picnic than with a snow globe. The normal December high at Charleston’s airport is 62.7°F, and the normal low is 41.6°F, according to NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals.
Most lists of Christmas family photo ideas assume snow, mittens and a cabin. Around Summerville, the ideas that work lean on light, home traditions, greenery and the town’s own decorations.
The short version: pick one setting (studio, home or outdoors), let one or two objects carry the holiday, and compose the picture for the card it will end up on. The table below matches each idea to the family it suits.
Which Christmas idea fits your family
| Idea | Where | Best for | What it needs | Card shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain backdrop and one holiday object | Studio | Any age, including toddlers who wander | A wreath, a stack of wrapped boxes or a bowl of ornaments you bring | Vertical or square |
| Trimming the tree together | Home | Children old enough to hang an ornament | The tree lit, one tidy corner of the room | Horizontal |
| Pajamas on the sofa | Home | Families with young children | Coordinated pajamas, morning window light | Horizontal |
| Baking in the kitchen | Home | Kids old enough to stir a bowl | A clean counter, flour and an apron or two | Horizontal |
| The new baby’s first card | Studio or home | Families with a baby born this year | A fed, warm baby and a short session | Vertical |
| Downtown decorations | Around Hutchinson Square | Couples and older children | A quiet hour and one warm layer | Vertical |
| Live oaks and one red accent | Outdoors | Families who want a sense of place | A mild afternoon, an early start | Either |
| Three generations on the porch | Home | Relatives visiting for the holidays | A written list of groupings | Horizontal |
| The dog in a red bandana | Studio, home or outdoors | Families whose pet is part of every holiday | A calm walk beforehand, treats, a helper | Either |
| The outtake card | Anywhere | Families with a sense of humor and small kids | Permission to keep the frame where it all fell apart | Square |
If you are torn between two rows, choose by the youngest person in the picture. A toddler decides more about the result than the backdrop does.
In the studio, let one object say Christmas
A studio session takes the weather out of the plan, and a closed room keeps a two-year-old from wandering off. The backdrops are plain on purpose, so faces carry the picture. That is also why the holiday has to come from what you bring.
One strong object works better than ten small ones. A full wreath held between two children, a stack of boxes wrapped in the paper you used this year, or a string of lights coiled in a parent’s hands all read as Christmas at card size. A table covered in props mostly reads as clutter.
Bring the object in a bag of its own, and tell the photographer about it before the session so the setup leaves room for it.
At home: the tree, the kitchen and the pajamas
At home, the house becomes part of the story: the tree you picked, the kitchen where the cookies happen, the sofa everyone fights over. Small children are also at their calmest on their own floor, which counts for a lot in December, when everyone is tired.
Turn the tree lights on even in daylight. Window light does the work on faces, and the small lights glow in the background without needing a dark room.
Three home ideas photograph especially well. Trimming the tree, with each child hanging one ornament, gives natural movement. Baking, with flour on small hands, keeps everyone busy and laughing. Pajamas on the sofa in morning light look like Christmas morning without having to wake anyone at dawn on the 25th.
Clear one corner of the room rather than the whole house. The camera only sees a few feet of it.
Outdoors, when December feels like October
December here is mild enough to be outside in a sweater, which opens ideas that would be impossible farther north.
Moss-draped live oaks, marsh edges and a quiet beach all work, as long as one detail ties the picture to the season: a red scarf, a wreath on a car door, a sprig of greenery in a child’s hand.
Start early. On December 15 the sun sets in Summerville at 5:16 p.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, so the soft late light arrives around 4 p.m. and leaves quickly.
For decorations, Summerville has its own centerpiece.
The Town of Summerville holds its annual Christmas tree lighting in Hutchinson Square downtown, with pictures with Santa and holiday window displays (Town of Summerville events). The historic downtown around the square is also on the studio’s list of Summerville locations for engagement sessions.
The night of the lighting is a celebration, not a photo session; for a portrait with the decorations behind you, a quiet weekday hour is the better plan.
The card that introduces a new baby
If a baby arrived this year, the card has an obvious subject. A family huddled around the newborn, with a sibling leaning in for a kiss, says everything a card needs to say, and it needs no props at all.
Timing is the catch. Newborn sessions are usually booked during the third trimester and photographed in the first two weeks of life, so a December due date means planning the card photo before the baby comes. Here is how newborn photos in Summerville are scheduled at the studio.
Small lights work for a baby’s first Christmas too, as long as they stay in the background. In the frame above, the lights are nothing more than soft dots of gold behind the baby. Whatever you use at home, keep anything warm or wired well away from a newborn.
Two ideas for families who don’t take themselves too seriously
If the dog is part of every holiday, bring the dog. A red bandana or a sprig of holly on the collar is all the costume a dog needs. Walk the dog before the session, bring treats, and assign one adult whose only job is the leash.
Or plan the outtake card. With small children, at least one frame will catch somebody crying, a sibling mid-shove or a parent laughing too hard to look at the lens. One idea: put that frame on the front of the card and the polished one inside. Tell the photographer in advance that you want the outtakes kept.
Compose for the card before the first frame
Most holiday photos end up on a card with a greeting, a family name and a year printed on top. If the words sit over the picture, the photographer needs to leave room for them on purpose: sky above the family, a plain wall beside them, a stretch of floor in front.
Look at the card template before the session and tell the photographer three things: vertical or horizontal, where the text sits, and whether it is a single photo or a collage. A collage needs one wide group shot and a few close frames; a single-photo card needs one frame that works at the size of a postcard.
Ask for both orientations of the group shot. Templates change, and it costs seconds on the day.
Words for the card, in three languages
Short greetings sit best over a photo; save the long letter for the inside. A few that leave room for the picture:
- Merry Christmas from our house to yours.
- Peace, joy and a little chaos, from all of us.
- Our first Christmas as a family of four.
- Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo.
- Feliz Natal e um Ano Novo abençoado.
A large share of the families the studio photographs are Brazilian or Hispanic households. A card with the greeting in English on the front and Spanish or Portuguese on the back reaches both sides of the family.
Mistakes that spoil a Christmas photo
- Booking late. By the time the card template is chosen, the November weekends may already be taken.
- Dressing everyone in red. One or two accents read as Christmas; a whole family in red reads as a uniform.
- Too many props. One wreath beats a table of ornaments, stockings and signs.
- Scheduling against the nap. Small children do best after a nap and a meal, not before.
- Shooting outdoors at midday. The harsh overhead sun makes everyone squint; the last hour before sunset is kinder.
- Forgetting the card. A beautiful horizontal frame does not fit a vertical template.
Color without costumes
The rule that holds for every family photo holds at Christmas: coordinate, do not match. Choose two or three colors, put red or green on one or two people as an accent rather than on everyone, and avoid large logos and neon.
Fabrics and layers for a warm Southern fall and winter are covered in our guide to dressing a family for a warm Lowcountry fall.
When to book a holiday session around Summerville
At the studio, family sessions build through September and peak in November and December, and the reason is the card. Households across the area need a fresh photo before the print order goes in, and most of them remember at about the same time.
Weekend dates in November go first. If the card has to be printed and mailed before the holidays, work backward: the order date, the editing time, then the session. Booking in September or October gives you more dates to choose from and the first cool afternoons of the year.
When you have an idea from the table in mind, see how family photos in the Charleston area work at the studio, then check holiday dates for a family session with Studio FB USA or call or text (843) 727-5264. Sessions are directed in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
