Christmas Card Covers
Not being a professional photographer means I do not have a real photography studio, so I improvise. I started creating scenes to photograph on my dining room table — I called them Tabletop Tableaus. That evolved into Tabletop Christmas Tableaus. I began using those photos as covers for my Christmas Cards. Below is the short history of those cards.
2022
My first Christmas Card cover featured candles (tall, round & votive), round ornaments big and small, toy soldiers, tiered levels covered in red felt, a green glitter background and a framed picture of my great-nephew John gazing at an ornament hanging from a Christmas tree.
2023
This Tabletop Christmas Tableau featured one of my many tabletop figures created by Jim Shore (https://www.jimshore.com) - Frosty the Snowman and Ol’ Saint Nick, along with multi-color background lights.
I used a lens that allowed for a very large aperture, or a large opening to let in more light. Then I placed Frosty and Santa a few feet in front of the background lights.
That setup blurred the background. In photography this is known as “bokeh,” a Japanese word meaning blur or haze.
2024
Three inch tall toy soldiers in formation on two tiers covered in red felt with a red glitter background — created by pasting 12×12 inch squares of coarse, red glitter on a large poster board. Between the back row of toy soldiers and the glitter squares is enough space to hide candles that provide the backlighting. There are also candles to the both sides outside of the frame providing a warm light to the scene. All of the materials used came from Hobby Lobby (and can be found at Michael’s as well).
2025
This Tabletop Christmas Tableau began with one of my tabletop decorations - Santa in his sleigh and two of his reindeer. I added the fake snow that runs to the back of the scene where a glitter covered French château is illuminated by a small spotlight. Christmas trees and the family dog adorn the front porch.
Some small, white decorative Christmas trees have been placed between Santa and the chateau. The background is comprised of blue mini lights hanging over a large piece of poster board that is draped by a very thin piece white cotton fabric. This reduces the brightness of the lights and helps create the cool blue tint to the back of the scene. Santa is illuminated by more direct light.
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