So my friend takes her son to one of those studios and has new portraits hanging up every month. They do a nice job but she was not satisfied with his Christmas shot. After bribing me with compliments and a free meal, I stopped by and got this shot for her. It was a very simple setup. They had just gotten their tree (not yet decorated) and propped in up in a corner near a window. Perfect! I set up my TTL flash, camera left, as my key light and used the window (that had a diffused shade) as my fill light on camera right. I liked the outcome and spent only 7 minutes in Photoshop Elements. Adjusted color and saturation, and burned the edges. In addition, I burned just the shadows in the tree. Send it to Walmart, they print it up on their Christmas card paper and you are good to go.
Fast. Cheap. The comfort of home for a 2 year old? ....Priceless!