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Family Portraits in Boston

Mat Tam is an experienced family photographer who’s provided hundreds of professional portraits to families across Boston and the wider area. A friendly service is assured, with beautiful, tasteful and fun portraits that last the test of time.

As a professional photographer, Mat can work with you to understand your unique taste and style, discussing your requirements and creating a portrait that suits your family. Everyone is welcome on session day, from grandparents, relatives, and even your family pets!

Portrait Locations in Boston

Boston is a beautiful city, and you’ll find more picturesque, quirky or classic places to conduct your session than most cities in the USA. Whether you take a family portrait on the Boston Commons, a more romantic scene by the Charles River or want something more contemporary downtown, Mat has the skills to deliver your vision.

Candid Moments, and Timeless Family Portraiture

As a professional photography agent, Mat Tam is an expert on capturing those candid family moments. Hundreds of clients hang these cherished moments in pride of place at home – that’s the Mat Tam Photography way.

Capturing the right moment, so that your portrait looks professional yet spontaneous is an art form in itself. To achieve this, natural lighting is used as much as possible, and great effort is taken to make every member of your family feel relaxed as possible.

Child and Baby Family Portraits

One of the toughest aspects of family photography is trying to capture or baby or child perfectly. At Mat Tam Photography, the emphasis is always on trying to let your child do what they desire during the session. By giving your child a degree of freedom during the shoot always results in happy, carefree and spontaneous photos – capturing that perfect slice of family life!

New-born Photography

Capturing the first few months of your child’s life is one of the most important sessions all new parents want to book, after all, babies grow up so fast it makes sense to capture the early stages before it’s too late!

Mat Tam has photographed hundreds of new-born infants, all to great effect and has experience in how to obtain the perfect shot, whilst keeping your child happy.

Maternity Photographs

A modern invention and one that’s become hugely popular is the maternity shoot. These shoots usually include the mother and father alone and can make for extremely close photos.

Mat is an expert at drawing out the love and affection all couples have for each other, capturing it in a portrait to look back on in the future.

Family Portrait Tips

1. Location – Sometimes, it feels like your extended family can never get together. To get the perfect family portrait, you might need to be flexible and take your chance when it comes along. If possible, it’s definitely worth organizing your photograph in a location that holds a special place in your family’s history. As a seasoned photographer, Mat is able to work almost anywhere – opening up a huge area of Boston and the surrounding area to use as your canvas. Of course, locations don’t have to be glitzy or glamorous; a simple portrait taken in a much-loved family home can often have more meaning 10 years later when you’ve moved.

2. Arranging People – It sounds odd, yet the way you arrange your family during the session can make a huge impact on the balance and feel of a shot. A good photographer like Mat, will use everything available to make your portrait balanced and visually stunning. It’s for this reason, that bringing as many members of your family to a shoot as possible is recommended. Older people and children will often be shorter than their younger counterparts, allowing your photographer to strike the right balance in the frame. Expect to get close during your shoot, the best family portraits are those that feel intimate and close. Large gaps between participants are for school photographs and company team stock images!

3. Smiles, Smiles Everywhere! – During the shoot, a good family portrait photographer will try and place you in a setting with reasonable light, and hopefully with the sun hitting you at slightly less than a right angle. Ever wondered why studios always have a lamp pointing across the subject whilst shooting? It’s because the light illuminates the face, creating light shadows and picking out detail – without causing the subject to squint. In an outdoor setting, your photographer will attempt to recreate this with natural light where possible. Even after all this attention to detail, a member of your family is bound to squint during the shoot, it’s a standard human reaction! For that reason, your photographer will take many photos – picking the best ones of the set as candidates for the finished article.

4. The Photographer Calls the Shot – This is vitally important, after all, it’s your photographer who will make your vision a reality and capture that perfect family moment. Even so, there are always certain family members who want to dictate what goes on. It depends on how comfortable you feel, yet you may need to politely ask the persons involved to calm down their autocratic side!

5. Small Family Shots – Sometimes, instead of including everybody in those family photos, it’s a great idea to just include the immediate members. This is a hugely popular option for young families looking for baby photography and young family portraits. One of the great things about the smaller family shot is the fact that you’ll be able to choose a greater variety of shots, angle, and locations that you would with a larger gathering. Small family portraits also lend themselves to a far more intimate, relaxed and cozy shoot – a real bonus if you’re trying to capture a new-born child.

6. Inventing the Wheel – It’s always worth mentioning to your photographer that you’re open to the idea of a more exciting shoot. Most photographers, especially Mat are open to interesting ideas and fun setups! Portraits of families in age order are a common theme and end up as a quirky and fun portrait!

When trying to make your family portrait fun and quirky, the youngest members of your family are just about the best tool you have! They will climb, make funny faces and do all manner of crazy things that just work – don’t be afraid to play a little during your shoot. Unlike many photographers, Mat Tam doesn’t put an arbitrary time limit on shoots – helping you find the perfect style to suit your family.

7. Reportage Style – This is a modern style of photography that’s become hugely popular at weddings. Your photographer will do their best to work discretely, photographing many family moments during the shoot.

Not all the photos will work, in fact, the vast majority will probably be deleted; however, this style of shoot always results in some fun, cozy and intimate photos. To make a shoot like this work properly, it’s vitally important you pick an experienced photographer like Mat Tam.

8. Splitting the Group for Special Moments – Quite often, the most touching photos aren’t of the entire family group, but of specific close relationships between certain members. Father and daughter photos, Grandparents with grandchildren and a picture of the children on their own.

Mat Tam, will always try and discover the background to your family before taking final shots. By doing this he can find out what pairings will make for a more heart-warming portrait.

9. It’s All About the Kids! – Most new parents love to take photos of their children, yet frequently they never quite come out right! Children are way too busy playing, laughing, crying and messing about to stop for a boring portrait!

During a professional shoot, your photographer will use this spontaneity to their advantage, allowing the children to play and run about as much as they want to. There’s method to this madness, of course, the best child portraits happen when the child is happy, carefree and relaxed – a photographer like Mat Tam makes it their personal mission to enable your children to feel like this.

Common tactics during a shoot are using a toy or fun object to distract your child’s attention, or attempting something fun like encouraging your child to adopt a funny position during shoots – anything that gives your child something to focus on and avoid boredom!

10. Just Relax – Having a family portrait taken should be a fun and relaxed family time. You might feel nervous, anxious or self-conscious but please try and let those feelings slip away. Mat Tam is experienced, knowledgeable and understands exactly how you feel, after all, he’s photographed hundreds of people!

Creative Family Portrait Poses

Most professional photographers aren’t fans of the traditional family posed portrait. Sometimes, the traditional “posed” shot can feel insincere and a little exaggerated. Modern family portraits are all about capturing spontaneous family moments like laughter or quirky emotive shots.

Most families bring their own energy to a photo shoot. This can take many forms, from larger than life families, to more subdued and restrained units. Mat Tam is an expert on discovering your family’s individual “vibe”, capturing it for eternity.

1. The Secret – This classic pose, happens when your photographer asks one subject to tell another a secret. It actually doesn’t matter much who is telling the secret and who is listening, human beings almost always react to it with the same mischievous warm smile – exactly what your photographer wants to capture.

The secret setup works wonders with couples, young children, and brother/sisters. They almost always result in a warm, intimate and friendly portrait.

2. Holding Hands – This is a favorite of young families and similar to a traditional family portrait, except with one important twist. By holding hands, the entire family unit feels closer, more connected and the children with likely burst out in a smile.

You can mix up the holding hands pose in a multitude of ways. Running towards the camera makes for a dynamic shot, especially with younger children, whilst swinging your child from both arms can also make for a classic young family shoot.

Once children are slightly older, you’ll be able to interact within the portrait at your own level. Often, just posing close to each other can make for a heart-warming shot, especially against a winters backdrop!

3. Surprise! – Your photographer will ask your children to sneak up on you, before jumping on your back and climbing into the shot. The spontaneity of the attack, followed by the closeness of your children climbing all over you typically makes for a quirky shot that cannot be faked! Some of the most honest and intimate family portraits happen when you introduce a surprise element!

4. The Big Family Hug – This is an easy shot to attempt, yet a difficult one to pull off. The largest member of the family has to put their arms around everyone else, whilst the children cuddle in. Often, it’s the family member with the largest arms who gets roped into the first job – often a father or teenager.

5. The Kid Sandwich – Nope, this isn’t a questionable new main course available at Little Caesars, but rather a variation of the big family hug. It starts with your children in the middle, parents on the outside – now squeeze!

Most children love being hugged, especially by their parents! With this in mind, your child will probably break out into a huge smile half way through the kid sandwich. It’s this broad smile, right in the center of the frame that makes the kid sandwich a perennial family portrait favorite.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

Mat Tam is a hugely experienced photographer who’s worked in many industries. Whatever questions you have, no matter how silly they might sound, Mat has heard them all before! It’s also worth asking as many questions before the big day as possible, allowing you to relax on your session day.

During the day, always let Mat know if you’re feeling nervous or anxious about the shoot. Not everyone enjoys having their photograph was taken, something that expert photographers like Mat can help you deal with.

Booking a on location Family Portrait Photography Session in Boston

Want to get started now? Take a look at my Family Portrait Rates and also feel free to Get in Touch and see how I can capture your cherished family moments.

• View my FAMILY SESSION RATES
• View latest and full family portrait sessions on my FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG
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