If you are planning a big family gathering over the holidays you will surely be posing for at least one, if not several family portraits. While it is always feasible to take the shot with you in it by setting up your camera on a tripod, using the timer and then running into place (and these types of shots can be kind of fun to take as well), you may want to consider bringing in a pro to get the shot done for you so you can enjoy being at the party with your family and friends, and not worry about documenting it.
It is difficult to get a whole family together, particularly an extended family, and show up somewhere for a studio portrait shoot, so, as I have written about here, you need a photographer who will come to your home to do your family portrait on site where they are all already gathered. With some portable lights, a colourful backdrop and a good camera, you can have studio quality images taken in your living room. You’d be surprised at what can be fit into even the smallest of spaces, and if you are lucky enough to live somewhere beautiful, in-situ portraits using the natural views as backdrops add a very personal touch to the family portrait impossible to recreate in a studio.
As a portrait photographer in Montreal, holidays, weekends and evenings are my busiest times, so don’t think that just because it is a holiday you can’t benefit from having a professional portrait photographer come to your house when you’ve got the whole family finally gathered together, looking their best and feeling cheery for the holidays.