UMass Boston Graduation Portraits

Columbia Point sits right on the harbor, next to the JFK Library, and for a lot of UMass Boston graduates that view is the best part of campus — open water, city skyline in the distance, and light that changes by the hour. It is also not a place where you get much of a chance to actually stand still for a portrait on graduation day. Between the crowd, the schedule, and the logistics of getting everyone in one place, commencement day is built for a ceremony, not for photographs. This guide is for UMass Boston graduates — traditional students and the many who are finishing a degree later in life around a job and a family — who want real portraits of the moment, not just what a friend caught on their phone. For the broader picture of how graduation portraits work across South Shore colleges, see the South Shore college graduation portraits guide.

Why a Private Session Beats Commencement-Day Photos

I understand the instinct to just let commencement day cover it. You are already in the gown, your family is already there, why add another appointment to an already full day? The honest answer is that commencement-day photography almost never delivers what people expect. The ceremony itself is crowded — rows of folding chairs, other families standing to get their own shot, sightlines blocked no matter where you stand. The light is whatever it happens to be at whatever hour the ceremony runs, which is frequently midday sun with harsh shadows and squinting faces.

The official commencement photo line, if your ceremony has one, moves fast by design — it has to, with hundreds of graduates cycling through. You get one frame, one expression, one pose, and no time to reset if someone blinked or the gown was twisted. And critically, nobody in that line gets a photo with their own family in it. The person who drove up from the South Shore, took the day off work, or flew in for the ceremony does not end up in a single image with you.

A private session solves all three problems at once. We control the light by choosing the time of day. We control the pace, so we actually get a range of expressions and poses instead of one rushed frame. And we build in time for family portraits, which for a lot of UMass Boston graduates — especially those who have been juggling classes with work and kids — matters just as much as the cap-and-gown shot itself.

Campus vs. Off-Campus: What to Know Before You Plan

The honest version of this conversation starts with permission. Most college campuses, UMass Boston included, treat anything beyond a casual phone photo as a commercial or organized photo session, which typically means checking in with the school and, in many cases, securing a permit. Policies vary by campus and can change year to year, so I cannot tell you in advance what UMass Boston will or will not allow on a given date. I am an independent photographer with no official affiliation with the university — I do not have standing access to campus, and I am not able to arrange it on a graduate's behalf. If campus portraits matter to you, the right move is to check directly with UMass Boston's administration well ahead of your date.

There is also a timing reality worth planning around. Commencement weekend itself is the busiest the Columbia Point campus gets all year — parking is scarce, walkways are full of families doing exactly what you are trying to do, and finding an uncrowded backdrop becomes its own project. A session scheduled a week or two before commencement, once you already have your cap and gown, tends to be dramatically calmer. The regalia is just as fresh, the harbor light is just as good, and you are not competing with hundreds of other families for the same patch of lawn.

None of this means campus is off the table — plenty of graduates do get permission and get a few frames with the JFK Library or the harbor walk in the background. It just means campus should be treated as a possible bonus location to confirm, not the plan you build everything else around. The reliable core of the session is off-campus, on the South Shore, where I do not need anyone's permission but my own.

South Shore Locations for Your Cap and Gown Portraits

This is where most UMass Boston graduation sessions actually happen, and for good reason — the South Shore has the same harbor light that makes Columbia Point photogenic, without the crowds or the permission question. A few favorites, depending on the look you want.

World's End, Hingham. Rolling drumlins, harbor views, and enough open space to shoot wide, editorial-style frames as well as tight portraits. It is one of the most striking pieces of land on the South Shore and reads beautifully behind a gown and cords.

Nantasket Beach, Hull. Wide open sand and water, and a boardwalk backdrop if you want something a little more urban within the same location. Late-afternoon light here has a warmth that flatters regalia and skin tone alike.

Scituate Lighthouse and Harbor. A more compact, classic New England setting — the lighthouse itself, the harbor, and the rock jetty give a few distinct looks within a short walk of each other.

Duxbury Beach. Long, uncrowded, and quiet outside of peak summer weekends — a good choice if you want a graduation session that feels more personal than public.

North River marshes. For graduates who want something greener and less coastal-postcard, the marsh grass and winding river between Marshfield and Norwell give a softer, more natural backdrop. For a fuller list of coastal options, see the best beach photography locations on the South Shore.

If the forecast turns on us, the studio at 83 E Water Street in Rockland — about thirty minutes from campus — is available as a weather backup so a rainy day does not mean rescheduling from scratch.

Timing: The April to Early June Window

UMass Boston graduation sessions cluster into a fairly narrow spring window — roughly April through early June, driven by commencement timing and by how long people are willing to wait once the semester ends. Within that window, the days immediately surrounding commencement weekend fill first and fastest, since that is when the largest share of graduates and their families are already planning to be in town.

If your schedule allows it, booking a date two to three weeks ahead of commencement tends to open up more availability and calmer locations, without sacrificing anything — your cap and gown looks exactly as fresh a few weeks early as it does the day of the ceremony. Whichever way you plan it, book as soon as you have a confirmed ceremony date. Spring is the single busiest season for portrait sessions on the South Shore between seniors, graduations, and family sessions, and good weekend and golden-hour slots go quickly.

What to Wear: Regalia, Cords, and a Second Outfit

A few practical steps make a real difference in how the regalia photographs. Have your gown pressed or steamed before the session — the creases from being folded in a bag for weeks show up clearly on camera, and a quick press removes them entirely. Practice the angle of your mortarboard ahead of time; too flat and it disappears into your hairline, too tilted and it looks accidental. A slight forward tilt, resting just above the eyebrows, photographs best for most face shapes.

If you are graduating with a master's or doctoral degree, your hood is one of the most visually distinctive parts of the regalia — make sure it is draped correctly and lying flat before we start shooting, since it tends to twist during travel. Honor cords and stoles should be untangled and evenly spaced rather than bunched to one side. Underneath the gown, keep it simple: a collared shirt or blouse that shows cleanly at the neckline works better than anything with a busy pattern, since the gown covers most of it anyway. Comfortable shoes matter more than stylish ones — we will likely be walking between a couple of spots at each location.

Bring a second outfit if you can. Once we have the full cap-and-gown set covered, changing into something you would actually wear to an interview or a family dinner gives us a completely different, more personal set of images to round out the gallery. For more on regalia specifics, see the cap and gown portrait guide.

Add a Professional Headshot, and Make Room for Family

Here is something most graduates do not think about until it is too late: the photo you will actually use the most in the next year is probably not the cap-and-gown portrait. It is your headshot. Whether you are applying for your first job, updating LinkedIn, or starting a new role after finishing your degree around work, a clean professional headshot is the image that gets used over and over — far more often than a graduation photo, which tends to get shared once and archived.

The efficient move is to shoot both in the same appointment. We cover your cap-and-gown portraits first, then step aside for a quick change into your interview or work outfit and knock out a proper professional headshot before we wrap. It adds maybe fifteen minutes to the session and saves you from booking, scheduling, and paying for a second appointment later.

I would also make the case for setting aside twenty minutes for family portraits while everyone is already in town for the occasion. For graduates finishing a degree later in life, this is often the part of the session that matters most — a real photo with a spouse, kids, or parents who supported the whole process, not just a solo portrait in a gown. Once the day is over and everyone heads back to their own schedules, that window closes.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I book my UMass Boston graduation portrait session?

The best window is April through early June, and the earlier you book within that window the better. Commencement weekend dates fill first, since so many UMass Boston graduates want the same few days around the ceremony. If you can shoot even a week or two before commencement, you will have a calmer campus, fresher regalia, and more schedule flexibility — but any date in that spring stretch should be locked in as soon as you know your ceremony date.

Can I get graduation portraits on the UMass Boston campus?

Possibly, but check with the school first. Most college campuses, including UMass Boston, require permission or a photography permit for anything beyond casual phone photos, and policies can change from year to year. I am an independent photographer and have no official affiliation with UMass Boston, so I cannot secure campus access on your behalf. In practice, off-campus South Shore locations are often the easier and less restricted choice, and they give us the flexibility to shoot at the best light of day rather than working around campus rules.

Should we shoot before or after the ceremony?

Before, if at all possible. Regalia looks its best fresh out of the packaging — unwrinkled gown, crisp mortarboard, cords that have not been sat on for two hours. Commencement day itself is also chaotic: parking is tight, the ceremony runs long, and everyone is trying to get the same shot in the same ten minutes afterward. A separate session, whether the week before or a different day entirely, means we are not racing the clock or fighting a crowd for a spot on the lawn.

Can I get a professional headshot in the same session?

Yes, and I recommend it. Most graduates need a headshot more urgently than they need another cap-and-gown portrait — LinkedIn, a resume, a first job application. We can shoot your cap-and-gown portraits and a clean professional headshot in the same appointment, just with a quick change out of the gown partway through. It is far more efficient than booking two separate sessions.

What does a UMass Boston graduation portrait session cost?

It depends on session length and how many locations and outfits you want, but most graduation sessions land in the same range as a standard senior or portrait session — typically a few hundred dollars for a focused single-location session, more for a longer session with multiple locations and outfit changes. I do not have separate list pricing for graduation specifically, so the best answer is to reach out with what you have in mind and I will confirm current rates.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris McCarthy

Chris McCarthy is a portrait photographer based in Rockland, MA who has been photographing the South Shore full-time since opening his studio in 2014 — more than a decade of outdoor and lifestyle portrait work across the region. He specializes in headshots, senior portraits, branding, family, and maternity photography — shooting at his studio at 83 E Water Street and on-location throughout southeastern Massachusetts at places like World's End, Scituate Harbor, Duxbury Beach, and the North River conservation land in Norwell.

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