Boston is such a shutterbug magnet that residents sometimes offer to snap a picture of a visiting family even before being asked. Arrange Junior and Sissy in the lap of one of the area's numerous portrait sculptures, or take a step back and capture the juxtaposition of a 19th-century steeple silhouetted against a 20th-century office tower.

Say "Cheese": At the bronze teddy bear on Boylston Street at Berkeley Street. Arm-in-arm or deep in thought with Mayor James Michael Curley, in the park on Union Street across North Street from Faneuil Hall. Pulling the cigar away from Celtics legend Red Auerbach, between the South Canopy of Quincy Market and the South Market building, Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Comparing your tiny sneakers to Larry Bird's clodhoppers or marathon legend Bill Rodgers's running shoes, captured in bronze right next to Red. Falling at the feet of a colonial hero: pedestals support Benjamin Franklin (School St., in front of Old City Hall), Paul Revere (Hanover St. at Clark St., across from St. Stephen's Church), and George Washington (in the Public Garden at the foot of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall). Perched on Mrs. Mallard (or one of her babies, if you fit) of Make Way for Ducklings fame, in the Public Garden near the corner of Beacon and Charles streets. Outdistancing the winner (or the runner-up) captured in The Tortoise and Hare at Copley Square, in front of Trinity Church. And at a spot so popular that the grass on the area favored by photographers had to be paved over, in front of John Harvard, Harvard Yard, Cambridge.

Say "Ooh": Always remember to look up for a quirky perspective. Capture a church against a backdrop of skyscrapers on Tremont Street (with the Boston Common Visitor Information Center at your back, turn left toward Park Street Church) or Boylston Street (in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, turn left toward the Arlington Street Church; across from Trinity Church, focus on the Hancock Tower). From any angle, the Old State House makes a striking contrast to its towering neighbors. Kill two birds with one stone: Pointing up at the Paul Revere statue on Hanover Street, you can lock in the Old North Church in the background, or walk around the statue for a new perspective on St. Stephen's Church. The Old North Church crops up all over the North End and Charlestown, as the Hancock Tower does throughout the Back Bay.

Say "Wow": Every bridge that crosses the river between Boston and Cambridge affords an excellent perspective. If your travels take you to the area around the Charles/MGH T stop, wander out onto the Longfellow Bridge, especially at twilight -- the views of the river are splendid, and if you hit it just right, the moon appears to shine out of the Hancock Tower.