Tips for Capturing Graduation Photos From GiftWorksPlus

College, high school, and even kindergarten graduation ceremonies are right around the corner. Will you be ready to snap those memorable shots to be treasured for a lifetime? If you have been following our GiftWorksPlus blog series detailing tips for taking better pictures you will! This week GiftWorksPlus, the leader in custom frames, is focusing its lens on caps and gowns and your loved ones in them. To be able to enjoy your child’s special event as well as get fantastic graduation photos, GiftWorksPlus recommends these grad picture ideas:   1. Create your plan 2. Develop your strategy 3. Prepare your equipment   Before heading out to the graduation festivities, create a plan. Make a list of graduation picture ideas that will effectively capture the mood and document the milestone: pictures of your student with friends in their caps and gowns, pictures of your student with a special professor or advisor, pictures of your student with the family, and pictures of your student in front of campus landmarks. (Incidentally, GiftWorksPlus has the perfect graduation frames and school-related engraved wooden frames to display these photographs, staged or candid.) Once you have a created a plan for the graduation pictures you want, the next step is to develop a strategy for getting them. It will be impossible to get all the photos on your list at the actual ceremony, and the attempt to do so will distract your attention from the event. Consider taking the “staged” photographs ahead of time, such as a close up of the graduate in cap and gown, your student with beloved faculty members, and photos on campus. This strategy will allow you to focus your attention and your lens on the extra-special moments at the ceremony. Finally, GiftWorksPlus suggests preparing your equipment and camera bag ahead of time. This will help to ensure you have everything you need and that nothing will be left at home in the hustle and bustle. Make sure your camera battery is fully charged and your memory card is empty; pack extras of both just in case you will need them, because you likely will. Make sure you camera is set to take the highest quality and resolution photographs and that you have any extra lenses or flash attachments you will need. Throw in the tripod and a lens cleaning kit. And be sure to take the list of shots you plan to get. Many high schools make the option available to purchase cap and gown portraits and pictures of graduates at commencement services and ceremonies. These can quickly become very expensive if you rely on them exclusively. And, though it is special to have a few formal, professionally done pictures, GiftWorksPlus knows it is just as special to have excellent shots you can point to with pride and say, “I took that!”