How to Take Great Graduation Pictures - Part II

In of this series, we discussed preparing to take pictures at a graduation ceremony and what equipment to bring.  In Part II, we'll talk about specific tips for both indoor and outdoor ceremonies, as well as 

Ideas for Indoor Ceremonies

With indoor ceremonies you'll have two major challenges:  white balance (your pictures will tend to look overly "yellow") and lack of light.  Most on camera flashes are very limited in their range, so if you are using the one that is built in with your camera, you're going to have to outsmart it.  Here are a few tips for shooting an indoor ceremony with built in flash: 

1.  Raise your ISO - today's digital cameras can go quite high and still create really nice images without a lot of noise (called grain in the film days).  When I'm shooting in a gymnasium setting, I would typically be at 800 - 1600 ISO, and depending on your camera you may even be able to go much higher - say 3200.  

2.  Your camera is going to want to use the lower aperture settings because of lack of light.  The problem (depending on how low those numbers go) is that the lower the aperture is, the shallower your depth of field will be. This can be a problem when photographing groups or from a long distance.  Raising your ISO as mentioned above will also help you be able to use higher aperture settings, so this is important. 

3.  Even if you think you aren't really practicing your passion if you aren't shooting in manual, think about what is most important - that you captured your son's face as he reached for his diploma in (gasp) automatic mode or that you were in manual mode and took a picture at that moment that didn't turn out or you missed it entirely because you were fiddling with the dials?  I think you know the answer to this one.  

4.  Get there early - arrive early enough that you won't feel uncomfortable taking some test shots before things get started.  If your white balance seems off, try the different basic setting and see if you like the results. Try auto, tungsten and flourescent settings for sure.  Figure out where you will shoot from and what lens will work best, etc.  

Tricks for Outdoor Ceremonies 

Outdoor ceremonies are definitely easier to photograph than indoor ones, but there are still some things to think about and plan for: 

1.  The sun - hopefully the school will have the graduates arranged so that the sun isn't blaring in their and your eyes, but there is only so much they can do.  Try to take your pictures with the sun off to one side or another, or behind your subjects whenever possible.  Just be sure to use fill flash if the sun is behind them, otherwise your images will not be exposed properly.  

2. You'll have a lot more wiggle room at an outdoor ceremony, so make the most of it.  Try to capture your graduate at different times during the event - marching in and out, sitting in their row, etc., etc.