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Given the chance i had to assist in a photo shoot for a graduation ceremony. I couldn’t turn down the offer. The pay isn’t important but the expereince is. Working alongside Professional photographers, who were very nice btw, i got to see how real people in the industry earn money through the thing that they love.

Now, one thing that i regret, once i got to the ceremony hall is…why the hell did i sell my Nikon D200 with its 18-200 VR. All i had at the moment was a Nikon D40, and two Prime lenses, a 50mm and a 28mm..and thats not even taking into consideration crop factor! I mean the 18-200 VR isn’t a fast lens to say, but it is very versatile for those close up shots. I mean the hall was huge! i got tired of moving around constantly with a fixed focal lens. And its not until you’re working in a dark hall that you begin to understand what a pleasure a fast zoom lens feels, and why people fork out piles of cash out to buy theses babies.

For graduations, the main photographer has to take pictures of everyone that walks up to receive a certificate on the platform. My role on the other hand is to provide those “happy moments” shot, if you get what i mean. So here are some tips for graduation photography:

• Get a flash, if you’ve only got a decent DSLR with a kit lens, having a speedlight (flash unit) may save your life in these situations.
• Take as many sharp shots as you can, don’t worry about it being a bit dark and not perfect in camera, you can always edit that later.
• A fast telephoto lens would benefit greatly for those candid shots that you don’t want people to notice and start being all stiff once they see a photographer pointing at them.

• If you have money later on, invest in a good fast zoom lens, such as the Nikkor 17-55 f2.8, Nikkor 70-200 VR f2.8, or any third party and other brands equivalent. That extra stop goes a looong way.
• Move around, usually the photographer is permitted to go into areas where normal visitors aren’t. So use that to your advantage. Find an unusual but interesting angles, have a lot of variety in your pictures.
• You are the Boss on that day. You’re the photographer and people want their pictures taken on that day, Don’t be afraid to direct people on where to move (kindly of course) to get better lighting and angles.
• Smile at people and chances are they will smile back, even posing to allow you to take a picture of them.
• Use Manual Mode (easier to control) and centre weighted or spot metering on your DSLR.

Last but not least:

• Dress smart and look the part. You may not know what your doing, but if you look the part, i.e a professional photographer, people will acknowledge that your good. Try to act professional at all times and be in control, being nervous isn’t going to solve anything, so buck up and be confident. Before you know it, you’ll have people complimenting you.

Thats pretty much it, and i hoped that helped you guys out. So now you can go out and volunteer to take pics for your family or friends, or much better still, get a job taking graduation photos. Enjoi_learning.

P.S I’d like to thank Muhsin for giving me the chance to help out in the graduation photo shoots. I owe you big time dude!

Yeah thats me, the place was near St Pall’s cathedral, Guildhall to be precise.

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