Hey all,
A friend just asked if I can take some college grad pics for her, you know - cap and gown around campus - and I'd love to see some inspirational images from those here to kind of get my wheels turning. She's graduating from USF in Tampa so we'll obviously have some images of her with the USF Bulls (statue). That aside, I'm going to ask her to have a couple of spots in mind that are meaningful to her and we'll also just walk around and look for great locations and light.
If y'all have any images that you feel are unique, or even well-executed "must have" shots, please share them! I'd love to see them!
I intend to use OCF for at least some images (if I don't, that's fine too) and I have a Flashpoint XPLOR and 2 eVOLV's, and a V860II, triggers, a 38" Parapop and a couple of other medium sized modifiers as well as several MagMods (gels, grids, bounce, sphere). So if you have some images you'd like to share with similar equipment, I'd love to see those, too!
At this point, my only experience with graduation pics are those I took of my daughter, but she was graduating from pre-K and the only reason I took them was because we hated the images from the photographer her school hired. So this is a little different :-)
I don't have any samples to share, but this is one cute little graduate. I like the toe of the athletic shoe peeking out, it shows there's more personality lurking under the gown. Excellent portraits. As a small nit, I'd work the highlights and reflections on her face a tad... Mike
Thanks, Mike! I'm definitely planning to revisit these soon.
And yeah, she is ATHLETIC and just GOES non-stop. I took the kids to a playground the other day and rather than playing on the equipment, she was doing cartwheels. Like... one, after another, after another. And a random mom was there cheering her on. I kind of looked at her and laughed a little because even she acknowledged it was weird for a random person to cheer on a random 5 year old doing cartwheels. Then she told me why. Both of her daughters (I'd guess 7 & 9) are in gymnastics and have been for years and my daughter was impressing her with her speed, agility, and control in her cartwheels. The next day, Kyla had dance class and they actually practiced cartwheels. She was easily the best in her class while also being the second youngest and the smallest. So, yeah... She's SPUNKY!!! LOVE IT :-)
Sorry for the overshare, but given the fact that she had open-heart surgery at about a year and a half of age, I always worried that she wouldn't be able to keep up with other kids. It's great to see her doing just that, and going beyond. So I get a little jazzed as a result :-)
I'm a sports photographer and haven't yet jumped into "people" photography, but I would consider some senior type images without the cap and gown. Probably highlight some of the places she spent a lot of time while at college and any sports she might have played.
I've only been to USF a few times even though I live down the road in Clearwater, but you should ask her if there are specific architectural features she would like to include. The bull photo is an obvious one. My daughter just graduated and her school has prominent brick colonnades which we wanted to include in her photos. Graduation was also very sunny and we had to search for shade.
Nice images, Mitchell! Thanks! Elon is right up the road from my hometown of Charlotte :-) Also, your daughter's first name is spelled the same as my wife's, not often you see it spelled with an "f" :-)
We're not going to shoot on graduation day so I don't believe I'll be able to get any pictures with her diploma, but she will have her cap and gown. I'm expecting some harsh light here and there and that's where I'm planning to pull out the OCF equipment and balance/overpower the sun.
Anyone else with inspirational images, I'd love to see them!!
