Graduation

I photographed the River Ridge High School 2010 commencement exercise at the Marcus Pavilion at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, WA for The Olympian.

The Shoot:
Graduation ceremonies can be tough, usually you’ll have an outrageous graduate who’ll decorate their cap or wear some flashy bling or a colorful lei, but not at River Ridge. These future leaders are class-acts, which makes my job that much more difficult. Lucky for me the arena had a few nice spotlights pointed toward the front few rows of the graduates’ seating area, so I just composed my frame and waited for a reaction.

The Image:
Graduate Marquee Adams watches the monitor as his fellow classmates enter a packed arena. This image is lit with the arena spotlights to create side lighting. I got down low to compose this image so the background would be clean, which helps keep the focus on the subjects expression.

Details:
Camera: Canon 1D Mark IIn
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
ISO: 800
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
F-Stop: f/2.8