Maybe try to get some photos of your Grad trying to get that silly hat to stay on. If the school has a tradition of tossing hats into the air you may not get one with it later. Make sure to get your photo with the Grad also. This is a good time to get the Grad with parents photos.

During the graduation ceremony, keep the camera on and flash charged but do not spend your time looking through the camera.

If a real good opportunity comes along you will be ready. Do not waste the moment though, if you are not close or there is anything or anyone between you and your daughter or son, enjoy the ceremony. Remember, its the graduation ceremony that you came for, not a photo shoot. Keeping the camera ready may use up the battery for later though. Bring a spare along with extra film or memory.

If you try to take the photo when there is someone or something between you and the Grad, your camera will get confused.

All the light from the flash will bounce off the object. Your camera will see all this light and think there is too much. Your Grad will most likely be lost in the dark with the object a bright glowing form in the front of the photo. This is what virtually all the photos everyone there will be seeing. Unless you have a real good opportunity, it is a great time to just enjoy the moment in your daughter or son's life.

Now, for the rest of the show.

After the graduation ceremony, make sure to get photos of the Grad with his or her friends.

These are the photos they will want to put on the Web and email to friends. You will want to get in a few with your Grad again too.

When you are taking these photos, it is important to find a good background.

Preferably something without crowds of people in it. You will want to keep the attention on your subjects. Indoors, try to find a wall or even better something with the school logo on it. Watch out for windows and glass cases of trophies that might cause a reflection. Having school related background will add to the feeling of the photo.

If the weather and time of day work out, take some outside, using the school as a background.

Try in front of the school doors (make sure not to keep others from getting through). Try to frame the Graduates with the school name over their heads. A photo like this with your Grad's best friends will be a photo they will always treasure. You may not have too much choice about having other people in the background for this. The importance is your Gradate with friends in a place they will remember (hopefully fondly) for life.

Some schools do not have the ceremony at the school.

Still look for a place you can take the photograph with the school logo. You may have to share it with others trying to do the same thing so don't hog it. Look for a nice background outdoors. You may find a nice wall or some trees nearby. Do not just settle for the crowd as a background.

When you outdoors, try using fill flash for some of the photos.

That is using the camera flash to fill in shadows form the sun. DOn't use it for all the photos, just some, because sometimes it can look wrong.

By taking lots of photos of your Grad with his or her friends you'll find them more willing to pose for a few with the parents. Maybe one of the more responsible friends can take the photos that include you.

Just remember, its the moments that count.

Not the photos. Don't drag it on too long. Remember your graduation ceremony? Your Grad will probably want to get past the photos and spend some time with friends or family celebrating.

One final though. make sure drinking and driving is not part of the celebration for anyone. You want there to be many more things in life to celebrate, remember, and take more photos of.

Are you ready to get great photos of this event? Many people take their camera and spend the event snapping away. It is not till later that they discover they have missed it. It only happens once.

Taking better graduation ceremony photos is not hard. You may need to change your expectation of what photos to take. By just changing your perspective about the photos will help you not only take better graduation ceremony photos, but also make the whole graduation event much more meaningful to you.

When I was printing photos in the lab, every May and June we would see the same photo.

It consists of the back of a row of chairs, topped by a row of very bright, glowing, overexposed heads. Occasionally, a few more rows of chairs with heads would be visible, but that is all you see. It was always disheartening to see the look on mom's face when she sees them. Yet, everyone does it. The sad truth is, the pictures were doomed from the start. And mom did not even have a good view of the actual event, because she was looking through the camera the whole time.

While, if you are real close, it may be possible to get good photos at a graduation ceremony, I'll go on record that much of the time, it is nearly impossible to get a great photo during the ceremony.

If your are a parent, unless you are within 20 feet of your son or daughter, you will not get a good photo of the event.

This is because most camera flashes have a maximum distance of 20 feet. It may be even less. There are other things going against you too.

What I suggest, if you are not allowed to go forward (or maybe even if you are) and take photos closer to the graduation ceremony, just put the camera down.

This is an event you do not want to miss. Enjoy the moment. Live the moment. Make it something you will remember without a photo. Why limit yourself to watching this moment through the tiny window of a camera? If the school has a professional photographer on hand, buy one of his photos when it is available if you really feel you need that photo.

Now that you've decided to enjoy your son or daughter's graduation ceremony, let's talk about taking some great photos that will really be important for the rest of time.

You will find these ideas will help you really get some great photos that tell all about the graduation ceremony that everyone will enjoy.

Go to How To Take Better Graduation Ceremony Photos Page 2