The occasion of your child’s pre-school or kindergarten graduation is a special moment in their early learning process. It shows that they’re ready to move to the next level of schooling, and by taking an effort to capture this moment through some nice photography; it should be a memory worth preserving. Below are some tips to assist you in getting the best every time you photograph this early accomplishment.
Preparing For the Event
Just imagine the kind of pictures that you would like to take before you are even in a position to take a graduation day picture. Informality: You will desire your child smiling with friends as well as teachers, traditional poses in the cap along with gown, and poses using any recognition received. Prepare a to-do list and/or don’t let yourself forget some crucial issues.
Make sure that your phone or digital camera has enough memory space to fit many pictures which should be encouraged. Take extra batteries, and for those who use memory cards, ensure that they have extras with them. If possible it is recommended that you scan the environment in the venue for light so that one knows if a flash is going to be necessary. Know if standing for portraits, or group photos, is due at a particular time.
Co-ordinating Your Child’s Look
Almost all the pre-school and kindergartens could arrange their graduates to wear the cap and gown that belong to the school. You, however, may wish your child to wear a special outfit that matches the colors in the cap and gown that are worn at the graduation ceremony. For a spring ceremony it is recommendable to use light colors such as light blue, pink and yellow. Just don’t over do it, make-up and accessories should be quite subtle, you know, classy. This is not about the fashion and style of your toddler, it is about achievement of the little one. This means plaid shirts, check shirts and stain shirts do not always photograph well. I agree with Chris that busy patterns don’t really translate well, and that it’s probably best to stick to solid colors.
Arriving Early
Parents attending the graduation should ensure that they reach the venue in good time and prepare for the event prioritizing some good spots where they can take photos without inconveniences from other parents or attendees. Consider both types of sitting where the individual has a straight line of sight to the vertical plane, or standing where one has to be at a higher elevation than the sitting audiences such as rear or side walls of a room. You would love to have abundant space for movement in addition to clean shooting scenes devoid of unnecessary items insofar as portraits are concerned. It also provides the opportunity for you to take multiple set ups before the ceremony and has more setup time than all parents running around during the ceremony with their camera.
During the Ceremony Itself
It is also good to take photographs during the graduation march where the graduates walk in and then take their assigned seats. Getting a profile of your own child, a shot down a line of graduates, and a wide shot of the whole line are good first shots. Beware of finding temptation of getting sudden shots like giggling and talking to classmates during the ceremony. Capture award presentations, shaking hands with the principal, soundbites where your child is featured and those classic highly emotional parents crying in the background. Contrary to what is depicted in different photo books one doesn’t always ask the couple to strike a pose – the natural moments says it all and captures the feeling and accomplishment as well.
Portraits and Posed Shots
There is generally time for.relatively stilted pictures with your child after the proper get-together. Take both, vertical and horizontal shots. In erection a couple of group shots with classmates, fraternization the principle and teachers if feasible. They may want a toy like a teddy bear or a book associated with school for fun photo blasts while at school. If indoors ensure that your background do not have exit signs, noticeboards or fire alarms cropped in your pictures. Outside, sit them with their backs towards the sun then light up the side of the hat and use a reflector or diffuser to bounce captivating light on to the faces.
Available Delivery Methods of Prints and Digital Images
Of course you’ll probably take hundreds of photos you’ll later edit down for your own photo keepsake album or frames. But also take prints and present the grandparents, aunts, uncles and even the teachers who raised your child through pre-school. Take extras whenever you have your own prints made to be prepared for gift giving or upload your photos to a photo site which offers print and photo merchandise orders.
Perhaps you may make your very star graduate develop a customized photograph album of memorable incidents and achievements that would be suitably appropriate to this early accomplishment. Oh, yes, what about their time capsule? Some pre-schools see the children put together things such as trinkets, pictures, and early pieces of work into a time capsule that will be opened after the high school graduation. Make sure to turn them into picture frames to remind them how they were when they look back again in 14 years.
Wrapping Up
Your child’s pre-school or kindergarten graduation certainly could be one such event where a major developmental transition is marked. Though the rite you watch could be quite plain, the meaning is deep. Graduation photography during this event offers a meaningful method of recording a child’s achievement and participation in those early years of learning. Failure to do this means missing the chance to be prepared, present, and ready to capture some spectacular frames. Then, fill finished prints and other photo gifts, which you, your child, and your entire family can always treasure.
