5 Tips for your Notre Dame Graduation Photo Session
Notre Dame Seniors and their parents start blowing up my phone right after Christmas, ready to get on the schedule for graduation pictures. Whether they are planning a photo shoot with their friends or on their own, many of the same tips apply.
Plan Early
I can’t stress this enough. Juggling Mother Nature’s calendar, my schedule and your classes, senior class trips, the Blue Gold Game, ceremonies, finals, etc. is a circus act of epic proportions. This is even more true if you’re planning a friend photo shoot. Coordinating everyone in your group can prove difficult on its own.
Let’s talk about the dates for a minute. Nine out of ten people are asking for the same few weeks. Between the third week in April and commencement in mid-May, we have a whole lot of people trying to get on the books! If you have been on campus at all during this month of the year, you know just how busy it is.
We also have soggy weather to contend with. Spring in Northern Indiana can be really nice when it wants to be. However, wind and rain are very common in April. May can be wet, too. We are going to want to plan for at least the chance of a wash-out, so we need to have enough holes in the calendar to make the reschedules happen.
I can shoot sessions back to back for a few hours, a few evenings a week. Don’t wait until it’s too late to get it scheduled, because the ugly truth is that I have to turn away a lot of these fun sessions each year due to schedule conflicts on the students’ end or mine.
2. Bring Your Stoles, Caps and Gowns
You might not want to wear them for EVERY picture that we take, but most people want to at least wear them for a few. Why not? It’s a huge accomplishment to graduate from the University of Notre Dame. Show off those graduation accessories for at least a couple pictures! Often, people will bring them around in a bag (some do individual bags, while others label them and put them all in one.. you do you!) and put them on for just a few snaps at each location. Just stoles, just cords, open gowns, closed gowns. I’ve seen most variations, and they can all work. I like using them in the big friend groups, especially by the Main Building. The Golden Dome provides a perfect collegiate look to pair with the graduation garb.
3. Plan on 3 Top Location Choices
Because of the juggling act mentioned in the first tip, it is a great idea to pick your favorite 3 locations for photos. If you have more than that, we might miss out on the pictures you really want. Here’s why:
Lots of people are doing the same thing you are, at the same time. I am always completely shocked to see the sheer number of photographers during the champagne sessions on campus. There are photographers EVERYWHERE taking pictures of students. It’s totally great, and it’s such a fun, positive atmosphere. Celebratory all the way. BUT that means there is also waiting. People literally have to stand to the side and wait for the group(s) ahead of them to have their photos taken. This is especially true at the few top choice places: the Main Building (steps, or at the statue.. there’s a wait either place!), the Library, and the Stadium.
We are all big boys and girls and can handle waiting in the sidelines for our turn. That just means our 75 minute session isn’t back to back picture taking. It’s a lot of walking and waiting.
Figuring out the locations ahead of time is something I strongly recommend. We will discuss it before you shoot on a phone call, so we can make the best plan. We photographers are really good to each other and don’t generally hog any locations, but we do have to get creative with our angles sometimes. A good plan makes for a good shoot.
4. Determine the “Who”
Whether or not you want to do an individual or group session is completely up to you. I know ther’re a bunch of students that opt for both.
This tip is easy if you’re going at it alone, so here’s a little bonus tip. For any individual graduation sessions, I often suggest sunrise. The campus is empty and beautiful. There is hardly any waiting. We can also get to so many locations rather easily when it’s just the two of us.
When planning friend group sessions, just try and have a really clear idea of who you want involved early. It will make scheduling, payment and narrowing down those locations choices so much easier. My prices are set for up to 7 friends, with additional cost for groups beyond 7. We can absolutely add a few people in to the pictures after you book, it will just be $50 more per friend above 7. That can even be Venmo’d day of if needed. If you’re going to have a HUGE group, please let me know ahead of time. We might try for just 2 locations or opt out of individual shots. That brings me to tip number 5…
5. Take the Time for an Individual Portrait (or 2!)
You only do this once, right? I love to encourage students to take a quick individual portrait break once or twice per session. You can use the stoles, wear the white dress, don the cap and gown or whatever you want! It’s your own picture! If we have a great plan for locations, have a good smallish group of friends, and aren’t contending with crazy weather, I am SURE we will have a good angle for briefly taking those solo shots.
Booking a session is easy.
If you’re the gal in charge of your group, reach out to me via email. I intentionally don’t take on many family shoots at this time of year because I want to have room for you. You can also visit the grad session info page here to learn more.
I know everyone hates the phone, but I will quickly call you so we can chat through a lot of date options until we find the one that can work for everybody. It’s just the best way to do it with your senior calendar being so full at that time of year. Talk to you soon!