My son had his grade 12 grad today. Mom and Dad were very proud. Now it is on to the second stage of life. He is a young man (17). There were over 400 graduates in his classs and about 2300 people at the dinner and dance. Here are few shots of the day ...

Difficult lighting conditions , crowds , some are not technically very good , but the memory has been captured and that is what really counts.

Click on image for larger view

The initial introduction. Yes the crutches were the result of a dark basement , stairs and a vacum hose on the last step - not at our place but a sprained ankle at a most unopertune time , yet it did not dampen his spirits it was a great day for all invloved. The accident happened last night - what timming !!!



Ever wonder what 400+ graduates look like ?



Receiving the Diploma ....



Mayhem the ceremony is over finally !!!



3 generations ....



Da boy and his girlfriend ....



The sharp dressed young man



Spreading his wings (haha)




The K20D and high ISO performed well as did the Tamron 70-200 and the DA* 16-50 and a flash. Lots of keepers from the day ... Thanks for looking.

[Ash]

Graduations are always a photographic challenge.
And with these I believe you've done very well.
Too far to use flash, too little light to have a decently fast shutter speed - lots of scope for introducing unwanted noise.
The 70-200 is very handy to have in these situations, but you've used it well!
Nice memories.

[RichardS]

Congratulations, Dave, to you and your son. High school graduations look like they're a major production in Canada.

Were the light levels in #2 a problem? You seem to have the stage, graduates and spectators all exposed correctly.

[paulyrichard]

Congrats Dave.

The last shot is real nice one in particular.

[Heinrich Lohmann]

Hi Dave and congratulations to both you and your son. Images look good, they'll be good memories for a long time to come.

[timbo13]

congratulation to you and your son! nice job of capturing the memories.

[daacon]

Graduations are always a photographic challenge.
And with these I believe you've done very well.
Too far to use flash, too little light to have a decently fast shutter speed - lots of scope for introducing unwanted noise.
The 70-200 is very handy to have in these situations, but you've used it well!
Nice memories.

Thanks Ash , the 70-200 was invaluable from my vantage point (way way back there !) snuck up closer for the diploma shot. I can appreciate wedding photographers - there are some shots where you don't get a second chance

Congratulations, Dave, to you and your son. High school graduations look like they're a major production in Canada.

Were the light levels in #2 a problem? You seem to have the stage, graduates and spectators all exposed correctly.

Thanks Richard. This was a huge prodcution. As mentioned about 400+ grads , it was well a run the ceremony was just over 2 hours. For #2 I actually used the DA* 16-50 and the flash. Lighting was bad in the hall , the stage was lit , however we were in the grandstands which was totally dark.

Congrats Dave.
The last shot is real nice one in particular.

Thanks Paul that was one of my faviroties as well.

Hi Dave and congratulations to both you and your son. Images look good, they'll be good memories for a long time to come.

Thanks Heinrich Indeed many of these will make the print phase.

congratulation to you and your son! nice job of capturing the memories.

Thanks Tim appreciate the comments.

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Last edited by daacon; 05-31-2009 at 08:06 AM.

[roentarre]

Dave, that seems like a great day of events rolling out for you. The clutches do make the images even more memorable.

[cupic]

By your dedication of a proud father of a proud son and grandfather that is proud of all ,well done Dave you have handled it well....so after grad's is there a break or is it the wide blue yonder beckons


cheers

[Jimbo]

I went through this last year with my daughter and it is a great time to look back at mermories and remember how lucky we are. Great photo's Dave. I can see how proud you are in the one photo. Cheers JIM

[daacon]

Dave, that seems like a great day of events rolling out for you. The clutches do make the images even more memorable.

Thanks James it was an eventfull and long day. The crutches were a PIA but he handled it well.

By your dedication of a proud father of a proud son and grandfather that is proud of all ,well done Dave you have handled it well....so after grad's is there a break or is it the wide blue yonder beckons
cheers

Thanks Ivan - after the offical ceremony there was about 3 hours before the dinner and dance started. A lot of the grads took the opportunity to go to a popular photography spot and take some shots with all their friends. It's a fact after graduation you tend to lose touch with a lot of people. Then back to the hall for a really good meal , couple of dances then home (well for his mother and I , da boy had some after grad parties to attend )

I went through this last year with my daughter and it is a great time to look back at mermories and remember how lucky we are. Great photo's Dave. I can see how proud you are in the one photo. Cheers JIM

Thanks Jim - my daughter is 2 years ahead so this was the second one for our kids (and last wahoo), well the 4th if you count neices and nephews Lucky and blessed indeed.

[Sailor]

Hey, congrats buddy - to you and your son. This series really captures the spirit of the event.

Jer

[Scottnorwo]

Congrats on your son's graduation. A wonderful job capturing the ceremony, photos to enjoy for a lifetime

[photolady95]

Congratulations Dave and son.

Number four is how I felt when I graduated college in 1999, all frazzled.....

Nice captures of the moments, to be looked back at when he's old and gray, eh.

Pretty cool Dave. Congrats to you and your son. Love that last one with crutches like wings.
Symbolic and funny!