Graduation Ceremony Photography

I've just returned from a graduation ceremony, where I spent the evening taking their formal graduation shots. It is a bit of a change from shooting sharks last week but that is one of my favourite parts of being a photographer, you can get a lot of variety in your work.

I use a simple portable set up for this sort of "half length" shot with 2 500W flash heads, that, even on half power, will let you shoot at 1/125 @ f9 - f11, ISO 100. The aperture lets you get enough depth of field on the subject whilst simultaneously blurring the background. I use a Lastolite background on a stand so I can carry the whole setup, plus camera bag from which ever car park I can get into, (It usually involves a walk of several hundred meters).

I'm off to Dubai on Monday for the Duabai Ladies Masters golf tournament, the last event on the Ladies European Tour's schedule. Dubai is somewhwere that I really enjoy shooting. In the last few years the building surrounding the Majilis Course have grown and it sometimes feels like you are on a golf course in the middle of a sea of skyscrapers. The heat at this time of year is also a bonus, especially given the weather that we have had in the England this last week.