Graduation . . . the story behind the pictures
One of my favorite events to cover each year is high school graduation. Graduates are often so "over-the-top" about everything; they are almsot giddy with anticipation. Below are some images I captured during May 2010 Graduation activities at TK Gorman Catholic High School here in Tyler, Texas. Captions below the picture will tell you a little about the photo and how it occured.
(above) As is the tradition at many schools, the newly annointed Gorman graduates had just gathered outside the gym for the traditional hat-toss (technically the hat is called a mortarboard, but that's another story). As everyone gathered, I positioned myself for the best shot. I wanted to see the hats in the air and the people throwing them. I set my camera on rapid-fire and began shooting away. Imagine my amazement when I got home and began to edit the pictures and discovered this little gem. All around this graduate, her friends are wildly tossing their mortarboards while she stands there smiling, so stoic, so totally non-conformist. Why did she do this? What was she thinking? I love this photograph, so I doctored it a bit with Photoshop imaging software, made the photo black and white with "spot-color" to give this grad a little more emphasis.
(above) In the world of texting, this new grad is LOLH. I looked at the series of images just preceeding this one and she definitely built up to this crescendo moment. Maybe it just hit her that graduation for was for real. I don't know, but it made for a cool picture.
(above) As graduates were filing into the gym, they entered together with an invited alumni from a previous graduating class. The rehearsed drill was, they walked together to the front of the gym and then parted . As they went their seperate way, each graduate was suppose to hand a rose to the honored alumni as a keepsake. This young graduate apparently got distracted and looked up just in time to see his appointed alumni already headed to his seat. The rest of the story is in the photograph.
(above) I was setting up my lights on stage before the ceremony. I needed a stand-in and this young man, a lower-classman, accomodated me. I just liked his cheesy pose. I am sure he will provide great fodder for next year's batch of graduation photos.
(above) I couldn't tell if this graduate was singing the Hallelujah Chorus Hymn or just paying homage to the principal. Either way, I thought it was a cool photo with a great expression.
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