30 graduation photo ideas for college and high school

Graduation photos have two jobs: celebrate the achievement and show the place where it happened. Get both by shooting at the campus spots that mattered to you, in the soft light of early morning or late afternoon, with the cap, gown and diploma as your props. Here are 30 ideas.

Classic

1. The cap toss. Everyone throws on three. Shoot from low with the sky behind. Burst mode.

2. Holding the diploma. Proud, at 1.5x, campus behind.

3. In front of the main building. Small graduate, big architecture. The Travel Shot guide frames it.

4. On the campus steps. Sitting with the gown spread out.

5. Walking towards the camera. Gown flowing, cap in hand.

6. Looking back over the shoulder.

Campus landmarks

7. Your department building.

8. The library. Down an aisle, shelves leading to you. The Vanishing Point guide uses converging lines like these.

9. The campus sign or gates.

10. Your favourite study spot.

11. The mascot statue.

12. Your dorm or first apartment.

Props

13. The decorated cap. Close-up from above.

14. Champagne pop. Burst mode, pointed away from people.

15. Balloons with the year.

16. Your major: a lab coat, a stethoscope, a paint brush, a laptop.

17. Stack of textbooks you never want to see again.

18. The tassel turn. Close-up of the hand moving the tassel.

Friends

19. The friend group cap toss.

20. Arm in arm walking across the quad.

21. Roommates where it began.

22. Lined up on a wall or steps.

Family

23. With parents. The diploma held between you.

24. Grandparents. They waited a long time for this.

25. Siblings.

26. A hug from behind.

Creative

27. Then and now. A first-day photo and a graduation photo in the same spot.

28. Confetti shower.

29. Gown flowing in the wind.

30. The silhouette at sunset. Cap on, sky behind.

iPhone tips for graduation photos

• Avoid midday sun. Shoot early morning or the last two hours before sunset, or find open shade.
• 2x for portraits, 1x or 0.5x for buildings.
• Burst for the cap toss. Swipe the shutter button left and hold.
• Black gowns lose detail. Tap on the face, and avoid harsh backlight.
• Keep buildings straight. Hold the phone level; slay shows a live horizon level.

More: graduation photo poses and cap and gown photo ideas.

Frame your big day

slay overlays composition guides on your live iPhone camera, from campus architecture to portraits, so every graduation photo is framed.

Get slay on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6807513456?utm_source=slaycamera&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=graduation-photo-ideas