Congratulations to the Class of 2015. There are graduations happening everyday and everywhere. May is usually colleges with June for high schools and elementary schools. As a photographer, it is an exciting time and it is a challenging time.

Interesting because there are so many emotions at the graduation. It is a big event. The characters are the graduates, their families who sacrificed to get them through college and the friends they made along the way. As a photographer, I just love the energy.

Graduation is also challenging for the photographer. The challenge is on two levels. One is the crowd noise and the other is getting close enough to get a stage photograph or even a seated photograph. The last graduation I covered was Monday at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. It was a challenge. The graduates never had enough space to enjoy their time on the stage, the names were called in quick succession and there was a line of graduates on the stage. Each graduate should be allowed their space on the stage as they receive their degree. So, that brings me to the one tip I want to leave graduates and parents when it comes to graduations. Bring your own photographer.

Hire your own personal photographer because the photographs that you really want are the ones with your family and friends after the graduation is over. Colleges and Universities hire big companies to do the official photographs and families cannot get anywhere close to the stage to get a good photo of their graduate. Furthermore, do you really need 20 wallet size photographs of one pose? What about the family and friends?