Graduation number 39 and photography

The local high school that just so happens to be my alma mater had its graduation tonight. Since I work for the newspaper I was somewhat obligated to attend.

Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of graduation ceremonies. They would be great if not for the 3,500 people crammed into a 2,500 seat gymnasium and the fact that none of them ride together. They all make sure to drive separately. People just park wherever they can find a piece of land where they can get out. And the heat! My God, THE HEAT!

Since I am a photographer, the biggest problem I have is with other photographers. Now I realize that I'm being a little selfish since these people are there to get a good picture of their friend/sibling/child, etc., but out of the hundreds that are jockeying for position, 1 of them had the proper equipment to get it done other than me and the other newspaper photographer.

Tonight I was carrying around over $1,500 worth of camera equipment including one of the best digital cameras money can buy and I was still struggling for a good photo. Not just interesting, but getting a nice exposure as well. Anyway, the gym has horrible lighting that is very dim and not good at all.

So I have a thousand dollar camera around my neck, but the 30 people around me with throw-away box cameras and point-and-shoot 35mm's aren't giving an inch and letting me move around to get a solid photo. They all truly believe that their $3 camera is going to get the photo of a lifetime of their loved one from over 50 feet away.

But I understand why they do it and I hope that they do get the photo of a lifetime that they were hoping to get. I got some photos worth using, but graduations aren't as emotional as they used to be. Now the kids see it more as early parole instead of their first huge step into adulthood and the dreaded "real world."

So for all of you future parents who can get a child to a graduation ceremony of some sort, here is what you need.

Nikon D70 Digital SLR, short zoom lens like a 18-70mm or 28-80mm zoom and a 70-200mm zoom for that far away stuff. Then slide a Nikon SB-600 flash on top of that bad boy and shoot away. You might look into a zoom lens out to 300mm which would help a bit more.

The D70 is one of the best, if not the best digital camera on the market and also one of the least expensive at around $1,100 with a solid 18-70 Nikon zoom lens. With the SB-600 speedlight or if you have natural light, you don't even have to be a good photographer to get great photos. This camera lets you concentrate on the subject instead of worrying if you have to shutter speed and f-stop set properly for a good exposure. And it's ridiculously fast as well. Almost as fast as you can manually pull the trigger.

Having said that, if you go out and spend $1,500 just to get some graduation photos, I want to be your friend.