Graduation Dana Pugh Graduation Dana Pugh

Graduation Session in the Blossoms | Calgary Photographer

As soon as I saw this girl’s dress, I knew that we had to schedule the session in the spring blossoms. It suited her dress so perfectly and made for such soft and romantic photographs. She bought the dress while on holiday with her mom in Quebec if I remember correctly.

This family chose to add a quick little family mini session to the beginning of their graduation session. Almost every family chooses that, but if you are not one of those families, you can add an extra outfit or an extra location to the session. Some graduates like to be photographed in a casual outfit or a team uniform. Others choose to have two contrasting locations—perhaps the studio and then a more natural setting. Or, their childhood bedroom and a cool urban location. This is why I create a totally custom session for each graduate. I’m not interested in creating a session that is hurried and only provides a few photographs. I want to create a session that documents your graduating child in a complete way and that takes time so that it is done properly.

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Simply Portraits Dana Pugh Simply Portraits Dana Pugh

Urban Rooftop Graduation Session | Calgary Photographer

I know it’s November so you might be thinking that this isn’t the right time of year to be talking about graduation sessions, but you would be wrong!! Graduation sessions are by far my most popular sale item on Black Friday. So, in the spirit of answering some of your most frequently asked questions about graduation sessions, I will be posting some of my favourite sessions from the last couple of years.

This is the lovely Emelia. We came up with the idea for a rooftop sunset session together after she showed me her dress. I thought it was the perfect choice for this type of session. This session is such a great example of why we don’t have the session on the same day as the graduation ceremony or party. When we make it a separate event, it allows for another day to celebrate your graduate. It also allows for flexibility as far as location, time of day, and outcomes. Every grad is different so I want to make sure that their photographs always reflect that. Allowing for flexibility as far as scheduling the graduation session means we aren’t at the mercy of the weather or the crazy schedule for the day. You can spend the actual graduation day focusing on celebrating as a family and worry about portraits on another day.

This year, my own daughter is graduating and we are planning at least three different portrait sessions(because I really am that kind of crazy). This will definitely be one of the locations as I love it so much. Where would your perfect graduation portrait session location be?

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