It’s that time of year for Otago graduation photography and I get to make some more beautiful images of graduates and their families.

While I do offer photo sessions down at the campus, I actually prefer working in my studio. The weather here in New Zealand is unpredictable at best and Otago’s campus has quite a wind tunnel effect at times. In my studio, your hair stays put, your cap isn’t in danger of flying off and you don’t have to worry about wind-blown dust and grit getting in your eyes.

I also get to control the light. I have a few favourite lighting recipes especially formulated to make black capping gowns and dark suits stand out from a classy dark background. I also take the care to tweak my lights according to my client’s skin tones. What I’m working towards is a photo that appears more 3 dimensional than what you might get from the standard even studio lighting.

One of the best things I did this year was to have Alex Rinaldi paint my backdrop wall in a beautiful renissance sky pattern. Alex is a skilled interior designer and helped me come up with a look that works well with any skin or clothing colour I put in front of it.

But when I put aside the fun I have with all the technique, what I love about studio grad photos is capturing a moment, picturing grads and their families at a special time and giving them an image they’ll have forever, something that’ll become part of the family history. That’s the really beautiful thing.