So it’s your final year of your undergrad at the University of Guelph and it’s time to participate in the long standing tradition of getting your grad photos taken on campus. How exciting! One question remains though… Who are you going to do it with? Short answer: whoever you want! Long answer: keep reading!

(Group) Size Matters For Grad Photos

Who you choose to have in your grad photo group is totally up to you! We take on sessions of 1-10 people and provide gowns and hoods for all bachelor degree graduates. However, your session might look a little different depending on how many people you do your shoot with. Let us explain.

Flying Solo

We have a lot of grads that choose to dedicate their session totally to themselves. For these sessions we get to solely focus on you, taking photos at up to 5 locations of your choice on campus. These could be the classic spots like Alumni Walk and the Gryphon, but it can be ANY campus location that is significant to you. Solo grad sessions are also a great opportunity to sneak in your parents/family members for a few shots. You can expect the photoshoot to take around 1-1.5 hours.

Couples Sessions

Are you graduating at the same time as your significant other? A grad photo session is the perfect opportunity to document your love story! We love getting fun, whimsical, and romantic photos of the both of you together. We also capture solo portraits both in your gown and non-gown attire. Expect this type of session to last 1.5-2 hours.

Small to Medium Sized Groups (2-6)

Our most common range of group sizes, medium-sized groups are a heck of a lot of fun. We’ll go to 4 or 5 of your chosen locations around campus and get a mix of solo and group photos. You’ll also get time to get photos in pairs if you’d like! We usually recommend you do these at the same time at a single location. Session durations vary depending on the size of your group. The smaller groups typically take 1.5-2 hours and medium-sized groups will take 2-2.5 hours.

Large Groups (7-10)

Did you have a close group of friends that just kept getting bigger as the years went on? We’re all for that and we LOVE IT! Big groups are a blast for grad photos. While it does get exponentially more difficult to coordinate schedules as your group size grows bigger, we do make it easier by providing all the gowns and hoods on your shoot day. Just figure out a date that you’re all available and we’ll take care of the rest! Because these groups are so large so can expect that we’ll be getting more group photos with solo and duo portraits sprinkled in here and there. You can still choose 3 or 4 locations as long as they are relatively close to one another. These larger group sessions typically take around 3 hours to complete.

Pros and Cons of Different Group Sizes For Grad Photos

Now that you’ve got a little bit of info about what it’s like doing your grad session with different group sizes, let’s talk about the benefits and potential downsides to each. For starters, the larger your group is, the less you’ll each have to pay individually. Smaller groups do have an advantage of having a highly individualized and focused experience. You’ll get more solo and small group portraits, and we usually have a bit more time to experiment and explore the creative side of the photoshoot. We believe that the sweet spot lies in medium-sized groups of 3 – 6 people. You get a fun group experience, receive a number of individual photos, and can split the cost of your session between more people.

Conclusion

Ultimately it’s up to you who you have in your group for grad photos and we encourage you to go with whatever route suits your social and financial situation. Still not sure how many people to have in your group? Maybe taking a look at some of our past graduating class photos might give you some inspo! We’ll be here to guide you on your grad session journey and accompany you on one of your first steps to a post-university life!

If you’d like to book a graduation session with us then please visit our website and fill out our contact form. We recommend you book your session at least a full month in advance of your desired session day. Our busiest season is in the Fall – October being our peak month for photoshoots. The earlier you book the better, but we do welcome bookings a couple of weeks out thanks to our associate photographer team!