All images below were taken with the Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II lens.

It always helps when your graduate knows where you (the photographer) are sitting. This way they can direct their enthusiasm to the camera. This image wastaken with the Tamron AF18-200mm XR Di-II lens at 200mm. Using the tele end of the zoom can really make you feel like you are practically on stage.

This image was taken after the ceremony was finished, which is why there is no one behind her on stage. Anya was up there

because they couldn't find her diploma. But luckily, they found it and so she really graduated. This was also taken at the 200mm setting. 
 

Anya and her proud mother. Little  moments of touch and interaction  make nice images to convey emotion. 

I am actully standing on a ledge about 4 feet tall and shooting down. The full light is a little harsh, but this was just after she left the graduation and so setting up photographs was not the first thing on her mind. It is a nice tight head shot, but having just part of the hat and the tassel tell you that it's a graduation.

This is Anya and her friend and fellow graduate Faye. There was this nice suspension bridge close to the graduation sight, so it made a nice location. I used a wider angle focal length and got down low for this image. The converging lines of the bridge draw your eye to the center.

Finding a location of nice even light in the open shade makes a pretty image. As opposed to using a harsher light such as flash. I kept the arch in the background for that collegiate feel. And the cute bear and the rose had been acquired somewhere along

the way. We also had the fortune of having the tassel bearing the graduate year facing forward.