30 graduation party photo ideas for the whole day

The ceremony from every seat

At a graduation the camera is always in the wrong place. Seats are allocated, the stage is far away, and the walk across it takes seconds. One phone at the back gets a small figure in a gown; a family spread across the hall gets the walk from the front, the side, and the back.

That is what one shared roll is for. Everyone in your group shoots from their own seat onto the same private roll, so nobody swaps photos afterwards, and the angle you missed turns up from someone else's row.

• The procession in, as the graduate looks for your row.
• The second before their name is read out, waiting at the side of the stage.
• The walk across the stage, from both ends of the hall at once.
• The proudest face in the audience, instead of the stage.
• Caps in the air, from below, as they go up.
• The first hug outside, gown still on.

Graduation photo ideas with family

These are the photos that end up in frames. Take them early, while the gown is straight and everyone still has the patience to line up.

• Everyone in one photo before anyone heads off, taken by another family.
• Three generations in one frame, the graduate in the middle.
• A first-day-of-school photo, recreated: same pose, same people, a bit taller.
• Siblings in a line, oldest to youngest.
• A parent trying on the cap.
• The graduate with whoever helped most: school runs, proofreading, late calls.

Graduation photo ideas with friends

• A photo from your first week, recreated in the same order.
• A last photo in the corridor, library, or studio where you spent most time.
• The graduate with a favourite teacher or lecturer.
• Everyone jumping at once, shot from low down so they clear the horizon.
• Messages written on each other's shirts or programmes, up close.
• The walk out through the gates together, from behind.

The party, and a video toast from every guest

• The table before anyone eats.
• The cake coming out, and the graduate's face as it does.
• Guests looking at photos of the graduate growing up, if you put some out.
• Whoever travelled furthest to be there.
• The speech, from behind the graduate, so you get the faces listening.
• The graduate at the end of the day, gown off, still smiling.

The best things said at a graduation party are said once, across a table, and gone by the morning. With videos on, every guest can add one video, 5 to 30 seconds, filmed in the app. Make the prompt a toast, and every guest gets the chance to raise a glass, not only the two people brave enough to stand up.

Set the length to 15 or 20 seconds: long enough for a sentence of advice, short enough to say in one go. Then write one prompt, up to 120 characters, such as “Raise a glass and say one thing to the graduate.” Advice works too: “What do you wish you had known at their age?” More in video guest book ideas, and how videos work on the videos page.

The details

Details make the photos look like this day and no other. Shoot them close, in good light.

• The certificate up close, with the graduate's hands in the frame.
• Their name in the printed programme.
• The top of the cap, especially if it is decorated.
• The gown over the back of a chair once the party starts.
• The flowers and the cards, lined up on the table.
• The empty hall afterwards, the chairs still in rows.

Setting up one roll for the day

You can do all of this with phones and a group chat, and spend the next month asking for the photos. One shared roll leaves nothing to collect. This is how to set one up on papershot.

1. 01

   Make the moment before the ceremony

   Name it, and set it to start before the doors open and end after the party. A moment can run for the day, or the whole weekend.

2. 02

   Pick the size

   A free moment takes up to 4 guests. For the family and the friends, pick a paid size from 8 guests up: one payment, no subscription, and guests never pay.

3. 03

   Choose the shots per guest

   5, 10, 16, 24, or 36. For a ceremony and a party, 16 or 24 each covers both.

4. 04

   Add a shot list and the video prompt

   Guest Lens shows your shot list in every guest's camera, and each prompt ticks itself off when someone shoots straight from it. Pick a handful of ideas from this page, fewer than the shots each guest has, then write the toast as the video prompt.

5. 05

   Send the link before the day

   Post it in the family chat so everyone arrives with the app. Guests need papershot on iPhone or Android, but not an account: they type a name and shoot.

6. 06

   Develop it that evening

   Set the roll to develop when it closes, and open it together. Download everything at full resolution, one photo at a time or the whole moment as one .zip.

Everything else about the day is on the graduation page.