I say it to all my grads, but I'll say it here:
Don't be afraid to experiment with different looks in regards to your cap and gown. Your grad regalia functions as layers to your outfit and much of it is meant to emphasize the fact that you are graduating in comparison to photos without your graduation regalia that might not communicate the same thing.
here's a hot take... (not all your photos need to have you wearing all the grad regalia at once.
Try a few with just your gown, or a few with just your graduation stole, honors cords, or just your cap! By trading out different elements of the grad look a few photos at a time you will be able to:
- Take the majority of your photos without your cap sitting on your head and flattening your hair
- Emphasize your outfit without the graduation gown that might actually swallow you whole
- Play with different colors, depending on your background, your school's grad gown color, and even the stole colors, switching up different elements of your grad look might provide more room for uniformity or to display your personality depending on what you want. :)
If you see here, when shooting Lina's cap and grown photos celebrating her graduation from her M.A. degree, we decided to mix and match different elements of her grad regalia. From left to right you can see a progression towards adding all until eventually we reached a few photos where she was wearing it all. When taking photos I wanted to make sure that first of all, she felt comfortable, and second, that the effort she put towards her hair and green dress would be captured without all the grad regalia taking over. Of course, depending on your needs, you might not have extra stoles, cords, or even a diploma to show for it, but just know that your cap and gown photos can be adjusted to however you see fit.
