Caltech Commecement Photo

Photographer’s Note

I was invited to attend California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 111th Commencement last Friday (June 10, 2005). It was a lengthy but not so boring ceremony. Caltech is one of the most prestigious science and engineering schools in the world. This year’s commencement ceremony awarded 217 student the B.S. degree; 120 students the M.S. degree; 2 scholars the degree of Engineer; and 182 doctoral candidates the Ph.D. degree, for a total of 521 graduates.

This is a photo captured during graduation. For all standing people and their duties, from left to right, are:
A student (in red gown) – to step up the stage to listen for her name to be read
Student Dean (the gentleman in red gown) – to announce student's names
A student (in black gown)– to receive his diploma
School President – to handout diplomas
A faculty (lady in black gown) – to prepare diploma handout; to shake hand to congratulate the newly graduated students
A smiling newly graduated student – photo opportunity, to go to society or to go for advanced study

CliffW, danyy, Galmeida, ChrisJ, bantonbuju, Fixfocus, jhm, nwoehnl, Tue, singuanti, Cos, Emile, premels has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

CliffW (2310) 2005-06-12 2:39

Classic moment of life. Clear, sharp with a great expression on the closest student, who earned that smile. Not at all a typical TE photo - thanks for sharing it. Oughta be on the next alumni brochure!

snuggleaphagus (4140) 2005-06-12 2:46

Graduation time is here. This is a very cool photo the smile on the new graduate's face says one thing "oh boy student loasn here I come"
I really like the almost assembly line motion of the photo. It is very short and well composed.

danyy (69393) 2005-06-12 3:02

Bonjour Wes,
une fête très importante pour des miliers d'étudiants et qui récompense de dures années de vie de lbeur. En Europe, il n'existe pratiquement plus de manifestation de ce genre là et c'est bien dommage.
Seules les écoles réputées d'Angleterre le font encore. Mais on connait les British Traditions :).
Merci pour le partage.
Daniel.

cessy (13647) 2005-06-12 3:21

nice moment, very nice shot Wes
all with happy face :)
excellent angle

Galmeida (12559) 2005-06-12 3:29

Hello Wes,
A nice mooment anda different picture of a ceremonial student event. Excelent colors and enquadrement. Motion and happy faces!

Well seen and composed!
Congratulations.
Fernando

ChrisJ (70443) 2005-06-12 3:53

Hi Wes

I'll be graduating from Uni in 4 months time, so this is a taste of what to expect. Thanks for sharing. A good daily life shot, with excellent sharpness, color, & lighting. Well done!

bantonbuju (48796) 2005-06-12 5:17

hi wes, i really appreciate this daily life shot, being temporarily a bit fed up with countless landscapes; nice picture plus a very interesting note; i do enjoy both;
have a nice sunday, jerzy

Fixfocus (9377) 2005-06-12 5:25

Hi Wes,
A colorful capture in the reportage style!Nice compo with good timing,-comes along with an interesting note.
have a nice sunday,
hermann

devimeuxbe (56300) 2005-06-12 8:42

Hi Wes
Very interesting view here.
The face of this student look pround.
It's well done
Bertrand

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-06-12 9:03

very good clear explanations of these people, I hope you had a great time too, well done

jhm (83276) 2005-06-12 11:57

Dear Wes,
For every student a great moment in life, perhaps tedious but for waiting, but you photo is very nice certainly clear and sharp.
Greetings,
John

nwoehnl (120) 2005-06-12 13:48

Hi Wes. I like this uplifting and interesting photo from the graduation ceremony. I particularly enjoy how your shooting angle allows for this comprehensive depiction of the "flow" of the graduates through the proceedings (I guess that's the process engineer in me talking ;-). The floral decorations are well included in the framing. Nice work.

Tue (25608) 2005-06-12 17:16

Hi Wes,
Very nice capture of this ceremony! Lovely flowers in front and good composition, very well done! :-D
Groetjes,
Lars

singuanti (15240) 2005-06-12 18:57

Hi Wes. A great capture of faces and a wonderful moment for all those involved. This shot brings back a lot of memories for myself. But your pov is especially well chosen to give us a great feel for what it was like being there. Nice one Mr. Wes!

PJE (19483) 2005-06-12 20:49

Very nice Wes. I just had my second oldest sons grd last night and I have some really nice shots ...but I cannot post any because of the rules on Trek. This is a nice photo here. At least you had day light..all I had was low light inside...really big difference.
The canopy really adds to this shot. The weather forecast must have been good.

apache (1426) 2005-06-13 13:39

Hi Wes,
I guess the gentleman in your next post is the one standing at the right. A good shot of the academic activity. The young student has the look of achievement on his face. A good capture
Ranjith

Jeppe (18623) 2005-06-13 16:48

Yes I heard about Caltech - due to my work (Teacher - Digtal systems and computer science) - I can remember seeing something like this on movies - Thanks Wes for the fine capture and the note telling us whats going on.

greg64g (11193) 2005-06-14 3:37

Hello Wes,

As Europeean i must say that this picture is something i could see on the past on many series as beverley hills ect..I think this is a good ceremony for the graduate.
cheers
greg

sarju (5308) 2005-06-15 15:48

Hi Wes
its quite a co-incident that you posted this photo over here, my convocation was on June 7, but I had decided not to go since it was quite far from where I am staying right now .... actually I was not that enthusiastic to attend it ... I am just gonna get my degree by post .... lols
neways thanks for posting this photo over here ... cheers ... sarju

Leonie (8647) 2005-06-15 19:31

Hi Wes...this is what expects me in september hopefully...:oP Probably the best moment of doing a Masters...lol So what were you doing there? Are you a teacher or a student? Or did you graduate there yourself?

Cheers...thanks for sharing! :) Léonie

Emile (20107) 2005-06-16 0:40

Very special moment, never to be forgoten.
Very sharp colors and sharpness.
Taken from an excellent angle.
Well done Wes.

premels (2400) 2005-06-19 4:04

Hi Wes, The flower, the red gowns, the smiles, an outdoor happening, it all looks very feasty. I remember my graduation ceremony as something boring, not a ceremony really.
The exposure is quite good for this shaded place. The characters are nicely distributed on the scene. The picture still looks as if stolen from a backdoor.