Graduate hustles through the light

I noticed the strong blocks of light stretching on the carpet as I left the gymnasium where the hundreds of Vernon Hills High School graduates had gathered before their commencement.

I had arrived early and already made several nice pictures of happy students hugging and laughing and helping each other secure their weird mortar boards to their head. It was a typical scene that I've photographed hundreds of times. I felt good about the pictures I had made and was leaving the building on my way to another graduation ceremony when I walked into the light.

It was coming from the front doors and blinding me as I walked toward the exit. I almost bumped into a graduate who was hustling to join her classmates in the gymnasium. I heard an administrator say “five minutes and we march” to the students. It struck me that other students were sure to be running late and coming in those sunny doors and hustling through the light to get in line for the ceremony. I also saw that there was a perfect balcony/hallway overlooking this lobby. I hustled up the stairs and looked down on the streaks of bold light with a wide-angle lens and preset exposure and waited for another graduate to come in.

It didn't take long for this young lady to hustle through the doors just in time to get in line with her fellow grads. I was happy she had her mortar board on and she walked right into the light. The rim light on her cap and gown and her long stretched out shadow made the picture for me.