When a school enters into an “all-inclusive” agreement for photography services, this typically means one (and only one) photographer has been retained for all pictures at that institution, regardless of the event type. This arrangement is most often seen at middle schools and high schools, where the photographer could be asked to capture everything from marching band pictures to prom portraits.

With graduates and their families, there’s an inherent expectation that photo proofs from their graduation ceremony will be available online almost immediately after the ceremony. After all, with today’s technology, we live in a world of near-instant gratification.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is U.S. federal law that provides guidelines to the rights and privacy of students’ and their education records. It defines what information a school may or may not release of its current or former students. Additionally, it outlines parental rights for students under the age of 18 attending non-postsecondary institutions. The law applies to all schools receiving funds under applicable U.S. Department of Education programs, which includes the majority of schools in the United States.

Green screen technology is ideally suited for a studio environment, where the photographer has precise control over the individual(s) being photographed and their clothing, and where there are no constraints on the amount of time it takes to capture each image.

The ability to quickly send commencement photos to your graduates and their families requires accurate, up-to-date address information.  The best way to ensure that is to have graduates fill out their own address cards before the ceremony.

The concept of pre-ordering graduation photos is one where students or their families decide in advance what photographs they wish to purchase.  Money is remitted weeks (or sometimes months) ahead of time.  Later, once the commencement ceremony has taken place, the photography company will fulfill that order and, while doing so, will make pose and option choices on behalf of the customer.