Where precision meets tradition at Oregon State
Oregon State’s commencement is a campus-wide rite of passage. The ceremony begins with an elaborate procession led by bagpipes, the president, and university deans. As the parade weaves through campus, graduates join before marching onto the Reser Stadium field. It’s a Beaver tradition and a special day that the graduates will never forget.
At The Grad Team, we document commencements from start to finish. Our photo packages for graduates and their families tell a story. A unique commencement like Oregon State’s presents unique logistical challenges: How do you capture nearly a mile of momentum as the procession unfolds into 19 simultaneous lines of diploma exchange, complete it all in 45 minutes, and still preserve every handshake, every smile, and every triumph without compromising a single standard?
It starts months before the bagpipes beckon. We work closely with Oregon State’s on-campus commencement coordinators on every detail of the procession route. We must know every nook and cranny on campus, where each group of students join the parade, critical junctures, and where we have access. We want our photographers to be and feel unseen to graduates, so we draw maps that would not be out of place at the Secretary of Defense.
“The Grad Team is not only part of our planning process, they are our planning partners,” Kayleen Eng, Oregon State’s director of commencement, says. “The Grad Team are not simply photographers who show up on graduation day, they are an essential collaborator and partner throughout the entire year leading up to the big day.”
We deliver 20+ unique images to the 4,000+ graduates, including candids and scenic images from the procession. To do this, we position 40 photographers along the route where each photographer has a job: Capture candids of graduates, document leadership, photograph sweeping views of the full procession, and more. We plan out and compile graduation coverage roadmaps months in advance of commencement. Before our photographers arrive in Corvallis—53 in all—they each know what they are on campus to capture.
The photographers stationed along the beginning of the route hustle to the stadium and quickly switch gears to capture the moment when each student is recognized. Within 45 minutes, our team of 53 photographers dispersed between 19 lines will capture individual photos of each graduate. As soon as the ceremony is over, our team works through the night to begin sorting through the tens of thousands of photos captured to deliver graduates their first gallery of photos within 24 hours of the ceremony. They will then receive their full suite of photos from which they can order keepsakes to commemorate the moment within 72 hours. In total, we delivered over 75,000 photos from the event.
Oregon State’s commencement is steeped in tradition, yet every year is different. Soon after one commencement ends, planning for the next one begins. We work closely with the Oregon State team year-round to lay out every step of the various ceremonies, speeches, and the beloved campus procession allowing commencement weekend to unfold smoothly and confidently.
“The Grad Team is the reason why our ceremony has become a fine-tuned machine, capturing graduates’ milestones effortlessly and efficiently,” Eng says. “Their expertise helps us make the day seamless and special for our Beaver Grads in every way possible.”
The Grad Team difference
Full-resolution images delivered
Professional photographers
Unique photos for each graduate
First gallery of images delivered to graduates
“The Grad Team are not simply photographers who show up on graduation day, they are an essential collaborator and partner throughout the entire year leading up to the big day."
“The Grad Team are not simply photographers who show up on graduation day, they are an essential collaborator and partner throughout the entire year leading up to the big day."
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“The Grad Team not only do they take the most wonder photos keeping our Faculty, Staff and Students happy, but they are a company that actually cares about customer service and people as a whole”
“The quality of the photos is impeccable. The Grad Team creates beautiful images of our graduates and VIP guests that tell the story of the day’s events.”
"When we were looking for a new partner, we wanted a one-stop shop. The Grad Team delivered."