Every grad deserves photos that feel like them.

Our mission is simple: give every University of Guelph grad photos that feel like them, in a session planned around what they need.

Our grad sessions are on one campus, and we know it well: where the light falls late in the day, which routes are step-free, where it stays quiet. That knowledge only matters if it serves you, so every session starts with you, not with a shot list.

Guelph Grad Photos was started by a University of Guelph graduate, so we know what the day holds: the years of work and the people who got you through. Your photos should carry that, and look like you. Everyone on our small team, including the second photographer who joins larger groups, works to every promise on this page.

• You know yourself best. We ask instead of assuming, and we write it down.
• Your comfort sets the pace. We plan breaks into your session. If a disability or health condition means you need more time, tell us and we plan it with you at no extra charge. If you would simply like a longer session, ask about a bigger package. Nobody should have to push through.
• Your photos, your say. We share photos from our sessions in our portfolio and promotions, and one message from you takes yours out of that, before or after your session. Saying no changes nothing about your booking.
• We tell you how we work. What we collect, how we edit and where AI tools help are in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Ask and we will explain.
• We retouch, we do not reinvent. We never change the shape of your body, your skin tone or your features unless you ask. We never add a person, a place or regalia that was not there.
• We are guests on campus. The University is a place of study and work first. Our sessions fit around it, never the other way round.

Everyone graduating from here, with a degree, diploma or certificate, is welcome, and so are the people who got you here. In practice:

• Names and pronouns. Put the name you go by on the booking form, or tell us when you book by message: it is the name on your emails and in your gallery. If it changes after you book, tell us and we will update it. Tell us your pronouns in a message on Instagram or by email, and we use them. We ask how to say your name, and we never ask you to explain it.
• Dress, culture and faith. Wear what your faith or culture asks of you, or what you are proud of, with your academic regalia. Stoles, sashes and cords are welcome in every photo. We never touch religious dress, and we plan around prayer or fasting with you.
• Indigenous regalia and honour items. If you wear Indigenous regalia or carry an eagle feather or other honour items, you lead: tell us what may be photographed, and we handle nothing unless invited.
• If family is coming. Parents, children, partners and chosen family are all welcome to come and watch. How many people can be in the photos depends on your package, so ask if you are unsure. We keep directions short and show poses, so nobody needs perfect English, and a relative or an interpreter you bring is welcome to help.
• If you are the first in your family, or back after years away. Nobody is expected to know how this works, and we assume nothing about your age. Here is how it goes: you book, your confirmation email brings your checklist (if you book by message, just ask us for it), we meet at the first spot, and your photos arrive in a private online gallery. Questions are welcome at every step, and our FAQ answers the common ones.
• If your family is far away. Your gallery is online, so family abroad can see it when you share it.
• If you are bringing a partner or chosen family. 2SLGBTQI+ couples and chosen family are photographed like any other, and our directions are gender-neutral. If either of you would rather a photo of you together stayed private, one message keeps it out of our portfolio and promotions.
• If crowds, noise or surprises are hard for you. Your checklist comes with your confirmation email (ask us for it if you booked by message). We can plan quieter spots and times, keep prompts short and stop whenever you need. Headphones and comfort items are welcome.
• Every body. We direct with the light and the camera, never with remarks about your body. We show a pose rather than moving you, and ask before any touch.
• If you want your photos kept private. Your gallery opens only from your own account, and it is hidden from search engines. In a group session, everyone in the group sees the group’s photos. If there is a photo you want kept out of the group gallery, tell us before we deliver, or book a session of your own. And if you would rather your photos stayed out of our portfolio and promotions altogether, tell us: one message is all it takes, before or after your session.

If you do not see yourself here, you are still welcome. Tell us what would help.

Your gallery is private and delivered to you.

We also share photos from our sessions in our portfolio: on our website, on our own social accounts, and in our promotions. It is how most grads find us, and it is part of what you agree to when you book.

It is your choice, though. If you would rather your photos were not used this way, tell us by email or message, before or after your session, and we will not use them. If a photo of you is already in use, tell us and we take it down from everything we control as soon as we can. We cannot recall prints, or posts other people have shared. Saying no changes nothing about your booking.

For anyone under 18, we ask a parent or guardian first. We never use a photo to suggest that the University of Guelph endorses us.

Events are different. When a club, faculty or other organization books us for an event, we agree the terms with it in writing before the event: we ask it to tell the people there, and it chooses whether the gallery is public. Our Clubs and Faculty galleries are public by design, and anyone in one can ask us to remove a photo of them. Details are in our Privacy Policy.

At your session

Every session can be planned around access needs. Our guide, Sessions for Every Body, covers routes, seated poses and pacing. We follow the principles of Ontario’s accessible customer service standard. In short:

• A support person is welcome for the whole session, at no charge, and never has to be in a photo.
• A sign language or other interpreter is welcome, like any support person, at no charge.
• Service animals, wheelchairs, walkers, canes, hearing aids and other devices are welcome, in the photos or out of them, your choice.
• We plan step-free routes, seated poses and rest stops with you.
• Tell us how you like to communicate: email, a message on Instagram, a call, or written notes on the day.
• Ask and we will send any of our pages, your checklist or your booking details in plain text or large print, or read them to you by phone, at no charge and in good time before your session. If you need another format or a communication support, tell us and we will work it out with you.
• If we learn that something you rely on for access is closed, such as a step-free path or our booking page, we tell you why, how long we expect it to last and what we can offer instead: by email or message, and on this website if it affects everyone.
• Tell us how we did, or about anything that got in your way, by email, by phone at (226) 332-0225, by Instagram message or through our contact form. We read every message, aim to reply within two business days, and tell you what we will do about it. You can give feedback in whatever format works for you.

On this website

We want this site to work for everyone, whatever tools you use to browse. We work towards the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, the international standard for accessible websites. We have not had a formal audit, so we do not claim to meet it yet.

On our main website pages we have added descriptions to most photos, a skip-to-content link, labelled forms, visible focus outlines, and reduced motion when your device asks for it. Known problems:

• The reviews at the foot of each page change on their own with no pause button (they stop if your device reduces motion).
• Some headings on our home page skip a level.
• Some small light text on dark panels on a few guide pages is hard to read.
• Some older photos on our pages still have no description.
• Photos in client galleries and on our Clubs and Faculty pages do not have descriptions yet, and the close button in the gallery’s photo viewer has no label for screen readers.
• Our booking pages and client galleries have not yet been tested with a screen reader.
• We have not yet tested the whole site using only a keyboard.

If anything gets in your way, email [email protected] or call (226) 332-0225, and we will help you another way while we fix it.

We last reviewed this accessibility statement on 24 September 2026.

We photograph on the University of Guelph campus because it is where our clients graduate. We are guests there, and we act like it.

Guelph Grad Photos is an independent business run by a University of Guelph graduate. We are not part of the University of Guelph and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or authorized by it. We are not the University’s convocation photographer: the photos taken on stage at convocation come from the photographer the University hires for it. Our sessions are walks around campus, not the stage photo. We use the name of the University and the names of its buildings only to say where our sessions take place and who we photograph.

Our campus code

• Booked ahead, never sold on the spot. Every session is arranged in advance, online, by message or by email. We do not hand out cards, post flyers, chalk, put up signs, set up branded tents or approach anyone on campus to sell a session.
• University events come first. On convocation days we stay clear of the ceremony venues, the Convocation Tea, the shuttle stops and the red carpet. If a University event, a class, an exam, a ceremony, a memorial, a private Arboretum event or maintenance is happening where we planned to shoot, we move.
• Outdoors by default. We go inside a building only when we have the University’s permission to be there, and never into classrooms, labs, library study areas, research greenhouses or offices.
• The Arboretum’s guidance is our guidance. We stay out of the areas it asks photographers to avoid and anywhere signed or fenced off. Groups of ten or more in the Arboretum go ahead only with the Arboretum’s approval, which we arrange, or we choose another spot.
• Nothing is left behind and nothing is harmed. No confetti, glitter, smoke, balloons, candles, open flames, alcohol or anything that marks a surface. We do not climb or sit on statues, signs, fountains, walls, the cannon or the Portico, and we stay on paths and lawns, out of garden beds.
• Paths, doors and ramps stay clear. We never block a doorway, an accessible route, a ramp, a fire lane or a bike path, and we step aside for anyone passing.
• Memorials and Indigenous places are treated with care. War Memorial Hall, memorial gardens and the Arboretum’s Indigenous plantings are places of remembrance and meaning, not props. We are quiet there, and we do not use them for playful poses.
• Students’ traditions belong to students. We never paint, touch wet paint on, or change anything painted on the cannon.
• Other people’s privacy. We keep passers-by out of our photos where we can, and blur or remove anyone who asks.
• No drones. We do not fly drones on campus.
• Safety and weather. We do not shoot in unsafe weather, on ice, near traffic or in construction zones. If weather stops your session, you choose a covered outdoor spot, a new date at no charge, or a full refund, deposit included. We move indoors only when we have permission to use the space.
• If we are asked to stop, we stop. If University staff or Campus Safety ask us to move, pause or leave, we do so at once and politely.
• We are independent. We never say or suggest otherwise.

The University is not responsible for our sessions; questions about them come to us.

Something that would help, a question, or something we got wrong: tell us in a message on Instagram, in the contact form, or by replying to your confirmation email. Or reach us directly at [email protected] or (226) 332-0225.

We aim to reply within two business days. If we got something wrong, we will tell you what we are changing, and it never counts against your booking.