Guelph Grad Photos / Group Sessions

Group grad photos with the whole crew.

Convocation ends, the lease ends, and by August the group chat is scattered across three provinces. A group session is one afternoon on the University of Guelph campus with the people who were actually there for all of it. Same gowns, same campus, one gallery everyone shares.

For U of G grads and their people. Groups of three or more book per person, the rate falls as the group grows, and every fee is shown before anything is paid. This page is the full playbook: where to shoot, how the session runs, what to wear, and how to get six people to the right spot on time.

Groups of 3 or moreRate falls as the group grows90 to 180 minutes6 campus zonesOne shared gallery
Group Grad PhotosGuelph Grad Photos
A group of University of Guelph graduates in convocation gowns and hoods photographed together on campus

Graduating friends, photographed together on the U of G campus.

One degree each. Four years shared.

Nobody gets through a degree alone. Somebody proofread your worst assignment at 2 a.m., somebody walked you home from the library in February, and somebody has been in the same group chat since orientation week. Convocation is the last week you are all officially in the same place at the same time.

Solo grad photos prove you graduated. Group grad photos prove how. Ten years from now the frame that survives is not the one of you alone with a diploma, it is the one with the five people who made the degree worth doing, all in gowns, all on the campus where it happened.

The catch is that a group session has more moving parts than a solo one. More schedules, more outfits, more opinions about locations, and one person quietly doing all the organising. This page exists so that person does not have to figure it out from scratch.

Read it once, share it in the group chat, and the session plans itself.

01 . The shape of it

Ninety minutes to three hours

Group sessions run 90, 120 or 180 minutes depending on the package. That sounds like a lot until you put six people, two or three campus zones, full-group sets, small combinations and individual photos for everyone into one afternoon. A bigger group does not pay more per person, it just uses the time differently, so pick the length that matches how many zones and combinations you actually want.

02 . The method

Posed sets, and everything in between

The posed frames get set up fast, because a group of grads gives you about eight seconds of cooperation per arrangement. The rest is caught while it happens: the walk between zones, the cap adjustments, the laughing at whoever blinked. Half the best frames from any group session were never posed at all, and that is the point of doing this with your people instead of alone.

03 . The point

One gallery the whole group shares

Everything lands in a single private gallery on our website, and everyone in the group gets access to all of it. Full-group frames, every combination, and each person’s individual set, delivered edited and print ready in shapes that work for a frame on a wall and a post on a phone. Nobody has to chase anybody for the files, which with six people is worth more than it sounds.

Campus zones

Every zone photographs differently.

The campus decides more about your photos than the camera does. Stone or brick behind you, open green or tight architecture, morning shade or evening glow. We shoot the University of Guelph campus in six zones, each with its own personality, its own best spots, and its own note for groups specifically.

Walking time is the part groups underestimate. Six people cross campus about a third slower than one person does, because somebody always stops, and the somebody rotates. Signature fits three zones, and Premium comfortably covers up to six.

Here is each zone, and what it gives a group.

Tap a slice to open it. Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Gryphon Statue

Southeast campus entry . 5 spots

The bronze gryphon at the southeast entry is the closest thing U of G has to a mandatory photo. Every Gryphon takes one, which is exactly why your group should take a better one: properly lit, properly framed, and with everyone actually ready instead of one person mid-blink in a phone photo.

For groups it works two ways. The full crew arranged around the statue makes the definitive “we did it” frame, and then each person gets a quick individual set in the same spot while everyone else heckles from behind the camera, which reliably produces the most natural smiles of the whole session.

It is also the busiest single spot on this list during convocation season. The line moves fast, but if the gryphon is your anchor shot, an earlier session slot buys you clean backgrounds and no queue.

Best for

The signature group frame, individual sets, and the photo that goes to every parent immediately.

Group note

Big groups arrange around the plinth in two loose rows. Nobody gets hidden behind the wings.

Watch for

Convocation week queues. Early slots skip them entirely.

Pairs well with

The Cannon and the UC hub, a short walk north.

The Cannon

Around the UC hub . 6 spots

The cannon and the University Centre area are where student life actually happened: the shortcut everyone took, the meet-up spot before everything, and the one landmark on campus that looks different every week depending on who painted it last. If your group has history here, and every group does, this zone photographs like an inside joke.

Six distinct spots sit within a couple of minutes of each other, which makes this the most efficient zone on campus for groups. Full-group sets, combinations and individuals can all happen here without anyone walking more than a hundred metres, which matters when six people are in gowns and one of them chose today to break in new shoes.

Check what colour the cannon is the week of your shoot. Whatever it is, it will be loud, and it photographs best when your group treats it like the co-star rather than trying to work around it.

Best for

Fun sets, the frames with personality, and groups short on walking patience.

Group note

Six spots close together. The most shots per minute of any zone on campus.

Watch for

Foot traffic between classes. We time the wide frames around it.

Pairs well with

Gryphon Statue to the south, Johnston Clock Tower to the north.

Johnston Clock Tower

Heart of campus . 5 spots

Johnston Green and the clock tower are the postcard. Limestone, the sweep of green, and the building that is on every piece of U of G material ever printed. If your parents imagine your grad photos before seeing them, this is the background they are imagining.

It is the strongest zone on campus for large groups. The green gives us room to build wide arrangements with nobody squeezed, walking lines with the tower behind, and the thrown-caps frame with enough sky to actually see the caps. Ten people fit here as easily as three.

Late-day light is the bonus. As the sun drops, the stone goes warm and Johnston Green turns gold, which is why golden-hour group slots here are the first to book out in June.

Best for

Large groups, the classic formal sets, walking lines and the cap toss.

Group note

The most room to arrange people of any zone. Big crews start here.

The light

Golden hour turns the limestone warm. The most requested evening zone.

Pairs well with

The Cannon below it, North Side above it. The natural centre of any route.

North Side

Macdonald Institute and LANG . 4 spots

The north side around Macdonald Institute and the Lang plaza is the zone people do not think to ask for and then love most in the gallery. Historic brick, stone details, arches and doorways: backgrounds with structure, which read editorial instead of postcard.

For groups this is the combinations zone. Doorways and steps naturally frame two or three people at a time, so this is where the roommate pairs, the program friends and the duo sets happen while the rest of the group waits about four metres away making it harder to keep a straight face.

Business grads have a second reason to be here: if LANG was your building, the frame in front of it says so.

Best for

Pairs and small combos, editorial individual frames, and grads with a LANG connection.

Group note

Tighter spots than Johnston. Full-group sets work, combos work better.

The light

Brick holds warm light beautifully and the arches give open shade at midday.

Pairs well with

Johnston Clock Tower, a short walk south.

Gryphon Alumni Stadium

Athletics complex . 4 spots

The stadium is the zone with scale. Stands, field lines and Gryphon branding in every direction, and frames that look nothing like the rest of campus. For varsity athletes, intramural dynasties and any group whose four years happened mostly in this building, it is not optional.

Groups use it for the bold sets: the crew walking the field line, gowns against the stands, and the frames that look like a team photo because that is exactly what they are. It also handles weather well, since the stands give us cover and shade options the open campus does not.

Access varies with the athletics schedule, so flag the stadium when you book and we plan the route around it rather than discovering a closed gate with six people in gowns.

Best for

Teams and sporty crews, bold wide frames, and groups who lived at the gym.

Group note

Reads best with five or more people. Scale needs numbers.

Watch for

Athletics schedules. Tell us early and we route around them.

Pairs well with

Johnston Clock Tower on the walk back toward the centre of campus.

The Arboretum

East campus gardens . 6 spots

The Arboretum is the zone that does not look like a university at all. Gardens, trails, treelines and open meadow, with six distinct spots that change completely with the season: full green in June, gold and red in October.

For groups it is the relaxed half of the session. Gowns open, caps off, walking frames on the trails, everyone sitting in the grass in the frame that ends up printed large. The formal campus zones prove you graduated. The Arboretum frames are the ones that look like the friendship.

It sits on the east edge of campus, so honesty about walking time: with a group, getting there and shooting it properly eats a real chunk of session. It earns its place in a Signature or Premium route, and we sequence it so the walk lands where the light is best.

Best for

Relaxed sets, seated group frames, fall colour, and the prints for the wall.

Group note

The longest walk on the list. Budget for it inside a longer package.

The light

Open shade all day, unreal in golden hour, and peak colour in October.

Pairs well with

One central zone on the way, rather than a sprint across the whole map.

Choosing zones with a group in mind

Anchor first, then add

Pick the one zone your group refuses to skip, and build the route around it. Two anchors on opposite ends of campus is how sessions end up being mostly walking.

Walking time compounds

A group moves about a third slower than one person. Every zone you add is the zone plus the walk plus the regrouping. The package bands exist for exactly this reason: three zones for Signature, up to six for Premium.

Mix wide and tight

Pair a zone with room for the full crew, like Johnston, with a zone built for pairs and small combos, like North Side. The gallery comes back with range instead of the same arrangement in front of six backgrounds.

Convocation week is busy

Every family on campus wants the same three backdrops that week. Earlier slots skip the queues, and shooting a day or two before your ceremony beats squeezing the session into the ceremony afternoon.

Pick one meeting spot

One pin, one time, one parking plan, sent to the group chat the night before. Sessions lose their first fifteen minutes to “where are you” more than to any other single cause.

Ask us to route it

Tell us your zones and your group size and we sequence them: which zone first, where the light will be when you get there, and where the walk is worth it. You pick the places, we make the order make sense.

Want the full tour

We shoot these zones every week, and we wrote down the best of them. The Top 7 Guelph Graduation Photo Spots guide covers the exact spots inside these zones, with notes on light and timing. Read it with your group chat open and the zone argument settles itself.

The session plan

Send the group list, not a shot list.

A shot list tells us what you want. A group list tells us who is actually in the photos, which is the part that decides how the session runs. Most missed group photos are not missed because nobody wanted them. They are missed because nobody said out loud that the four roommates needed their own frame, and by the time someone remembered, two of them had left for dinner.

Send the headcount, the names, and the combinations that must exist. We plan the arrangements around those and catch everything else in between.

Here is the shape of a group session from the camera’s side.

1

Meet, gowns on, ten minutes of fixing

Everyone arrives at one pin, gowns come off the hangers, and we spend the first ten minutes getting caps sitting flat, hoods draped the right way round and tassels on the correct side. It feels slow and it is the highest-value ten minutes of the session, because every frame after it is clean. Our Gown Guide and Grad Hood Guide cover all of it in advance.

2

The full-group sets at your anchor zone

The frames the whole session exists for, shot first while energy is high and nobody has wilted. Formal arrangements, then looser ones, then the walking line. With the big frames banked early, everything afterwards is a bonus instead of a countdown.

3

The combinations

Roommates, program friends, the two who met in first year, the housemates minus the one who moved out in third year and got forgiven. This is why the group list matters: you name the combos, we run them fast, nobody stands around wondering if they should ask.

4

Individual sets for every person

Everyone gets their own solo frames, one at a time, while the rest of the group provides quality control from behind the camera. Solo photos taken with your friends watching consistently beat solo photos taken alone, because nobody smiles properly for a stranger and everybody smiles properly at their friends being idiots.

5

The fun ones, while the light peaks

Cap toss, the run at the camera, the jump, the group hug that starts staged and stops being staged. These land at the end on purpose: the group is warmed up, the light is at its best, and the formal frames are already safe on the card.

Send this before shoot day

The group list

  • Final headcount, and first names. Six people is a different plan than ten.
  • The combinations that must exist, by name. Roommates, program crews, duos.
  • Your zones, or the one anchor zone plus “route the rest for us.”
  • Every degree in the group, so the hoods we bring are the right ones, plus anyone who would rather wear their own.
  • Anything being celebrated beyond the degree. Engagements happen at these.
  • Where the photos are going: prints for parents, posts, LinkedIn. We shoot the crops to match.
  • The one frame you would be gutted to miss. There is always one. Name it.
Timing

When you need the longer package

Ninety minutes covers a group of three or four with two zones comfortably. Book longer when any of these are true:

  • Six or more people, each wanting a proper individual set.
  • Three or more zones, or any route that includes The Arboretum.
  • A long combination list. Ten combos is thirty minutes on its own.
  • Outfit changes, or gown-on and gown-off versions of the big sets.
  • Champagne, confetti or anything else that needs setup and cleanup time.
Pick a captain

One organised friend is worth more than an extra hour of coverage. Somebody owns the group chat, collects the zone votes, sends the meeting pin, and answers “what are we wearing” so it gets answered once instead of six times. Every group already has this person. Make it official, send us their name, and on shoot day we plan with them while everyone else just shows up and looks great.

Convocation calendar

Same campus, four different seasons.

U of G graduates in waves, and the campus is a different backdrop in each one. The season changes the light, the colour, the crowds, and how hard it is to get six people in one city at the same time, which for most groups is the real constraint.

Pick the window that matches your group, then plan the session around what that window does to the campus.

JuneGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates photographed on the University of Guelph campus during June convocation season

June convocation

The main event

The big one. Campus in full leaf, gowns on every path, families everywhere, and the whole group still living within twenty minutes of each other. If your crew can shoot in June, shoot in June: it is the last window where getting everyone together takes one message instead of a doodle poll.

The trade-off is demand. The classic backdrops queue during ceremony days, and evening golden-hour slots book out first. The move is to shoot a day or two around your ceremony rather than on it, so the session is not squeezed between a ceremony, a dinner reservation and somebody’s flight.

The light

Sunset near 9 p.m. Long evenings and the year's most generous golden hour.

The campus

Full green, flower beds out, and convocation energy everywhere.

Watch for

Queues at the gryphon on ceremony days, and heat in the gowns by afternoon.

Book by

Early spring. June slots go first, and golden-hour ones go earliest.

SummerGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate photographed in the green summer gardens of the University of Guelph Arboretum

The summer after

July and August

The quiet secret. Campus is calm, every zone is empty, scheduling is easy, and the light is still summer light. Groups who missed the June window, or who just did not want to fight it, get the same campus with none of the crowds.

The constraint is your own group: leases end, jobs start, people scatter. The groups that pull off a summer session are the ones that book it before everyone leaves town, while the date still only needs one yes from each person instead of a flight.

The light

Long evenings through July. Golden hour still lands after 8 p.m.

The campus

Empty paths, every backdrop free, and the Arboretum at full green.

Watch for

The group calendar, not the campus. Book before the leases end.

Book by

June, while everyone is still in Guelph and the date is easy.

OctoberGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate photographed at the University of Guelph during fall convocation season

October convocation

Fall colour season

Fall convocation lands exactly when the campus looks its most dramatic. The Arboretum peaks, the trees on Johnston Green turn, and gowns photograph beautifully against fall colour. October galleries look nothing like June galleries, and some groups pick this window for that reason alone.

The light math changes: sunset moves to about 6:30 p.m., so sessions run earlier in the day, and the weather needs one honest backup conversation. A grey October day is genuinely great for photos. A soaked one gets rescheduled, and we would rather move a date than shoot a miserable group.

The light

Sunset near 6:30. Golden hour comes early enough for an after-work group.

The campus

Peak fall colour, and the Arboretum at its absolute best.

Watch for

Weather swings. Build one backup date into the group plan from the start.

Book by

September. The colour window is short and the slots inside it are few.

WinterGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate photographed by the historic stone buildings of the University of Guelph in the colder months

Winter

The bold choice

Winter ceremonies and February grads get the campus nobody else shoots: limestone under snow, black gowns against white ground, and frames with real drama in them. Done right, a winter group session produces the most striking gallery of any season on this page.

Done right means planned around the cold. Shorter outdoor stretches, warm layers under the gowns, a coat run between zones, and a route that keeps the walking short. Days are short too, so sessions sit in the early afternoon where the light is soft and everyone still has feeling in their hands for the ring shots.

The light

Soft all day, and snow bounces it up into faces like a giant reflector.

The campus

Snow on limestone. The rarest-looking gallery a group can get.

Watch for

Cold plans that do not exist. Layers, short zone hops, and a warm-up stop.

Book by

A few weeks out is usually fine. Winter is the calmest calendar of the year.

The moments

Nobody has to say cheese.

The reason most group photos look stiff is that they were all taken the same way: a line of people facing a lens, waiting for it to be over. Do that in front of six backgrounds and you get six versions of the same picture and no evidence anyone likes each other.

A group session runs differently. The posed sets are quick and deliberate, and between them the camera stays up, because the walk to the next zone, the cap fixing and the heckling during the solo sets are where the real frames live.

Scroll on. The rows below move with you.

The gown lineGuelph Grad Photos
A line of University of Guelph graduates in gowns photographed together
The gryphonGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates at the Gryphon Statue at the University of Guelph
Caps onGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate adjusting their cap near the University Centre
The walkGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate walking across campus by Johnston Green
The doorway comboGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates framed by historic architecture on the north side of campus
The stadium lineGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates photographed at Gryphon Alumni Stadium
The seated frameGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate seated in the Arboretum gardens
The cap tossGuelph Grad Photos
A cap toss frame at the University of Guelph
The hugGuelph Grad Photos
Graduating friends hugging in convocation gowns
The team walkGuelph Grad Photos
A group walking the field line at Alumni Stadium
Solo, with an audienceGuelph Grad Photos
An individual graduate portrait taken during a group session
The laugh between takesGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates laughing between posed frames
The tassel turnGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate turning the tassel on their cap
Gowns openGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates with gowns open in a relaxed frame
The trail walkGuelph Grad Photos
A walk along the Arboretum trails at the University of Guelph
The duoGuelph Grad Photos
Two graduates photographed together on campus
The full crewGuelph Grad Photos
The full group of graduates photographed together
The runGuelph Grad Photos
Graduates running toward the camera on Johnston Green

Frames from real Guelph Grad Photos sessions on the U of G campus.

The posed sets

How we run the ones that have to happen

  • Full-group frames go first, while gowns are crisp and energy is high.
  • Arrangements build fast: formal, then loose, then walking. Eight seconds each.
  • Tall in back is a suggestion, best friends beside each other is the rule.
  • We move the group to the light rather than fixing the light around the group.
  • Caps sit flat, tassels on the same side, hoods showing their colour. We check every frame.
  • The cap toss gets three attempts. The second one is always the keeper.
  • The last arrangement of every set is “now do whatever you want.” Keep that one.
For everyone in the group

Small things that do the heavy lifting

  • Hands free. Phones, keys and iced coffees go in one shared bag that stays out of frame.
  • Sunglasses off for the posed sets, on the head is fine for the walking ones.
  • Look at each other, not at the camera, whenever we say “just talk.” It photographs as friendship because it is.
  • Walk slower than feels natural in the walking frames. Camera speed is half of real speed.
  • Weight on the back foot for standing sets. It reads relaxed even when you are not.
  • If your hood will not sit right, say so. Thirty seconds of fixing beats forty frames of crooked.
  • Trust the count. On three, everyone is actually looking, we promise.
About props

Props are welcome, and the simple ones win. Sparkling to pop, confetti to throw, a banner with the year on it, the dog somebody’s parents are minding. Two honest notes from experience: anything popped or thrown needs a cleanup plan and about ten extra minutes, and it is on you to check the rules for wherever you want to pop it. Tell us what you are bringing when you book and we build it into the route instead of improvising at the end.

What to wear

Dress for the frame on your parents’ wall.

These photos have a long life. They go on walls, into family group chats on three continents, onto LinkedIn, and into the “remember this” post ten years from now. Four minutes of outfit planning per person is the cheapest upgrade the whole gallery can get.

The gown does most of the unifying work, which is the quiet advantage group grad photos have: everyone matches from the shoulders down no matter what. What you choose underneath and around it is what separates a clean gallery from a chaotic one.

Two rules cover nearly everything. Solid mid tones beat busy patterns, because tight patterns shimmer on camera. And wear it comfortably, because a group session involves real walking and the person tugging at their collar in frame three is still tugging at it in frame two hundred.

Under the gownGuelph Grad Photos
A graduate showing a clean outfit under an open convocation gown

Under the gown

  • Solid colours in mid to deep tones. They sit beautifully against the black gown.
  • A collar or a structured neckline photographs best in the gown’s opening.
  • Comfortable shoes with real soles. The route involves grass, gravel and stairs.
  • Nothing that fights the hood: busy scarves and high patterned collars compete with it.
  • Plan for gown-off frames too. Some of the best sets happen once the gowns open up.
  • Bring one layer for the evening. Golden hour is warm light, not warm air.
As a groupGuelph Grad Photos
A group of graduates with coordinated outfits photographed together

As a group

  • Agree a loose palette, not a uniform. Two or three shared tones is plenty.
  • One message in the group chat settles it: “everyone in neutrals or jewel tones.”
  • Steam or hang the gowns the night before. Six crisp gowns and one crumpled one is a very visible ratio.
  • Caps travel flat, not stuffed in a tote. A creased mortarboard never recovers.
  • Hoods on for the formal sets, and worn right. The colours mean something.
  • Decide gown-open or gown-closed per set, together. Mixed is messy; chosen is a look.
Everyone

What to skip

  • Thin stripes, small checks and tight repeating patterns. They shimmer and crawl on camera.
  • Neon colours. They throw a colour cast up onto your own face and your neighbour’s.
  • Big logos and slogan shirts, unless the slogan is the point of the frame.
  • Brand-new shoes. Campus is a walking route, and limping is visible in walking frames.
  • Anything you keep adjusting. If you tug at it in the mirror, you will tug at it all session.
  • Lanyards, smartwatch notifications and the drink you meant to leave in the bag.
The details that matter

Caps, hoods and tassels

The three details that decide whether a group looks assembled or accidental: caps sitting flat rather than tipped back, every tassel on the same side, and hoods draped so the colours actually show.

We check all three before every posed set, and you can get ahead of it in five minutes. The Gown Guide covers fit, steaming and gown-open versus gown-closed, and the Grad Hood Guide explains what the hood colours mean and exactly how to wear one so it stays put through a three-hour session.

Not a rulebook

None of this outranks your group actually looking like itself. If your crew’s whole identity is the intramural jerseys, wear the jerseys for a set. The only line worth holding is comfort: a group that feels good photographs relaxed, and relaxed is the entire look.

Campus light

Outdoor sessions are booked backwards from sunset.

Every outdoor grad session is a lighting decision first, because the campus does not have a dimmer switch. The hour you book decides how the limestone looks, where the shadows fall, and whether the cap toss happens against gold sky or grey.

None of the slots below are bad. They are different, and with a group the honest move is to pick the light you want first, then solve the group calendar around it rather than the other way round.

Morning

Soft light, empty campus

The underrated slot. Light is soft and low, the campus is empty, and every backdrop on the route is free. During convocation week, morning is the difference between owning the gryphon and queueing for it.

The honest catch is the group itself: getting six grads camera-ready for 9 a.m. is a leadership achievement. The groups that manage it get the calmest session of the day and first pick of every spot.

Looks like

Clean, fresh, quiet. The gallery with nobody in the background.

Best for

Convocation week, busy zones, and groups with an early riser as captain.

Watch for

The one friend who is not a morning person. Assign them a coffee.

Midday

The convenient slot, handled properly

High sun is the hardest light of the day: shadows under eyes, squinting, and hot caps. It is also frequently the only slot a whole group can make, so we do not pretend it away, we work it.

Working it means architecture. Arches, doorways, treelines and building shade give open, even light at any hour, and the U of G campus has more of them than almost any campus in Ontario. A midday session shoots the sheltered spots and saves the open green for another slot or a cloud.

Looks like

Bright and vivid, kept flattering by shooting the shade and the structure.

Best for

Groups whose only shared free hours are the middle of the day.

Watch for

Squinting in open sun. We angle the group away from it, trust the weird direction.

Golden hour

The last stretch before sunset

The slot everyone asks for, and for once the popular answer is the right one. The last ninety minutes before sunset put warm, low, forgiving light on faces, turn the limestone gold, and give the cap toss an actual sky. Black gowns, which eat light all day, finally glow at the edges.

The math moves with the calendar: sunset is near 9 p.m. in late June and near 6:30 by mid October, so “golden hour” is a different booking time every month. Tell us the month and we place the session so the biggest sets land exactly in the peak, with the fun frames riding the last light.

These slots are the first to book out in every season. If the group wants golden hour in June, the group books early.

Looks like

Warm, glowy, cinematic. The frames people frame.

Best for

The big sets, Johnston Green, the Arboretum, and every cap toss.

Watch for

Lateness. Golden hour does not wait for the person parking.

Overcast

The secret good weather

A grey sky is a giant softbox. Nobody squints, no shadows carve up faces, colours saturate, and the group can face any direction at any spot on campus. Photographers quietly love these days, and the galleries prove them right.

So if the forecast says cloudy, do not reach for the reschedule button. The session that gets moved is the properly soaked one, and that call gets made together, the day before, with a backup date already in hand because the group planned like adults. Which after four years of group projects, you are.

Looks like

Soft, rich, evenly lit everywhere. Fall colour especially pops under cloud.

Best for

Any zone, any arrangement, any hour. The most flexible sky there is.

Watch for

Actual rain. Drizzle we shoot through, downpours we reschedule.

Packages

Priced per person, planned per group.

Group packages are for three or more people and are priced per person, so nobody has to be the friend who fronts a lump sum and chases five e-transfers. Two people count as a duo, which has its own pricing on the pricing page.

The two packages are really two route sizes. Pick by how many zones and combinations the group wants, not by the number that sounds cheapest in the chat.

Most popularGroup . 3 plus people

Signature

$150 per person, down to $90 at twelve

1 to 2 hours . 3 campus zones

  • Full-group sets, the combination list and individual frames for everyone
  • 10 edited photos and 70 plus unedited, in one shared private gallery
  • Gown and hood included, nothing for anyone to rent
  • 48-hour sneak peek, full gallery in 7 days
  • A second photographer joins from seven people
See your group's exact price
Group . 3 plus people

Premium

$230 per person, down to $120 at twelve

2.5 to 3.5 hours . 6 campus zones

  • The full campus route, every combination, no clock-watching
  • 30 edited photos and 150 plus unedited, in one shared private gallery
  • Champagne pop, gown and hood included, golden-hour priority
  • LinkedIn headshot, and a second photographer from seven people
See your group's exact price
How group booking works

One person locks the date, everyone pays their own share. The captain opens Book Now, picks the group size, the package and the zones, and the builder prices it per person as the choices change, including walking time between the zones you picked. Add-ons like extra locations and 4K video can be stacked on from the same builder, and gowns and hoods are included for everyone in the group. Current promotions live on the pricing page, and every fee is shown in writing before anyone pays anything.

Getting ready

The week before.

Almost everything that goes wrong at a group session was decided the week before it. Twenty minutes of group-chat admin buys you a shoot day where the only job is showing up and enjoying it. Work through the list, tick things off, and take it with you.

The week before

Lock the final headcountPer-person pricing means the number matters. Confirm who is actually in, and stop counting the maybes.
Send us the group listNames, the combinations that must exist, and the one frame the group would be gutted to miss.
Settle the zonesAnchor zone first, then the route. One vote in the chat, majority wins, captain breaks ties.
Collect every degreeGowns and hoods come with the session, so all we need is who is graduating in what. The Gown Guide covers the rest.
Check caps, tassels and hoodsOne full set each, and everyone knows how the hood sits. The Grad Hood Guide is a two-minute read.
Agree the outfit paletteOne message: two or three shared tones, solids over patterns. Done. Resist the twelve-message version.
Steam or hang the gownsThe night before, out of the packaging, on hangers. Creases from a shipping bag survive into every single frame.
Drop the meeting pinOne pin, one time, one parking plan, in the chat the night before. This single message saves fifteen minutes of "where are you."
Make the weather call togetherCloudy shoots great. Soaked reschedules. Agree the backup date now so the call is a formality, not a debate.
Confirm props and add-onsBubbly, confetti, banners, video or drone add-ons. All welcome, none of them addable at minute eighty of ninety.
Name the captainIf reading this list felt like recognition, it is you. Send us your name and number and shoot day runs itself.
Charge phones, clear storageFor the behind-the-scenes you will absolutely take, and for finding each other at the pin.

Shoot day.

Eat something first, wear the comfortable shoes, and get to the pin ten minutes early. Here is the whole list.

Shoot day checklist

Arrive ten minutes earlyAt the pin, parked, walking over. Ninety minutes of coverage starts at the start time, not at the last arrival.
Gowns on hangers, caps carried flatPut them on at the meeting spot, not in the car. Ten minutes of fixing at the start makes every frame after it clean.
One shared bag for everythingPhones, keys, water, lint roller, bobby pins, the bubbly. One bag, carried by rotation, out of every frame.
Tassels same side, hoods checkedCaptain does one lap of the group before the first set. We do the fine-tuning, the lap catches the big stuff.
Big sets first, trust the orderFull group, then combos, then solos, then chaos. The order exists so the important frames are banked before anyone fades.
Tell us when something changesSomebody has to leave early, a surprise guest arrived, the group wants an unplanned spot. Say it early and we reshuffle the route around it.
Water in the shared bagGowns are warm, campus walking is real, and golden hour waits for nobody who fainted.
Save the props for the endBubbly, confetti and the dog arrive for the final zone, after the formal sets are safe and cleanup can happen without a clock.
Phones away during setsBehind-the-scenes between sets, absolutely. During sets, six people and zero glowing rectangles.
Then let go of the planThe list got you here. The best frame of the day is not on it, and we will be pointing the camera at it when it happens.
Your photos

One gallery for the whole crew.

After the session, everything is edited and delivered to a single private gallery on our website. One link, one access code, shared with the whole group, so the photos never live on one person’s phone with everyone else asking for exports forever.

First

Sneak peeks

A few edited frames arrive ahead of the full set, enough for the first posts and the family group chats while the rest of the gallery is being worked on properly. The captain shares them once and takes full credit.

Then

The full gallery

The complete edited set: every group arrangement, every combination, and each person’s individual frames, colour corrected and print ready. Delivery timing depends on the package and the season, and your photographer tells you the date to expect at the session.

For everyone

Everyone gets everything

Each person in the group can open the gallery, download full-resolution files, and grab both their solo set and every group frame. Nobody has to ask the captain to airdrop their own graduation photos.

Whenever

Prints and edit requests

Want a specific frame retouched, or the group shot printed large for six different parents’ walls? Message us from the gallery and we sort it. The files also come print ready if the parents insist on handling it themselves, which they will.

1

Open the delivery message

It has two things: a link and your group’s access code. Everyone in the group gets to use both.

2

Go to Your Photos

Open the Your Photos page here on guelphgradphotos.com, on any device. Phones are fine for looking, a laptop is nicer for downloading the full set.

3

Enter the access code

Exactly as it was sent, capitals included. That opens your group’s gallery and nobody else’s.

4

Download, share, print

Full-resolution downloads for everyone, edit requests on specific frames, and prints for the walls. If anything will not open, message us and we fix it the same day.

One small ask

Share the code with the group, not with the internet. The code is what keeps your gallery private. Send it to the people in the photos and their families, and if it ever escapes further than that, message us and we reset it the same day.

Group Sessions . Guelph Grad Photos

Round up the group chat. We handle the rest.

Send us your headcount, your dream zones and the month you are aiming for. We will tell you the package that actually fits, the slot with the best light, and the route that gets six people through it without a single “where are you.”

Group pricing is per person for groups of three or more. Every fee is discussed and agreed in writing before anything is paid, so nothing about the booking is ever a surprise.