Guelph Grad Photos · Backdrops

Guelph Grad Backdrops.

Fifty spots we use on the University of Guelph campus and in the Arboretum, zone by zone, with what each one is good for. Pick the two or three that mean something to you and we will build the route around them.

The long list, and how to use it.

The six spots every grad should have are on their own page. This one is everything else, so you can find the residence you lived in, the field you played on, or the garden nobody else thinks of. Your package sets how many stops a session covers, and the walking between them is part of the session time. Jump to a zone:

One photo from each zone. Swipe through.

A graduate with long red hair in a white dress with a red stole sitting on the base of the bronze gryphon statue at the University of Guelph.
A graduate in a black gown holding her cap on her head in front of the Johnston Hall clock tower at the University of Guelph.
A graduate in a white dress with a red stole sitting on the painted Cannon with one arm raised, campus buildings behind
a Guelph grad on the University of Guelph campus, sitting on a large red chair with a black design, outdoors. The photo is from Guelph Grad Photos. The background is the Gryphon Alumni Stadium on the University of Guelph Campus.
A graduate in a black gown with a red stole sitting on the stone wall of the Lang School of Business sign at the University of Guelph.
A graduate in a cream dress with a red stole sits on a wooden bench seen through the spray of a fountain

Zone 01: Southeast campus entry.

Stone Road and Gordon Street, where campus starts. The first thing anyone sees of the University of Guelph, and the spots that say where you graduated without a caption.

  1. Gryphon Statue. The bronze Gryphon at the Gordon and Stone gateway, unveiled in 2014 and the most requested grad photo on campus. Rub the beak for luck. Good for groups.
  2. Main Entrance Sign and Stone Gates. The university’s name in the frame, which is why this is the announcement post. We work the angle so the road stays out of it.
  3. Main Entrance Boulevard. The tree-lined approach from the gates: long lines, depth behind you, and room for a walking shot. Good for groups.
  4. Bus Loop with the Campus Behind. A wide, open stand with the campus rising behind it. Good for a group lined up across the frame. Good for groups.
  5. South Ring Road Stone Wall and Hedges. A low stone wall and clipped hedges: somewhere to sit, somewhere to lean, and a clean green background.

Zone 02: Johnston Green heritage core.

The heart of campus, around Johnston Hall. Limestone, lawn and the clock tower. If you only have time for one zone, it is this one.

A graduate in a white dress with a red and white stole smiling in front of the Johnston Hall clock tower
A graduate in a white dress leaning against a fluted stone column of the Portico with yellow flowers in the foreground
A graduate in a white dress leaning on a fluted limestone column and looking off to the side, trees behind
A graduate in a white dress and heeled sandals posing between the Portico columns with yellow black-eyed Susans nearby
A smiling graduate in a white dress leaning on a fluted column of the Portico, with its blue plaque behind her
A graduate in a white dress leaning back against a fluted stone column of the Portico, face turned away, yellow flowers at her feet
  1. Johnston Hall Clock Tower. The most recognisable landmark on campus and the building on the front of every brochure. Softest in the late afternoon, when the front is out of hard sun.
  2. Johnston Green. The open lawn in front of Johnston Hall: space for a whole group, a cap toss, and the long view back to the tower. Good for groups.
  3. Alumni Walk. The tree-lined path through the middle of campus. Extraordinary in October, green and generous in spring.
  4. The Portico. The stone columned entrance standing on its own in the green, a survivor of the original 1874 college. Open shade under the arch all day.
  5. OVC Quad and the Science Pathway. For veterinary grads especially: the Ontario Veterinary College’s quad and the path through the science buildings.
  6. War Memorial Hall. The 1924 limestone hall with broad stone steps and a balustrade: a seat, a stride, and a formal frame.
  7. Creelman Hall. The 1914 dining hall beside the green, brick and stone with tall windows. Quieter than the tower and just as classic.
  8. Mills Hall. The 1920 residence on the green. If you lived here, this is your shot.
  9. Winegard Walk. The main pedestrian walk through campus: brick underfoot, buildings either side, a natural corridor for movement.

Zone 03: Mid-campus, around the University Centre.

The busy middle, from the Cannon to the Science Complex. The everyday campus: the plaza, the pub, the painted cannon, and the buildings you actually had classes in.

  1. Old Jeremiah, the Cannon. The painted cannon outside the University Centre, repainted by students so often it is never the same colour twice. Fun, dynamic poses.
  2. Branion Plaza. The wide plaza in front of the University Centre: the place for the big group and the wide shot. Good for groups.
  3. Massey Hall. The classic red-brick former library from the early 1900s, arched doorway and all.
  4. UC Courtyard and Garden Nook. A pocket of green in the busiest part of campus, and a calm frame between buildings.
  5. Reynolds Walk. The path past the Reynolds Building: leafy, lower-key, and useful when the front of campus is crowded.
  6. The Bullring. The round 1901 building on Winegard Walk, now the campus pub. Brick curves and a good story.
  7. Zavitz Hall. The 1914 fine-art building: red brick, tall windows, and the natural pick for art grads.
  8. Raithby House. Built in 1882, one of the oldest buildings on campus, a small brick house in a garden setting.
  9. Rozanski Hall. Clean modern lines and glass, for a portrait that looks like now rather than 1914.
  10. Summerlee Science Complex, Waasamowin atrium. Indoors, bright, and home to the white Tree of Life sculpture. The rain plan for science grads. Indoors, so it works in the rain.

Zone 04: Stadium and athletics.

Northeast campus, around Gryphon Alumni Stadium. For anyone who spent their Saturdays here, and for the props that make a photo fun.

  1. Gryphon Alumni Stadium Grandstand. The stands, the field and the Gryphon red. For anyone who played, cheered or worked here. Good for groups.
  2. The Big Chair. The oversized red chair by the stadium: a fan favourite and a guaranteed laugh.
  3. Platform 9¾ Sign. The stadium’s Harry Potter joke, and a crowd-pleaser for the right grad.
  4. The Gryphon Door. The player entrance and its Anishinaabe mural, for a wall of colour behind you.
  5. Champions Corner. At the northwest end outside the grandstand, a plaque for every championship the Gryphons have brought home. For student-athletes.
  6. The Hand-Off Sculpture. The two-metre bronze at the stadium, made to be part of the game-day ritual, and a good prop for a pair.
  7. Football Honour Wall. Added in 2024, the names behind the program. For the football grads.
  8. W. F. Mitchell Athletics Centre. The modern glass front of Gryphon athletics, a few steps from the stadium.
  9. Gryphon Centre. The arena beside the Athletics Centre, for the hockey and skating grads.

Zone 05: North campus.

Macdonald Institute and the LANG building. Historic stone on one side, the business school on the other, and two of the best indoor options on campus.

  1. Macdonald Institute. The 1903 historic stone building with its terrace and balustrade, one of the most photogenic buildings on campus. Good for groups.
  2. LANG Building. The Lang School of Business’s home, with the LANG lettering on the stone wall. The business grad’s shot.
  3. LANG Water Fountain. The fountain outside LANG for movement, reflection and a little sparkle.
  4. LANG Fireplace. Indoors, warm and editorial: the winter and rain option for business grads. Indoors, so it works in the rain.

Zone 06: The Arboretum.

East campus, the gardens and the trails. Four hundred acres of gardens, collections and woodland, ten minutes from the clock tower and a different world.

A graduate in a cream dress with a red stole sitting sideways on a weathered wooden bench in a shaded garden
A graduate stands with her back to the camera on a stone slab beside a pond, her red and gold stole down her back
A graduate looks up beneath a red-leafed maple, wearing a red, gold and black stole over a white dress
A graduate in a white dress with a red and black stole over one shoulder smiles beside a garden pond
A graduate in a white dress rests one hand on her hip and smiles under a Japanese maple in a garden
A graduate in a cream dress and red-lined stole smiles straight at the camera in a sunlit garden
  1. Japanese Garden Stone Bridge. The stone bridge over the water in the David G. Porter Memorial Japanese Garden, the most photographed spot in the Arboretum.
  2. Japanese Garden Teahouse and Dry Garden. The wooden teahouse and the raked-gravel dry garden a few steps from the bridge.
  3. Arboretum Gazebo. The wooden gazebo: a roof in light rain, a frame in the sun. Works as a rain plan.
  4. Pergola Walkway. The vine-covered walkway: dappled light and a long line to walk down.
  5. Italian Garden Pool and Fountain. The formal pool with its fountain jets, hornbeam hedges and stone benches, inspired by Renaissance estates.
  6. English Garden Moon Gates. The Edna and Frank C. Miller English Garden’s moon-gate trellises, heavy with wisteria in early summer.
  7. Main Tree Tunnel Trail. The tree-lined trail into the collections: a tunnel of leaves in summer and of colour in October.
  8. Ivey Trail. A wide, open, wheelchair-accessible loop through the collections. Fully accessible.
  9. Wild Goose Woods. The woodland trail, for deep shade and depth behind you.
  10. Native Trees of Ontario Trail. A walk through Ontario’s own trees, at its best when the maples turn.
  11. OAC ’56 Park. The big lawn with specimen trees, and room for the largest group on this page. Good for groups.
  12. Gosling Wildlife Gardens. Five backyard-scale gardens from 1989, among the first wildlife gardens in Canada. Intimate and green.
  13. Victoria Woods. The old woodland at the Arboretum’s edge: deep shade in summer, colour in fall.

Somewhere not on this list?

If it is on or near campus and it means something to you, say so when you book and we will work it into the route. The library steps, a lecture hall, the greenhouse you worked in: all fair game. The indoor spots above are the rain plan, light rain often photographs beautifully, and heavier rain means a free reschedule. The weather plan has the details.

Keep reading.

  • Golden hour, explained: why the hour before sunset flatters everyone, and what it looks like at the Portico and the tower.
  • Fall, spring or winter: what each season gives these spots, from October colour to snow light.
  • Group grad photos: planning a session with your whole crew, and which zones hold a big group.

Pick your spots on the day.

Book the session, then tell us the two or three backdrops you want most. We plan the walk so the light is on your side at each one.

Book your session