The Weather Plan.
Rain does not stop a grad session. We bring matching umbrellas for everyone, plan the route for the weather, and shoot in the soft light that makes some of our best photos. Only a severe storm warning moves a date.
Guelph Grad Photos · Policies
It might rain. Here is exactly what happens.
You are booking an outdoor session in Ontario, so let’s answer the question every grad (and every parent watching the forecast from another city) eventually asks. What if it rains?
The short version: your session goes ahead. Rain and cloud do not cancel a grad session with us. We bring matching umbrellas for everyone, plan the route around the weather, and have things ready so the day runs smoothly. The one thing that stops a session is a severe storm warning. This goes for every session, whenever it was booked. The longer version is below, because “trust us” is not a weather plan.
Rain is a look, not a problem.
Rain and cloud usually make our best photos. An overcast sky is a giant softbox: even, flattering light across every face, no squinting, and none of the harsh shadows the sun puts under caps. Wet brick and limestone go rich and saturated, so Johnston Hall and the walkways around it photograph deeper and moodier than they ever do at noon in July.
A rainy grad session also makes a great memory. Everyone under matching umbrellas, laughing at the weather, is a photo no sunny day can give you.
Regalia is dark, forgiving and quick to shake off the rain, and we come prepared so your session runs smoothly: matching umbrellas for everyone, and a route that leans on covered and sheltered spots when the rain picks up.
How a rainy day works.
A few days out, we start watching. We track the hourly forecast for your exact session window, not just the daily icon. A 40 percent chance of rain at 2 p.m. often means a dry 6 p.m., and golden-hour sessions dodge a lot of afternoon weather by default.
Rain or shine, we go ahead. Drizzle, showers and steady rain are all session weather. There is no guessing on the morning: unless you hear from us, we are on.
We bring the umbrellas. Matching umbrellas for everyone in your session, so nobody has to buy or carry one, and they look good in the frame. We plan the route around covered and sheltered spots like the Portico and use the drier moments for the big frames.
We are well prepared. We would never risk our own cameras and lenses getting water damaged, so rest assured: when we shoot in the rain, we are properly set up for it.
A severe storm warning is the one exception. If there is a severe storm warning for Guelph at your session time, we do not shoot. We contact you as early as we can and move your session to a new date at no charge, within two months of the original date. A session moved for weather is rescheduled, not refunded.
Light rain does not move a session. Drizzle and showers are part of an outdoor session in Ontario, so rain is not a reason to move or cancel a session that is going ahead. The usual times for changing a booking in our Terms of Service still apply, and in peak season the next open date may be a few weeks away.
In peak season, a new date can take weeks.
Convocation weeks and October fill the calendar. If a session moves in peak season, we may not be able to fit it in again for a few weeks, and for a family flying in that can mean missing the visit. That is why we plan to shoot on the day you booked, whatever the sky does.
If your date has no wiggle room at all (parents flying out Sunday, a lease ending, a convocation week packed to the hour), tell us when you book. We plan the route around covered and sheltered spots from the start and keep the session moving.
What to bring on a rainy day.
- No umbrella needed. We bring matching ones for everyone, and they make a genuinely good prop.
- A small towel in your bag, for benches, balustrades and anywhere you might sit.
- Comfortable shoes for walking between locations, and your photo shoes in the bag. Nobody sees your feet between frames.
- A five-minute touch-up kit: hair brush, blotting paper, the lipstick you started with.
Keep reading.
- Fall, spring or winter: what each season gives your photos, from October colour to snow light.
- When to book your session: why convocation weeks and golden-hour slots go first.
- Sessions for every body: step-free routes, seated poses and a pace that suits you.
Book the date, not the weather.
Pick the date that works for you and your family. If the sky misbehaves, you have just read exactly what happens next: we bring the umbrellas and your session goes ahead.