chs class of 2022 cap toss portrait

As a photographer offering a free photo session to celebrate another class graduating from Carlinville High School, it’s my job to try and attract the biggest crowd I can. The goal is always to have more participation than we did the year before. I issue the challenge, make sure as many people as possible know about the event, show up early, and then wait.

The very first year we did the cap toss photo, I vividly remember getting there early and no one had arrived. We waited and as the time grew closer, I began to fear that my grand idea had fallen flat. (Let’s be honest, it wouldn’t have been the first time.) But, then suddenly, like out of a dream, a line of cars descended upon us, with graduates jumping out of cars with their caps, ready to go. (Many thanks to Sami Park for TELLING everyone they were going to the photo and for leading the caravan.)

Since then, the cap toss photo has continued to grow every year, and with such a great turnout last year, I feared that maybe we’d peaked and that we wouldn’t see much growth in our numbers anymore.

Thankfully, the Class of 2022 was having none of that negativity.

When we arrived, there were already graduates waiting for us. What followed was a steady stream of cars, most of them loaded with graduates, some filled with parents coming to watch pouring in through the fairgrounds gates right up until it was time to begin. As always, there’s a person or a group that shows up a bit late and we have to wait a minute for them to catch up to the group. This is always met with shouts and cheers from the graduates waiting, egging them on to hurry. It never fails.

After brief instruction from me, it’s time to toss the caps. You can count on it as surely as you can count on your watch, once they toss their caps, the wind will grab them and everyone will saunter to one side of the field or another to pick up their caps and prepare for our second cap toss.

Then, it’s over. As quickly as they all arrived, they’re all gone again and it’s just us at the fairgrounds ready to head home and see what kind of photos we got. It’s not easy making an early evening photo in the summertime look like the sun has set, and every year I worry it’s not going to work out. But, after finishing our 5th year of cap toss photos, (including one that was a complete composite due to the pandemic) I’ve never not had one work out.

So, now, we take a break from the cap toss photo until next April when I’ll begin bombarding the Class of 2023 with reminders to show up and bring a bigger crowd than the year before them. The record stands at 37, we’ll see what you’ve got, 2023.