Sunday, September 25, 2016

Niles West 40th Reunion - Class of 1976








It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since I graduated Niles West High School!

This weekend, a number of my classmates got together for our 40th reunion.  Ten years ago, I was not the official photographer, but rather just an attendee who took a bunch of photos during the reunion.  This time though, I was the "official" photographer of the event, so I attended the morning tour of Niles West and then later in the evening, I attended the actual reunion event.

It was good seeing everyone again.  With over 140 classmates in attendance, the huge group photo was a challenge to take.  Getting everyone to listen and look forward at the same time was not easy.  I set my Nikon D4 camera on a tripod and used a Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens to take the ultra-wide angle shot.  While I would have liked more space on the sides of the huge group shot, we were lucky just to get everyone in the shot!  I triggered the D4 with a radio controlled remote triggering device.  It's in my right hand while I was holding a microphone in the left hand to get everyone's attention.  The ultra-wide angle lens tends to stretch the outer edges, so that's why you see me and the others near the edge a bit wider than we really are.

Our most notable graduate in 1976 was Olympic Gold Medalist Bart Connor.  If you look close you can find him in the group photo and also in the Junior High group photo of graduates from Park View Junior High (look for me and that's the Park View shot and move 5 people to the right).

Another ten years and we'll be doing our 50th reunion.  Hard to believe the years go by so fast!

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