Memorial Day; it's a typical assignment. In fact it’s an annual assignment almost every newspaper photographer has had to shoot at one point or another. My assignment was to come up with a few photos from Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery that would be iconic for a broader story on the entire cemetery that would run on Memorial day. Carrying everything from a 16mm to 300/2.8 I must have walked the entire cemetery’s 70+ acres at least a dozen times, wandering in every direction for hours, shooting with wide angle lenses, closeups, telephoto, shallow and deep depth of field and yes even the low-low angle photos. In fact on two occasions while shooting several photos on my knees I was caught off guard when the cemetery's auto sprinkler system started. On my 2nd day out on the cemetery I was fortunate to stumble upon a Marine burial guard. And of course the gear I needed was back in my car. I had less than 10 minutes to get back to my car, drive my car over to where the burial guard was and to quickly setup a couple of portable strobes to photograph Cpl. Kevin Silva playing taps.
Nelvin C. Cepeda Photos used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune
Sitting in the 102° University of California Merced sun, thousands of family members, friends, faculty and staff gathered from what has to be up to this point in UC Merced’s history, it’s most prestigious and proudest moment.Thanks to an incredible letter writing campaign started by students at the university and continued by its community, they achieved what other larger and more prestigious universities and schools haven’t been able to do.They got the First Lady, Michelle Obama to be the Keynote speaker at their graduation.
Up to that point, it had already been a long day for most family members and graduates.People had started arriving as early as 7:30 in the morning for a 1:30pm graduation.Some even attending smaller ceremonies on the small and remote campus.
The nervousness of people could be seen in the fast flitting eyes of the many who were working to bring this event to fruition.University staff and faculty darted about trying to get people and things in the right places.Police officials screened visitors through large metal detectors.Secret Service agents walked stoically among the crowd with dark sunglasses and occasionally speaking into the cuff of their coats.In the distance of the campus’ rooftops, small silhouettes could be seen raising binoculars to their eyes and shifting from one end of a rooftop to the other.
The nervous energy present earlier in the staff could now be felt spreading among the attendees even in the 100 plus degree weather.Eventually the time passed and the time grew closer for the graduation.Some of the elderly or those who did not drink enough water had to be attended to by Emergency Services only to ultimately be carted away to a shadier respite, no doubt where there was water and shade available.
It was then, after a few minutes of standing, saluting and crowd cheering did the graduation platform come onto the stage.During the few speeches and introductions before the First Lady’s commencement address, the vibe in the crowd was electric and soon enough erupted in tremendous applause when Michelle Obama stepped to the dais.
Mrs. Obama spoke about inspiration and giving back.Speaking confidently and directly to the crowd she talked about why she decided to make UC Merced the first university to give her very first commencement address as First Lady.She told the crowd that it was because the students and the people of Merced inspired her and touched her so much that she felt that she had to go.When referring to the vast diversity of Merced’s community and the struggles of their families to get their sons and daughters to this graduation, she asked them to give back to the community that gave them the very university that they were graduating from.
Reminding the crowd of graduates that “you are blessed”, and that everyone once in a while they should “bend down and let someone else stand on [their] shoulders”, and asking them to be the “realization of our dreams and the hope for the next generation”.
Möbius Images is a photographic cooperative based out of Southern California. Möbius is comprised of portrait photographers, photojournalists, commercial and event photographers Ronnie Revoredo, Nelvin Cepeda, and Howard Lipin.
Möbius Images is a diverse group of multi-cultural and multi-lingual photographers and they are available for all of your photographic assignments and are able to travel worldwide.
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Memorial Day; it's a typical assignment. In fact it’s an annual assignment almost every newspaper photographer has had to shoot at one point or another. My assignment was to come up with a few photos from Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery that would be iconic for a broader story on the entire cemetery that would run on Memorial day. Carrying everything from a 16mm to 300/2.8 I must have walked the entire cemetery’s 70+ acres at least a dozen times, wandering in every direction for hours, shooting with wide angle lenses, closeups, telephoto, shallow and deep depth of field and yes even the low-low angle photos. In fact on two occasions while shooting several photos on my knees I was caught off guard when the cemetery's auto sprinkler system started. On my 2nd day out on the cemetery I was fortunate to stumble upon a Marine burial guard. And of course the gear I needed was back in my car. I had less than 10 minutes to get back to my car, drive my car over to where the burial guard was and to quickly setup a couple of portable strobes to photograph Cpl. Kevin Silva playing taps.
