One of the great Commencement photo ops takes place the day before, when the soon-to-be graduates gather on the lawn in front of Dartmouth Hall for a class photograph.

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A bagpiper plays as members of the Class of 2015 leave class day exercises at the Bema outdoor amphitheater and head for the Dartmouth Hall. As soon as the students get there, College Photographer Eli Burakian ’00 corrals them inside a very large rectangle (outlined by a yellow rope on the ground). Perched atop a 12-foot ladder and armed with a megaphone, Burakian makes sure everyone else stays outside the rope.

“If you’re a senior, get inside the rope. If you are a parent, I know who you are,” he jokes Friends and family crowd the sidewalk to capture the same view Burakian has, almost.

The entire process takes about 15 minutes. Then the students head off to their next events, and the following day gather together, all of them, one last time.