The "firing squad" photo (from either end of the gun) covers any or all of the following events: graduation, completion of a seminar, reunion of a class, meeting of a civic club in a foreign country - with a landmark (Mt. Fuji or the Eiffel Tower) as backdrop and a large banner identifying the group who are all wearing sunglasses and cannot be recognized even by their housemaids.

Once you have your loaded camera in hand, it's time to concentrate on taking good-quality, spontaneous photos that capture the spirit of the event. Photographer D.J. Herda recommends catching subjects in the act of doing something - children at play throwing flying disks or frolicking with the family dog, and adults relaxing on the grass, laughing or telling a story.

"This approach avoids those firing-squad photos of people lined up and grinning, or the stuffy, posed shots," says Herda. He also suggests that your subject hold a prop, such as a beachball, to break up the monotony in your pictures.