Dartmouth College Homecoming 2012

First year students at Dartmouth College run around the bonfire during Homecoming festivities.

In my role as the Dartmouth College Photographer, I get to photograph many of the great traditions that are a hallmark of the school. None play so large a role in one's memory than the Homecoming Bonfire. You can check out a set of images on the Dartmouth Flickr stream.

In addition to a parade through town and a number of speakers in front of Dartmouth Hall, the first year students are encouraged to run around the fire their class year number (ex. '16) plus 100. So this year the students were supposed to run 116 times around the fire! I'm privileged in my role to get some cool angles, such as inside the roped area close to the fire as well as a view from Baker tower out onto the green.

Students run around the fire while the almost-full moon shines above.

I had two favorite shots from the night. One was a long exposure from the tower, blurring the movement of the gerbils...er...I mean first year students. The second was shot on ground level, also slightly blurring the students while capturing the plume reaching to the almost-full moon.