Congratulations! You just graduation from college! What are you going to do next? For me, the answer was to embark on a 19-day trip across China with Sharon Mei, a friend of mine from Duke. Sharon was born in China and speaks Mandarin fluently, so I essentially had a built-in tour guide/translator/event planner the entire trip. I wouldn’t recommend going to China without someone who could communicate fluently.

My parents gave me a Nikon D7000 as a graduation gift, and, as you can see below, I was able to instantly put it to use. I toted it and the 18-105mm lens that was included across the country. I tried to shoot photos that were aesthetically pleasing enough to appear on a quality travel blog (try is the key word). It was my first attempt at shooting a non-sports event, so any feedback would be appreciated!

Fish swarm to catch food thrown into the water by tourists at the Chengdu Panda Base.