Courtesy of Claire Shen

I’ve always taken photos wherever I went, but I’ve never put effort into them until this summer.

As I walked down Walnut Street in Philadelphia, a 9-story-tall cylindrical building gradually came into my view. It was Huntsman Hall, a famous structure containing the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Standing below it, I was amazed by its smooth brick walls and neat rows of windows. That’s when it hit me: This building, like so many other captivating sights, deserves a good photo. 

This year, I spent most of July in a program called Engineering Summer Academy at Penn (ESAP). It has been years since I last went to the East Coast, so I decided to take some meaningful photographs instead of just random snapshots of something I found cool, as I had done in the past. 

 

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As someone with little prior photography experience, I stuck with basic techniques for my photos and used my phone camera. Usually, I start by examining the subject through my phone and trying different angles to figure out the best way to compose the shot. After taking a rough draft shot or two, I made fine adjustments such as rotating and cropping. 

Often, I have to line up the horizon and center the subject because these imperfections become more obvious with the guidelines that appear when I edit my photo. I rarely use light or color adjustments because natural lighting is what gives photographs their authentic beauty.  

 

From animals to sculptures to scenery, the 50-photo album in my camera roll I recently created contains a diverse collection of pictures taken over the summer. One of my favorite photos so far is a Carnegie Mellon University sculpture called “Walking to the Sky.” This magnificent 100-foot sculpture is solely supported by an angled steel pole, and I really wanted to capture how the figures just keep on climbing higher and higher, almost as if they were walking straight into the sun. 

During the first weekend of ESAP, I visited the Philadelphia Zoo with my new friend, Lily. I remember trying to get a good photo of a peacock when this exotic little bird, a crested coua, flew right in front of my phone camera. Because it was only a few feet away from me, I was able to get a clear, focused picture. This photo reminds me of how Lily and I came across so many interesting animals and spent so much time marveling at every one of them. 

During the second weekend of ESAP, we went to a Phillies baseball game at Citizen Bank Park. I had never been to a sports game before, and the stadium’s size left me in awe. Walking through it almost felt like entering an entire city. I remember it was raining very hard before I took this photo (usual Penn weather) and after waiting forever for the game to start, we just ate candy and talked about how Angels star player Mike Trout kept swinging and missing. It wasn’t the best experience, but certainly a memorable one. 

In the final week of ESAP, we had a dance party at the Concourse Dance Bar. It was my first time going to a dance party, so the dim-lit room and loud music was both overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Noticing my phone took longer to capture a photo when it was darker, I angled the camera up and quickly panned downwards as I pressed the shutter button, creating a blur of lights and people. It took me several tries to get the desired effect, but every time I see the photo now, I can feel the fun and chaos of the party again. 

 
I wasn’t excited about visiting universities right after ESAP, but I have to say, going to Cornell — located in Ithaca, New York — was totally worth it. Not only were the Gothic-style buildings majestic, the evening scenery and sunset were also so picturesque they took my breath away. Looking through my album again, it’s hard to believe this was a photo I took and not a painting. 

All summer, I had a lot of fun taking these photos and looking through them afterward. They remind me of all the new things I tried and the wonderful moments I had this summer. Even if photography remains just a hobby for me, I’m perfectly happy because I can still preserve hundreds of memories and experiences through the lens of my phone camera. 

Throughout my experiences at the UPenn program, the weekend trips, the dance party and so much more, my camera followed and recorded my summer — and I hope it stays this way for the rest of my life.