Students have selected West Quad road as the best place to take graduation photos
By CAROLYN (CARI) FENN — features@theaggie.org
For many students, a common way to commemorate their undergraduate experience is to get dressed up, grab a bottle of champagne and their cap and gown and travel around UC Davis to take graduation photos. While there are a plethora of beautiful spots all around the UC Davis campus, this year students voted “West Quad road” as the Best Graduation Photo Spot.
At some point, every UC Davis student has either seen, biked or walked down the road situated between the Memorial Union and Wellman Hall. Lined with beautiful oak trees, it is no surprise that graduates love to make the road one of their main backdrops for graduation pictures.
“In my opinion, it kind of represents Davis as a whole,” UC Davis alum Dominique Pajaro, a graduation photographer who earned a degree in landscape architecture, said. “Davis is surrounded by nature and beautiful trees, and this spot helps illustrate that in such a beautiful way.”
Pajaro elaborated further on how the road presents an ideal backdrop for graduation photos, with her background in landscape architecture adding an extra layer of knowledge on what makes the West Quad road so picturesque.
“Humans like to feel enclosed in a space, and the way the oak trees drape over you and create that arch is definitely something that helps draw people to that space,” Pajaro said. “The way the light shines in between the leaves makes it look like the leaves glow, and helps center the graduate within the arch.”
While Pajaro believes that the spot is always a great place to shoot no matter the time of day, she chooses to shoot on the road with graduates either from 9 to 11 a.m. or from 3 to 6 p.m. to get the optimal lighting for photos.
“Either of those times is perfect, but you need to switch which sides you take pictures on for the best lighting,” Pajaro said.
To all the UC Davis students beginning to say their final goodbye to the campus as they prepare to embark on a new journey in life, don’t forget to commemorate your time here at UC Davis by taking your graduation pictures on the iconic West Quad road.
Written by: Carolyn (Cari) Fenn — features@theaggie.org
