In two weeks, I had captured two graduate students, both named Nikki. Isn’t that such a weird coincidence? Although they were at separate universities (one at UNC and one Duke) my calendar was definitely a little confusing for a second. But Nikki graduated with her double masters from Duke and is ready to tackle the world. After spending two years in North Carolina she’s headed back to her home state of New York. While we both thought that a Wednesday afternoon two weeks before graduation would give us a quiet campus we were both shocked to find droves of students on the main lawn taking selfies and professional photos in front of Duke Chapel and beyond. Luckily I knew a couple of secret spots away from the crowds to get some epic photos without any pedestrians.

Take a look below and explore what I consider North Carolina’s own Hogwarts for this Duke Graduation Session.