MMS 173 Assignment 1: Knowing Where I'm At (Part 1)

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

-Abraham Lincoln

I'm not really a fan of starting posts or statuses with a quote. Ugh, It gives me a lot of cringe to be honest. It's probably because I kind of feel like I'm just trying to elaborate what others have already created. Let me give you an example, those facebook statuses with a 'picture plus quote' combination are a hot mess for me. And worse, others wouldn't even bother to acknowledge the author of that quote. But this time's an exemption. These words are so compelling that it reminded me of what this activity is all about. Hmm... Am I a photographer? I don't know if the very sense of it has already plunged into me. I mean I like to look at photos, I could even do it all day long. But this time I will be the one who's going to hold lenses. Well, technically not because I don't really have a top of the line, professional, digital camera YET. But nevertheless, here I am. Here's where I begin.

T H E B I G F O U R

So, there are four main subjects that are known to me when i take pictures. ONE- my artworks; TWO- food; THREE- landscape and FOUR- selfies. The photo on the right is one of my most favorite sketches that I did last October 2017. As you can see, the woman is wearing a 'hijab', a Muslim garment for women to cover their heads and sometimes even their faces. This work of mine is an ode to all the women in the world and If I can remember perfectly, it was Women's month last year that I did this. Anyway, that's just the background story behind this sketch but the real thing that I do remember most vividly about this is that I had to take like 20- 30 snaps just to have everything in one frame. Everything were on my desk- my pencils, sharpener, eraser, the pencil case, a book about wild flowers, and of course my sketch pad. And then the image that I want to portray in this picture was like a flat lay unrefined work space of an artist. Like I want to showcase a professional looking artist's area or something. What I did was I stood over a chair and started capturing the image from top view and I'm telling you it's so hard to do because it's either a reflection of my arm holding my phone will be captured as well within the photo (so I kept adjusting it from one height to another) or my sweat would drip down the paper and screw the artwork itself. It was tough but I was pretty happy about the result. I know it's not the most brilliant shot of this kind of theme but I really felt happy doing this while holding my breath just to produce it.

G U A C S A R E F O R E V E R

I'm a self confessed 'avocado- maniac'. I remember that there was a time when I was really craving for it that I had to eat it as a substitute for breakfast, lunch and dinner; mid-night snack included. Also (I'm laughing discreetly while typing this), the main reason I took this the photo on the left is because I wanted to profess to whole world how much I love eating them so I had to think of a good theme for a cover photo on my facebook account, and voila! YES, I MADE THIS PICTURE MY FACEBOOK COVER PHOTO ladies and gentlemen. And for me there's nothing wrong with that at all. Aesthetically, what I wanted to capture was sort of a 'still life- painting photo' of my favorite fruit together with the ingredients that I usually toss with it. I was really lucky at this time because my phone during this was a Sony Xperia XA with a very good camera specs which I have forgotten already. It also made some 'bokeh' effect on its background giving it a more focused subject. And this is also the reason why I prefer Sony digital cameras over Canon. I'm actually saving up to get myself a Sony A6000. Is it a good camera? Your thoughts?

B E S T B E A C H I N T H E W O R L D !

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth so everything that I wanted to have, most especially those that are beyond my means would mean that I have to put a lot of effort into it. One experience was this Boracay trip I've had last year. I was able to save up money to get a taste of this gem of the Visayan region. And as expected, besides the memories of the white sand and the luminous waters of Boracay, I've also had some countless pictures of the place (the 'TOURIST' in me got triggered) and too bad I can not put it along with the other pictures in this page since I wanted to have a bit of variety, hence I just selected which for me was my best shot. And here it is. It was almost sunset, probably around 5:30-ish in the afternoon or so. I remember I had a bit of a hang- over from last night's hoorah so I decided to stroll along the coastline together with my friend to sweat out the concoctions that were still in our blood streams. It worked basically. The photo was as serene as it was in real life. It was a calm afternoon and the sun hits the shore and our skins just perfectly so the "Instagram- alarm' peaked within me. Like I know I had to share this photo, this scene and the life in it.

S Q U I N T Y - E Y E S

When I draw or paint a portrait, I have a habit of squinting my eyes while placing my sketch pad or canvas from different peripheral views just to check if the subject of the painting resembles the actual person or not. By the way this is some sort of a self- portrait with a little bit of my style in art. So, fast forward, after I checked it by squinting my eyes, it's now time to take a photo of it and eventually share it to the rest of Instagram and Facebook. I was a bit shocked that when I did the shot just like what I did with the sketch of the woman in hijab, and it didn't look like me at all. So I was laughing and at the same time squinting my eyes again, now this time at the pad and at my phone's camera viewer simultaneously. And this angle or perspective (the left picture) got the most passable portrayal so there I captured it. I wasn't originally planning to include the other art materials in the picture and rather the whole frame will be intended for the artwork alone, nothing else. But after this shot, it kind of worked out still for me. The only thing that I could've done better was to crop out that white cord at the right portion of it as well as the other stuff at the left.

I HAVE A THING FOR BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS AND FOR BEER TOO!

Oops, I know what you're thinking. The neck of the bottle was cropped out of the frame or the key on the lace was not necessary, or you probably think that I'm a drunkard or something like a disturbed pleb who turns into drinking to soothe his day. Well, to be honest, I love to drink, especially beer or wine. BUT! I do it in moderation (OF COURSE). Now, the reason for me choosing this photo is not because of the beer but because for once, I also got hooked up with black and white photography. I mean looking at black and white photography and not shooting one. I can't help but admire black and white photography because with the absence of colors, it could tell hundredfold stories. This is one of the most interesting type of photography that I'd like to practice if I will be able to start a career out this.

May the words of Abraham Lincoln embody my journey here in this course. But really what is a good photographer? What is a good photography? And what are the odds of me becoming one?

Again Lincoln said, "The best way to predict your future is to create it", so be it.

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