It’s exactly 3:09 AM today (01/17/2018) and my nocturnal being is basically at full capacity. I was planning to practice my run-of-the-mill photography skills using my not so dependable smartphone in the hopes of discovering its full potential to help me survive in this class. Sadly, the rain is pouring at the moment and I was actually planning to do some outdoor shots and like what I said earlier, I’d like to know how I can utilize my ‘gear’ (I don’t think that it’s the most endearing term to describe my camera) to create at least some decent shots.

So, I just decided to give this blog a kick- off although it’s still ten more days before the deadline. In this way I’ll be able to update this write up as days go by (hopefully) and quite frankly I hate procrastinating. Alright, let me first tell something about how I deal with MMS 173 aka Photography in Multimedia. But before that here’s my bedroom anthem playing right now to keep me pumped up. What’s yours?

Question: What’s your learning style for MMS 173?

Well, I can say that I take pride in still clinging into one of the most primitive technology mankind has ever contributed- WRITING. Yup, I still do the primeval pen and paper style of taking down notes. It helps me absorb the information I get from our course material and from our MMS 173 page if I write down it thoroughly. This is just my take on it and for the rest of the courses I’m currently taking and probably for the rest of those that I’ll be taking in the future.

I have always had this feeling of revulsion when it comes to topics like technology or those jargons that would make me feel like I’m a ‘B.C. man’. You know, very primitive and very basic. But no matter how hard I repel towards these topics I would still end up getting curious which is very natural to me. So then, although I have this fear of getting to know these terms and technological ways, I would still end up having to read and somehow experience first-hand these things, but the fear is still there. At the end of the day, this major I am taking right now has to live up to the notion of what’s new or what the world has to give or take in the process of communication.

So now, here I am deeply consumed by the inevitability of photography. When I hear such word, I would just brush it off my shoulders like I don’t care because when I think of the idea of having to be technical when it comes to taking photos, I would just think of “maybe I don’t have to?” or worse, why do I have to get myself involve with such thing? I’m no photographer but hell yeah I’m probably a “selfie” maniac so why do I have to dive into it so much? I mean, I could just leave it to the software that would post process everything. But then I remember the “holy grail” of mine that keeps me going with BA Multimedia Studies. Oh yeah! I wanted to work in fashion magazine industry. So I told myself, perhaps you are just making excuses. This is one of those moments when I would think that if I wanted to survive in that world that I envision then I have to start somewhere. And there’s no best place to start with this but knowing, familiarizing and understanding the fundamentals. Here are some of the things I have learned so far from the part of this term.

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN, PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN and PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION

If there is one thing that is ‘major’ in terms of realization for this class, that is having a variety of sentiments towards a specific photo. I mean this is the part where it gets a little bit tricky. You know why? It’s because when we talk about the Elements of Design so as the Principles behind it and also the Photographic Composition, this is where it somehow appears to be hazy. Let me be more specific. It’s like this, let say a photo was asked to be scrutinized by some bunch of critiques or let’s say the rest of the class, right? So others would see the obvious elements or principles in the photo and everyone else would give their thumbs up to it, like “yeah I see that, and it works in the photo” and others would probably disagree into it and so the thread continues. What I am saying is and what I have pondered so far is that a photo may have elements which are significantly noticeable to one point of view that may not be as noticeable as the other point of view. Let’s say the elements like line, shape, form texture, pattern, color is noticeable in photo; I may say that okay, these elements works so well in the photo but for others it don’t. And this is just one thing because it would be a different deliberation when talking about the ‘story’ behind the photo or what elements or principle that makes the story in the photo works. It’s also like saying that when symmetry or the rule of thirds or the way the photo is being cropped works in the photo and it makes the photo special and significant, it may NOT in the eyes of the other person. There are a lot, I mean infinite possibilities of combinations when it comes to critiquing a photo; some may agree and some may not agree with one thing or two. The bottom line is that the wonders of photography bring out the best in every critique’s eyes.

CASE STUDIES

This is my favorite part of the course material. I mean it’s very interesting to be influenced by an actual practice of photography and how the elements and principles get to make up a whole frame. It’s also inspiring to know that like any other photographers out there, our prof also had some rough beginnings in photography and sharing how these stumbling blocks were overcome really ignites a hope within me. I found the case study about perspectives to be the most interesting because it’ll make you realize how important to know where to angle your camera is at a certain level of your subject. Also, the case study about cropping made me realize that there are no specific rules for this but taking away unimportant elements out a frame that may distract a viewer from appreciating the subject is a crux that I always have to bear in mind.

This part is an extension of the former “Old School is cool” portion of this blog. I have decided to talk about this separately and elaborately as this tackle the interaction among students and faculty in the photography class. I must say that this is a real eye opener for me. Comparing my forum posts to other students when it comes to photography critique, mine has a lot to improve. I’m saying this because I have still yet to digest the gist of photography composition. Like how can I say what’s wrong or right about a specific photo or how can I incorporate what I believe could be the keynote improvements for it. I remember having a bit of a heated exchange of point of views with one of the mentors in class. And at the end I realized that yeah, having to critiques someone else’s photo really needs a more detailed and a more specific observation. At first, the way I looked at it was as if I was critiquing a painting and I can’t blame myself for having to stick with the ideologies of this type and concept of visual arts. It’s more than what story can we deduce from it because going back to what I have realized in the former part of this blog- PHOTOGRAPHY is meant to be technical. Which I completely agree with, it’s just that I believe that it should be more of a balanced assumption I suppose, what I mean is that we need to look at it technically and semantically.

Speaking of technicality, I believe that a technical course demands to ask its proponents to make use of the entire skillset it inculcates. So the application or the use of photography outputs into blogging is just pure wiz. With this scheme, we get to practice not only our photography skills but also the real life application of how we would assimilate these photos into the fast pace world of blogging. We learn how to decide the contents that we needed to put into our own site. This is by far the most exciting part for me. Now, with the application of the photography theories and drills, I expect that we would get a lot of these in the next two units of the class. I expect to make use of the techniques that were taught to us during these times so I better shape up.

The effort to conduct photo- walk sessions is also commendable. Although it may be a challenge to some of us in the class, it would really help us a lot because experiencing a hands on practice makes a difference. Also, this is a good way to get to know other classmates personally. I think it would be a lot of fun too!

I have already expected that there would be a lot of differences when it comes to being active in this class. What I mean is that, it is a given that we are not that required to participate in the discussion forums although we are strongly encouraged to do so, you could really see who are really making a lot of effort in making use of this forum and those who are not. And surprisingly, a lot of us are really active with it. I am thankful for this class component because I also learn a lot from my classmates. Their viewpoints are so interesting that it makes me feel more conscious about how I create my own standpoint when talking about specific photography output.

Whatever it is that I may yield from taking this course (I know there will be a lot!) I know for a fact that it will really help me in establishing my career in the future. So I have realized that instead of me getting dreadfully fearful of these photography slang or terminologies, why don’t I just embrace it, right? Who knows I might end up getting known as a well-renowned photographer in the future which happens to be one of my wildest phantasms. But for now let me capture this experience one hand at a time; one frame at a time.