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M O D I F Y I N G M Y F R A M E
M O D I F Y I N G M Y F R A M E
THE FRENZY SETS BACK …
Photography is one of the most celebrated forms of visual art and one of the most overlooked or taken for granted form as well. Its accessibility for everyone to create or appreciate it is inevitable nowadays. Anyone could just take out their cameras and snap some pictures and call it ‘photography’. This course however made me look at it in a more heedful way. It’s funny because whenever I would upload anything on my social media especially pictures, I would then subconsciously critique it first and ask myself if it is worth it to be uploaded for the heck of it being just a plain ‘selfie’ or what not. It’s the same cognitive process that I would have whenever I see someone else’s photo. It’s like those moments when you try to correct someone’s grammar but only in your mind- It’s the exact same feeling I would get. Anyway, the next parts are the things I believe I should be discussing as far as my progress in this course is concerned. Happy reading!
MUSIC JUNKYARD
Before anything else, here we go again with one of my most favorite part of the blog (no, I’m kidding!). So to keep me attached to making this blog, I had to listen to some old school R&B music. And my favorite R&B song is the rendition of the boy band called ‘AZ YET’ with the song ‘Hard to say I’m sorry’. I’m still singing it in my head while writing this. Sing along y’all!
(image from discogs.com)
HOW DO I PREPARE FOR ASSIGNMENTS/ ACTIVITIES?
Upon writing this blog, I was thinking of what else can I talk about when it comes to MMS 173. And I thought; why not talk about how I prepare for the tasks, right? I think it’s a good topic to share just because the amount of anticipation I get every time that there’s an assignment can’t be measured. I always get excited to face the challenges this course brings. There is a universal scheme that I follow when it comes to preparing for every task and some it may be obvious from my previous works. I start from diving into the deepest part of my imagination well after I have absorbed the brief for the task. I always wanted my works to be an ‘original’ concept and if and only I would really need or want to do something out of other’s work, I would then remind myself the major difference between an ‘inspiration’ and ‘imitation’. I always keep this in mind because I believe that this is the secret of investing in for a trademark as a photographer. Those photographers that we have discussed previously in some of our forum posts were able to create their own by finding the best style that will represent them.
Going back to my preparation, after I dwell with everything that I envision to have, it’s now time to put that into a concrete plan. What I do is pull up MS Word and start creating the outline of how it will actually come out in the website. I particularly take note of what pictures am I going to include with a specific portion of my content.
I would also collate all the pictures that I need in one folder for a much easier and convenient access to it. I would rename each and every picture with a specific tagline so that it will not confuse me when I’m about to put everything together as a whole
As you can see all the pictures in this folder has its designated name and I also arranged it in order. This makes my job a lot easier because whenever I feel like I need to exclude something that I believe is not needed in my content, I can easily delete it right away and go back to the MS WORD file outline for that specific assignment. I’ve been practicing this kind of system since I got into UPOU and took up MMS100. I got used to it so much that even the book keeping system in my actual professional job follows the same way. I think it’s flair within me to keep things very organized.
I would even (and specifically) decide which photo I will include as the cover photo web page. I try keep it as relevant as possible to the topic I am going to discuss but somehow it ends up just a plain photo of me or whatsoever that has no connection to the topic (or not? I’m not sure) .I would even try to test it if it perfectly fits the cover photo area just to make sure that it will be the best one to pick.
So we just had one assignment where we did an actual photo-shoot right? I believe that everything that I did to achieve that was completely elaborated in my write up for As2. So, basically what I’m saying is that, that kind of effort and preparation is the truest form of my dedication for this course because just like what I mentioned in As2, I treat every assignment as an immersion in an actual multimedia set up and I don’t usually get satisfied easily that much whenever I do my tasks so I would end up revamping them or to completely start over again. I guess it’s because of my frustration for the only tool that I have for this course. I know for a fact that it has no match for those who have a decent high- end digital camera so I got to really exert an effort to at least make the composition work.
One thing that I would also like to give emphasis in my preparation is the time allotment for work or my professional job. I was previously employed at one of the biggest call center companies in the Philippines one term ago. I have decided to quit though and I have started to find an alternative job which will best suit my situation as a student here in UPOU. I have looked beyond what lies ahead for the upcoming courses that I will take, most especially the production courses and I realized how much effort I should be able to give to it. So the best job to have is a home- based work and this is the moment that kicked off my existence as a ‘digital- nomad’. It means that I can work virtually at any time at home. However, the company that I applied for also demands time from me so it’s not really much of a difference from my previous job although I have to say that it saved me from some of my expenses for food, fare and the endless and tiring traffic of the Metro.
Anyway, what I do (or what I did) is that I do not work in the days that I decided to really focus on one specific task for MMS173. The previous assignment took me 5 days to complete it since I had to redo everything after the first photo-shoot. And it was very fulfilling to complete such task and at the same time not compromise anything that deals with my work. Another thing that I had to manage is the other courses that I am currently taking which don’t really require of much effort unlike MMS173 which is a production course. Below is the screenshot of my trainer portal from my company website. I work as an online English trainer and assessor for Japanese students.
So after all the preparation and the actual photo-shoots, I had to put everything together in our academic website, and this task only takes 15- 30 min for me to complete because I already have accomplished a big chunk of tasks beforehand. All I have to do after this is to wait for the others to submit theirs for me to self-evaluate if I did fairly well or not and eventually wait for the day I’ll be receiving the grade for that specific output.
LET’S TALK ABOUT MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY
Almost half of us in the class had to rely on our smartphones when taking in pictures. While this course doesn’t just consent to a photo which by looking at, unlikely to be a deserved output material, smartphone cameras have to deal with it inevitably. I myself have tasted the bitterness of this reality. It’s as if you wanted to make sure that the photos you’ll be producing will be the pinnacle of all but ambivalently you’re unsure of how you got to produce as such. What I did was to research on how to effectively use my smartphone camera in such way that I’ll be able to produce a studio like quality output and if not at least a decent shot. I’ve come across this BLOG about how to utilize your smartphone’s camera to gain quality shots. While some of the tips included in the blog are apparently obvious to abide with, still the most important things I learned from it are, first, make sure that lens of the camera is clean and second is to make sure to capture your pictures as steady as possible to help the resolution become stable at least. The other things I might add into it is to have a lot of patience and a lot of preparedness for the concept and composition of the photo because all of us wants to make sure that we can at least create a visually impacting photo while it’s true that it can never be (for the nth time) at par with those of professional camera out there.
(image form sonder.ee)
UNIT 2 IS THE REAL DEAL!
What a joy to know that we are all given the prerogative to choose any form of theme when we take in photos. From the beginning of this class I have been indecisive about what specific photographs I would like to basically focus on, although just like what I have mentioned we are given the right to choose whatever it is that we would like to capture. As the term goes by I have realized what is it that I like to do when it comes to photography and that is fashion photography. But of course, I would also like to explore more other types of photography but I guess I would have stick with what I believe is inclined with what I'm about to do in the future. I'd love to capture breath-taking scenes and landscape photos however, my tool wouldn't let me do that for now, But the great thing about this course is that whatever it is that we may want to capture using our lenses, it basically helps us build the foundation of photography. For UNIT II, I have learned the tweaks of utilizing the Exposure Triangle and it was such a blast. In the past, I have wondered what it is that these photographers are trying to adjust with their cameras when everything will just be delivered in one photo form. I mean, I was really uninterested about these stuff and jargon like what I have mentioned in the past blog I wrote. But now... IT ALL MAKES SENSE.
As the light becomes our paint brush, the camera being the easel and the sensor being the canvass makes me think of my roots when it comes to the art. Photography is like a painting or a sketch or probably a sculpture (considering the texture element of design). The ISO, Shutter Speed and the Aperture are the techniques to create this art. I have learned that the lower the ISO, the greater the detail and the sharpness of the photo will be. I have kept in mind that ISO 100 (with an aperture of f/8 and shutter speed of 1/15 sec) will produce the sharpest image. However, setting this with the camera may still vary depending on the abundance of light. Aperture and the Depth of Field are terms that can be used interchangeably although they basically mean two different things. The aperture basically is the ability of the camera to allow a specific amount of light to pass through its lens' diaphragm that basically affects the detailing of the exposure in the photo- It's like how you manage to use the strength of your hands or arms to put paint in the canvass using your paint brush. The lower the aperture is equivalent to the softness of the motion of the paint brush, then the higher the exposure the photo may get and so as the detailing of a painting; and vice versa. The discussion of the well known BOKEH effect is one of the highlights of this UNIT and I really appreciate the video materials in the course material. Now, when talking about the Shutter Speed, for me it is the amount of seconds in which the sensor of the camera may absorb the light, in painting, it is the amount of paint we specifically dab or splash or dribble into the canvass in different directions. The shutter speed affects the predominant details for the subject. It somehow elevates the subject from the other things happening in the picture. Just like how we manage to run the paint into the canvass to give emphasis to the subject and into the background. But sometimes it may produce like an abstract kind of output just like Sir Arvin's work on the "Effects of slow shutterspeed" , where he experimented with lights and slow shutter speed which created beautiful bursts of colors from the light's motion blur.
(image from photo.stackexchange.com)
Fashion photography with motion blurs are amazing!
TIPS FOR BLOGGING: MY PERSONAL APPROACH
(image from kidslearntoblog.com)
There’s no denying that the most important thing that we need to remember upon making our blogs is to be ourselves. And yet, it’s funny how I would include something like this to discuss right? Well the thing is that I am sharing this with you not to hobble with evincing your truest form of yourselves when making a blog but more of how to improve the ways on how you could show these feelings towards the reader/s. And also, this is more of a personal observation or practice so you may or may not agree with it so just take it with a grain of salt. So, here’s how I basically format my blog…
1. I OBSERVE UNIFORMITY- I make sure that almost all of my blog templates would have the same scheme especially in the colors that are predominant in the actual web-page. I chose white, violet and a shade of purple called ‘Mauve’ or ‘Mallow’ which is basically the color in this section of this enumeration. While the pictures and texts can be arranged in a variety of positions, I would have at least something in my web-page that would make it have a sense of distinct uniformity and in this case it will be the color. I wanted the readers (if they would constantly visit my web-page) to notice that it is my web-page once they see the color template that I use. You want someone to see your page and remember it as being your page because of it, right? So, why violet and not maroon anyways? Well, I wanted to pick a color closest to maroon since it’s the trademark for UP and not the color itself to make it distinguish-ably mine without going past over the identity of the academe. Also, for a personal preference, I tried sticking with something in common in terms of making the titles of my blogs and as you noticed, my previous works talks about ‘frame’ which is definitely a word that construe the very essence of this course.
2. I TRY TO LOOSEN UP A BIT- So far what I have observed from the blogs that I’ve read is that it’s too foursquare. I mean, yes it is essentially important to be on point while doing the tasks and assignments. That everything should be touch- based as much as possible but I try to make it sound like I am just trying to tell a story within my blog. Of course, it should still sound and look professional but having ‘FUN’ with it won’t make it a taboo at all, unless FUN is out of your vocabulary then we can’t really do anything much with that. Try to ‘TALK’ more and when I say TALK, I mean tell a story and not just tell it or the sake of the brief that you need to come up with a write up about documenting what you have gone through during the engrossment of the activity. I mean sometime you would definitely feel if the write up was just written out of the abstract of the task and not out of sincerity. After all, the write up is intended to be published in a blog style kind of output and not an academic paper with all the formats and reminders that you need to adhere with. There’s freedom and responsibility when making a blog so make the most out of it.
3. TEXT AND PICTURES- Another thing I have observed from some of the blogs that I read is that it lacks pictures. Again, this isn’t an academic paper form of submission so do not be afraid to include some pictures in it but of course, just be mindful of what pictures you’ll be incorporating; it should at least be in sync with what you’re trying to tell within your blog. Also, this is photography course so why not have some snaps to decorate your blogs, right? For me, it makes a reader more interested in reading a blog if it co-opts some pictures in it. Not only that it makes the blog not boring, but it also adds value to your content as a blogger.
4. MAKE SURE YOUR WEB PAGE IS ACCESSIBLE- We don’t want to end up tossing our works in a trash bin so I might as well make sure that the web page intended for that specific blog is working and accessible. I’m not sure why some pages don’t work from clicking the hyperlinks in our e-portfolio master list but yeah, regardless if it is intentional or unintentional, try to make sure to at least double check it. And I think this is one of the most important things that we should be reminded of when it comes to blogging because we don’t want our content to be put into waste. I’m not saying that my blog is perfect or anything, I may still have a lot to improve by it but at least I really make sure that I push harder when making it ‘cause hard work pay off at the end.
UPDATE: HOW AM I DOING SO FAR IN THE CLASS?
(Image from British Fashion Council)
Jean Shrimpton by David Bailey (1961)
by David Bailey
Bailey is one of my most favorite fashion photographers of all time...
As we come closer in concluding this term or should I say tweak our way to accomplishing the final assignment for MMS 173 (which I believe the most challenging of all), I honestly feel excited and although I have mastered the art of courage when faced with difficult tasks, It still fidget its way into me somehow. But knowing where I am right now from the day we started this class gives me the hope of surviving it. I am not expecting to receive a high mark for this subject since I can’t really deny the fact that the photos that are needed to gain such grade really needs to translate into it for it to be deserved. Mine would be, I guess an ‘okay’ kind of imposition and probably the lack of the right tools would play the greater part of it. After seeing some of the works of my classmates, I wouldn’t say that mine is the worst or the best per se. But above anything else, I am still pretty proud of what I have achieved so far. I have learned that sometimes we have to exclude the blind spot of a specific task; that even if we lack of something, we can still come up with anything that would make it work. Who knows, things might turn out well in the end just because we worked hard and gave everything for it, right? Photography now plays a very important part in my dreams, so it’s something that I will never ever giving up with. As always, the #LABAN still continues…
Written by:
Filmore Kevin Tiston
Feb 22, 2018
Published: Feb 23, 2018
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