A PICTURE WORTH OF A TRIMESTER: MMS 173 JOURNEY

Hello! this is Jemalyn Avecilla or also known as Jema! My MMS 173 journey has been a bit stressful but at the same time very fun ride. I learned how to use a professional camera a bit late into the semester but better late than never right? Here you will read about my personal experience as a whole, whether it is good or bad or neutral.

The photo I picked for this blog or reflection is a shot I took while walking around the headquarters of UPOU. I believed it is not submitted in any of my assignments and kept only to myself. It is a warm picture of two flags; the University of the Philippines flag and the Philippine Flag. The meaning of this is both in a literal and figurative representation of my experience in UP as an iska or as a student. It reminds me of how I am thriving to learn as a student and how that one shot encompasses my student journey not only in MMS 173 but as an overall experience.

I want to start this blog with my personal and academic journey. I started as a regular student who did not even know how to hold a camera properly, I did not know which photo is better or which angle and lighting fits the scene. I do admit that I learned how to adjust the settings of the camera I am using a bit too late since I misinterpreted the settings for quite a while and only realized it on the last assignment (assignment 5). Realizing my mistakes, I knew that my previous submissions were majorly wrong. Instead of nagging myself of how I discovered it late, I decided to use that opportunity to further enhance my skills so that next time I bring my camera with me, I can adjust the settings to my liking and take as much pictures as I want.

I viewed this course/subject as something that would be challenging for me as a digital artist and I would say I am somewhat correct. My personal goal was to at least learn the basics of using a professional camera and I would that I managed to reach that goal and even beyond that goal. I had some challenges here and there such as figuring out what to take a picture of, where, who, why, and more. At one point, I became very worried about my shots, if any is worth adding to my portfolio entry. Furthermore, my perspective for this course changed ever since I discovered the bonus Game Photography and the optional face to face classes since it was not part of what I expected from this course but it is definitely one of my favorite ones.

Although I am a bit disappointed with myself and sad since I did not manage to submit anything for the Game Photography due to my packed schedule, It was fun seeing prof's examples. As a huge gamer myself, it is interesting to see my favorite games freezed in frame for the perfect shot. I was originally planning on using Hoyo games as my main game for the game photography as I am somewhat emotionally attached to that game and wanted my own beautiful memory of it through photography. Thinking about this, after the information I have gained from my studies, maybe I will still try to do it even after this course has ended. 

One very memorable experience from this course is the face to face I attended in March. It was my first but hopefully not my last as I would love to attend another face to face even if it is 2 to 3 hours of travel. That experience definitely made me miss having to attend in person classes and how it is always my first pick when someone asks me if I prefer online classes over face to face classes. I knew that I would definitely make more friends and be able to collaborate with my peers a lot more often compared to an online setup which usually ends up in a formal and awkward conversation between the members. I made some initial friends along the way while the class was ongoing and we even walked around the campus to enjoy the scenery. 

If I had the choice, I would definitely choose to go back in time to experience that day again.

Besides this, another highlight of this course was the zoom sessions that prof. AI held. I did not expect the zoom sessions to be that exciting and fun, I learned many insightful things about photography and at the same time, our knowledge on photography was tasted by the open ended guessing game that prof made us do. It helped not only me but also others assess their current knowledge regarding the elements, principles, and compositions of photography. Although I did notice that the majority of students (including myself) answered the Rule of Thirds for almost every example picture shown on the screen. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the zoom session even if some went over the expected time end. 

Now talking about my previous skills and my current skills in photography, I would say that I improved especially when it comes to compositions and the emotion of the shots I take. Personally, I still do not see photography as a path I will take for my future career, however, I do see it as an extra hobby to take whenever I go on a vacation. Back then I saw photography as somewhat like an acquaintance only but now I would say that we are at least becoming close friends. I learned its mechanics while it taught me the beauty of my surroundings through a lens.

Although I did enjoy the overall experience, I do wish that there were more group activities so that we have the opportunity to collaborate and interact with our fellow classmates but I do think that the current assignments given to us are already good and should be kept as it is.

Lastly, to end this, I wish to learn more about photography even as a hobby and hopefully have prof. AI for another subject as I enjoyed him as my photographer class professor. To more improvements and fun experiences along the way! 

Hello! This is Jemalyn Avecilla, or also known as Jema! My MMS 173 journey has been a bit stressful, but at the same time, a very fun ride. I learned how to use a professional camera a bit late into the semester—but better late than never, right? Here, you'll read about my personal experience as a whole, whether it’s good, bad, or somewhere in between.

The photo I picked for this blog or reflection is a shot I took while walking around the headquarters of UPOU. I believe it wasn’t submitted in any of my assignments and was kept only to myself. It’s a warm picture of two flags: the University of the Philippines flag and the Philippine flag. The meaning of this is both literal and figurative—a representation of my experience in UP as an iska, or as a student. It reminds me of how I’m thriving to learn and how that one shot encompasses my journey not only in MMS 173 but also in my overall student life.

I want to start this blog with my personal and academic journey. I started as a regular student who didn’t even know how to hold a camera properly. I didn’t know which photo was better or which angle and lighting fit the scene. I admit that I learned how to adjust the settings of the camera a bit too late, since I misinterpreted the settings for quite a while and only realized it by the last assignment (Assignment 5). Realizing my mistakes, I knew that most of my previous submissions were technically wrong. Instead of beating myself up for discovering it late, I decided to use that opportunity to further improve my skills—so that next time I bring my camera, I can adjust the settings to my liking and take as many pictures as I want.

I viewed this course/subject as something that would be challenging for me as a digital artist—and I’d say I was somewhat right. My personal goal was to at least learn the basics of using a professional camera, and I would say I managed to reach that goal and even go beyond it. I faced some challenges here and there, like figuring out what to take a picture of, where, who, why, and more. At one point, I was very worried about my shots—if any of them were even worth adding to my portfolio entry.

My perspective on this course changed ever since I discovered the bonus Game Photography and the optional face-to-face classes. Those weren’t something I expected, but they became some of my favorite parts of the course.

Although I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not managing to submit anything for Game Photography due to my packed schedule, it was still fun seeing Prof’s examples. As a huge gamer myself, it was interesting to see my favorite games frozen in a single frame for the perfect shot. I originally planned to use Hoyo games for my Game Photography submission, since I’m somewhat emotionally attached to them and wanted my own beautiful memory of the game through photography. Thinking about it now, after all the knowledge I’ve gained from this course, maybe I’ll still try to do it—even after the course ends.

One very memorable experience from this course was the face-to-face class I attended in March. It was my first, but hopefully not my last, because I’d love to attend another—even if it means traveling 2 to 3 hours. That experience made me miss attending in-person classes and reminded me that face-to-face is always my first pick when asked if I prefer online or on-site learning. I knew I would make more friends and be able to collaborate more naturally with my peers—compared to online setups, which usually end up being formal and a bit awkward. I even made some initial friends along the way, and we walked around the campus to enjoy the scenery together.

If I had the choice, I would definitely go back in time to experience that day again.

Another highlight of this course was the Zoom sessions that Prof. AI held. I didn’t expect them to be that exciting and fun! I learned so many insightful things about photography. At the same time, our knowledge was tested through an open-ended guessing game that Prof. made us play. It helped not only me but also others assess our understanding of elements, principles, and composition in photography. (Although, I did notice that the majority of us—including myself—kept answering "Rule of Thirds" for almost every example picture shown on screen!) Nevertheless, I enjoyed the Zoom sessions, even if some of them ran a bit longer than expected.

Now, talking about my previous and current skills in photography, I’d say I’ve improved—especially when it comes to composition and capturing emotion in my shots. Personally, I still don’t see photography as a path I’ll take for my future career, but I do see it as a hobby I’ll bring with me on vacations and adventures. Back then, photography felt like a distant acquaintance. Now, I’d say we’re at least becoming close friends. I learned its mechanics, and it taught me to see the beauty of my surroundings through a lens.

Although I truly enjoyed the overall experience, I do wish there were more group activities so we’d have more opportunities to collaborate and interact with our classmates. Still, I think the current assignments were already great and should be kept as they are.

This class taught me more than just photography—it taught me how to be patient with myself. I learned how to deal with creative blocks, and how to take feedback constructively. These are skills I can carry with me into other areas of life. And maybe that’s one of the biggest takeaways—photography is not just about seeing but about understanding, not just capturing a moment but interpreting it. Each photo we take says something about how we view the world and how we want others to see it too.

Lastly, to end this reflection, I hope to continue learning about photography even just as a hobby. And hopefully, I get to have Prof. AI for another subject again—I really enjoyed having him as my photography professor. Here’s to more improvements and fun experiences along the way!