MMS 173 - Assignment 6: One Shot Summary

My family visited Cagayan this May as part of our tradition. We make a point to stay in the province for a week or so every chance we get, especially during Christmas or their fiesta, to connect with our relatives despite the long distance. And I am proud to say that this tradition has truly helped strengthen our relationship.

The trip was made while I was busy with my finals at school, so I had to balance my time between studying and spending time with my family. Some people advised me not to go so I could focus better on my academic requirements, and although I agree that it was a challenging time, I don’t regret my decision to join my family for the fiesta.

I’d like to share that I am part of a very big family — my dad is the seventh out of nine siblings, and each of them has two to four children. Now, two of my cousins have children of their own as well, adding five more members to the growing clan. As they say, we are the “Pamilya Marunggay” (Malunggay Family) because we are always growing and branching out, just like the malunggay tree. I am constantly amazed that even though we are so many in the family, we’ve still managed to share such a deep bond, with love and respect that are just as big as our family tree.

Before returning home, we went to Gabur Falls in Peñablanca, Cagayan, where we had a wonderful time enjoying the natural beauty of the falls and eating sumptuous food prepared by our aunts and uncles.

While we were there, I took the opportunity to capture as many pictures as possible using my phone, hoping to preserve the beauty of the place and the memories we created together as a family. Out of all the photos I took, this one takes the cake — a candid shot of my uncle and his granddaughter (my niece), where he was assuring her that the water was nothing to be afraid of.

Looking back, I realized that this picture could easily represent my connection with photography.

Photography has always been one of the things I wish to work on. Before, whenever I photographed someone, I’d get shy bringing the phone back to them because I knew I didn’t do great. I would second-guess myself. "Was the angle awkward?" "Did I capture them in a bad pose?" "Will they be happy once they see this?" Regrettably, the same could be said when I'd ask someone to photograph me. I could only rely on making a peace sign or a thumbs-up, feeling unsure of what to do or how to appear natural in front of the lens. There was always that lingering self-consciousness.

I knew that enrolling in this course would entail sharing my photos and feeling intimidated by the outputs of others. At some point, I looked back on my previous assignments and compared them to my classmates’, and I easily noticed how I fell short — whether in quality, lighting, or angle. I immediately felt that my claim in Assignment 1 (Part 2) of being average in this class wasn’t true, because I am rather a beginner.

But then, I also don’t intend to downplay my growth. I acknowledge that I’ve had my fair share of learning in this course, which I can carry with me even after this trimester.

My goal for MMS 173 has been the same throughout the three months I’ve been in the class — to improve my photography skills, which I believe is the same goal as many of my peers. With this in mind, I hope it’s safe to say that I was indeed able to capture better photos. I discovered the foundations of photography, including the rule of thirds (which I was quite conflicted about before) and the observation of patterns, balance, and other elements and principles. I’m also glad I learned the exposure triangle (with ISO being my favorite to work around, as evidenced in my bucketlist assignment) and post-processing.

If I were to pick the most memorable experience from this course, I am torn between the bucketlist and the self-portrait. I had a lot of good times with the bucketlist, as I plotted several plans with my peers for the sake of capturing as many photos as I could. The self-portrait, on the other hand, was only done by myself inside our house, but I love that I reconnected with my love for OPM and fulfilled the usual OPM aesthetic through my photos.

To be honest, I genuinely hope I won’t have to retake any course, but if there’s one I’d like to revisit to look back, edit, and polish my outputs, it’s most certainly this class. While I’m glad with the progress I’ve made here, I also think that photography is something I’ll have to keep learning beyond this trimester. It’s a skill that requires years. Perhaps I may take better pictures as well if I retake it, given my enhanced interest and knowledge.

Now, here's a fun fact about me (or maybe a not-so-fun fact): Multimedia was never my planned program for college, as I’ve always had a profound interest in business. I never pegged myself to be the creative type, hence my constant need to put extra effort into our major courses. But for some reason, despite the amount of time and effort I had to exert practicing my photography skills and working towards improvement, I never felt tired or burned out. MMS 173 might have been the sign all along for me to continuously study Multimedia Studies.

In many ways, that candid photo of my uncle and niece (his granddaughter) reflects my journey with photography. Like my niece, who was initially afraid of the water, I entered this course with hesitation — unsure of my skills and often feeling overwhelmed by my classmates' innate talents. But just as her grandfather stood patiently by her side to assure her that everything would be okay, I was fortunate to have the guidance of Prof. Al, as well as the the structure of our course activities, to support me through this learning curve.

MMS 173 was the water I had to step into — unfamiliar, a little scary at first — but ultimately necessary for me to learn how to swim in the vast and creative world of multimedia.