Midpoint Blog
@2025 by Dave C.

When I decided to enroll in this course, I said that maybe after this I can finally be more confident when taking pictures. I was too shy to hold my phone for taking photos—much more so when I had the chance to use a DSLR at my cousin’s wedding photoshoot, but now knowing about compositions and having the knowledge of the exposure triangle, it gives me excitement to explore!

But I want to share my experience in the class so far, which had been a bit short but already impactful. Even if we are not learning in a F2F setup, there have been a lot of engaging avenues for us to learn. I would commend how our course manual was designed, the contents were concise and easy to understand. I always felt that it was such a great read whenever new concepts were introduced from the perspective of a veteran photographer. There are many pieces of advice that are helpful to me as a beginner that let me realize that there is so much creativity, so much control, and so much intention and different paths that I could take while taking photographs.

Knowing about the language of photography was especially mind-opening for me. It was as if there was a new world, new possibilities where I can try and see the world in a frame. I was able to think that there are existing elements and principles everywhere, and with just proper positioning and change of perspective, I can see a whole lot of different views.  It was so much fun for me when photographic composition was introduced and we had to critique pictures on what is applied to them. Zoom sessions, where we did that, was additionally enriching because I got to know how my peers and the instructor thought of photographs as compared to how I see it. 

I feel that evaluating or critiquing photos is an absolute essential alternative as a beginner when I lack experience with actual application of the elements, principles, and usage of compositions. So, having the critique corner where we get to discuss with everyone was something of a practice tool to sharpen our eye to photography. But I realize that doing photography real time alongside the concept learning would prove to be more effective, so I try to mimic everything as I learn them. For example, with the exposure triangle, I tested out the relationships with Camerasim. But for real application, I tested out aperture using my phone with a nearest object, replicating bokeh with the lights in my room, changing ISOs for different lighting, and using my moving hand as a subject with the shutter speed.

So far, the course has expanded my ways of taking pictures. I believe I can have different kinds of photos now. Afterall, it is no longer just point and shoot, a lot of thinking is necessary depending on what result I want to have. I need to think of the weather, the lighting, the distance, if I would use aperture, if I would want to increase ISO because it was dim, or would I be able to make the shutter speed slower just to make an effect in my photo without being overexposed, or if I can I keep it stable enough to create sharp images. Knowing the gist of how well it could be used with my phone (finally knowing what those options are and was actually available in my phone), I am prepared to use it outside. Although, I still feel anxious about the difficulty of the final project with my phone camera quality. 

But looking back to how I get to review the photos of my course mates, there have been so many that continue to inspire me and give me ideas as they already had technical applications in their photography. Getting also to read the analysis of others in my photos helped me to think differently about it. Although I appreciate positive comments, I expect more critique that finds weaknesses that I may not see so I can know where to improve.

Perhaps I had too much realization but lacking application, I need to catch up with the discussion forums where I get to improve how I can articulate my thoughts on photography and analyze how photographers apply the technical aspects in their visual storytelling.  Although I disappointingly do not get to join any study group and neither with the F2F session, I would be trying to join with the game photography activity. However, as of now, I have yet to find a game with photo mode which is free... so I feel anxious about it.

With that, I would be looking forward with the learning experience that I would be having throughout the rest of the trimester. I want to be better in photography, I hope to see how much I have improved with taking photo where I would find my own way of conveying a story.