Frame of the Trimester

by Rhyah Austrie S. Reyes

In Tom Ang’s book, The Complete Photographer, he laid out a one-shot summary concept and explained that certain images capture the essence, such that successful pictures sum up an entire experience through visual universals. 

So, regardless of a person's background, they can look at the image and immediately grasp the message behind, where the image speaks for itself without needing an explanation.

For my one-shot summary, I ended up choosing the motion photo that I submitted for Assignment 1: Bucketlist.

When you look at this, it looks like some sort of busy Sunday street. The Antipolo Pharmacy building on the side and the McDonald's sign can be seen in the background. But the dominant part of the image is the motion blur from a passing motorcycle. 

Following Tom Ang's perspective, motion blur is the visual universal in this shot. The blur communicated speed and things being out of control. So, when we see a blurred subject, we can feel a certain sense of panic.

The blur was exactly what my life looked like during this trimester. 

The deadlines, reading materials, and requirements came at me so fast. As a student, I was also handling coding outputs, so most of the time, my brain felt exactly like that blurred motorcycle as I also needed to learn the technicals of photography. I was constantly rushing from one task to another as I tried my best to catch up before the term ended.

The technical execution of this photo also showed my struggles as a beginner. Using the Sony DSC-H300 was a huge pain. Also, taking photos in public spaces was already hard on its own. Whenever I took my camera out, I felt a lot of pressure as people looked at me. It felt like everything had to be captured perfectly right then and there. I wanted to take the picture quickly to avoid the stares and go back home, but the manual settings of my camera forced me to figure things out while cars and people passed by.

Looking at the EXIF data for this image, this was taken on March 21, 2026, at exactly 6:48 PM, when the sun was gone, and it was getting dark. Using my camera in low light was a frustrating challenge. When the sensor struggles due to low light, the pictures become terribly grainy. I knew that if I pushed my ISO up to 800 or higher to make the street brighter, the photo would be completely ruined by digital noise. To keep the shot clean, I had to manually lock my ISO at a low 100, and the aperture was set to f/7.7, which meant the opening of the lens was relatively small.

Since my camera was not getting enough light due to the settings, I was forced to use a very slow shutter speed of 1/15s to expose the picture properly. When the shutter was open for that long, anything moving across the street would blur. So, I stood on the side of the road and tried to hold the camera steady for 1/15s, which was extremely difficult, as my hands naturally shook. Even the slight movement of just pressing the button was enough to ruin the focus completely.

When I enrolled in MMS 173, my goals were to basically just pass the subject and get a good grade. As a Multimedia Studies student, I am already accustomed to doing graphics for my courses, and I honestly thought that photography would be easy. I thought I could point my camera, leave it on auto mode like I always do before, and pass my assignments easily. I learned the hard way that being a graphic designer is different from capturing photos using a camera. In design, we can easily undo mistakes, but in photography, we have to get the settings right to get a well-intentioned shot.

Studying this subject online made the technical learning curve even harder. I honestly found the communication channels detrimental to my learning, as the entire online setup felt very skeletal. There was barely any real interaction with my peers in the course as a whole. Most of the time, it was me, my laptop, and my camera trying to figure things out regarding ISO and shutter speed. I took photos and submitted them without knowing if what I did was right or wrong until the grades were released.

Reflecting on the term, time management could have been done better on my end, as I always squeezed my camera practice late in the day. That is exactly why my motion photo was taken at 6:48 PM, as I forced my camera into dark situations, because I did not manage my schedule well. If I could repeat this, I would prioritize shooting in the morning when the sun is bright or rather earlier in the afternoon, but not at a time when the sun can burn your skin. 

As for the class itself, I know there were practice exercises provided, but I think what would really improve the experience is adding at least a once-a-month discussion on Google Meet. Since the online setup feels so lonely, having a live session where we can actually talk, ask questions, and get instant feedback from the professor would help beginners like me a lot.

Turning Point

I remember the moment I took this motion photo, as I was standing near the edge of the road, holding my breath to keep my hands from shaking, and people walking by stared at me. I was so frustrated with the dark lighting and the grainy screen of my camera, and I stood there thinking, "Why did I even think this class would be easy?" But I waited for another vehicle to pass, and clicked the shutter one last time before finally calling it a night.

After all the stress, my feelings toward photography as a whole became clear. I learned new things, but I realized that the technical side of photography was honestly not for me. 

It was still so hard to get the right balance of the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed just to get one decent shot, and I found it more enjoyable to take casual photos that looked good enough to be posted on Instagram. I preferred using my phone, where the software automatically fixed the lighting. With a smartphone, I can just tap the screen in seconds. Due to this, I do not plan on pursuing photography in the future, as I lean more toward web development and graphic design, where I feel more in control.

I realized from this photography class how complicated manual control really is, since it takes a lot of effort to step away from auto settings and understand the mechanics of a camera. For me, this trimester was exhausting, which felt exactly like a blurred motorcycle. 

But now that this end-blog is done, I’m officially putting the lens cap back, and I am just as relieved that I survived MMS 173.