MMS 173 Blog 1

Halfway Through MMS 173: A Journey in Pixels and Perspective

Hey there! So, we’re at this midway point in MMS 173, and I figured it’s about time I sit down, crack my knuckles, and spill everything I’ve been mulling over about this course. I’m Mervick D’Melo, a 4th-year offshore BAMS student chilling or, well, stressing, still crossing every finger and toe that I’ll graduate this year. When I kicked things off with my self-introduction, I was buzzing with this weird cocktail of excitement and nerves. Photography’s always been something the piques my interest, but I’ll be real with you: my skills were pretty much limited to whatever my phone could pull off. Fast forward to now, armed with my trusty Samsung S24 Ultra, and I’m starting to feel like I might actually have a shot at this class. (well here's to hoping! hahaha)

Back when I wrote that intro, I had these big dreams of figuring out the nuts and bolts of photography. Stuff like composition, lighting, maybe even some editing magic. I was tired of just pointing my phone at something cool and hoping for the best. Looking at where I’m at now, I think I’m chipping away at that goal. The assignments we’ve done really shook me awake. That first one had me digging into my own head, admitting I didn’t know half as much as I thought I did. I mean, I’ve taken tons of pics before... food, my cat, dawn shot, and a chance sighting of a mountain goat... but it’s all been casual, you know?

Then Part 2 rolled around, and I got this peek into what my classmates are cooking up. Some of them are straight-up wizards with a camera! Siska’s "Perya" shot had colors popping in ways I didn’t even know were possible. It’s got me fired up to try harder, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t also make me sweat a little. Can I keep up? I’m telling myself yes, even if I’m still figuring out how.

One question I had at the start was whether I’d ever get good at turning the pictures in my brain into actual photos. That’s still a battle. Like, last 2 weeks ago before my planned travel to Philippines. I was out in Dubai after my group fitness classes, doing last minute errands and little pasalubong run. It was super sunny, probably around 2 PM, I was walking around and about to cross the road when I focused on the Museum of the Future at Sheikh Zayed Road. The light was bright but perfect for making that sculpture shine. After watching tutorials upon tutorials on Youtube, I switched my S24 Ultra to Pro Mode because I wanted to mess with the settings myself. I set the ISO at 12 since it was so bright out, and I didn’t want the image to get too washed out and lose the details in the calligraphy. The shutter speed ended up at 1/1500 of a second, which is crazy fast, but I guess that helped keep the shot sharp since I was holding the phone by hand and didn’t want any blur from my shaky hands. The aperture was at f/1.7, which is the widest my phone’s main lens can go, and that’s what gave me that nice blurry background with the skyline all soft and dreamy. The focal length was 23mm, which I think is the main wide lens on my phone, and I kept the exposure value at 0 since the lighting felt balanced already. I tapped the screen to focus on the sculpture, and the background just melted away. Honestly, I was kind of surprised it worked well at least in my opinion! I also crouched down a bit to get the angle right, making sure the sculpture took up most of the frame while still catching those iconic buildings in the back. I didn’t mess with the white balance; I left it on auto since the daylight looked fine, and the colors came out pretty natural. After taking a few shots, I picked the best one. I did a little editing in the phone’s gallery app, just bumped the contrast a tiny bit to make the Arabic calligraphy pop against the shiny surface. Tried it in Black and White too. I think this shot came out okay. Not terrible, but not what I saw in my head. There were too many light posts and I guess I was at the wrong side to get an amazing shot of this magnificent structure. The technical stuff like exposure, white balance, all that jazz still feels like a foreign language some days. But I’m picking it up, slowly but surely (I hope). Prof. Al’s definitely not letting us slack, just like I knew he wouldn’t after surviving his Audio class. I expected him to push us, and he’s delivering. It’s tough, but I’m here for it.

Seeing my classmates’ work has flipped a switch for me. The rule of thirds? yeah, I’d heard of it, but I never really got it until I saw it in their pics. Now I’m out here framing shots in my head before I even tap the shutter, whether it’s a plate of biryani or a random palm tree. It’s like a little lightbulb went off, and I’m stoked to keep playing with it. Those kinds of moments make me think I’m not just stumbling through this course...I’m actually growing.

Now, about the next assignments and that looming final project… I’m kind of all over the place. I’ve got some rough ideas scribbled like maybe a photo series of UAE street life but nothing’s set in stone. I’m excited because I want to pull off something cool, but I’m also low-key freaking out. Prof. Al showed us samples from past lessons and that got me worried. He basically said, “Match this or beat it,” and I’m sitting here like, “Uh, I’ll try?” I’ve got my phone, I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve now, and I’m not about to half-ass it. That’s the plan, at least. I’m not chill enough to be indifferent since I care too much about nailing this.

Oh, and that F2F session? I would’ve loved to be there. I’m actually in the Philippines right now. Landed on the 16th and staying ‘til the 31st and I was hoping I could swing it. But my schedule’s been a total mess. We’re planning to relocate here due to some unexpected happenings, so I’ve been on this crazy house-hunting mission with my dad. We’ve been zigzagging through Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas, checking out housing projects left and right. Coming from Navotas, it’s a trek, and with just two weeks to sort it all out, there’s been no time to breathe, let alone squeeze in more drives for a class meetup. It’s been exhausting I can’t even call it a holiday. My body clock’s still stuck on UAE time, and I’ve been running on fumes. I’m bummed I can't make it. I bet it would’ve sparked some cool ideas for this blog or the next project. Flipping through my blog so far, I can see myself leveling up. The first one was me rambling, trying to figure out where I stood. The second felt sharper, like I’m starting to get my footing.

How do I feel about the way Prof. Al is managing the course? I’ve got to say, it’s been awesome. He’s pretty strict, no doubt, but he’s also fair, and I really respect that he lets us speak our minds without holding back. I don’t have any complaints just a lot of appreciation because I’m getting way more from this class than I ever expected.

So, that’s where I’m at, halfway through MMS 173. I’m hyped to see where this journey takes me, a little jittery about the big assignments on the horizon, but definitely feeling like I’m growing as a photographer. Here’s to more shutter clicks, more lessons, and hopefully some pics I can proudly show off when it’s all done!

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