On the third day of our class, we weren't able to present our assigment from Prof. Angeles because of her abscence. Instead, we got an hour lecture from Sir Vic Sison regarding proper posing. It was supposed to be a half day lecture but since he was also needed in the advance class, the lecture was shortened to an hour long only. Despite the short time, we have learned so much. How to pose women from men, observations during shoots and a few tips when shooting weddings. These were discussed for only an HOUR! Afterwhich the floor was given to Sir Joey Tañeda who gave us a lecture (which to me was a little boring) about the history of photography, how it all started. I think we we're dismissed early that day.
On the morning of our fourth day of class, I was really anxious because the master of portraiture Sir Toch Arellano will be the one to give the lecture. But, we received a very sad and shocking news. He passed away that day, I think due to heart attack. They told us he was in coma for four days. We were assured though that they will provide us another lecturer for portraiture.
We were surprised to see Prof Angeles there. I thought she had forgotten about our group assignment. We were asked to shoot inside Fort Santiago and we have to show what we've learned from her lecture in composition. My group ( Aperture) was not worried with the assigment. We were more worried with our cheer. Luckily, we were to present last and so we were able to come up with a cheer. My groupmate, Darrin, who is an Australian, composed a song. He said our cheer was baduy. *LOL* We didn't expect he knew that word. Our speaker of the house was Bam. She was amazing! She was very animated when she was explaining our pictures, Everyone was awed..*LOL* Who could have known a 15 year old can do that!
Our group presenting our assigment.During the afternoon, we were taught by Sir Ador Pamintuan about natural light and studio light. He was the one assigned to replace Sir Toch Arellano. We had a blast during this lecture! Aside from learning lots, it was bonding time for the class.
My GroupmatesGraduation Day
We were asked to submit an 8x10 sized picture of our entry for the contest in environmental portrait and still life categories. I had a lot of choices for environmental portrait. A labtech, student, physical therapist and the one I chose was the forklift operator. I liked it because of the expression on his face and the shadowing. Only half of his face was lighted. In still life, I had a hard time and got so frustrated. I originally chose a figurine of two pigs who got married but when I had it printed it was a disaster. In the end I chose not to pass my still life entry.
When I got to fort santiago, mang boy asked us to pass our entries. It will serve as our attendance and proof that we have fulfilled all the requirements to qualify for graduation. I immediately called home and asked my brother to print another still life picture because it will be so humiliating to pass the married pigs *LOL*. He got there on time so I was qualified to become a graduate, whew!
All entries for the two categories were posted on the board. They invited a few colleagues to act as judges. The votes were casted and tallied and what do you know, my environmental portrait was chosen as one of the 10 finalists. I was already contented to be a finalist but the judges thought better and awarded me fifth place! I received a huge medal. I was so happy!!!
I won 5th place on Envi Potrait
Finalists for Environmental Portrait Category 
Finalists for Still life categoryAfter the awarding, FPPF prepared a little snack for us. Then they gave us our certificate of completion. We were officially graduates of Basic Photography.
The day hasn't ended yet. We went to harbor square and had a few drinks to celebrate. A few of our professors celebrated with us.
Our Professors
Some of the boys
I never expected that I would have this much fun with the class. Aside from learning a lot about photography I also gained a lot of friends. Our batch created a website, I'll post about it in a few days. It's our own little way of keeping the group intact.
