Top 5 at Zone V: Stories Behind The Winning Photos of January

The Top 5 Photos of January 2022

Zone V Camera Club kicked off 2022 with its first monthly photo contest with the theme “Flowers & or Leaves” for January.

A total of 68 entries were submitted by Club members. Photos could either be in color or black & white.

The criteria for judging for 2022 as seen in the visual below:

The Top 5 Photos and the story behind these images as shared to us by the distinguished photographers who took these shots:

#5 “Yamog” by Arlene Donaire

ISO 400; f/4.0; 1/1000sec

This photo was taken in Danao City, Cebu, Arlene’s hometown, using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

Arlene shared the scene when she shot the image “a solitary pine tree in the front yard, where the barbeque grill was being fired up stood as witness of the previous evening’s rainfall” the occasion was in time for her brother’s birthday celebration.

She continued about the event that happened ten years ago “with the sun now up, the dewdrops just glistened off the surface of the pine needles, begging to be shot” In Arlene’s mind she saw “’circles of confusion’, the bokeh that gives ‘nature’ subjects an ethereal dimension.”

Despite the image being 10 years old, “stored along with the memory it represented. This is a testament of how the story and feeling, transcend time through photography.”

Arlene got so inspired that after the contest she penned a verse in Visayan, but translated roughly in English that goes:

“The morning’s dew; a memento of the coolness, when heaven’s joy fleetingly touched the night.”

This image certainly touched not just Arlene, but the judges and everyone who’ve seen it.

#4 “Fetus” by Cynthia “Cha” Pagdilao

ISO 100; f/16; 1/100sec

Cha Pagdilao has always been fascinated with nature and found this beautiful giant fern at the Baguio City Botanical Garden with a “fetus-like” sprout. When asked how she shot this, Cha said: “To capture its beauty, shooting on manual mode, I used my external flash to backlight the subject to be able to capture the details on it.”

#3 “Untitled” by Kevin Roi Lopez

ISO 3200; f/11; 1/250sec

While Kevin was on holiday in 2019, he was immediately struck by this group of potted orchids by the windowsill inside the toilet at his grandmother’s house in New Zealand. Instinctively, Kevin wanted to shoot it, but waited for the right mood and lighting to capture it.

Kevin said “I already noticed the composition – frame within a frame. I did not take a shot right away. Until one morning, I saw that the light coming through the window and it complements the orchids.”

The challenge meanwhile is that the toilet tank sits directly below the subject and no matter what angle Kevin tries to shoot and compose the image, the tank is captured within the frame. To get rid of this eyesore, Kevin’s trick was in the power of post-processing, but simply doing global adjustments.

Kevin also credits Zone V member, Arlene Donaire for suggesting to convert the image to black and white to give it a dramatic vibe.

#2 “Sacrilege of Faith” by Billy Palatino

ISO 800; f/5.6; 1/500sec

Billy shot his winning image during a Lenten Week in Barangay Tolentino, Pasay City, wherein hundreds of men participate in a holy vow or “namamanata” and flagellate themselves while walking barefoot and shirtless under the scorching heat of summer.

Billy said: “these men cover their faces in order not to draw attention to themselves, while their heads are crowned with wreaths of leaves, imitating Christ Jesus.”

Billy used Fujifilm X-T10, 18-55mm, with global adjustments in Lightroom.

#1 “Dried Rimas Leaves” by Nes Santiago

ISO 800; f/5.6; 1/200sec

Nes Santiago took this shot at the La Mesa Ecopark at the time when he was a new birder and with the objective of shooting avian species that would show up way back in 2015.

Nes said “walking around led me to the eastern part of the park where this tall Rimas tree was. Attracted by the numerous big leaves, I forgot about spotting the birds momentarily. The potential of the new found subjects and their interesting shape and sizes occupied my mind.”

Nes used his trusty Olympus EM-5 with a 35mm equivalent lens for his winning shot. Nes ended by saying, “several clicks later I was done with it and captured a yellow Vented Bulbul and a friendly Ashy Ground Thrush.”

Now that’s what you call shooting two birds and the rimas leaves with one winning photographer.