Top 5 at Zone V: April 2022 - Zone V Camera Club

The Top 5 Photos of April 2022

by Emman Araullo

After taking a quick break to celebrate the Holy Week, Zone V Camera Club members were once again back at it with the monthly contest. The theme for this month was “Inner Child”. Aside from defining it as an “introspective view of the child in oneself or others”; members were given free rein as to how they would interpret the theme into images. This would result in some fantastic photos from the members.

This month’s panel of judges included known industry personalities such as MM Yu who was an Ateneo art awardee in 2007 and has exhibited in multiple galleries,

Patrick Uy who is one of the sought after wedding photographers in the country and a past president of the Camera Club of the Philippines (CCP),

and Tom Epperson, a renowned commercial photographer both here and abroad.

The top 5 photos for the month are as follows:

#5 “Young Once” by Cha Pagdilao

Shot on Nikon D7000; ISO 100; f/8; 1/60 sec.

Taken in Banaue, Ifugao; According to Cha, the image depicts “the value of goodness of an Igorot grandfather having high regards to his grandson during their bonding moment”.

The judges liked the image for the raw expression on both of the subjects, the bright complimentary colors, and the way it fits this month’s theme.

#4 “Squirt” by Oscar Soriano

Shot on Canon EOS RP ISO 12800; f/4.5; 1/500 sec.

Oscar says that “it’s the indomitable spirit of the Filipino that inspired him to capture the playful mood of the three construction workers taking a quick, cool bath after a tiring day’s work”. The interaction of the motion of the water set against the plain cracking concrete wall added depth and dimension to the image. Oscar said that he “had to be nimble with all his shots” in order to capture the moment.

Furthermore, he said that “one perfect timing and framing allowed him to freeze this single moment of a child-like, mischievously warm huddle of men.”

Congratulations to Oscar as his entry also garnered the most votes to win this month’s Member’s Cup

#3 “Inner Child” by David Lim

ISO Auto; f/11; 1/320 sec.

Taken in La Union back in 2019 during a ZVCC OTS event; according to David, this image was “inspired by the Xiapu shot of a person carrying two buckets over the shoulder”. Set against an interesting background landscape, the children were added to enhance the story of the photo. David says “what was critical was to get the models to express emotions of fun”.

The image was “converted to B&W to simplify the photo and remove the distracting color cast of the afternoon sun”.

#2 “Tin Can Toy (Teleponong Lata)” by Brian Agana

ISO 200; f/ 3.2; 1/1000 sec.

Brian said that it is his “interest to create a series of images depicting “Old Larong Pinoy””. He did not expect that this image will “capture the judges’ attention and interest”. Taken on a vacant lot near their place in Tanza, Cavite; the images shows an old Camachile Tree with a slightly bended branch and a swing hanging on one if its branches – the perfect location for a photoshoot.

Brian said he had the idea “of creating a scene wherein two kids were playing with their telephone toy with tin cans on both ends. Brian says this recognition has “inspired” him to complete this project.

#1 “Play until Sundown” by Mac Omega

Shot on Nikon D850 with Nikon 70-200; ISO 400; f/22; 1/640 sec.

This month’s top photo comes from Mac. He said the theme made him think about what was it like during his childhood. He said his memory was that “there were no gadgets at that time” and that he was mostly out all day playing with other kids until sundown. Hence, Mac chose this photo as “because this is exactly what it looked like during my childhood”.