Top 5 at Zone V

August 2023

The theme for the month of August photo contest at Zone V Camera Club is “Dramatic Environmental Portrait.” A comment echoed by a number of veteran members is that the set of entries are print-ready for an exhibition in itself. That’s how high the bar has been set for this month.

As judged by three power women, who gave insightful comments and critiques, there has to be winners among the lot. Presenting and sharing with everyone the top 5 images and the stories behind these photographs.

#5 “The Other Model” by David Lim

This photo was taken during a Rarindra photoshoot workshop.  We were given the opportunity to utilize the model while most were focused on the other setup across the room.  The pose we wanted was the iconic pose of woman knitting in sideview.  It reminded me of painting ‘Whistler’s Mother’ by James McNeill Whistler and many other similar paintings.  Natural light coming from the windows on the left.

We could not move the extension wires lying on the floor so I had to burn it black which will not be too evident in a B&W photo.

#4 “Mithrandir” by Jed Santos

ISO 400; f/5.6; 1/320 sec

This shot was taken at Boon Pring Bamboo Park at Malang Indonesia together with other Zone V members in a photo tour that was organized by one of Indonesia’s talented photographers – Rarindra Prakarsa.

We started shooting at dawn and by around 10am the rays of the sun started to burst out of the bamboo forest around us. It was a mesmerizing sight to behold but we don’t have time to stare and appreciate the scene as the rays might be gone as fast as it appeared.

So we started clicking away and with Rarindra guiding us, this shot was one of my favorites that came out that day – simple yet full of mystery.

#3 “The Weaver” by Arlene Donaire

ISO 800; f/2.8; 1/125 sec

The image was shot in one of the silk weaving/souvenir workshops of Inle Lake, Myanmar. The female weaver is a member of the Kayan tribe, whose standard for beauty is having a “long-neck”, that is supported/adorned by brass rings.

This lady was so intent on what she was doing that she didn’t mind me at all shooting so close. I liked that she was unperturbed and seated so strategically beside a window, which gave me enough light to execute this dramatic half-lighted portrait.

The subject just presented itself already “composed” as I imagined. But I wanted to achieve a half-lighted portrait, so I had to recognize both light source and intensity in setting my exposure and focus. There wasn’t much compositional complication; just used a shallow depth of field and added the darkened parts via dodge & burn/curves adjustment in post-processing.

As in any other group photo tour where everyone is shooting the same subject, it is always a challenge to isolate the non-essentials, including other people in the scenery. The solution is simply to wait for the turn to shoot and use both depth of field and exposure settings to achieve a clean shot.

I didn’t want the Kayan woman to pose, so I waited a bit to find the right head-body posture and movement that I thought best exemplify her “majesty” even at work. With the head tilted and the face evident at the right angle and her hands at work, then I took the shot.

The photo was shot in color originally but converted to b&w. To achieve the best range of tones for b&w conversion, I adjusted contrast, highlights & shadows. Cropping was done to fill the frame.

# 2 “Apo Uup of the Butbut Tribe” by Mac Omega

ISO 500; f/2; 1/90 sec

I was on my way out with my camera when I chance upon this scene, in Buscalan, Kalinga. The owner of the homestay where we stayed was puffing cigar while waiting for her food to be cooked.

When I saw the scene with the face of Apo Uup being highlighted by the light coming the small window, it was a thing of beauty for me. I did not want to approach her due to language barrier as she only speaks her own dialect so I just let her be and I observed and took pictures of her from the opposite side of the room.

The longer that I observed her, the more that I admire her and I saw contentment. I imagined what a life well lived she had to be able to reach her age.

#1 “Untitled” by Lester Abes

ISO 200; f/3.5; 1/80 sec

Located in Subic Bay Freeport zone in the province of Zambales, Pamulaklakin Forest trail is a wildlife refuge where visitors are toured deep in the forest by indigenous Aeta tour guides that goes for 2-3 hrs.

Aetas or Agtas are indigenous group of people who inhabited Olongapo, Zambales & Bataan long before the days of colonizers.  Tata  Kasuy our guide gladly gave us some basic survival tips like how to prepare food, make fire using bamboo shoots & his bolo to name a few.

After showing us the basic techniques,  we asked Tata  Kasoy to pose for us. And wow, he can be a model too aside from the  survival techniques we learned from him. This was taken in 2018 during our Zambales OTS.

Congratulations to all the winners!