Top 5 at Zone V: Winning Images For February

The Top 5 Photos of February 2022

by Emman Araullo

The second monthly contest for the year made use of the theme “Geometry in Architecture” with post processing being limited to black and white.

The theme seems to have piqued the interest of members as the club experienced what is a current high for 2022 with a total of 92 photos submitted.

The personalities tasked to be part of this month’s panel of judges are all considered experts in the field of architecture photography.

Nicco Valenzuela, landscape and architectural photographer and senior writer for Fstoppers.

Ed Simon, head photographer of One Mega Group and photography instructor at Technological University of the Philippines College of Architecture and Fine Arts.

And Jay Jallorina, Founder of Metroscapes workshop and sought after photographer by top local and international architectural firms.

The top 5 photos photos for the month are as follows:

#5 “Braustubl Haus Wertheym” by Jun Dangoy

ISO 400; f/5.0; 1/13 sec.

Taken just a few years ago in Frankfurt Germany, Jun says that this building caught his eye because of its “strong geometric design and rustic charm”. A deeper look into it would reveal that the name of the building is “Haus Wertheym” and it carries a very rich history behind it.

According to Jun “the structure was built in the 1600’s”. Furthermore, it is “the oldest half-timbered house in Frankfurt’s old town and the only one to survive the air raids or World War II nearly unscathed.” Talk about pairing geometry with a little bit of history.

Photo taken with Jun’s Canon EOS 30D with EFS 10-22mm

#4 “The Great Pyramids” by Jeff Dytuco

Days after being the resource person for the recent ZVCC Huddle Session and demonstrating how he edits his B&W images in Lightroom, Jeff proved why he was the right man for that job as his entry landed in the 4^th spot. Taken during his trip to Egypt just before the pandemic, he says “luck” was on his side as he was blessed with good weather and was able to visit the complex twice.

Among hundreds of shots, he chose to submit this one because it highlighted the pyramids as the main subject as the side light emphasized the “geometry” of the main subject. In addition, the human element on the lower left hand side provided a sense of scale.

Taken using Nikon D750 with 28-300mm.

#3 “Checking My Notifications” by Willie De Vera

ISO 800; f/11; 1/25 sec.

Shot inside the National Gallery Singapore which is known for its varied and modern architecture. Willie says that once he finished taking the wide and detail shots of the architecture, he noticed the individual protruding at the end of the wall with his mobile phone. He says the “natural light and shadows created the geometric shapes” while the hand rail acting as the leading line provided “an ideal composition”.

In a rush to capture the scene, Willie decided to use f/11 to “get as much depth of field from foreground to background.”

#2 “Untitled” by Mac Omega

ISO 320; f/4; 1/100 sec.

On the same night that he was formally introduced as a probee, Mac immediately made an impact in his first foray into the monthly contest as his entry placed as the 1^st runner up. Shot in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea; Mac considers this as one of his early works and the settings to be “not ideal”. He says that if he were to reshoot this today, he would use a “slightly faster shutter speed and a shallow aperture”.

Originally shot vertically, it was cropped horizontally in post processing “to emphasize the lines and give a closer look to the structure of the building”.

#1 “The Hive” by Leys Masangcay

ISO 100; f/4; 1/125 sec.

Snapped during a holiday in Midtown Manhattan, the winning photo for this month literally took a lot of effort as Leys said that he had to climb “multiple flight of stairs with a total of about 2,500 steps” to reach the highest spot which was equivalent to 16 floors. The view within this climbable sculpture known as “The Vessel” reminded Leys of a beehive. While waiting for the sun to cast the right kind of light, he spotted a lonesome tourist which provided depth and scale to the image and also symbolized the “Queen Bee”.