The Top 5 Photos of November 2022
By Emman Araullo
After several challenging photo contest themes, the club has reached the final monthly contest for the year 2022. With mere decimals separating the race for POTY, the scores for November played a vital role in the final results. The theme for November was “Capturing Hope”. The category was set to “Open” so participants can interpret the theme through their own discretion.
The 3 judges for the month were Jes Aznar, a regular contributor for “The New York Times” covering the Asia Pacific Region and beyond. He is also the founder of @everydayimpunity and co-founder of @everydayphilippines on Instagram. Scott Woodward, a manila based Canadian photographer that has worked in the region for 25 years. He was honored by Luerzer’s Archive as the “200 Best advertising photographers worldwide”. Nino Carandang, he founded and became Editor-in-Chief of iCreate Magazine and Digital Photographer Philippines. He is an Adobe certified expert in Photoshop and Lightroom.
The top 5 photos for November are as follows:
#5 “I’M Possible” by Brian Agana
ISO 800; f/2.8, 1/125 sec.
Brian shared that he feels inspired whenever he takes images of Physically Challenged People. When doing so, he prefers not to publicize their disabilities but rather, to highlight their undying will to survive and live a normal life. Brian’s photo shows how physical limitations can make life more challenging for physically challenged people but more than the limitations, the subject radiates inspiring character in finding ways to live the life he wants.
The image was taken in “Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc.”, a non-profit organization, providing livelihood programs for people with disabilities, using his trusty Fuji X-T1 paired with 14mm Wide Angle Lens.
#4 “First Light” by Angela Panlilio
犀利士
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Angela shared that “Capturing Hope” was a tough theme to crack since hope is interpreted differently for each individual. It’s “a many splendored thing” for some and for others a tad more quiet. She shares that the latter holds true for her. As a result, her photo is a layered story telling of how Angela sees HOPE.
A young student – our future as a people, behind barbed wire – the hindrances of their day to day.
The flowers held in one hand represents “the maybe” – not completely withered, somewhat still beautiful in the light. Just Like hope – sometimes seemingly dim but when illuminated is radiant.
#3 “A Gift” by James Singlador
ISO 800; f/2.8, 1/40 sec.
For his photo, James shared that the soft light filling the image was taken using ambient light coming from a hole off the roof of their shanty.
#2 “Panalangin” by Lester Abes
ISO 200; f/4, 1/10 sec.
Lester shared that this image was taken at Immaculate Conception Cathedral late in the afternoon when he saw the old lady in the photo praying to the Virgin Mary. We don’t know what she is praying for but with that kind of gesture and facial expression, one can surmise that she is fervently asking for something. Lester shared that he was not expecting the lady’s expression to be so strong, so, the moment he noticed her expression he positioned himself immediately behind the glass and started shooting. He did this in a hurry as he did not want the lady to get angry at him. He also did not want to be a distraction to the lady and lose the authenticity of the emotion.
Fortunately, the lady didn’t seem to notice because she was fervently in prayer and Lester was able to walk away with this image.
#1 “Let There Be Light” by Leys Masangcay, POTM
ISO 400; f/9, 1/15 sec.
Leys’ photo was taken while exploring Sadan Cave in southern Myanmar. He shared fond memories of wearing the required “sarong” and trekking barefoot as there were a number of sacred monuments and Buddha in the vast network of caves.
It was already past noon by the time they reached the deeper end of the cave when told by the guide that the rays of the sun will directly hit the opening of the cave at 2 pm. At this point, they decided to wait and forego lunch in order to see the sunlight pass through the opening. Leys then set his tripod and camera in a position where he can capture the light passing through, as there were hardly any people that day. While capturing the scale of the cave, he asked his traveling companion, who is a buddhist, to stand close to the cave’s opening.
The guide lit some incense which added texture to the scene. The final image shows his companion who appears to be in some form of meditation while soaking up at the rays of the sun.
Post processing was done using only global adjustments on Lightroom.
Congratulations to all the winners!
