Top 5 at Zone V: August 2024
Last August, the Zone V Camera Club took on the intriguing theme of “Mirror Play.” This open challenge invited photographers to focus on the mirror itself as the subject, rather than simply capturing its reflections. The theme proved to be quite complex, requiring participants to creatively showcase the mirror in their compositions. Entries varied widely, featuring everything from optical illusions and distorted reflections to dynamic sceneries and captivating mirror images.
The Club invited three esteemed judges:
Dayat Sutisno
Dayat is an Indonesian photographer, based in Jakarta, who is passionate shooting human interest, portraits and cultural events. He is an OPPO brand ambassador.
Ige Ramos
Ige is an award winning book designer, food writer, cultural worker, visual artist, and independent food scholar.
He is the managing director of the Ugnayan Center for Filipino Gastronomy, which publishes and conducts independent research and workshops in heirloom cuisine, edible design, food studies, and comparative gastronomy.
His book, “Dila at Bandila: Ang Paghahanap sa Pambansang Panlasa ng Filipinas”, which was awarded the 39th National book Award for best book on food, which explores the ways in which geography, technology, ingredients, and demographic shifts affect the taste and flavor of Filipino food.
Dail Deri
Dail is one of the Canon Brand Ambassadors. Her interest in photography was spurred at a young age as she became an assistant to her photographer father. She runs a portrait studio and an on-location portrait service. She has photographed both celebrities and “everyday people” which allowed her to understand what new photographers need and want to learn and how they can learn those skills in the most practical way. All of these sparked Dail’s love in teaching photography. Currently, Dail is a photography NC II, TMS, and NTTC holder, and is a certified instructor for photography National Certificate II at Philippine Center for Creative Imaging.
Here are the top 5 winning entries and read the stories behind these images.
#5 “Reflection of Adventure: Relentless Search for Stoke.” by Billy Palatino
For this month’s Zone V Camera Club contest, I had the pleasure of capturing a stunning moment that followed the theme “Reflection.” Using an actual glass mirror placed on the sandy beach, I photographed my surfer friend in Baler, Aurora. The mirror created a mesmerizing reflection that showcased not only the beauty of the ocean but also the thrill of surfing.
Thanks to my Huawei P60 Pro, I was able to bring this vision to life, highlighting the intricate interplay between nature and sport.
#4 “” by Willie De Vera
No details shared
#3 “Untitled” by Rick Gavino
ISO 3200, f/5.0, 1/160 sec
Bought a 4 pcs. 12×12 mirrors at Amazon to conceptualize the subject. Have my youngest grandson to be my model, who started to get interest in photography. Ask his mother to put on some face paint. Set the mirrors on different angles, repositions just like playing the replections. A few dozens of shot taken, upon post process picked this one. No special techniques were utilized. Thru Lightroom, in which I using this software since its inception, added some contrast , textures and vibrance. Then adjust some tones. I did a 180 rotation from the original. I’ve thought of this image right after I’saw the list of subjects last January.
#2 “Street Basketball” by Mac Omega
Nikon D500 + Nikon 14-24 f/2.8
ISO 200, f/11, 1/1000 sec
Location: Baseco, Manila
I took this photo at my favorite photography playground in manila. I have already taken photos of people playing basketball several times before so the challenge for me was how to reflect them inside the mirror. I took several trials until I got the correct angle and position of the mirror. After that, all I did was to wait for perfect moment to take the shot. Since this was an action shot, I had to use faster shutterspeed and a wide aperture to get everything in the picture sharp.
#1 “Untitled” by Jeff Dytuco
Location: Baseco, Manila
This image was shot in Baseco, Manila, one Saturday afternoon. I shot this image with Mac, who graciously brought me along to one of his favorite “playground” where he captures a lot of his amazing images. Before going there, we first stopped by Ikea, to buy our mirrors. There were a lot of interesting subjects but when the sun was about to set, we focused on the people playing basketball in a makeshift court. Against the setting sun and dramatic clouds, the silhouettes of the people playing basketball and doing other activities came out quite cinematic for me. Lucky the judges liked the image as well.
Congratulations to all the winners for the month of August!
