ART: When Less is More

Last night, I was invited by one of my good friends to judge the monthly photo competition by The Catchers of Light, Qatar. And since I know that members of this group is professional-like when it comes to capturing moments, syempre Go! Ang lola nyo. I was a TCLQ member for a while, nag lie-low lang ako since I sold my SLR couple of months ago, and planning to buy new one. 

Anyways, so we went to Avenue 23 in Al Sadd where TCLQ peeps are setting the entries for the competition in a small but cozy room. Thanks to Red Lobster, naligaw pa kami ng husband ko, pero nabusog nman kasi ng malaking Lobster nila :D (Avenue 23 is just behind Red Lobster, akala ko sa Red Lobster ang venue so pumasok kami ng bongga, at umorder pa, hahaha! Silly Girl, at least busog lusog kami!)

(Hep! Pamoment lang po)
while having our yummy dinner sa maling venue hehe @_@

Around 9:00 in the evening when we all gathered inside the room. A total of 3 judges are there (yes, including me, believe it or not hehehe!) against 21 entries with the theme: MINIMALIST. But before that, let’s see first  what is Minimalist Photography:

Sabi ni Prakash Godhke (hindi kami close, gusto ko lang ang definition nya)

Minimalist photography is known to be the art of less. Such calm pictures focus mainly on a few essential elements for composing the perfect shot. 

See: http://www.noupe.com/photography/minimalist-art-photography.html

I am not going to post samples from the internet because what you are about to see will give you more than enough satisfaction and understanding about the theme called MINIMALIST.

And so, we were introduced to the group (pardon me for not mentioning the names of 2 other judges, I totally forgot), and gave us a bit of orientation about the competition. Personally, I had a hard time giving scores on each photos. The highest score a photo can get is 5.000 and the lowest is 1.000 which is impossible to earn since no entry deserves such stumpy score. But even though all entries are great, I have to do my job as one of the judges. I have to choose and rank them according to my judgment, and taste. Hindi naman pwedeng lahat winner diba. baka pag ganon, hindi na ako maulit magjudge sa TCLQ (asaness hahah!)

THE JUDGES a.k.a. THE CHUBBIT (Chubby Hobbit) and the TWO TOWERS, @_@

(Photo Credit: Ms. Megi Sevilla, TCLQ Exec. Treasurer)

in less than 1 hour, the results were revealed by no other than taddaaaannn! Josh Gonzales, ang wagas at nag iisa!

JOSH GONZALES, One of the organizers for this month's competition

June 2013's Photographer of the Month for Panorama Photography

(Jose, pacencxa sa shot ha, tumapat lang talaga sa ulo mo yung puno :D )

Siya ang nambiktima saken hahaha! But really, I had a great time. Feeling ko, they trust my judgement. And apparently, I was happy with the result because the Photo of the month goes to my first choice, pwede na akong maglevel up (chozs!)

With no further ado, here is the Top 5 entries for the Month of July:

TOP 5: Mr. Jose Alfred "Josh" Gonzales

 (Sent by Jose Alfred "Josh" Gonzales through FB message)

TOP 4: Mr. Wilhelm "Tbor" Camarista Jr.

 

 (Sent by Wilhelm Camarista Jr. through email)

TOP 3: Ms. Belly Estrella

 (Sent by Jose Alfred "Josh" Gonzales through FB message)

TOP 2: Sir Ferdie Pablo

(Grabbed from Sir Ferdie Pablo's Facebook Account)

TOP 1: Sir Ferdie Pablo

Yes, you've read it right, kinarir ni Sir Ferdie and 2 top positions for this month's competition. This is actually my first choice. Sabi ko nga when they asked me to explain the photo, even though there are several elements on the picture, my attention goes directly to the woman. It conveys emotions without messing up with the theme. It tells a story, and for me it is really important in a composition. Another obra maestra from one of the maestros.

(Grabbed from Sir Ferdie Pablo's Facebook Account)

Of course, hindi jan natatapos ang lahat, TCLQ also announced the most awaited part of night - the Announcement of:

TOP PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR THE MONTH OF JULY.

Here they are:

1. Sir Ferdie Pablo

(ang walang kaduda duda at walang agam agam na pagkapanalo)

2. Mr. Wilhelm "Tbor" Camarista Jr

3. Mr. Jose Alfred "Josh" Gonzales

4. Ms. Belly Estrella

5. Ms. Zinnia Cuba

Congratulations to all the Winners. With their unbelievable ideas, outstanding capability on capturing moments and unique understanding with minimalism, you can never tell that  Photography is just one of their hobbies. Take note, busy pa sila nyan, hindi mga ready, nakakainis diba! @_@

THE CATCHERS of LIGHT, QATAR

Photo Credit: Ms. Megi Sevilla, TCLQ

Kudos to Sir Alvin Bongon, ang moi gwapitong El Presidente, to all the members of the TCLQ gang, to the group who organized the competition for this month, and to Josh (my "pamangkin" kuno!) for giving me a chance to show my perception when it comes to judging a simple but amazing photo competition. Na-miss ko tuloy pumitik. Di bale, malapit na ulit akong magbalik loob sa pagiging pitikero kapag nakabili na ako ng SLR :D

Don't worry, pwede po kayong makaulit saken. Available po ako anytime, at hindi nagpapabayad +_+

Note:
Please feel free to share this blog to other photography enthusiasts that are not yet part of TCLQ. Maybe they are just waiting for some motivations and encouragements paano nga ba mamuhay ang isang Light Catcher :)