Photo Contest (The Runners-up)

Wow, this is the longest stretch of not posting anything on my blog since I started, I think. The 4-day Holy Week holiday and the stressful back-to-work Monday and Tuesday just didn’t give me enough time to post anything!  Plus I really needed to rifle through all the entries that you sent us.  We were able to choose a winner already yesterday, but the full show earlier just didn’t give us a chance to announce it.  So allow me to post the best photos that didn’t quite make it (I wish we had more cameras to give away because you guys outdid yourselves).

We received more than 300 photos from you guys, from about 200 emails!  The response was just amazing.  So let us thank you for making this little photo project a huge success.  We really had a hard time choosing though, because the pictures you sent us were all good, but in different ways.  Some were great photos, almost pro-level, but they weren’t as creative as the others.  While some were extremely creative, but the execution wasn’t as good.  So we really had to hem and haw in choosing the one photo which we felt, given all considerations, bested the rest of the competition.  Again, this is a subjective “best”, so you may not necessarily agree with our decision.  But as they say, judges’ decision is final (judges being me and Delle).  But one thing we can guarantee you, is that we tried our very best to choose with as much objectivity and impartiality as we humanly can, based on the general parameters we gave you guys.  But that said, feel free to tell us which photos you think deserved to win, even if it wasn’t the one we chose.  It would just be interesting to hear your point of view.

Presenting — the runners-up.  I’ll post the winning photo tomorrow, after we announce the winner on-air on The Morning Rush, over Monster Radio RX 93.1.  I won’t post the full names, just in case the senders would rather that I’d not.  Then I’ll put some of our comments after.  In no particular order:

Sent by: “Mike Y.”

We really found this cute.  The only underwater entry sent in, so it got really high points for creativity and put really big smiles on our faces.  Hands-down, one of the serious contenders to win the prize.

Sent by: “Koulen A.”

This got high points for creativity as well.  We just hope the baby was safe at all times during the shoot.  We loved the little headset thing going on, and the baby wearing only diapers felt really summer-y.  Plus, the composition was really well thought of.

Sent by: “Lia T.”

I personally loved this one.  It had a really nice dramatic feel to it, as if the couple did the RX pebble thing, then the shot caught them as they walked away as the sun began to set.  Again, the composition was really nice.  Plus, it was a nice touch to put the heart there as the lovers walked away.  Nice.

Sent by: “Carlo R.”

This didn’t feel like it was taken specifically for the photo challenge, but the slumbook handwriting all over the picture just gave it an infectiously nice, joyful, summer feel.  Plus the writing was done so neatly and the concept turned a regular portrait into a really cute entry.  It really felt like a kid did all the writing!  And the actual photo was well shot: it was sharp, had good exposure, and a quirky composition.

Sent by: “Aileen S.”

This is the least summer-y of the entries, but it came with a touching story.  As the whole family was preparing for a summer vacation, they suddenly had to rush their mom to a hospital.  So they spent their summer caring for their mother.  They missed their vacation, but they wouldn’t have it any other way, than to be with their mom and the whole family. Awww…  This too, was a serious contender.  We’re suckers for stories like this…

Sent by: “Diana L.”

This made us laugh.  You can tell the amount of thought and preparation for this photo.  Loved the 70’s vibe that this photo reeked.  What really cracked me up was the little boy in shades with a sign saying: “My dream: gusto ko ng Canon 10MP”.  LOL!

Sent by: “Leng N.”

I definitely LOVED this one.  It’s the kind of picture I wished I had taken.  And it’s the only one that used ice cream as it’s summer theme.  Most had the beach, or the pool, but this had that “summer-in-the-city” feel that I simply loved.  Such a well-shot photo.

Sent by: “Melags”

Wow.  What a shot, right?  Again, I wish I had taken this shot.  The colors are gorgeous, the water frozen perfectly in an arch, this could very well be a print ad in a magazine for a sunblock or something.  There’s nothing in this picture that I don’t like.

Sent by: “Gerard D.”

Cuteness overload!  The little girl in the picture is simply adorable.  Lots of kid photos sent in, but this is one of the best.  The RX in the cellphone was a nice touch too.  One of the pictures that almost won as well.

Sent by: “Christopher L.”

One of Delle’s top picks.  What’s not to like?  Even the lettering put in during post-processing was so cleanly done.  Hobbyists like me always pray for clouds like these whenever we go shooting landscape photos.  Very nicely executed.

Sent by: “Joanna C.”

Probably the best-lit of all the photos taken.  It looks almost as if it was taken in a photo studio with lights hitting all the right spots!  Almost good enough to be a print ad.  Gorgeous photo, definitely one of the top contenders.  It felt like a crime not to award a photo like this.

That said, we do have our reasons why we chose ONE photo to  win over these equally deserving entries.  We weighed all the factors, and based on what we were looking for, and the criteria we gave you guys, we unanimously decided to award the Canon Powershot A480 to a photo I will post tomorrow.

Again, we welcome comments on all the photos I posted, but it won’t change the results.  It’ll just be nice to hear your call on it.

(Tomorrow: The WINNER!!!)