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VERSUS Quarterfinal Round Winners

9/28/2015

We have come to VERSUS head-to-head tournament's quarterfinal stage. The Elite Eight. The assigned theme for this round was "Architectural Lines". Here are their entries for you to see, but first, we'd like to thank our guest judges who determined the winners.

Thank you for lending your time and insight, Denison Tan, Marlon Faller, and Lauren Malcampo!

Here are the entries :

MATCHUP 1 :
JAY SALVADOR (Rank : 1) vs. MHOIE MENDOZA (Rank : 8)

JAY SALVADOR

MHOIE MENDOZA

Judge's comment :
"I like that it’s bold and not the usual architectural shot. Beautiful composition too!" (Malcampo)

"There's no clear focal point. It looks like fine art but elements are all over." (Tan)

Judge's comment :
"There's no wow factor to the composition but everything is decent. And adding that tree beside is helpful. I would've shot it straight facing up instead of slanting it towards the right and probably add streaking long shutter clouds to make it more interesting." (Tan)

MATCHUP 2 :
ALIH VIAJE (Rank : 6) vs. BRIAN SANTOS (Rank : 30)

ALIH VIAJE

BRIAN SANTOS

Judge's comment :
"I like how all the lines lead the viewer’s eyes to move around the frame." (Malcampo)

"It's interesting how the establishment architecture was presented. Showing the curved lines and their convergence." (Tan)

Judge's comment :
"I like the more unusual design that we don't see everyday, plus shooting this silhouette really makes it more compellng. I don't know what it is or what part of an architecture it is... which makes me curious and more interested... than the more informative and straightforward mall photo." (Tan)

MATCHUP 3 :
KATH TUAZON (Rank : 12) vs. JOEL DOMINGO (Rank : 36)

KATH TUAZON

JOEL DOMINGO

Judge's comment :
"More informative albeit less interesting photo... The other one is not appropriate for "architecture lines" theme. otherwise i would have chosen it. This is appropriate but is not an interesting photo." (Tan)

Judge's comment :
"I like that the architectural lines are kept parallel with the edges of the frame. Solid composition and it tells a story." (Malcampo)

MATCHUP 4 :
CHI LOPEZ (Rank : 2) vs. DENNIS SANTOS (Rank : 39)
Chi Lopez advances via default (Dennis Santos failed to field an entry)

CHI LOPEZ

And here's our VERSUS Final Four :

MHOIE MENDOZA

BRIAN SANTOS

JOEL DOMINGO

CHI LOPEZ

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS! You now advance to the Final Four, where a new theme awaits. Stay tuned for the theme announcement. The matchups will be Mhoie Mendoza vs. Joel Domingo, and Chi Lopez vs. Brian Santos.

Updated VERSUS tournament bracket : http://challonge.com/focusversus

HOW THE JUDGES VOTED :
                                                           Matchup 1         Matchup 2         Matchup 3
Denison Tan                              Mendoza            Santos                Tuazon
Marlon Faller                                Mendoza            Santos                Domingo
Lauren Malcampo                        Salvador            Viaje                          Domingo

(Full text of their judges' comments will be provided to participants.)

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September 2015 PhotoMeet Contest : Bamboo in Concert

9/21/2015

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Much has been said. Focus members, applicants, and our guest judge Christopher Alelis have offered their take. Now it's time to find out which Bamboo concert photos were the best. Thanks to everyone who voted!

The Top 3 :

3rd Place : 29 points (15 votes) / Entry 17 / ERICK MENDIOLA

ENTRY 17

2nd Place : 64 points (30 votes) / Entry 2 / MARK ANTHONY DE LEON

ENTRY 2

1st Place : 65 points (26 votes) / Entry 5 / BOBBY JO

ENTRY 5

HALLELUJAH! Congratulations, Bobby Jo! Back-to-back wins in our contests.

1st Place gets an extra 10 points, 2nd Place gets 7, 3rd Place gets 5, 4th Place (undisclosed) gets 3, and 5th Place (also undisclosed) gets 2 points for the Photographer Of The Year competition. Participants automatically get 3 points for submitting entries.

September 2015 PhotoMeet Contest "Bamboo in Concert" Entries (click thumbnails to view photos in full)

Voting Period : 18-24 September 2015

Votes can be viewed at Facebook comment box below.

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August 2015 PhotoMeet Contest : Manila Photowalk

9/2/2015

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Here are the winners of our August PhotoMeet contest, from our August 21 Manila Photowalk with Filipino Street Photographers, Litratista sa Daan, and Wide Open Streets Workshop. For this contest, we had a select panel of judges from FSP, DAAN, and WOW to vote on the entries (Focus members and applicants will not vote). Since most of the judges turned in their votes via private message, we will publish their votes and choice critique in Focus members' insider page, while we announce the top placers here.

Here are the Top 3 :

3rd Place : Entry 6 / CELINE VILLAFUERTE

ENTRY 6

2nd Place : Entry 7 / JULIUS CALZO

ENTRY 7

1st Place : Entry 1 / BOBBY JO

ENTRY 1

Entry 1 got 1 first-place vote, 1 second-place vote, and 1 fourth-place vote from the judges. CONGRATULATIONS, BOBBY JO! 1st Place gets an extra 10 points, 2nd Place gets 7, 3rd Place gets 5, 4th Place (undisclosed) gets 3, and 5th Place (also undisclosed) gets 2 points for the Photographer Of The Year competition. Participants automatically get 3 points for submitting entries.

As special prize, the winner gets a a book ("The Street Photographer's Manual" by David Gibson) provided by Focus/FSP member Joel Domingo, plus a photo print courtesy of FSP.

Much thanks to our judges : Dan Cruz, Sharlene Festin, Luis Liwanag, Joel Mataro, and Ateneo Sta.Ines.

*** For those awaiting the announcement of the Decisive Moment theme contest winner, we are going to have another round of voting since the initial results were inconclusive to determine a winner. We'll announce the winner as soon as possible.

August 2015 PhotoMeet Contest "Manila Photowalk" Entries (Click thumbnails to view photos in full)