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We always challenge our members to do their best. Our calendar is packed with monthly theme contests and PhotoMeets (shoots or activities where we meet, we simply do not want to use the term "eye ball") to keep Focus photographers motivated and always on their toes, so to speak. For this year, we also introduced the VERSUS head-to-head tournament and quarterly team competition to further spice things up. It's a year-long race and all the points our members accumulate are recorded for our PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR competition. Whoever garners the most points from January to December shall be awarded Photographer Of The Year 2015.There were a total of 23 contests this year (12 theme contests, 2 team competitions, 7 photomeet contests, the annual Focus Portrait Project, and the People's Choice contest during our exhibit) which were eligible for POTY points, in addition to the 7 rounds of the VERSUS tournament. At the end of the year, there could only be one grand winner. The last man standing. The ultimate champion. Watch the video below to find out who is Focus Bulacan's Photographer Of The Year for 2015 : CONGRATULATIONS TO RALPH DERRICK "CHI" LOPEZ FOR WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR HONORS FOR 2015! 3 first-place finishes, 2 second-places, 5 fourth-places, and a semifinals finish in the VERSUS tournament. Well-deserved, to say the least.  Aside from the DSLR-inspired crystal plaque, Chi also gets a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens and a Xiaomi Mi 4i phone (his choices). All courtesy of Focus Bulacan.  We're also introducing two awards this year : Most Improved Photographer and Newcomer of the Year. Most Improved Photographer is for the Focus member who exhibited improvement in his photography and a substantial rise in the Photographer Of The Year ranking (as compared to the previous year). Most Improved Photographer 2015 is none other than BRIAN SANTOS. Congratulations!  Meanwhile, we're having the Newcomer Of The Year award for the best-ranking Focus photographer who only became an official member (approved as an applicant) during the year. Our Newcomer Of The Year 2015 is Manuel Joson. Way to go, MJ!  Here's the year-end Top 10 of our Photographer Of The Year 2015 competition :  Congratulations again to CHI LOPEZ, Photographer Of The Year 2015.  Special thanks to Alih Viaje and Bluprint Studio for the announcement video, and to Triple Cup Advertising for the plaques. And so ends our 2015 competition. Focus Competition Officer Jer Sandel will now be turning over his duties to Amen Alcoriza starting January 1, 2016. Mr. Alcoriza will now be handling all Focus contests, while Mr. Sandel will now be eligible to join them. Focus photographers, get ready for 2016! :) Our VERSUS head-to-head tournament Finals has been voted upon by a selected panel of judges. It's time to announce the winner and conclude the tournament. Congratulations to our finalists, Joel Domingo and Brian Santos, for making it this far. It has been a long process that you both went through. Your effort was evident and clearly it has paid off for you. In the end, there could only be one winner. In previous rounds, we invited guest judges (Focus outsiders) to determine the matchup winners. For the Finals, there was a special twist : the winner shall be decided by a panel of judges made up of Focus members - the Top 10 of the 2014 Photographer Of The Year competition plus the winners of individual Focus contests this year. They were asked to vote individually (via private message), with the entry/contestant gathering the majority of the votes to be deemed the winner. Our panel of judges include : Photographer Of The Year 2014 Top Ten : Jay Salvador, Chi Lopez, Noel Crisostomo, Lheo Halili, Amen Alcoriza, Alih Viaje, Julius Calzo, Mhoie Mendoza, Red Bautista, and Marlo Bien Individual PhotoContest Winners of 2015 : Bobby Jo, Sherwin Tomas, Manuel Joson, Nico San Pedro, Erick Austria, Ian Earl Calalang, and Jan Kevin Angeles THEME FOR THE FINALS : OLD AND NEW... STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA (No processing allowed at all. The finalists were asked to submit RAW and unprocessed JPEG files of their entry for verification.) These were the entries from our two finalists (you may click on the photos to view them bigger) : This was how the judges voted : Jay Salvador - Entry 1 Chi Lopez - Entry 1 Noel Crisostomo - Entry 1 Lheo Halili - Entry 2 Amen Alcoriza - Entry 1 Alih Viaje - Entry 1 Julius Calzo - Entry 1 Mhoie Mendoza - Entry 1 Marlo Bien - Entry 1 Bobby Jo - Entry 2 Sherwin Tomas - Entry 2 Manuel Joson - Entry 1 Nico San Pedro - Entry 1 Erick Austria - Entry 2 Ian Earl Calalang - Entry 2 Jan Kevin Angeles - Entry 1 Red Bautista - failed to vote Final Tally : 11 votes for Entry 1, 5 votes for Entry 2 The owner of Entry 1 and our winner of the VERSUS Head-To-Head Tournament is...  You are the champion of the VERSUS tournament, Joel Domingo! As prize, you get a slot at the premier landscape workshop in the Philippines, CHASING LIGHT, courtesy of Focus Bulacan. You may claim your slot at your preferred workshop schedule. You also get 40 bonus points for the Photographer Of The Year competition, while VERSUS runner-up Brian Santos gets 30 points.
Here again is the breakdown of bonus POTY points for Versus participants (based on the round they reach) : 1st Round : 3 points 2nd Round : 7 points 3rd Round : 12 points Quarterfinals : 18 points Semifinals : 24 points Finals : 30 points Champion : 40 points (Please note that VERSUS and Photographer Of The Year are different competitions. VERSUS is just part of the POTY competition.) Our thanks to the participants who took up the VERSUS challenge, and also the guest judges who helped us determine the winners. To see the final tournament bracket, go to http://challonge.com/focusversus. 64 participants. 7 rounds. 1 winner : Joel Domingo. Congratulations. The tournament is hereby over. Our last contest this year was the most colorful yet. Hats off to the participants for the wonderful images you shared with us. It was a joy looking at the entries. The Top 3 : 3rd Place : 27 points (15 votes) / Entry 10 / JOEY RAMOS  ENTRY 10 2nd Place : 37 points (14 votes) / Entry 12 / JULIUS CALZO  ENTRY 12 1st Place : 48 points (20 votes) / Entry 15 / SHAUANG BOTE  ENTRY 15 CONGRATULATIONS, SHAUANG BOTE! There's always a first time for everything, and what a joyous time for your first first-place finish! 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. Thanks to our guest judge Sir Tom Falcon and to all who voted in our contests this year. For your support from our first contest back in January up until this one, THANK YOU!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO! See you next year! :) December 2015 Theme Contest "Christmas Lights" Entries (click thumbnails to view photos in full) Voting Period : 19-23 December 2015
Votes can be viewed at Facebook comment box below. Our project of photographers shooting photographers - our version of the Christmas exchange gift - is now on its third edition. Like previous years, a lot of interesting concepts and images emerged. The pairs were kept in secrecy and the photos were only unveiled during Focus Bulacan's Christmas party (Focus Navidad). An on-the-spot voting (1st-2nd-3rd place format) of present members and applicants determined the winners. (Click highlighted text for more info about Focus Portrait Project.) Here's the pool of photos from this year's Focus Portrait Project (click thumbnails to view photos in full) : Here's the FPP 2015 Top 5 : 5th Place : 14 points (7 votes) / Gemmz Robles as photographed by MELBOURNE GALVEZ  4th Place : 18 points (10 votes) / Celine Villafuerte as photographed by JER SANDEL  3rd Place : 24 points (10 votes) / Shauang Bote as photographed by LY SARRONDO  2nd Place : 29 points (12 votes) / Xaxa Torres as photographed by NOEL CRISOSTOMO  1st Place : 36 points (15 votes) / Jer Sandel as photographed by CELINE VILLAFUERTE  CONGRATULATIONS, CELINE! By winning FPP 2015, Celine gets a Wacom Intuos graphic pen and tablet as prize. Meanwhile, her partner, Jer Sandel, gets a 1-terrabyte Toshiba portable hard drive. 1st Place gets an extra 15 points, 2nd Place gets 10, 3rd Place gets 7, 4th Place gets 5, and 5th Place gets 3 points for the Photographer Of The Year competition. Participants automatically get 7 points for submitting entries.  We'd like to thank everyone who joined FPP 2015! From the concept, planning, to the schedule and execution of the shoot, plus the processing of the final output... you put effort that was truly commendable. Watch out for Focus Portrait Project 2016! :) Visit previous editions of the Focus Portrait Project by clicking the links : FPP 2013 FPP 2014 |
Competition is fun
At Focus Bulacan, we strive to improve every member's photography skills. One way to do this is to constantly challenge each other with photo contests. All competition is posted here, for voting and for announcement of results. Good luck! Archives
February 2023
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