Sinulog 2020 photo contest now includes digital art photography

AIMING to make the 2020 Sinulog photo contest more attractive to several photographers, its organizers have introduced a new category—digital art photography.

Ted Madamba, a member of the four-person committee that crafted the contest guidelines, said the special category allows participants to enhance their entries by using tools from any photo-editing software.

He said one photo entry could be a collage of digitally manipulated images.

In a chance interview with SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Madamba said the photos under the digital art photography category must be printed in a size of eight by 12 inches, not the usual five-by-seven inches format. This is to see better the digital enhancement, he said.

Under the digital art photography category, all merged photos showing people or contingents must be taken during the current Sinulog period.

Soft copies of all photos (the original images) merged in one entry must also be submitted in JPEG format together with the final entry.

A registered participant is only allowed to submit two entries.

The ancestor of photographic camera was the camera obscura, which in Latin means “dark chamber.” It consisted of small darkened rooms with light admitted through a single tiny hole. The result was that an inverted image of the outside scene was cast on the opposite wall, which was usually whitened. For centuries the technique was used for viewing eclipses of the sun without endangering the eyes and, by the 16th century, as an aid to drawing; the subject was posed outside and the image reflected on a piece of drawing paper for the artist to trace. Portable versions were built, followed by smaller and even pocket models; the interior of the box was painted black and the image reflected by an angled mirror so that it could be viewed right side up, according to Britannica.com.

Madamba said the digital category winner’s entry will not be included in the selection for the grand prize.

Photographers can join other categories that aim to capture the Sinulog parade, seaborne or solemn procession and other religious activities, float and puppeteers, human interest and the festival queen.

Entries under the Sinulog parade category must be about the competing contingents.

Madamba said the human interest category replaced the sidelights category.

He also said the photo entries which will be submitted under the festival queen category must be taken in two events only: during the Sinulog Festival Queen runway competition on Jan. 14 and the Sinulog Festival Queen coronation night on Jan. 17.

Each photographer, he said, is now allowed to employ one personal assistant. The assistant, however, is not allowed to take photos.

The registration fee per photographer and assistant is set at P3,000 and P1,500, respectively.

Madamba said the registration will be held at the Sinulog Foundation’s office inside Cebu City Sports Center. The deadline for registration is 12 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4.

He said photographers must attend the orientation on the same day at 3 p.m. in the sports center. /