Masskara photo, Video contest winners bared

CEBU, Philippines - The entry of Dan Douglas Ong entitled "Celebration," which shows a myriad of colors as dancers threw confetti during their performance, won the grand prize in the 2011 MassKara Festival photo contest.

Ong, 25, from Mandaue City, bested 121 other photographers, with three entries each, to win a Canon EOS 1000D camera and a MassKara trophy.

In the video contest, amateur videographer Ariane Iligan of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, won the grand prize of Canon DLSR EOS 1000D.

Glenn Gamayot, 44, of Tagbilaran City, Bohol, with his photo entry entitled "The Dancing Mask" won second place with a prize of P10,000 and a MassKara trophy.

John Carlo Iblasin, 25, of Dasmariñas, Cavite, with his entry "Masscolors" won third place with P5,000 and a MassKara trophy.

The entries of Micolo Lim (Dumaguete City), Patrick Lloyd Sorbito (Taguig City), Ronel Sario (Bacolod City), Raniel Jose Castañeda (Sta. Ana, Manila), Wong Yoon Wah (Singapore), Eddy Vergara (Dumaguete City), and Erwin Lim (Mandaue City, Cebu) also earned medals from the organizers.

A special prize for the Sponsor's Photo with P2,000 went to EE Kay Beng of Singapore, whose shot showed dancers with the tower of SM City as background.

The winners of the photo and video contests effectively depicted how big the festival has become, according to the board of judges composed of visual artists Manny Montelibano, Raymund Legaspi, and Dennis Ascalon.

Montelibano said the winning photo captured the excitement and the unique beat of the festival through its creativity and visual impact, while Ascalon said the winning video sustained the energy in its progressive presentation of the festival, with its steady but rising beat.

The ewarding of prizes will be held in December, festival director Eli Francis Tajanlangit said.

The photo and video contests were organized by the Camera Club of Negros and the Silver MassKara Festival Organization.

The photos will be showcased at the exhibit board of the Camera Club of Negros at the pre-departure lounge of the Bacolod-Silay Airport and other future MassKara Festival exhibits. (FREEMAN)