A whopping 2,000 photography enthusiasts participated in the 9th Canon PhotoMarathon held on November 8 at the Bonifacio Global City.
Photography enthusiasts from different backgrounds all had their eyes on the prize—and the winning shot.
“In being the biggest photography festival in the country, we hope that this Canon PhotoMarathon helps stretch the creativity of all the participants and brings out the best in them in terms of photography and expressing themselves visually,” said Lim Kok Hin, president and CEO of Canon Marketing (Philippines) Inc’s (CMPI). “If you want to preserve the moment, create a work of art, nothing beats using a real camera.”
The PhotoMarathon has two categories, the Point-and-Shoot and the Digital Camera with Interchangeable Lens. Christian Sangoyo was the grand winner for the Point-and-Shoot category and brought home a Canon EOS 700D, dual arm Fotocrane, camera strap, 32 GB WiFi SD card, and one international round trip from Cebu Pacific. 
For the Digital Cameras with Interchangeable Lens Category, Jerome Duenas was the one to take the winning shot and will be the first to receive the latest Canon EOS 7D Mark II in the Philippines. Along with this, he also won a dual arm Fotocrane, Black Rapid camera strap, 1 TB WiFi Hard Drive 3.0, Harley Davidson Jacket, Columbia Jacket, 24-hour adventure drive using a Jaguar, and one international round trip ticket care of Cebu Pacific.
Various challenges may have been present in the competition, but that did not stop Christian Sangoyo from taking his stunning photograph. He says, “We were walking around the streets of BGC, and we were drawn to the construction sites since they fit well with the themes given—Cross, Exciting, and Cityscape. After taking this shot, I stopped and thought this was it.”
As for Jerome Duenas, who is eager to use his brand new Canon EOS 7D Mark II, says, “I do hope Canon continues this event. It helps us [starting photographers] a lot since the program includes available workshops by their Crusaders of Light.”
What started in 2006 as a part of CMPI’s ImageNation campaign, the PhotoMarathon has grown into an event that takes people’s passion for photography to a whole new level. As it approaches its tenth year, CMPI hopes to encourage more people to unleash their full potential in taking photographs and to join the competition.
The competition runs for the whole day, and themes are released on-the-spot, allowing contestants to put their creativity and photography skills to the ultimate challenge. The themes were “Circular, Peaceful, and Fashion”, and “Cross, Cityscape, and Exciting”.
Judging the photographs of the participants were Canon’s Crusaders of Light.
Prior to the competition’s National leg, the University leg was held at the De La Salle University and was exclusive for students.
In evaluating the event’s success, senior marketing manager, Jill Santiago says, “It goes to the whole core goal of it – the quality of experience in each attendee. That is the ultimate key measure of success for this event. If a participant can say that this event inspired him or her to pursue photography, whether as a career or hobby, then that is how we know we have done our job right.”
