TIPS officer wins Canon Photo Marathon

Canon Marketing Philippines held its annual event last year called Canon PhotoMarathon in the different regions of the country. One of them was in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur for the Northern Luzon group held on September 10, 2011.

Canon has the vision of building the Philippines as a country of ImageNation citizens. This photomarathon is a one-day photo contest that tests the skills and creativity of the participants. It started in 2006 with increasing number of participants per year. In Northern Luzon area alone, there were around 200 participants. One of them was the representative of The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS).

Joseph Andie Lamug, board director of TIPS represented his organization in the said event under the DSLR category. They were given themes to interpret with two and half hours to tackle and find the best shot of these challenges.

He depicted in his work the pottery in Vigan City and it came out to be the best one in the photomarathon. Joseph took home the bacon. He won the grand prize in the DSLR category and took home a brand new Canon EOS 600D, Tripod, Loot Bag with SD cards, bag, etc. as prizes. He was so happy to win in the said photomarathon, "I almost missed joining this because of my work", he relates.

A Christmas Get Together

As a thanksgiving for a wonderful year of 2011, the officers and members of The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), Inc. had a Christmas get together at Papa Paus Diner on December 19, 2011.

Present during the occasion were President Dr Edwin Antonio, Vice-President Bryan Rapadas, Treasurer Dr Robert Luzod, PRO Alaric Yanos, Board Directors Dr Jose Orosa and Michael Ong with members Raffy Pasalo, Landell Galiza and James Ragus.

The group had dinner and exchange of pleasantries. They had discussion of the activities to be undertaken in the year to come. The group came up with some ideas and hoping to achieve these.

TIPS holds Dayaw Exhibit in Davao

The Indigenous Peoples’ Month is celebrated in the month of October. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) sponsored and conducted a national gathering of all the indigenous peoples in Tagum City, Davao del Sur. There was a parade of all the IPs, rituals and ceremonies, performances, culinary arts, art exhibits, community outreach and forum during the event.

The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), Inc. also took part in this celebration. Dayaw Photo Exhibit was held on October 7-9, 2011 at the Energy Park in Apokon, Tagum City. Featured photographers were Dr. Edwin Antonio, Dr. Marie Joy Lazaro and Lorna Tolentino-Macatulad. Dayaw means joy or happiness in the Visayas while respect in the Ilocano terminology.

The participating photographers showcased some of their best photographic works depicting Ilocandia. There were indigenous product photographs, beautiful sights and structures. The images are printed on canvas in a dimension of 10x16. It was a successful exhibit since they admire the photographs displayed.

TIPS covers Semana ti Ar-Aria and Tumba

The past week was the season of the ghosts in the province of Ilocos Norte. There were celebrations lined up for ar-aria, ghosts for the Iloko term. The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), Inc. members were there to cover them all.

There was a free-of-charge horror film festival held at the Robinson’s Mall and Mariano Marcos State University courtesy of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. The provincial government of Ilocos Norte invited TIPS members for the opening ceremony of the said festival held at the Plaza del Norte on October 25, 2011. The group was represented by Bryan Rapadas, Lorna Tolentino-Macatulad and Ronald Macatulad.

On October 31, 2011, a parade of scary characters and costumes from the different towns of the province was held from the Laoag Cemetery to the Capitol. It was a night of fun and scare because of make believe ghosts costumes and effects. There was also a pageant called Reyna Iloca-locana. Halloween games such as the lungon challenge were played during the program Dr. Robert Luzod, Ronald Macatulad, Dr. Edwin Antonio, Alaric Yanos and Lorna Tolentino Macatulad were the TIPS members who documented the event.

On November 01, 2011, the same people went to witness and cover the Tumba celebration in Paoay. It is a celebration where the people in the community help put up a tumba made of bamboo, coconut leaves and indigenous materials and set up an altar full with food offerings, antique images, candles. The old women folks usually recite the prayer.

TIPS explores Tanap Avis Falls

With the desire of some of the members of The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), Inc. to capture majestic sites and scenes in Ilocos Norte, it came up to their shoot list the Tanap Avis Falls in the town of Burgos.

It was the first time that members discover the said falls. The visit was initiated and led by Alaric Yanos who goes for a shoot on his free weekend time. He, together with Dr. Edwin Antonio, went for the first time to the wonderful site on September 4, 2011.

They took the GMW bus early morning from Laoag City at 5:30 and took a tricycle that led to barangay of its location. They walked a short span before reaching the falls. Without any guide they were able to trek it by themselves. But they were not able to reach the topmost level of the falls. Both of them enjoyed the experience and promised to get back.

Then, come another visit. It was scheduled by the members on October 15, 2011. Alaric Yanos still led the group. He went with members Bryan Rapadas and Raffy Pasalo. They used a private car from Laoag. From the barangay, they trekked all the way to the falls. This time they hired a guide who led them to the 3rd and topmost level of water falls.

The water in the falls was voluminous attributing to the rainy period prior to the said visits. Exploring Tanap Avis Falls was considered another great experience of the TIPS members engaging on landscape photography. This photo shoot even strengthened the camaraderie among them.

TIPS member wins in local Scott Kelby Photo contest

A total of 26 photographers in Ilocos Norte has joined the Scott Kelby Worldwide photo walk and eleven has fielded in their photo entries for the contest.

The photograph taken by Godwinn Vicente was chosen as the best photo for the Laoag City Downtown location. He is a member of The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS). He captured a young boy tumbling in the midst of his playmates. It's a happy photo.

Meanwhile, the grand prize winner for this year 2011 comes from none other than Philippines. The photographer is Jaime Cesar Tibe from Surigao City. He bested 1000 entries worldwide. He captured children diving in a river. “It was a cool shot with a striking balance of sky and water with bubbles from the last jumper at the corner of the photo,” says Scott Kelby.

TIPS leads Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk in Laoag

The Ilocandia Photographic Society, Inc. (TIPS) with its president Dr. Edwin Antonio has led a photo walk in Laoag City downtown in celebration of the 4th Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk. There were about 1117 photo walks around the world held on October 1 & 2, 2011. A total of 27, 924 photo walkers registered worldwide for this event.

In the city of Laoag, there were 35 people who signed up for the walk and 26 photo walkers showed up. A storm signal number 2 was hoisted in Ilocos Norte on the day before the photo walk but this did not dampen the mood of the photo walkers. On the day itself, October 2, 2011, participants showed up one by one and the weather just got so fine. No rain nor heat of the sun.

The following are the pariticipants: Alaric Yanos, Edward Bulosan, Dr. Joy Lazaro, Dr. Ja Malvar, Dr. Liza Paz-Tan, Aristotle Art Subala, Cherry Hernando, Ana Carmela Remigio, Roel Domingo, Joseph Reginaldo, Dr. Robert Luzod, Godwinn Vicente, Edwin Tangonan, Arnulfo Ranjo, Dr. Baldomero Tapia, Cholo Hernandez, Raffy Pasalo, Bryan Rapadas, Johnstone Corpuz, Jesse Anthony Barut, Anna Tuzon, Andie Lamug, Dr. Isaias Alipio, Louisa Morales, and Dr. Jose Orosa.

The photographers enjoyed the walk. The group started covering the Ermita Hill overlooking the city downtown and the Padsan river. They slowly walked down to the riverside community where the locals were amazed to see a group of photographers and readily posed for them. Next stop was at the Laoag City public market covering wide array of products and farm produce sold. The participants dropped by at the cathedral and they concluded the walk with a climb of the monumental Laoag Sinking Belltower.

It was such a wonderful photographic experience as majority of the non-TIPS members claimed. Most of them clamor for another photo walk soon. Some of the participants ended their fruitful walk with lunch at Papa Pau’s Diner.