2,000 compete in Canon PhotoMarathon

Canon staged its sixth and largest PhotoMarathon with more than 2,000 professional and amateur photographers competing in the final leg of the event at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

Jerome Ross Lacbayan of Cainta was declared winner of the DSLR category and received a DSLR EOS 5D Mark II while Jackielou Garcera of Cubao, the top pick in the point-and-shoot level, received a DSLR EOS 600D. Both grand champions were also given round trip tickets to Busan, South Korea.

Part of Canon’s ImageNation campaign, PhotoMarathon is a one day, on-the-spot series of photo contests where participants shoot images based on a given theme within a time limit. It is open to all Canon camera users free of charge.

“PhotoMarathon was created to be a venue for competition and learning,” said Canon Marketing Philippines, Inc. president and CEO Alan Chng. “It is where aspiring photographers hone their skills and creativity within an atmosphere of camaraderie.”

Competitors continue to increase as 2,000 joined this year, higher than the 1,200 that joined in 2010. “We expect this number to grow again next year as we expand to more locations and reach more photographers,” Chng said.

Five legs were held this year compared to three in 2010. Preliminary marathons were staged in Cagayan de Oro, Bohol, Vigan and Bicol months leading to the finals in Manila.

Winners of the preliminary marathons were brought to Manila to represent their cities in the final leg.

Canon EOS brand ambassadors who are some of the country’s top photographers, judged the entries.