Winners of the Audi Impressions Photo Competition

After 7 full days of adrenaline-pumping excitement, the competition is over. For 7 full days, I spent my waking (and a bit of my sleeping-dreaming) hours thinking and working on the competition.

On the evening after I did my 1-hour shoot, I went home to process the images. As I scrolled to shot number 3, the image impressed me, and so I did a quick edit and posted it up on the Facebook Audi Page for online voting. I won the Photo Of The Day with 32 votes.


I reviewed the rest of the set and selected my favourite 2 shots without difficulty. Deciding on the last image was hard.

My favourite entry is this one (below). I can't photoshop well, so I left the background untouched, rather than ruining a good photo with bad DI.


I had a concept of a red carpet coming out from the car and the model walking out. There were other poses, but this was a "safe" choice that conveys the concept clearer. I had another shot where the model walks away cooly. I'd prefer that, but a sample group review felt that the walking away did not convey a positive message about the car.


Then came the final image. I was torn between the image below and my "Photo of the Day", but I chose this because this was the only image that conveys the A3 Cabriolet tagline: Serious Fun.



The judging process was open to public, and most of the 28 contestants were there, crowding around the 5 judges next to the red Audi R8 who scrutinised the images over the latest Samsung LED TV screens. They selected by several rounds of elimination. When I reached there, I think there were about 30 images left. All my 3 images were in. Then slowly, the number of images were reduced. I remembered 2 of my images remained among the final 10. When it came down to the final 5, none of my images were present.

Jimmy Pang, who added me as a Facebook friend recently for this competition, was standing next to me throughout the process. His image was in the final 5. Then it reached the final 3. All the finalists were asked to talk about their images in front of the judges. After much deliberation, they eliminated one, leaving the final 2. At that point, I told Jimmy, "Well, at least you already won something!" His image was one of the final 2.

This image, by Nasrul, was the 2nd runner-up. Great image that shows the car very clearly. Fantastic commercial-quality catalogue photo.

Comments shared by Willy regarding this photo:


Nasrul's photo had the most areas which the judges picked on..

Joyce (from marketing perspective) looks at which car she would like to buy.. Jimmy's stood out.

Olivier (from commercial photographers perspective) feels that for a lifestyle shot, it needs to be believable that you're the person in the shot. This seems more high fashion than lifestyle (Olivier, pls correct me if I misunderstood you)

Jingna (from a fashion photographers perspective) feels the model didn't connect with the camera.. at least not up to her standard :p


The below image is created by Natalia Tjandra. Another great DI artist. I like the concept: the unveiling of the A3 Cabriolet in front of the stadium of spectators. This will work as a print commercial ad.



But Jimmy's photo won over the judges. Model is Shahirah Price. I like the spotlight, and the fact that Jimmy DI the background works in isolating the subjects. Stefen Chow, one of the judges, has this comment:

Jimmy's picture fits the contest theme the most, where Audi is about lifestyle, glamour and fashion. The usage of the model, the pose and the angle where the shot was taken made it the clear winner among the entries.


Here is a post-competition comment from Olivier Henry of Milk Photographie posted on Facebook:
It is important, as a photographer, to understand and execute the brief given by a client. You guys were given a car, a fashion context, and of course the lifestyle angle. As a photographer, you must think about who you must please the most (the client paying you) within the spectrum given to you; it goes this way:

1) Who is the client? What do i know about this client?
2) What is the product?
3) What am i selling here (a lifestyle? a product?)
4) How do i meet this criteria without compromising my artistic integrity as a photographer?
5) How do i have FUN executing the job? A competition is a job, like any professional photography assignment.
6) Am i under-delivering or over-delivering? How would i feel if i saw my own image in a magazine for the first time and i was not the one shooting it?

This was a tough call. You guys did an amazing job! Continue taking pictures and never let anyone tell you it is not worth it. Practice makes perfect!


This photo competition is certainly a unique experience for me. This is unlike other photo competitions where you simply submit the images and wait for the results. This competition has got that "reality-show" feel, where you got only 1 hour to do the shoot on-location, and you interact with other contestants from the official Facebook contest page, viewing their photos posted, giving comments. And this open judging event also lets us see how the judges come to their decisions.

I applaud Willy Foo for putting together this competition in a matter of weeks (post ed: Willy informed me that the discussion on this competition started only on the evening of 29 April) . He is a great photographer, an innovative entrepreneur, and an excellent contributor to the photographic community in Singapore.


Blog Article References (note: you might not be able to view the links depending on the access rights configured by the Facebook post owners)
Winners announced on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=80332297047
Official Facebook Group for the Competition - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72004217719
Facebook Photo of the Day - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=79534137047&id=719891275
Comments to the Final 4 photos - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3135687&id=719891275&comments=
Audi Singapore Photography Contest - http://www.audi.com.sg/sea/brand/sg/models/a3/a3_cabriolet/photography_contest.html

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