Chiang Mai is a city full of culture and beautiful scenery located in Northern Thailand. Up until the 1920’s, it was somehow isolated, leaving its historical treasures almost untouched. Inside Chiang Mai’s old city walls are more than 30 temples, including Burmese, Sri Lankan, and Lanna Thai styles. And it was here, with the temples and tuk-tuks as a backdrop, that the third episode of Photo Face-Off took place.

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Once again, pro photographer Justin Mott competed against three local amateur photographers.  Interestingly, this time it was a very diverse group, including a very young photographer at 12, Thawiphum Techaphan; a lady, Kajanick Suthipaet (37); and Thomas Barret (30).

As always, there were three challenges, and the episode started off with one focused on speed. The contestants had to go to the famous Chiang Mai Night Market and capture a “Perfect Smile.”  Chiang Mai is known as the “Land of Smiles” and the Night Market is one of the main tourist attractions, making it the most popular hangout spot for both locals and tourists at night, giving the contestants many faces to choose from.

They were given a CANON EOS 6D camera and a high aperture 50mm lense. This is a camera that works well in low light situations, which is a must for any kind of night photography, and the lens would allow them to create low depths of field and separate their subjects from the hustle and bustle of the market around them. Arguably the contestants were given all the necessary tools, but the outcome was unimpressive.

This batch of photos was missing contrast, depth of field and interesting composition. The challenge was won by Kanjanick, although none of the photos were great. Justin Mott presented a photo, where the model was wearing sun glasses, once again proving to be the alternative one of the group. Although there is nothing inherently wrong about a picture featuring some cool shades, as a Portrait photographer, I think that a “Perfect Smile” is not only about the lip’s curve, but the sparkle in the eyes.  What do you think?

Moving on from the somewhat unimpressive first challenge, the second challenge took a turn for the better with food photography. The challenge took an interesting turn when the contestants were not only asked to make food look appetizing on a plate, a challenge in itself, but a plate full of both bugs and fresh food – probably many people’s instafood fantasy!

They all got a soft box to filter and control light, so light shouldn’t have been an issue. This challenge was won by Kanjanick again, who created a beautifully looking dish – very balanced composition, nice colors and contrasts, and I have to commend her with the manipulation of the plate. If I didn’t know better, I might even have tried what was on it! Her photo was not as well-lit as some of the other contestants, but her dish looked appetizing, which ultimately got her the first place. Thomas was disqualified and Kajanick and Thawiphum moved to the next round.

The third challenge was the most interesting and gave the contestants a chance to really show their photography skills. This time, they were tasked with taking an adventure shot on a CANON EOS 7D Mark II, which is not only great for sports but is also waterproof.

The challenge was to photograph runners doing an obstacle course, which was ironically more of an obstacle for the photographers than for the runner. Action Photographer Dan Morris was the judge and mentor on this Challenge. He gave the contestants some tips which are good for any aspiring photographer (even if you just want to whip out the camera on sports day!) :

• Patience & Preparation: Carefully study the type of photo that needs to be taken, be patient and wait.
• Composition: Use the Rule of Thirds or any other composition rule to guide your viewer to the main subject of the photo.
• Perspective: Viewer has to get a view that allows him to imagine himself in the scene.
•  Emotion: Create motion blur, capture face expressions or do whatever it takes to transmit intense motion and emotion.
• Exposure: Create contrasts, silhouettes, and don’t forget to play with the depth of field.

As per usual, Justin Mott’s photo was one of the best; his composition and perspective were very strong and it captured lots of emotion making it special as compared to the others. Thawiphum classified to the next round and Kajanick was disqualified, but none of their photos were really that great. Kanjanick’s composition was better and the perspective was also good, but the emotion was missing which I think in the end makes (or breaks[V1] ) a shot. Thawiphum’s shot showed a lot of emotion, but there was a limited sense of perspective you definitely wouldn’t get the sense of being in the competition.

The judges might have decided to let Thawiphum move to the final phase because he is so much younger than any other contestant and has a huge potential as a photographer. I was disappointed to see Kanjanick go, especially because she is the only woman we have seen so far in the competition, and because she actually won the first two challenges. But rules are rules, and it is clearly stated that the first two challenges are only to qualify, and that the last one determines who moves to the next leg of the competition.

I noticed that during the three episodes that we have seen so far, the action shot is always the last challenge and the one that determines who moves to the next round. That gives a clear advantage to Action and Adventure Photographers, a niche that not everyone can excel in. Whether this is what the judges think proves flexibility of photographers or it’s just a coincidence is still up to debate but clearly, they’re looking for particular kinds of photographers to make it to the top. I am disappointed that until now we haven’t seen any Landscape challenge. Chiang Mai is a beautiful place with over 30 temples from different cultures and time period, surrounded by luscious greenery. Why take someone there and ignore what they have around them?  What do you think?

As the competition goes on, I continuously ask myself what the final result of this competition will be, I guess that’s something I’ll have to wait to see.

Written by Helga Herrera, edited by Anahi Saravia. Photos by History, Challenge Photos presented by contestants were shot directly from the TV screen.

Visit Grafika Photography and Design page to find out more about Helga’s work.

^{1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai, http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Maichi} 
_{images: History, Grafika Photography & Design, and TV screen shots}

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