Photo Face-Off Season 2 premiered last week on the History Channel on September 22nd.

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_{Pro-Photographer Justin Mott. Foto GRAFIKA}

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, photographer Justin Mott is back with 16 amateur photographers from six countries to battle it out for the best photo.

The competition kicked off on Monday, Sept. 21st with a Press Conference where I was lucky enough to be invited as part of the Executive Lifestyle Magazine team.

During the event there was a mini competition in which Justin Mott and the three Singaporean contestants, Shaun Tan Chun Weng (23), Cheng Koh Hou (32) and Moh Yusof bin Noor (40), participated.

The task was to photograph models during a fashion show, they had 5 minutes to complete the job, all with the same CANON camera, after which they chose their best shot to present to the judges.

The photos were numbered anonymously, and the judges and all the special guests, including myself, were invited to choose the winner.

Justin Mott won the challenge, photographing a reflection of the models on the floor rather than the models themselves.

It was a good shot that showcased his creativity and out of the box thinking, something that stood out against the other contestants who chose to go down a more traditional path.

I did vote for Justin’s photo, but looking back at the photos, I have to admit that the photo with two models (by Cheng Kok Hou), is a very close second if not as good as Justin’s.

Maybe one of the reasons why the judges didn’t take this photo too seriously is that the MC, Sarah Lian, kept referring to it as the one with the photo bomber, something that took away some of its photographic legitimacy, making it seem more like a funny shot than one worth the first prize. I really like the background, the colors are very soft and they perfectly match the colors of the model’s outfits.

The lines move from the top left corner, to the models and guide your attention nicely down the shot. The perspective of the photo is also unusual which makes me love the composition. And in my opinion, the photo bomber is not disturbing at all, it just adds another interesting detail.

It was fun watching the contestants take the photos and move around quickly trying to get the best possible shot.

_{Our four photographers trying to capture the best shot, (left to right) Justin, Yusof, Kok Hou and Shaun. If you look closely below the green official sign, you will also see the Lifestyle Executive Magazine team, including myself (white shirt) trying to get a good shot of the photographers, ha ha… Photo HISTORY}

It was interesting to observe that Justin didn’t jump directly to take the photos, but spent about half of the time observing the setting, the models and the other contestants.

_{Justin uses part of his precious time to watch the whole scene from the second floor. Photo GRAFIKA}

He even went to the second floor and observed the action for a couple of minutes, maybe he spotted the reflections on the floor from there and came up with the idea for the winning shot.

During the Press Conference, Justin Mott said that in order to win the competition, the participants need to be well rounded photographers, since the challenges go from fashion, to street photography, to extreme sports, to portraits and food photography.

He also mentioned that being fast and thinking out of the box is what sets the competitors apart and would ultimately determine the winner.

Justin Mott is undoubtedly very talented, but his outgoing personality and unapologetic behavior help as well. He will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means stepping in front of competitor’s camera, winning him not only the first prize but the nickname “Justin NOT!”

After such an interesting start, I was hooked on  the Series, and of course I couldn’t miss the first episode of the second season, especially because it took place in my home away from home – Singapore.

There were three challenges, the first one was an MMA event, the second a Street Style portrait and the third one an Extreme Sports shot. The last two were by far my favorite challenges. The Street Style portrait was won by Shaun Tan Chun Weng and Cheng Koh Hou was disqualified with the lowest score.

This was extremely unfortunate as Cheng Koh Hou’s photo actually ended up being my favorite, showing a very interesting contrast between his model and an old man, between the background color, pattern, and the people in front, but it was indeed off topic, not capturing the fashion theme of the challenge.

The last challenge put the three remaining contestants in a hot spot.  They had to capture the excitement of a mountain biker riding downhill.

This was a very difficult task considering that they were not provided with a fast sports lens or additional lighting. For extreme sports, you normally need to freeze the movement with high shutter speeds, but then it is challenging to get properly exposed shots, especially if you don’t have the right equipment. Shaun and Yusof did just that, they froze the movement with high shutter speeds, but their shots were under exposed and the color very dull.  Shaun’s shot was better showing the rider jumping a hill, but the rider’s face was covered with his hand.  Yusof’s was quite boring, and a little bit too safe in my opinion.

Justin quickly formulated a completely new approach, and got an amazing shot using the panning technique (his camera followed the bike’s movement and tried to match its speed and direction, allowing him to use a slower shutter speed and therefore capture more light). His shot was not the sharpest, but it captured the excitement of the moment and the colors were very vibrant. And once again blew the other contestants out of the water, I’m sure you can all guess who won.

With these results, Shaun Tan Chun Weng classified for “The Grand Finale” that will premiere on October 27th! Resident pro Justin Mott will be the lead judge at the event, and maybe that’ll give the other contestants a chance to showcase what they’ve got!

Do you want to improve your own photography skills?  Don’t miss the next Photo Face-Off on Tuesdays at 10pm on History and follow the Photo Face-Off series on Executive Lifestyle for Helga’s commentary on the program and techniques used.

Also, take advantage of the upcoming Photography Course Beyond the Basics – Intermediate Level that will start in October. Check Grafika Photography Design for details.

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

_{This post was originally published on Grafika Photography Design blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.}

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