Canon, a leader in Digital Imaging space recently held is sixth edition of Photo marathon in India. After a good start in Delhi on 26th September 2015, successfully followed by Bangalore on 10^th October, Canon Photo marathon has trail-blazed to Mumbai.

The event attracted large number of photo enthusiasts, primarily DSLR users, hobbyist photographers as well as professionals. One-of-its-kind, the theme based photo contest witnessed amateur and professional photographers playing their tricks and techniques with cameras to present exemplary imagery.

The Canon Photo marathon 2015 was flagged off by Mr. Andrew Koh, Vice President of Consumer imaging and Information Center, Canon India, which attracted over 500 entries. The 3 judges for the event were Art and Medical Photographer Dr. Mayur Davda, Commercial and Nature Photographer Mr. Vijay Shah, Commercial and Wedding Photographer Mr. Pritish Rao.

In a short chat, Koh speaks on the event and also the future of photography. Excerpts from an interview.

Can you tell us what this Canon Photo Marathon is all about?

The event is one of a kind, where participants come together and are given a theme on the spot, which has to be completed within a given time frame. It is a live Photography event where they have to think fast and creatively. It shows how they interpret a particular scene. The best part of the event compared to other competitions is that the judging as well as picking out the winner is done on the very same day.

Where else have you done this event before?

This event was started in Singapore 13 years ago and after that it was introduced to many different countries. This is the 6^th time we are having it here in India. So far we have had it in 3 cities, Delhi, Bangalore and now Mumbai.

What are the parameters you use for judging a contestant?

We have different judges in different cities, so the interpretation totally depends on what judge is present. Photography is a very creative field, as for today’s theme which was Strength, you can shoot anything. It has to be something unique. The afternoon session has another theme to it. The photo has to stand out from everyone else who is taking part.

What would the pictures be graded on... quality, amateur or professional?

Photography isn’t based on amateur or professional basis; you could shoot a lively picture, which would fit perfectly into the required time limit.

There are many genres of photography from fashion, wild life, aerial, water, portrait and many others, have you ever thought of music photography as a profession?

Yes there are many genres of photography, also sports and even landscape photography. Music is also one of them, but has not been really explored though overseas it is a big market. One thing good if you want to shoot music photography is that Canon cameras have low light shooting technology and for music photography low light cameras are key essentials. We see many people brining DSLR cameras for big music events, because there are many limitations with phones and smart phones

Does Canon have any new launch coming up?

We have new products coming up with a wide range of premium compact cameras alike. There is the Powershot G Series, G 9 X and also we have the world’s highest resolution camera which is the 50 Mega Pixels.

What about any more photo events in the next few months?

For this year we are done with the 3 cities so far we are looking at the next year, but we will still have workshops and smaller events for our customers.

Do your workshops have a good response?

Yes I see more people interested in photography. Some are very specific. For example one of our workshop trainees, who joined us today, specialises in Baby photography or Children Photography, so we see many more people interested in specific genres.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira