ORGANIZERS of the “Discover Dapitan Photo Contest” have extended the deadline of submission of entries until October 23 from its original schedule set on September 23, 2009.

Zamboanga del Norte (ZaNorte) Provincial Board Member Seth Frederick “Bullet” Jalosjos bared this in an interview earlier.

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Board Member Jalosjos, son of former congressman Romeo Jalosjos who is considered as the father of tourism in the province and initiator of efforts to discover the trails of Dr. Jose Rizal in Dapitan City, said the organizers of the contest are giving out discounts on hotel accommodations for all registered participants who will stay for their photo stints in Dapitan City.

Dapitan is fast developing into a tourism capital in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It is often visited by professional and amateur photographers for its tourism potentials and world-class festival entertainments, like the Hudyaka and the Kinabayo festivals.

Dapitan is also home to the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who stayed in this beautiful island while in exile.

At stake are P400,000 in prizes for the best photographs that contestants shoot from designated tourist spots in the tourism scenery-rich City of Dapitan.

For the Major Category, photos must be taken from The Island Tour (Aliguay & Selinog Islands) and Dapitan Aqua-marine Park also known as Dampa and the River Cruise.

For the Minor Category, photos must be taken from Dakak Park Beach Resort & Casino, Rizal Shrine and Historical Trail, Gloria de Dapitan & Fantasyland, and Eco-Tourism Adventure Sports & Water Adventure.

The photography contest is open to all amateur and professional photographers who register with the Dapitan City Tourism Office during the prescribed registration period, which is from July 16 to September 15, 2009.

Official entry forms are available at the Dapitan City Tourism Office and City Information Division from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

A registration fee of P500 per participant is necessary, plus an additional P500 per additional entry. Only up to three entries are allowed per category.

Contest Rules

Organizers set the following contest rules:

(1) Photos must be taken from the selected categories in the present time. Old photos of the places mentioned are not allowed to be submitted as entry;

(2) Entries must be submitted with the duly accomplished registration form together with the digital file (.jpg) in cd-rom. Failure to submit the .jpg cd-rom form will disqualify the entry/s;

(3) Any digital manipulation tool (e.g. cut & paste, healing, cloning, etc) that is not applicable or doable in the printing of analog media (film) will disqualify the entry. Although post production like exposure control (dodge & burn), color saturation (control), creative cropping, all are doable when printing from the negative, even color toning and conversion to black and white, as long as it is done across the negative and not on a portion of it or an area only is acceptable;

(4) All entries shall become the property of the Dapitan City Government and cannot be used, reproduced, reprinted without the consent, the photographer, likewise cannot submit the same photos, or any variant of the photos to any other contest except on his personal file;

(5) Winners will be published in the local news paper and announced over the radio; and

(6) Judges decision is final and non-appealable.

Prizes for the Major Category are P100,000 plus plaque (first); P5,000 plus plaque (second); and P2,000 plus plaque (third).

For the Minor Category: P25,000 plus plaque (first), P5,000 plus plaque (second), and P2,000 plus plaque (third).