Winning Pictures - World 10K Run

The World 10K marathon is a very lucky event for me since I happened to be in the top three places in the 2 years of the Photo competition which was held for photojournalists across the country who came to cover the event. The nice feeling about it all is that Procam International and Sunfeast who organize this World mega event which they launched from 2008 is a bless in disguise for the city of youth and vibrantly old citizens. The city which was once called the pensioners paradise now wakes up early with people of all age wanting to be youthful and enterprising. The Procam International gives three awards for the best pictures published in print media of the event and for the second consecutive year I was awarded. In 2007 I got the second prize and in 2009 this June, I got the first prize. I have displayed the award winning entries by me and also take this opportunity to thank Procam International and Sunfeast for the using one of the photographs which I had taken in 2008 for the main ID Pass cards in 2009. Even after achieving the WHO award, UNICEF Award, International Photo Awards (IPA), and also getting various state level and National level awards in Photojournalism over the past 15 years, I rate these two awards highly since these are the first two for me in Sports category.


The Picture which got me the Second Award in the Sunfeast World 10K marathon inaugural edition in Bangalore in 2008. This picture was taken on Kasurba Road. What is very good in this picture is that I accidentally got Reeth Abraham in this frame.



This picture taken in 2009 May 31 got me the first prize in the second edition of the Sunfeast World 10K Marathon. Below I have written as to how I snapped the winning photograph which was published in the PIC ME UP Page of DNA - Bangalore Edition on June 16th, 2009.

How I snapped the prize-winning pic

The Sunfeast World 10K Marathon, organised by Procam, which was held on May 31, was a photographer's feast (pun intended). We turned out in large numbers; each of us having chosen our spot from where we hoped to get the best possible images for the next day's newspapers. I chose to stand on Kasturba Road as I had taken a picture last year of the runners forming a panting serpent.
That picture won me the second prize. This year, I opted not to move around too much.When the race began, I refused to get snap-happy, rather I waited for that enduring image. Photographing sport is an art in itself, since it requires a lot of concentration to get that split-second moment frozen in time. Now, back to the moment that fetched DNA the prize photograph at this year's World 10K edition. I was just about to pack up my camera and leave when I noticed a girl with her face colourfully painted, with trendy tattoos on her arms, and a peacock feather atop her charming tribal head gear dashing down the road at top speed to catch up with her friends. The lighting was superb, with the sun's rays cutting through the shady trees on Kasturba Road. The girl's attitude was one of single-minded determination, and she exuded the passion that comes with being part of a major sporting event. I quickly switched from my normal lens to a zoom lens and had only about 60 seconds to ensure that I got a decent frame of her sprinting down the
road.
Well, the rest is history. I also take this opportunity to congratulate my esteemed fellow fotogs, R Samuel and Syed Asif for bagging the second and third prize respectively.

ITC Foods, Marketing Head V L Rajesh and Dilip Jayaram, COO Of Procam International giving the First Prize certificate to me (top left), Me along with R Samuel of Deccan Chronicle and Syed Asif of Times of India who won the second and third prize respectively with the 'Winning Moments' picture board on display (top and left).