Oh, Snap.: I Love Photo Contests

During the last few days of March, I saw an ad at facebook that was promoting a photo contest. As I clicked on the advertisement, I was redirected to Tetra Pak Philippines' I love Milk Photo Contest, in celebration of World Milk Day. As I went through the contest mechanics, I had several ideas on how to go about my entries. I immediately bought about 5 small cartons of milk with the Tetra Pak logo. I took photos of my sisters, Trixia and Vi, and my niece, Felicia, drinking the milk. So, I submitted the photos and wrote a brief description on each entry.

After a week, I was still thinking of submitting a couple more entries, with a different theme this time. Luckily, the daughter of our laundry lady was at home that day. I gave her a a small carton of Tetra pak milk, and I asked her to smile for me while drinking the milk. She did smile a little, and happily finished her milk. After a couple of shots, I uploaded the photo, gave it a brief description, and submitted the entry.

A couple of months passed, I was aware that the announcement of the photo contest was near. Let's just say my phone's calender is pretty useful ;) I checked the website and read again that the announcement of the winners will be on June 6, 2010.

June 6. I was practically staring at their website. Refresh. Still no update. The following day, I was at work when I received a call on my cellphone.

"Hi, is this Ms. Rica Bañares?" Said the guy on the other end. "Yes, this is her," And he went, "This is yada yada yada (was all I could hear) of Tetra Pak Philippines.." Upon hearing him say that he's from Tetra Pak, I immediately paid attention and got all giddy. "Ma'am, are you currently in the Philippines?" he asked. "Yes," I answered. "We are glad to inform you that you are invited at the awarding program of I Love Milk Photo Contest. You're entry was chosen as one of the Top Ten finalists." I gave out a little screech due to my excitement. The awarding was on Sunday of that week, so I told him, "Sir, could you already tell me which place I got because its a long way 'til Sunday, and I'm really excited!" Zion, the guy w I was talking to, laughed on the other end, and told me, "Let's just say that its very very important that you come on Sunday, and that you're one of the happier contestants." So, excited 'lil old me RSVP'd and again, checked http://ilovemilkcontest.com and there it was, a list of names of the Top Ten Finalists. I was on the list. ;)

June 9, 2010. Awarding Day.

As soon as I saw the activity center of Market Market Mall, I felt nervous. A lot of people were there, participating on games conducted on the event. Then there it was - The photos were exhibited in the middle of the crowd. I made myself through the people and saw two of my entries displayed. There were about 20 photos exhibited, Ten photos were labeled as finalists, and the rest were probably chosen as the judges' favorites as well.

Kuya Kim Atienza hosted the event, and after the games were conducted, it was time to announce the Top 3 winners of the photo contest.

I bagged 2nd Place! I nearly jumped off my seat to claim my awards on stage. It was really a big deal for me, for they announced that there were about 900+ photos submitted, and I felt extremely blessed to have been awarded 2nd place.