An annual festival is held on every third Sunday of January in the city of Cebu, Philippines which honor the Santo Niño, or Holy Child (Jesus Christ). This is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines with a very rich history. The festival last for nine days culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade which consist of floats, higante, puppeteers and a free interpretation street dance competition. This year, there were an estimated of 3.5 million spectators, the biggest the festival has ever attracted, which consist of both locals and tourists. A total of 49 contestants signed up for the free interpretation dance competition. Each contestant has a Sinulog Queen who carries a replica of the statue of the Santo Niño as she dance with the beat of drums and trumpets. 

The Sinulog queen holding a replica of Santo Nino while dancing the rhythm of Sinulog. This was taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/200 f/5.6 ISO160.

Events like this will be one of the best venues to practice street photography as well as candid photography. During the Sinulog Festival, thousand of photographers gather in the city to cover the event and this includes both local and international photographers. This year, heavy rain pours the street during the grand parade, but it didn’t stop the spectators, contestants and photographers. 

Strategy:
By strategically positioning yourself, you can help capture the moments spontaneously and getting that perfect shot at the right split second of time. Think ahead and anticipate what is about to unfold in front of you, so you can greatly increase the chances of getting some great shots. A fast zoom lens like the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM is one useful lens to capture candid shots with distance from your subjects without interrupting them. The below photo shows one of the contestant’s musicians as they play the beat of Sinulog. 

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/160 f/2.8 ISO500.

Patience:
Patience is another element in capturing great images in street photography. Also, by switching your camera into continuous mode and shoot in bursts of photos, you will increase your chance of capturing that perfect moment. 

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/250 f/3.5 ISO160.

 By setting the shutter a little lower, this will create some motion blur signifying movements. A fast zoom lens will be useful as it focus the subject faster and capture the photo without compromising sharpness of the photo. Sometimes, while trying to capture a candid shot from performers, you get caught, but don’t worry about it, they usually give their best smile and best performance for the photos.

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/160 f/3.5 ISO500.

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/200 f/5.0 ISO500.

Sometimes in events like this, we want to take portraits and we can always do in street photography. By using a larger aperture lens, we can isolate subject from the crowd, giving a nice depth of field between subject and background. 

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/320 f/2.8 ISO200

Taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/250 f/4.0 ISO200

Above photo was taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/200 sec f/3.5 ISO200

Above photo was taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 1/200sec f/4.0 ISO400

All photos were taken by use of the second generation zoom lens, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM. For more information of the Sinulog Festival, you can visit the official website of the event at www.sinulog.ph  

To view more of Kenn’s work, you can visit his website at: www.brokennfotoworks.com