Today Sigma Corporation of America announced that it is launching #sigmashotathome, a photography and cinematography contest that invites anyone to capture and share their personal depictions of life in quarantine during this momentous period of social distancing and self isolation. Completely open to the public, #sigmashotathome will be hosted online running from April 6th through June 26th, 2020.
“We are in the midst of an unprecedented moment in history that has dramatically impacted the heart of the creative imaging community,” says Mark Amir-Hamzeh, President, Sigma Corporation of America. “#sigmashotathome is our humble attempt to bring inspiration and creativity to a difficult situation and to remind creators, regardless of stylistic choices, field or gear preferences, that we are in this together.”
Each week, a panel of Sigma professionals will judge entries based on creativity, originality and adherence to the theme of “shot at home” and then select a winner to receive a $500 American Express gift card. At the culmination of each month, a winner will be chosen from the pool of weekly winners to receive a $1000 American Express gift card. An overall contest grand prize winner will receive a Sigma fp + 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens and a second place contest winner will receive any Sigma lens valued at $1000 or less. Rules and regulations apply, open to U.S. citizens only.
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For complete contest details as well as rules and regulations please visit: https://www.sigmaphoto.com/sigmashotathome
How to Enter #sigmashotathome
Photographic entries must be under 25MB and .jpg format with 3000×2000 maximum resolution. Cine entries must be 60 seconds or shorter in 720-1080p. Submit .mov or .mp4 files only. All submissions must be the entrant’s own work, and they must own the copyright to any photographs entered.
Weekly submissions will be closed on Friday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET each week. To enter, participants must do the following:
Photo Submissions:
- Submit via: https://tinyurl.com/sigmaphotoathome
- Have the file naming convention: DATE_LAST NAME_DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
- Like and Follow Sigma Corporation of America on Facebook and Instagram.
- Upload the photo submission to Facebook and Instagram, tag Sigma Corporation of America and include the hashtag #sigmashotathome.
Cine Submissions:
- Submit via: https://tinyurl.com/sigmacineathome
- Like and Follow Sigma Cine on Facebook and Instagram.
- Upload the photo submission to Facebook and Instagram, tag Sigma Cine and include the hashtag #sigmashotathome.
Participants are welcome to submit multiple entries, up to ten photo entries and three cine entries per person per week. Judging term resets weekly on Friday at 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET.
Check Pricing & Availability of Sigma Gear Here
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Update! – Sigma Has Chosen Its First Monthly Winners!
“In the first month of #SigmaShotAtHome, we reviewed hundreds of incredible, overwhelmingly creative photo and cine submissions,” says Mark Amir-Hamzeh, President, Sigma Corporation of America. “Both ‘Mano A Mano’ and ‘Self Portrait of a Quarantined Dad’ exemplified the spirit of #SigmaShotAtHome and tapped into some universal quarantine feelings with precision and levity. Congratulations to both of our April grand prize winners and to all our weekly winners from the month!”
Still from Mano A Mano (bottom)
Since the contest kickoff, Sigma has received over 800 #SigmaShotAtHome entries, which were narrowed down to one photo and one cine winner each week. Both grand prize-winning submissions were selected from the pool of weekly winners. Entries were judged by a panel of Sigma photography and cinematography professionals based on creativity, originality, and adherence to the theme of “shot at home.” Each winner will receive a $1000 American Express gift card and will be considered for the overall contest grand prize of a Sigma fp + 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens.
About Mano A Mano
Victory discusses his creative approach to his short film, “With the limitations of quarantine, I initially wanted to challenge myself to make a film that required no one else and could be achieved without VFX. While watching Yuen Woo-Ping’s ‘The Magnificent Butcher’ (1979), I saw this incredible hand calligraphy fight, and I thought, ‘What if they were fighting over handwashing?’ That premise and the quarantine limitations truly provided this creative outlet of telling a relevant and topical story. In the end, I did collaborate with Leo Chor on post-production sound whose work and feedback were invaluable but for the actual physical production, I relied on whatever was available to achieve the shots I was going for.”
Watch Mano A Mano here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WCT0Ugpix/
Watch how Victory created and filmed the practical effects of Mano A Mano here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fWtAXgs7X/
About Self Portrait of a Quarantined Dad
Lecours explains the inspiration behind his self-portrait, “Like so many others, my wife and I have been balancing working from home and taking care of our twin 4-year-old daughters during this quarantine. On the afternoon I took this photo, it was my turn to watch the girls, and they decided I was in need of a makeover. They had me sit down in their playroom while they went to work on me. After a while, my wife passed by, took one look at me and said I looked like the poster boy for quarantined parents all over the world. So I asked her to grab my camera, tripod and shutter release cable and bring it to me. I got lucky that there was some pretty nice light coming in through the playroom window and that the girls were distracted for long enough to let me fire off a few shots. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Check out Self Portrait of a Quarantined Dad here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-0GpUbg6aX/
Enter #SigmaShotAtHome For a Chance to Win!
With no specific lens or camera requirements, the contest is open to all professional and amateur U.S. creatives. Running weekly since April 6th and continuing through June 26th, 2020, #sigmashotathome is hosted online. There is no entry fee and participants are invited to submit up to ten entries each week. For complete contest details as well as rules and regulations please visit: https://www.sigmaphoto.com/sigmashotathome
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