Bangkok--8 Oct--Indies Organizer Digital-camera market leader Canon is going to hold a special programme entitled “Canon Photo Marathon Thailand 2007” to celebrate its 70th anniversary worldwide. The event will be the first of its kind to be held in Thailand in which participants will be competing in a nine-hour long photo contest. The event is very well-received by interested participants, whose number reached 500 within three days of contestant application. Mr.Hisahiro Minokawa , President and CEO of Canon Marketing (Thailand) Co., Ltd, said after the opening ceremony of “Canon Photo Marathon Thailand 2007”: “We are satisfied with the success of this celebration programme in which 500 photography contestants are participating (77% male, 23% female), among them loyal customers of Canon as well as those who enjoy digital photography. The number of contestants reached 500 within three days. The objective of this competition is to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Canon Worldwide., and also to thank Canon clients, related parties, and to aimed to add a bit of colour to the Thai photographer circles and intended for both professional and amateur photographers to show their talents and creativity through the lens of the digital camera. This photo marathon competition is the first of its kind to be held in Thailand. The competition takes nine hours and all contestants will be challenged with three groundbreaking assignments.” Canon Photo Marathon Thailand 2007 is a part of the marathon photo contest ‘Canon Photo Marathon Asia 2007’ held in five countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It is a broad opportunity open to all people with no restriction to prior experience or age. Anyone who loves photography and owns any brand of digital cameras can apply to this contest. Applications and pre-registration is completed in early September 2007. The competition is to be held on Saturday 6 October 2007 at The Esplanade on Ratchadapisek Road. Contestants will be given three assignments of three different themes and required to complete each task and return with their photos ready for downloading into a computer server within a three-hour period. The second and third assignments will be given to participants after they have finished downloading their previous assignment photographs and the judges will evaluate all the pictures after each round. Three sets of prizes (1 ‘Best of Theme’ winner & 2 Merit Awards) are given for the best pictures in each round of assignment. The "Best of Show" winner and the ‘Runner-Up will be judged based on all their works in the three rounds. Moreover, the winner and the first runner-up will be given a chance to attend Photo Clinic activities together with a professional photographer and other winners from four other countries in Kyushu, Japan for more than a week. “The criteria of judgment include the creativity in defining the assignment topics, the composition, the use of colours, lighting, and shading. All contestants must submit their photos in time. In addition, Canon is offering fun activities such as Lucky Shot, Speedy Clown — in which participants have to use PowerShot cameras to take photographs of suggested scenes, Fit da Frame — in which participants have to include as many faces in the photos as possible, and more. All takings, 100 Baht application fee from each applicant, 50,000 Baht in total, will be donated to Camillian Social Center in Rayong province to support HIV/AIDS patients,” said Mr. Minokawa. Media Enquiries Canon Marketing Thailand Co., LtdPataneeya SiripraprutTel: 02-344-9999 ext. 134Email: [email protected]; Indies Organizer Co.,Ltd. Tippawan WortongTel: 081 421 2923Email: [email protected]