Yesterday was really a good day for all photographers, professionals and hobbyists alike as Digital Photographer Philippines held its 5th Anniversary Party at Bonifacio High-Street. The took the entire place instead of having it only held at Fully Booked where the place got really cramped last year.
I got there at around 8:00am together with some of my friends as our other friends were there as early as 7:30am. The queue was quite long but at least its moving. After submitting my registration form, we had an option to choose 3 classes for free lectured by the best of the best in the world of photography. Since there were limited slots, I chose:
1. Getting Started in Fashion Photography by Doc Marlon Pecjo
2. The eye on photojournalism by Boboy Librodo
3. When travel meets fashion by Manny Librodo
Before I got to attend my first lecture, we got to take some pictures within the event. I even had breakfast probably twice as I really got hungry due to lack of sleep. When Doc Marlon's lecture had started, me and my friends secured ourselves a seat. He gave an inspirational talk on how he started photography from being a medical practitioner.
Then we had lunch first at Market-Market as we got hungry again. When we came back, Boboy's lecture had already started. I got to stand at the back and listened for a couple of minutes before I head back-out to check other mini-events that has happening. I got to check-out other booths as well as buy myself a t-shirt from Francism as the shirt has an inspiring message.
By 1:15pm, we waited at the Nike Park Area as both Jay Jallorina and Edwin Martinez were still having their lecture on Immersion: Working the Scene. If only I could attend all of the seminars DPP has offered, I have attended as much as possible given the availability and how to maximize the time. Then it was Manny Librodo's turn to have his lecture on the area. I won't be surprised that the place was really packed with photographers (amateurs, hobbyists and some professionals) as its only once in a blue moon that Manny Librodo would have his lectures for free. He showed us his works from a few years back up to the recent ones. I was amazed at his images as it shows a lot of colors and emotions. We were glued to our seats until the end of the lecture.
Then we got to shoot more as there was a live model shoot spearheaded by Ms Pilar Tuason. I got to try a friend's 24-105 Canon lens and its seems pretty good to me that I would consider purchasing one in the near future. After the shoot, we strolled around but we were unable to join the group hug. Anyway, we hope we could join next year though XD.
By 5:30pm, we sat down at the Nike Park Area as we're waiting for Raymund Isaac's talk on How to shoot celebrities and other headaches. His talk is an eye-opener especially to those who wanted to try taking pictures of celebrities.
Finally, it was judging time. Free drinks were given as we got to hear from the judges who were professionals in their own respective photography field. They got to critique on a picture that was shown. To me those pictures were absolutely stunning though the judges do see a lot of something wrong with the photograph taken.
There was even a heated discussion between the judges themselves as why a certain score was given to them. Eventually, they were able to decide which is the winner for the two categories given and their pictures were absolutely good.
But still, the event was still enjoyable and I learned a lot from the event and I'm looking forward for the next
