Azuldomain Owner, Web Dot Com, Joins WPPP Photo Congress 2009

Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines., Inc., proud owner of Azuldomain.com, recently joined the Wedding and Portrait Photographers of the Philippines (WPPP) Photo Congress 2009. Web Dot Com is a partner of the WPPP, being the official web developer of the WPPP website. It was in fact, though this partnership that the idea for azuldomain – providing websites for professional photographers – was conceived.

The WPPP Photo Congress is an annual event held to advance the Philippine photography and videography industry by presenting industry updates and solutions, among them, seminars for enhancing workflow, trade shows for upgrading existing tools, photography and videography contests for challenging creative skills, and photography and videography exhibits for showcasing professional achievements that could inspire and motivate others. A forum is also usually set up as a venue for networking and discussion among industry professionals, studio owners and traders.

The fifth WPPP Photo Congress was held from May 4 to 6, 2009 at the SM Megatrade Hall 2 of SM Megamall at Ortigas, Metro Manila. Sponsors of the event were major industry suppliers such as Canon, Epson, Hewlett Packard, JT Photo World, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Sony and the book by Group USA & Company Inc.

After the inaugural on May 4, Jun Miranda opened the regular seminar series with a session on "Photoshop CS4 for Wedding Photographers". This was followed by Jun Valbuena’s "The Right Coin of Photography". On May 5, Chito Cleofas started off with "Wedding Travel Photography". Special guest Mike Larson, an international photographer from the United States and a representative of Pictage, California Sunbounce, Kiss Wedding books and ShootQ studio management software, then spoke on "Leadership & Influence". The day was closed by Dominic Velasco lecturing on "Digital Video".

On the final day of the Congress, May 6, Mike Larson again spoke on "Shooting Right the First Time" and "Work Hard, Play Hard". Raymond Marcelo and company closed the seminar session with "Fashion Boudoir".

Winners of the various photography and videography contests were announced during the Photographers’ Night on May 5. For Canon’s Pre-Nuptial Photography Contest, Jayson Arquiza of Mandaluyong won first place. He was followed by Mikhail Arrogante of Cebu, whose photographs also garnered fifth, seventh, ninth and tenth places. Rikki Lim of Zamboanga won third and eighth places. Rolando Pascua of Cebu won fourth place while Edwin Orbe won sixth place.

For Kodak’s Bride and Groom Photojournalism Contest, Mikhail Arrogante bagged first and second prizes. Rolando Pascua won third, fifth, eighth and ninth prizes. Arnold Jumpay of Aklan won fourth prize, Jesse Narazo of Bacolod City won sixth prize, Lemuel Arrogante of Cebu City won seventh prize and James Limsoc of Marikina City won tenth prize.

Familiar names emerged as winners, too, in Nikon’s Non-Wedding Portraiture Photography Contest. Mikhail Arrogante won first, fifth, seventh and eighth places. Lemuel Arrogante got second place. Third and tenth places were nabbed by Rolando Pascua, while fourth, sixth and ninth places were taken by Arnold Jumpay.

On May 7, two other international guests conducted Master Classes. Louis Pang is the most awarded wedding & portrait photographer of Malaysia and is the first Malaysian first prize winner at Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI). His topic was “Get Real”.

Charlie Lim of Singapore is both a professional photographer and a painter specializing in oil painting. He has experimented for the past ten years, and has perfected the unique art of “oil painting photography” where he expertly wields light and shadow techniques. “Oil Painting Photography” was also the topic of his master class.

The WPPP Photo Congress 2009 was a resounding success overall. Web Dot Com hopes to see many of the professional wedding photographers among the new web masters at azuldomain, too.