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Day 3 of PhotoWorld Asia 2009 culminated in a Photographers’ Nite at the AIM in Makati in which a number of awards were announced.

Top honors went to the Framed Shots camera club which was voted as Camera Club of the Year. Taking second place was the Alpha Camera Club while in third was the Prized Photo Club.

Jubilant members of the Framed Shots Camera Club pose for posterity after winning top honors as Camera Club of the Year. With them in the photo are Mrs. Eduviges Y. Huang, FPPF chairwoman, extreme left, Dr. Amado Castro, FPPF finance officer, center, U.S. photographers Hanson Fong and Jamie Hayes and Rina Falcis, PhotoWorld Asia 2009 chairwoman. At extreme right is U.S. photographer Mary Fisk Taylor. Holding the trophy at center is prize-winning photographer Edwin Loyola. They have been consistently first for 6 consecutive years. (Photo: Chris Malinao)

In the Avant Garde photo/mixed media contest, participated in by 9 camera clubs, the Twilight Zone photography club won first place for their entry “Glass Pixels.” In second place was Prized Photo Club and in third was the Alpha Camera Club. The photo exhibit “A Journey in the Avante Garde” is on-going at the Art Space, 3rd Floor of Glorietta Ayala Mall until February 3.

Photographer Amir Alba receives the First Place award in the Avant Garde mixed media photo contest in behalf of his camera club, Twilight Zone, for their entry “Glass Pixels.” With him in the photo are Mary Fisk Taylor, PhotoWorld Asia 2009 chairwoman Rina Falcis, FPPF finance officer Dr. Amado Castro and FPPF chairwoman Eduviges Y. Huang. (Photo: Chris Malinao)

“Photographer of the Year” honors went to Chito Cleofas of Framed Shots in First Place. Second Place went to Joy Ganaden of Alpha Camera Club while Jonathan Cayaon, also of Alpha got third.

Other awards went to IMAHE as the Most Improved Camera Club and Lee Viray Cahili was voted as Rookie of the Year. Special recognition was given to Glenn Peralta and Rovy Lloyd de Los Santos for having attended the yearly PhotoWorld convention for more than 10 years.

Earlier in the day, our guest lecturers from the United States delivered workshops on the business side of photography as well as giving participants valuable tips in the technical aspects of wedding and portrait photography. Mary Fisk Taylor gave a very inspiring talk on how to succeed in photography as a business. “Value what you do,” admonished Mary, and make use of what she calls vendors marketing. In photographing weddings, for example, you can actually harness alliances with the guys who made the wedding cake, the ladies who made the gowns, even the hotel where wedding receptions are made. The idea is to market yourself through the products and services they offer. It’s focused and precisely targeted; it’s also cheap and effective.

Photographer Jamie Hayes, for his part, demonstrated an actual photo shoot in a studio environment. The demonstration gave PhotoWorld participants an insight into Jamie’s style of professional shooting techniques. The photo shoot was done on stage complete with large studio lights and several models.

U.S. photographer Jamie Hayes showing his shooting techniques using large softboxes and strip lights to sculpt the flattering features of models in the photograph. (Photo: Rod Banzon)

In the other events of the day, the delegation from Qatar – Ali Khamis Al Mnsoori, Mohammed Abdullah Al Shafai and Mona Abdullah Al Shafai – met with FPPF officials and later made a presentation at the convention about the Al-Thani Award for Photography which offers a grand prize of $30,000 and a Leica M6 camera. There will be a total of 20 prizes to be awarded and the winners will be invited to Qatar for the awarding ceremonies. They are inviting Filipinos to join the contest. Details of the contest, entry forms and the fine print (read the fine print!) may be found here.

Photo shows Qatari delegate Mona Abdullah Al Shafai explaining the Al-Thani Award for Photography to FPPF Finance Officer Dr. Amado Castro, center and FPPF Chairwoman Eduviges Huang, extreme left, as she extends the invitation for Filipinos to join the worldwide photo contest. Looking on are Qatari delegates Ali Khamis Al Mnsoori and Mohammed Abdullah Al Shafai. The Al-Thani award carries a top prize of US$30,000 and a Leica M6 camera. The Qatari delegation also announced the photo contest to the convention delegates and later turned over to the FPPF some photo books of the Al-Thani Award for Photography. (Photo: Chris Malinao)

Group photo of the entire convention delegation together with guest lecturers from the U.S. and officers and staff of PhotoWorld Asia 2009. 8x10 prints of the photo are available at the Secretariat for P100. (Photo: John Chua)

YKL Fujifilm are offering what they call their penultimate bargain at PhotoWorld Asia 2009. They are offering 3R printing (3.5″x5.0″) for only P1.95 per print, way below the regular P6.00 per print. Have your digital photos ready on a CD or USB drive, no more tweaking or other adjustments at the lab on the trade show floor. Each customer can order up to 100 prints, no more than that.

And while you’re at it, take a look also at their bargain offer of P3,950 for the Fujifilm Finepix A850, a very capable 8.1-megapixel shooter that features a 2.5-inch LCD screen and 3x optical zoom (never mind its 5.1x digital zoom).

You know the Fujifilm Finepix S5 Pro DSLR, right? It’s the camera of choice for wedding photographers because its imaging technology results in more details in highlights and shadows, and it delivers faithful skin tones. Its double pixel technology features 6.17 million ‘S photodiodes’ (normal DR) and 6.17 million ‘R photodiodes’ (highlight DR) for a total photodiode count of 12.34 million. It used to cost a small fortune, but now, Fujifilm is offering it for only P45,000 almost half of what it used to cost. But hurry! This is only for the duration of PhotoWorld Asia 2009. See this flyer for details.

PhotoWorld Asia 2009 was formally opened Thursday, January 29 at the Activity Center of the Glorietta Ayala Mall in Makati. Photo above shows (L-R) Ramon Arteficio - President & CEO of Canon Marketing (Philippines) Inc, U.S. photographers Jamie Hayes & Mary Fisk Taylor - speakers at PhotoWorld Asia 2009, Rina Falcis - chairperson of PhotoWorld Asia 2009, Ms. Bambi Harper - Administrator, Intramuros Administration and guest of honor at the event and U.S. photographer Hanson Fong, speaker at PhotoWorld Asia 2009. (Photo: Chris Malinao)

PhotoWorld Asia 2009 opened Thursday at the Glorietta Ayala Mall in Makati drawing photographers from Metromanila and various provinces in the Philippines. Three photographers from Qatar are also attending the convention and trade show.

The 6-day annual event (January 29 to February 3 this year) will feature a trade exposition at the Activity Center of Glorietta. Major industry players like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm and others will be there to showcase their latest products for the photography industry.

PhotoWorld Asia 2009 features the much-anticipated master classes for professional photographers to be conducted by three world-renowned master photographers from the United States – Hanson Fong, Mary Fisk Taylor and Jamie Hayes. Details here.

They will be holding workshops on Wedding Photography as well as Glamour and Portrait Photography, two areas that professional photographers find most profitable. There will also be lots of pointers and advice on the business side of photography. The workshops, to be held at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati, are open to registered participants. The trade show at the Glorietta will be open to the public. The full PhotoWorld Asia 2009 schedule here.

Participating photographers will have a chance to shoot along with our featured visitors. Hanson Fong, Mary Fisk Taylor and Jamie Hayes will be on hand to offer their tips and techniques on effective shooting.

The Philippines’ own top photographers will also be there to deliver their seminars on the various aspects of photography. Vic Sison and Jun Rapanan will offer their techniques on flash photography. Both have perfected the art of shooting with strobes years before the word ’strobist’ became fashionable.

Bobot Go and George Cabig will hold a seminar on capturing moments in Travel Photography, while Neil Confesor will delve on Sports Photography. Other speakers include Gutsy Tuason (Underwater Photography), Nick Tuason (Color Management), Nelson John (Photoshop CS4), Atty Rod Vera (Copyright Laws) and Fung Yu (360° VR Photography).

PhotoWorld Asia 2009 will also hold on-the-spot fashion photo contests with prizes to be awarded on Monday.

Earlier on opening day, the photo exhibit/contest "A Journey in the Avant Garde" at the Art Space, 3rd Floor of the Glorietta was formally opened for public viewing. On hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon were master photographers from the United States. Photo above shows (L-R) Willy Marbella, exhibit curator, Qatari photographer Ali Khamis al Mnsoori, U.S. photographers Hanson Fong and Mary Fisk Taylor, Rina Falcis, chairperson of PhotoWorld Asia 2009, U.S. photographer Jamie Hayes, Dr. Amado Castro, finance officer, FPPF and Glenn Peralta of the Dept. of Tourism Region 5 (Bicol), Legaspi City. Behind Mary Fisk Taylor is Qatari photographer Mohammed Abdullah Al Shafai. The winners in this mixed media contest, participated in by various photography clubs in the Philippines, will be announced on Monday. (Photo: Chris Malinao)

A total of P28,000 in cash prizes await the winners of the Fashion Shoot On-The-Spot Photo Contest during the 6-day PhotoWorld Asia 2009 convention and trade show at the Glorietta and AIM in Makati. This photo contest is open to everybody – amateurs, hobbyists, even professionals.

First prize is P10,000 in cash. Second prize is P7,000 and Third Prize gets P5,000. Fourth to Tenth Places will get P1,000 each.

The Fashion Photo Shoot will be held on Friday, January 30 and Sunday, February 1, 2009 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Makati Mall area. Registration fee is P150 per day which will entitle the participant to three (3) 5R (5″ x 7″) FREE color prints and one (1) registration envelop only from the YKL booth.

To participate in the photo shoot and contest, please register at the PhotoWorld Asia 2009 Secretariat at the Activity Center of the Glorietta.

Photos from the two days of fashion photo shoot may be submitted as entries to the contest. Entries submitted shall be of the models taken at the photo shoot area. A maximum of three (3) entries per day per participant may be submitted.

The Top 10 entries will be chosen and will be notified by photo contest committee, via phone immediately after judging which shall be done starting on Feb. 2, 2009 Monday 2:00 pm at the AIM Conference Center. The finalists will be asked to be present at the awarding of prizes on Feb. 3, 2009 Tuesday 6:30 pm.

Inkjet printouts not allowed. Print without borders. Submit prints with the corresponding data sheet attached at the back of each entry.

Alterations after exposure–digital darkroom, painting, airbrushing, paste-on or assembly–are not allowed. Only normal darkroom techniques such as dodging, burning in and cropping are allowed. Any creative effects must be done in-camera at the time of exposure, such as multiple exposure, flash fill, light painting, filtration, etc.

All the prints will be donated to the models. All decisions of the judges will be final.

For details, please call Tristan Yap, Tel: 357-0733, Cel: (0917)807-7761. You may also contact the FPPF at Tels: 524-7576 and 528-0371.

The FPPF is pleased to host our special visitors from Doha, Qatar who came all the way from the Middle East to attend PhotoWorld Asia 2009. Ali Khamis Al Mnsoori (left in photo), Mona Abdullah Al Shafai and Mohammed Abdullah Al Shafai (right in photo) are here for the 6-day photography convention and trade show and take part in the seminars.

Al Mnsoori, a professional photographer and camera technician, was here during the last PhotoWorld Asia 2008. “I liked it and made friends with a lot of people, and so I’m back with two more friends in tow, the husband-and-wife team of Mona and Mohammed,” says Ali Khamis Al Mnsoori. Mohammed, also a professional photographer, runs QatarGallery.com while Mona does photography as a hobby. Mohammed also has his newer photos at flickr. All three of them agreed to bring 10 more friends around for the next PhotoWorld Asia 2010.

Ali, Mona and Mohammed, who are members of the Qatar Photographic Society, are also here to promote a photo contest. Details of the contest will be discussed during a presentation they will make during Photographers’ Night on Saturday, January 31. They will be inviting Filipino photographers to join the contest. They will also talk about photography in Qatar.

One of our guest speakers at PhotoWorld Asia 2008, Clay Blackmore, was setting up his camera gear in preparation for a photo shoot. He was doing this (and greeting people who were milling around him) when the tripod on which his expensive camera and lens were mounted started to tilt over.

It would have been a total disaster – broken camera, unusable lens, cancelled photo shoot and a bruised ego – had it not been for the quick response from the gentleman who suddenly appeared from the left to save the day. That was Jun Rapanan, one of our photographers at the FPPF. Clay Blackmore, who heaved a big sigh of relief, gave Jun P10,000 for saving his expensive camera gear.

Video courtesy of Mr. Lito Beltran, FPPF Project Director.