PINDOT marks 9th anniversary with fun, music and prizes
Velarde bags top prize in photography contest
TBy Michelle Fe Santiago
he Pinoy Digital Photographers in Kuwait (PINDOT) celebrated on Friday at the Fusion Japanese Restaurant its ninth anniversary marking its colourful journey in the world of photography.
PINDOT — a Filipino word which means ‘Click’ in English founded in April 2008 is a group of Filipino workers and residents of Kuwait who share their common passion in Digital Photography. PINDOT aims to encourage its members to get the most from their talent by joining a community of like-minded individuals who love their art and enjoy sharing their knowledge in photography. Members are of various professions such as architects, engineers, nurses, media, technical workers, IT, advertising executives and many more.
PINDOT has gone a long way for the past nine years with its membership constantly growing, inspiring more Filipinos to explore their creativity in the field of photography. PINDOT which was founded by Jeb Elamparo, Brehn Garcia and Neil Ocampo started with only more than 10 members and now has almost a hundred members.
The anniversary celebration dubbed “PINDOT IX” was attended by around 75 guests that included members, officers and their family members.
During the programme, Ivy Laughton and Charisse Mae Ronquillo rendered song numbers respectively to the delight of the audience with former PINDOT president Leonel Pura and Antonio Alcantara on the guitars. There were also some parlour games such as “What’s in the box” and “Pindot Quizbee” that brought down the house to laughter.
Current PINDOT President Job Rejante III announced the top three winners in the photography contest with Nick Velarde bagging the top prize and trailing behind him were Remar Toledo and Emil Vilchez who got the second and third prize respectively. The winners received cash vouchers from the AABWorld.
Meanwhile, certificates of appreciation were handed to some of the models who have joined in the photo shoots organised by PINDOT namely Angeline Cortez, Raiza Elamparo and Marge Carinugan as well as certificates to PINDOT’s Hair and Make-Up Artists Marlon Aquino Malinao and Ehliza Carsola, fashion designer Resty Lagare and Maxxy Santiago of The Filipino Channel/The Arab Times for their invaluable support to PINDOT.
There was also a raffle draw of prizes and Tin Celis won the Paul Buff light set.
“I would like to thank everyone who joined us in celebrating PINDOT’s nine clicking years. The Execom will conduct and organize more activities for our members to gain more knowledge in photography and promote camaraderie among others. We will be sharing our passion and knowledge to the Filipino community. We are also planning to have some outreach programmes. The slogan of the group which is Share, Learn and Respect will continue to run in our blood, #PindotIX #PindotIsBackOnTrack,” stated Rejante.
First Prize by Nick Velarde
another Filipino photography icon, Parc Cruz and Metrophoto Hothouse Series – an intensive wedding photography workshop under Oly Ruiz, a Filipino wedding photography guru and last November, PINDOT also organised the Cinematica X Workshop under Parc Cruz and Ku Manahan, a Pro Folio workshop under Jerico Montemayor, Mark Floro’s food photography workshop and many more. All Filipino photography enthusiasts who want to become a member of PINDOT may check details on www. pindot.org or the Facebook fan page on www.facebook.com/pindotgroup.
Third Prize by Emil Vilchez
PINDOT Execom, members and guests
Sumptuous buffet