WPPM Conference 2010

WPPM Conference 2010

Was the WPPM Conference 2010 worth attending? Sure it was. I paid RM 450 for it, much thanks to the discount given and I really think it was money well spent.


This was what I posted on Facebook.

I was there, and I was hoping to see more people. 😀 Spend $$$ to improve your technique and understanding, not improving from 1.8 to 1.2……… 😛 better gear won’t get better photo it the person holding the tool doesn’t get upgraded.

I’ll make it short, the sessions topics are listed on WPPM website……. unfortunately that doesn’t look like the updates schedule.

Here’s what a session there looks like, this one’s Braendon Yong’s talk on Lighting. (Yes, the room was really warm when it comes to lighting. I didn’t go to a conference to try to take beautiful shots of it. I just want to expand my horizons in photography.)

WPPM Conference 2010

I think one of the highlights of the WPPM conference was the Print Competition, just like what they did at WPPI.

WPPM Conference 2010

The print competition had award winning judges, LITO SY (PH), CHARLIE LIM (SG) and JERRY GHIONIS (AU).

WPPM Conference 2010

For Session A, I chose to attend Grant Corban’s session on “Customer Service : Make Them Happy” – I thought it’ll be great to get an insight on Grant’s experience in customer service. :D.

For Session B, I went for Braendon Yong’s session on “Lighting : Lights, Camera, Action.” since I like to play with lights. 😀 No no no, I’m not the type that swings a torchlight around in a darkroom and feel ecstatic about it. I love to play with off-camera flash, so I thought it’ll be great to see what a master photographer has to share. It was interesting, thought I already known most part of it, there are still bits and pieces of information the enhances my knowledge and understanding in this field.

For Session C, I didn’t go for any sessions but I had a good talk with Joe Chan, another experienced photographer and he was sharing many things and was showing me some flash techniques as well.

For Session D, I was looking forward to Jason Victor’s session on Law and Copyright since I’m doing mostly corporate and commercial photography, yet another helpful topic to my business. Unfortunately this friendly guy (I met him a few weeks back) couldn’t make it due to unforeseen circumstances. So I ended up hanging around Ted Adnan’s session for a while, and after that, went out for a really late lunch with the band of seasoned photographers. (Sorry la, so hungry I forgot to take photos.)

For Session E, I went for Saiful Nang’s talk on “passion vs profession” which I thought was awesomely inspiring, despite my sorry state of being sleepy. His life story was inspirational, and so was his photoshoot slides in India. 😀 Seriously, an awesome show how true is the saying – “It’s all about the man behind the camera“. Very few gears, so many awesome photos.

As for day 2, I couldn’t make it to the morning sessions but I did manage to attend Jim Liaw’s sharing on his experience with the HASSELBLAD H4D, and also Jerry Ghionis’ session titled “My Journey, My Inspiration”.

I wish Jim Liaw had shared more, I went to his talk just a few weeks back and it was so inspirational, to know the little bits of his thought process to capture those beautiful images. Jerry’s session was so great, a few of my buddies (along with myself) thought that our money spent on the conference was worth it!

I tweeted this during Jerry’s talk – “next time someone argues with me tool more or equally important than photographer, I’ll just quote Jerry Ghionis to support my stance.” as his talk was again, a testament to the saying – “It’s all about the man behind the camera“. Very few gears, so many awesome photos.

My Advice To Others………..

Those of you who know me on lowyat.net forum and other place, you should know by now how I’ve always discouraged people to go on a spending spree on expensive gears. It doesn’t make sense to spend so much on gears and still producing the same junk.

3 months ago I wrote an article titled Workshops, Seminars and Talks and I hope that my readers read it and take it to heart.

It’s ridiculous how people are willing to spend RM 3k or more for some glass with a red ring on it, just to feel good and continue to take crappy photos but when it comes to spending money on books or to attend talks, they shudder and to proceed with giving replies like “RM 250, so expensive laaaaa.”

WPPM was well worth the money spent. 😀 I look forward for WPPM Conference 2011.

*Note : I posted the conference details on lowyat.net and Canon Malaysia facebook discussion section, the response was pathetic. I bet if I put some gear warehouse sale, it’s sure gonna be flocked with queries. Quite tired of repeating myself. Upgrade yourself, your gears can wait.

So little photos for WPPM Conference you say? My card only has 14 photos from Saturday and none on Sunday because I didn’t bring my camera. I attended to listen, not busy snapping portraits of the speakers. 🙂

5 thoughts on “WPPM Conference 2010

  1. Agree with your opinion, it is true that most photographers nowadays are more into gears, what lens they should use etc. But end up in the end with some pictures which can be produced with a kit lens. I also wondering why some photographers nowadays are worried about what lens should they buy after they just bought their new dslr. Come on, read the manual, understanding the foundation of photography theory first, practice and practice are much more important than thinking about what lens, accessories they should buy next. Some of them don’t even bother to read the manual..haih….

    WPPM is a good start. I let it go this time due to my time limitation. Sure I’ll join the next conference. 🙂

  2. I was at some of the same workshops and at one point just standing right in front of you (judging session). Next time, I’ll make it a point to look for you at events like that!

    Anyway, a comprehensive write up from you and absolutely second your theory about improving technique.

    After all, Malaysian’s favourite ‘try en ERROR’ is free ma…so why should they ‘pei’ to learn something?

    I think the above is pretty much reflective on the case here and it was great just to see the masters in action. For your job, I think it was a pity you had missed Charlie’s session because it could really have benefitted your product shooting styles with just ONE flashlight. 😉

  3. @izzat – thanks!

    @karheng – Comprehensive? I thought it was pretty watered-down and I might add more details if I could think of any. 😀

    Yeah “Trial and Error” is fine but there are somethings that you can’t figure out with “Trial and Error”!

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