our 2009 wppi experience


the wedding & portrait photographers international convention and tradeshow is something i look forward to every year. granted, i've only begun attending since last year but i swear this has got to be one of the most fun experiences ever! to prepare for this year's event, monica and i did our best to get fully rested since this convention is a whirlwind of educational platform classes and speakers, awesome tradeshow booths with the newest photography equipment and related products, lots of eating, networking, and tons of sponsored parties. sleep is definitely not a priority during wppi week.

we arrived on friday the 13th for the opening night of the business institute, which was a two-day event. if you attended with us, you know the feeling of info overload. =) that saturday, we also photographed the lovely nisha & charles' engagement session on the strip, which was an awesome experience. sunday was the official start of the annual convention with the first platform classes and the welcome reception. this was also the first night of 3 consecutive nights of parties and a total of 7 parties.

for videos of our crazy week, view my facebook page here.

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com

PLEASE READ:
please keep in mind that these images were shot with my 8 year old digital camera with its whooping 2 megapixel capability. LOL!!! it's my old school brick of a camera that I can't seem to let go.

AWESOME PEOPLE and AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHERS:
feel free to check out the linkies...
timco - katie pangburn - shannon hudson - erwin wijanto
dan and caroline aka tinywater

dan likes to carry women like a caveman and play nintendo wii and kick people's butts in boxing.
mark eric is the father of modern photographers. ff you're looking for photographers who have skills for your wedding or would like to be a part of them or simply just curious and looking for inspirations, check out modern photographers. it's THE BOMB!!!

this is what happens when your camera is uber old. the shutter wouldn't open... i had to manually help it a tad by tapping on the lens.
lower left photo - Lisa Richmond and friends - bay area locals (lower right) - the talented diva jen skog in the back - local fave augie chang - and wedding coordinator extraordinaire michelle barrionuevo-Mazzini

we got airbrush tattoos.

have you ever had honey toast??? OMG!!! it's SO delish.
another sweet and talented photog jillian kay with the squizzal team (upper right) - the UBER fun and always info-generous anne ruthman (lower right)

everytime we travel, food is always in the mix. now, when you mix good food with good people, there's nothing but fun times to be had. our awesome new friends and family, as well as being very talented, i introduce you to photogs michelle and andy rivera from Chicago - simply one of the best photographers in indonesia, david soong of axioo - local friend, proud father and photog, manus chau - and the always entertaining mark edgington

bottom right photo is trevor meeks from meeks digital - this dude is a hawk... he'll watch your bags and belongings concurrent to having a good time. this man is chill... =)

my hero, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend (upper right photo) -mike fulton from triCoast

we got an "award of excellence"... WOOT WOOT!!!

film photographer guru from utah and sushi buddy, jonathan canlas, speaking at the fujifilm tradeshow booth. check out his upcoming workshop (great for even the digital photogs, which i can vouch for!) in san francisco in july. can't wait!!!

upper left (admiring j. canlas' presentation) - workin' the radio popper booth (upper right and lower right) - awesome local photog and friend, maurice ramirez (lower left)

the three stooges (upper right) - we had been complaining that we didn't have a single photo of us three during this busy week so we took one in the car on the way to the tradeshow - me trying to give a fish a taste of my tasty avocado smoothie (lower right)

with leo patrone, another awesome utah-based photographer (upper left) - us with manus and fantabulous sf photog, cliff brunk (lower left) - monica, pointing at the restaurant's name on their menu: "pho kim long" (say it fast!)

a better view of the menu (upper left) - with the lovely nina, maurice's parter and business partner =) (upper right)

us sf folks, now including make-up/hair stylist extraordinaire maria chang of pma and another local fave photographer, ricky wong (upper left) - dominican republic born and now sf transplant photog, gustavo fernandez

caroline of tinywater has tiny hands - i mean REALLY tiny! =) (upper left) - more of our tattoo adventure at the blu soiree (bottom row)

the lovely serena grace, los-angeles based photog (right)

radio popper madness!!! kevin king (bottom middle) is the MAN!

also, don't forget to vote for us in kcra 3's a-list "photographer of the year" contest. although we're currently in the lead, the competition is getting close. please help us out by clicking on the following link or the image below: http://kcra.cityvoter.com/ed-pingol-photography/biz/78628

thank you to you all!




We've been awarded "Bride's Choice Award 2009!"

We're ecstatic to be chosen as a recipient of the 2009 Bride's Choice Award by WeddingWire. WeddingWire is a website dedicated to helping engaged couples research local wedding vendors with reviews from actual brides and other vendors and is a fabulous resource for wedding planning! We're so thrilled to have been given this prestigious award, which honors the top 3% of the WeddingWire's network. Thanks to all of you who have submitted your reviews on the website!

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com




nisha and charle's engagement session - las vegas, nevada


commentator: ed

nisha and charles' engagement session on the las vegas strip was awesome!!! we had help from photographer mandy davis and her friend/co-worker robin, both from oklahoma, who tagged along to hold the "light-sticks," along with henry chen. my very good friend and very talented photographer, erwin wijanto, also shot with us. i can't wait to see what he was able to capture. we started our shoot in the middle of bellagio so we would have an awesome view of the fountain. from there, we simply just walked around and stopped at wherever we thought was cool. =)

i have to thank jaylyn and mark who referred this gorgeous couple to us. THANK YOU guys!!!

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com

walking the las vegas strip at night

welcome to vegas!

the imcomparable bellagio fountain show

reflection

pedestrian bridge



vegas baby!!!

we're in vegas, baby! ever since we left wppi last year, we've been itching to come back!!! wppi has already started off with a bang for us. monica and i arrived on friday for the business institute which made our brains feel like exploding last year and this year we were definitely able to absorb more info. after a very long day of classes, we ended the evening with an awesome engagement session of nisha & charles, our couple whose wedding is this september in las vegas.

if you're a fellow photog, don't forget to say "hey" if you're around for the convention and trade show. so far, here are our plans during this crazy week:

sun feb 15
12 – 2 pm platform class: robert lino
2:30 - 4:30 pm platform class: frank salas
6 - 10 pm welcome reception
10 pm – 12am colorati/paying it forward party - mgm grand

mon feb 16
10:30 am wppi tradeshow (most awesome tradeshow!)
12:14 – 12:45 pm jonathan canlas speaks at fujifilm tradeshow booth
*** radio popper booth sometime during the day***
3 – 4 pm tricoast speaks at miller's tradeshow booth
3:30 – 5:30 pm platform class: jb & deette sallee
6:15 – 8:15 pm platform class: doug gordon
9 pm fred miranda dinner
10 pm – 1 am loktah/edit team party - peppermill fireside lounge

Tue Feb 17
10:30 am wppi tradeshow
3:30 – 5:30 pm platform class: yervant
6:15 – 8:15 pm platform class: damon tucci
8:15 pm graphistudio party
10 - 12 pm wppi photo lovecat giveaway gala - bellagio
9 pm - 2 am blu soiree - body english, hard rock hotel

wed feb 18
8 – 10 am platform class: jerry ghionis
10:30 am wppi tradeshow
2:30 – 4:30 pm platform class: gene higa
6:30 – 9 pm awards ceremony

thu feb 19
9 – 11 am platform class: joe photo
***site visit sometime during the day***
8:20 pm flight from las vegas to oakland

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com




that's FRESH!!! fresh as in TIIIGHT!!!


commentator: ed

alright guys!!! we're in the runnings for the FRESHEST blog. oh, won't you please help. i told monica that if you help us win, i will do ALL THE HOUSE WORK for 2 MONTHS. SERIOUSLY!!! monica won't have to lift a single finger. i will cook, clean and even do the figgen' laundry (i hate laundry). won't you please help monica's dream come true for 2 whole months. =)

what? did i hear you say "how do i help monica out???"

click here or the photo of the screen capture that has been seriously altered without permission below. enter in the number 90 - as in nine zero in the upper left box thingie-mah-jiggie. that's it! easy peasy. oh, and monica i'm sure will love you guys for helping her out. =)

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com





lovely details showcase - sunday, february 22nd - fort mason, san francisco

last year, we had the good fortune of participating in the lovely details wedding showcase. although our schedule doesn't permit us to participate this year, we know it will be one awesome wedding event! the lovely details wedding showcase is hosted by the awesome lisa of bellissima vita weddings and karen of huckleberry karen designs and will be held on sunday, february 22nd at fort mason in san francisco. check out more details by clicking on the image below:


//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com




jennifer and eric's engagement session


commentator: ed

so our wedding season is coming to a full swing once again. plenty of stuff to post up. this engagement session for me was particularly fun. why you ask? well, it's because jen and eric are nothing but laughs. i can only imagine how their wedding is going to be.

we shot in and around embarcadero in san francisco, particularly in the spot where the huge vaillancourt water fountain resides at the end of market street. there were plenty of people, but surprisingly to me, there weren't as much as i assumed. we had great weather, the skies were blue, the wind was blowing and the temperature for me was perfect.

wanna know more about the fountain? read on my friend:
"

One of his best known sculptures, Québec libre ! is representative of the relationship between Vaillancourt's art and his political convictions. It is a huge concrete fountain, 200 feet long, 140 feet wide and 36 feet high sitting in the city's financial district at the Embarcadero Center. The night before its inauguration, Vaillancourt inscribed Québec libre! in red letters, to note his undying support for the Quebec sovereignty movement and more largely, his support for the freedom of all people. The following day, seeing that the city's employees erased the inscription, he jumped on the sculpture to reinscribe the sentence many times.[1] Some years later, the fountain became the object of a polemic involving U2's singer Bono. During a free concert, Bono climbed the sculpture to write Rock & Roll stops the traffic, referring to the power of rock.[2] 20,000 people were in fact in attendance and blocked some of the neighbouring streets.

Reacting to the act, the city's mayor declared that she deplored the sculpture's vandalism and that this kind of act could be punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. Vaillancourt was then contacted to learn if he supported the gesture, which he answered by going to U2's concert in Oakland the following day, where he wrote "Stop the madness" on the stage, in front of 70 000 people. He defended Bono's gesture, after a speech on injustice, declaring that graffiti is a necessary evil as young people do not generally have the same access to newspapers, and media in general, as politicians do to express themselves." - wikipedia

now let me talk a little about eric's obsession with the jordans. this guy is a solid collector. i thought i knew people who collected shoes, but this guy... man, oh man. i believe just about every color of any brand of jordans for men he has. he is the man to talk to about shoes. =) i totally know how you feel, man. i feel the same way with cameras and lenses and flashes and accessories. it's just so much fun.

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com

the modern vaillancourt fountain surrounding the couple

my 2009 "put a ring on it" pose totally ripped from beyonce

another angle of the fountain surrounding the couple... man look at that water too. so cool.

you can tell that they really have that chemistry

"will you marry me?" heh heh heh... only eric. look at those high heel shoes!!!

a nice little sun flaire

photo of the bay

a nice moment with each other

and of course, it wouldn't be an ending without the shoes =)




benefit cosmetics


commentator: ed

first cooperate photo coverage of the year sets the bar high. benefit cosmetics is a company that is a innovative brand that brings fun back to make-up. a special thanks to Peter Eugenio owner of mellange studio for hooking me up with this opportunity.

we started the night out with a photo studio (new for 2009). anyone and everyone can just go up in front of the camera and well... basically have fun. be as goofy as you want or take a nice group photos. the cool thing is we don't limit the amount of shots you want. we shoot all night! =) now that's a mouth full of awesome!!!

please inquire if interested in adding to your package.

here's a little about benefit cosmetics:
"Founded by twin sisters Jane and Jean Ford in 1976, Benefit Cosmetics has since grown into a global brand with over 1,000 counters in 25 countries. They began by selling their cosmetics creations out of their San Francisco boutique which was designed to look like a candy store, and soon developed a line of products that were as fun as they were luxurious and innovative." - suite101.com

//ed pingol
contact me =)

edpingolphotography.com


"Laughter is the best cosmetic, so grin & wear it!"
—Jean & Jane Ford, co-founders Benefit Cosmetics

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while people were having fun with the photo studio, i covered the dinner gathering

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day2
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"Laughter is the best cosmetic, so grin & wear it!"
—Jean & Jane Ford, co-founders Benefit Cosmetics

new offerings

benefit is a crazy cool company. how many corporations will actually allow creative teachings such as these? it totally brought a smile to my face

this company plays hard AND works hard

this is their very own britney actually singing britney spears