FUJIFILM Corporation was established in 1934 in Tokyo, Japan as a producer of photographic films.
Over decades, its research and development have diversified into new markets, bringing continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, while building a strong presence across the globe.
In the field of photography, in its aim to help enhance the quality of life of people worldwide, the company has consistently bested awards with the X series cameras for its outstanding image quality and unique color reproduction technology.
Fujifilm Philippines recently launched two events in Davao within a day last May 21 as a treat to Instax users and Fuji camera users. I was happy to play a role in these events.
After the successful stints of “Instax and Crafts” in both Manila and Cebu, the team brought the cool workshop event in Abreeza Mall of Davao City.
A fun-filled afternoon sprinkled creativity in the air as participants to the DIY party busy themselves on work tables in a bid to emerge with the most creative artwork they can submit on time.
I was the first guest speaker who gave tips and tricks in using the artsy double exposure from the Instax Mini 90 and went from table to table to do a demo. Fellow evangelist April San Pedro further pushed the level by teaching them how to create the pop-up banner.
Meanwhile, beautiful song renditions by acoustic singer Jewel Villaflores rang clearly in a background of excited chatters and snips and rustle of scissors and papers.
My media friends could not get enough of the pleasures the Instax Share printer can give by preserving tiny memories of photos from the mobile phone to the film prints.
Takuya Maeda, Fujifilm’s Division Head for electronic and photo imaging, sums up the electricity set off by the Instax frenzy: “There is a certain kind of joy in looking at one’s photos – more so, if it’s something you can hold on to like a printed photograph.” This workshop was meant to show users the many ways to enjoy and preserve memories of their photographs.
True enough, I have started my addiction for Instax years ago as a travel photographer who loves to give prints to the people I meet. The way their faces light up are priceless for me. I believe that these Instax films are meant to be shared and given away.
All throughout the session, we have been raffling off coupons by Guess Jeans and token prizes from sponsors. A few lucky ones went home with bigger prizes during raffle, with top prizes including the Instax Mini 7s, Instax Wide and Hello Kitty Limited Edition Instax.
Congratulations to top winners: Charisse Canave of Cake Galerie for creating the best DIY photo album artwork, and fellow writer Kenneth Ong, who went home with the most coveted Hello Kitty cam.
The night was still young when Fuji enthusiasts (we call ourselves the X Users) filled Primo Café and Grille for an evening of booze, pizza and bonding in a Thanksgiving Party. Primo provided a more delicious finger food selection on the table with mojitos to match. Davao and Socsargen X users joined in camaraderie as welcomed by both Division Head Takuya Maeda and Division Manager Nelson Perez.
Both gave a rousing speech of gratitude to the users and pulled off a spontaneous raffle draw of two Instax mini 7s cameras.
This time, I was hosting the informal event with Glenn Gatan and X Ambassador Niko Villegas, who gave a special presentation and assisted in raffling off accessories to the guests.
Wearing the black Fuji shirts with the trademark cartoon of “mirrorless revolution”, we capped the night off with a live shoot of a Ducati motorcycle with a model, tested the demo units and lenses on display, danced to the live band music, and happily posed in a group that shows the growing number of contented users in both cities.