More like worshipping at Mt. Olympus I told myself, when the likes of Jun Miranda , Ibarra Deri, Dominique James, Mandy Navasero, up and coming Dennis Panlilio and Renzo Sen happily went about discussing and later demonstrating their art and craft during the show. You see, I am my mom’s , Deedee M. Siytangco , the host and Manila Bulletin columnist, show coordinator (purely for the love of) and this was a dream episode. Imagine gathering the best of the glamour, portrait, product photographers in one talk show! My husband Andrew, who is also now a passionate photographer co-hosted the show, and this section’s editor, Ronald Jayme was a very special guest. After all, Jun Miranda is a regular twice-monthly columnist of Picture Perfect, and this section has featured the guests’ photos.

My own love affair with photography started way back but it wasn’t until Andrew and I took several classes under Jun Miranda, Dominique or "DJ," and Deri (at Jun’s Philippine Center for Creative Imaging in Pasong Tamo, Makati) that I plunged into the intoxicating world of "digital photography." As our mentor Jun said, it’s a virus, and once bitten by the bug, that’s it! You start buying your camera, bigger lens, better camera, and so on. Andrew gave me my first "pro" camera and now I walk around with it all the time. My favorite model? My eight-year-old princess Amada Julia!

Going back to the "dream shoot" – I was behind the television cameras clicking away as DJ posed statuesque models from CalCarrie Modeling Agency, Ann and Daphne both sweet sixteeners. He interacted with them, getting them into the mood producing "fabulous " shots. DJ is leaving for New York, but his studio, Playgrounds will be ably handled by his partner, dentist-turned-professional-photographer Renzo Sen. "Sensei" Deri, whose daughter Dail takes portraits of animals (a difficult job, says her doting dad) demonstrated his product shot technique of using only a flashlight for illumination. It was fascinating to see him point a tiny flashlight at the product-subjects in the dark, click and have a wonderful shot!

The common denominator for me, Mandy, Renzo, Dennis, and Andrew was that we all were "graduates" of PCCI. Mandy who studied photography abroad at a time when film was the only medium, took lessons in digital photography under Jun at PCCI. She has her own studio, "Pro Shots " and also handles public relations projects and writes for a broadsheet. Dennis also studied there as with Renzo. Dennis specializes in glamour and portraiture and has his own studio, too. He demonstrated his techniques in glamour photography with model Ann against the steel shutters of the studio. Beautiful!

When we asked Jun, DJ, and Deri if they’re not afraid of competition from their own students, they chorused: "Oh, no! We love it when our students set up their own studios. In fact, we even help them set up their studios and they can always come to us for more help ."

This very special episode of "Dee’s Day" will be shown on Thursday, Oct. 4 over channel 9 at 10 a.m and a replay on Friday at 8 a.m. The show is sponsored by The Manila Bulletin, PCSO, GSIS, and Dimsum n’ Dumplings at SM -The Block, SM Center, SM Fairview, SM Valenzuela, and V Mall in Ortigas.