A couple of weeks back, the hottest, most travelled, and most creditable wedding photography workshop hit the capital city of Doha in Qatar. Two years have been removed from the last time I visited the place and man do they develop in a rush. It felt great to be back and have the opportunity to hold Metrophoto’s hothouse workshop organized by Chai Bautista of Chaiful Ideas together with the brilliant people of Team Creation in Doha.

The lecture and the initial part of the shoot were held at the 5-star, totally splendid Sharq hotel. The room we had boasts of a making of a boardroom for the royalty of the country (plush interior, state-of-the-art equipment, gourmet snacks, and framed impressions of the royal family – I guess that was the key giveaway) and it was packed! There were some people that had to sit on the floor – well I think that was because loved the intricate carpet design.

One of the highlights of the workshop was our shoot at Zekreet! There, preserved and unique rock formations provided a magnificent backdrop for the second part of the shoot and totally gave the barren desert feel warranted by being in the middle east.

There are too many people to acknowledge and thank for making the workshop a sure-fire success but most of them goes to Chai, whose great aspirations, taste, and the commitment to bring only the best allowed Hothouse to happen in Doha despite the seemingly impossible tasks. And to everyone else in Team Creation, Nur, Angel, Fame, AL, Pete, Bobby, Billy, cousin Jerome, Roger and Mommy Eds and Dennis for the wonderful wedding gowns, to the countless sponsors (see the poster below), and of course the awesome batch of participants that included people who flew in from Dubai and Kuwait and even one the loveliest Metrophoto Bride, Roan – thanks for an experience that will be impossible to forget.

Join us as we relive Hothouse Doha all over again :) And for those who want to experience the Hothouse workshop, Dubai is next on July 27 and 28. Check details here.

Our haute and hot couple, Angel and Fame. Dont be fooled by the names, they are not a lesbian couple.

The hotel had a lot of arabic details that were new and very interesting for me.

The fabulous gowns were provided by Doha’s top Filipino designer Ed Ocampo.

Remember that desert I was talking about? Yep, these are the photos from Zekreet :)

Day one lecture photo.

Love those Hothouse Doha shirts.

On the right is Rico. He is the reason, I had to translate all my workshop jokes to English. LOL

It was scorching HOT! I swear I could curse right now remembering how hot is was.

Mommy Eds and his team (excluding the buff guy on the right, that’s Allan).

It was the worst time of the day to shoot outdoor but I guess for a workshop that’s a good opportunity. I cannot just say to all of them to wait for the afternoon light. hehehe.

Now this is the afternoon light. It’s as majestic as the location! :)

That’s me up there, I was looking for Bear Gylls. LOL.

Don’t be mistaken, we didn’t change models.

That’s Jerome below left, thank him and Pete for most of the Behind-the-scenes shots of the workshop :)

With Jerome is Sarah, our beautiful sponsor from Red Bull. Yes, we had two gorgeous women carrying ice-cold Reb Bull for everyone while we were shooting. :)

Doha is METROFIED! Yet again :)

Huge thanks again to Nur (we love those pink pants and shorts) and Chai for making my stay in Doha extra special :)