VFDOMINGO, Photographer: Visibility in a flash

THE PHILIPPINE STAR 01/13/2007

Time is everything for professional photographer Voltaire Domingo. Camera in hand and flashbulb-ready, he captures memories in the time it takes to blink an eye: from picture book weddings to late-breaking news. In his line of work, the rule is simple: you blink, you lose.

Voltaire’s love affair with snapshots began after he picked up the finer points of photography from his dad. "My father was a government photographer for many years. I remember covering my first wedding as his assistant when I was just 12 years old," he recounts.

He learned early on that few professions are as intensely demanding as photography. While journalists have the luxury of putting pen to paper, a photojournalist needs to capture the story in a single shot at just the right moment.

"It can get pretty overwhelming. While you’re hunched over your camera to get a shot, you still have to be aware of everything that’s going on around you. You have to think ahead and anticipate your next photo op, even if your life is at stake," Voltaire says.

Voltaire’s home on the road is his pickup truck, which also serves as his base of operations.

As a member of the US-based Next Pictures Press Photo Agency (NPPA Images), he is always on call to cover events and late-breaking news anytime. Aside from his usual arsenal of photography equipment, he always carries his laptop, a portable office enhanced with a Super 3G-capable PC card, powered by Globe Visibility.

"With all the photographers in the country covering the same news, ang mahuli talo talaga," he says. "You have to be the first to send in your photo to the news desk or the wire agencies when stories break."

Using his Globe Visibility, he shows the portal online where professional photojournalists upload their photos, and editors can pick and choose who to banner on the front page of the newspaper the next day.

Globe Visibility is the first mobile Internet plan in the country that uses Globe’s 3G with HSDPA wireless network. This brand new network, also known as a hyper-charged version of 3G, hence, "Super 3G," has broken the 2Mbps speed barrier and surpassed the current HSDPA benchmark speed of 1.4-1.8 Mbps.

For Voltaire, this extra-support helps him keep pace with the changing demands of his chosen field. "With the advent of digital photography and the Internet, people have come to expect news reports immediately as events unfold. That means I have to get my pictures uploaded online almost instantly," he says.

Globe’s HSDPA technology is up to 25 times faster than an ordinary 56Kbps dial-up connec-tion and as much as six times faster than conventional 3G technology, which has a peak rate of 250Kbps. With Super 3G, Voltaire can upload a full CD’s worth of photos in just over a minute.

With the powerful cameras that Voltaire uses, it’s easy to amass hundreds of megabytes worth of high-resolution snapshots that would take forever to upload using a regular DSL line – if you could even find one in the field.

"Imagine covering fires and floods, but going hunting for an Internet café to send your pictures off right away?" he says. "At least sa Visibility, may instant Internet basta may signal."

Since Globe’s Super 3G technology runs on its nationwide cellular network, Voltaire can get on the Internet anywhere there is a cellular phone signal. In fact, Globe’s nationwide coverage means that he can surf the Internet without wires, without the inconvenience of cables or the limited area of a hotspot.

For people like Voltaire Domingo who capture memories in a flash, Globe Visibility is always on hand to make sure that they go where they’re needed in the blink of an eye.

To find out more about Globe Visibility, log on to www.betterthan3g.com.