Swiss Group Photo Tours 2022-2023

In October 2020 we ran the first of our 7 nights High Atlas and desert Swiss group photo tours, which was followed up by another one last month. Working in collaboration with Swiss Photo Club, enthusiastic photographers arrived in Marrakesh the morning of the tour start and immediately departed for the Atlas Mountains. Crossing over after lunch we arrived in the valleys approaching Ait Benhaddou, bathed in late afternoon light, the crumbling mud Ksars perched above a snaking river valley. In all 7 nights staying in a range of charming small hotels including a luxury desert camp, covering portraits, street photography, night-sky and well as camel trains and of course landscape photography as we made our way down to the desert and back. Above all the small group ethos encourages a shared experience making Swiss group photo tours an especially memorable one. Here’s what Patricia and Gary had to say about it.

“I enjoyed this photo tour so much!! I was very lucky having you all in this trip!! Darren, thanks for the interesting journey and for your patience with me, asking always for the setting recommendations :-). Patricia.”

“The tour was fantastic, thank you Darren! It was very interesting to see all the different locations in Morocco. I felt I learned from everyone in the group.” Gary.

Visit Creative Camera for a gallery of guest images

Landscape photography tour in Spain

I’m launching a new tour for Spain starting next year specifically for those interested in landscape photography. We’ll be located in Western Andalusia honing in on three distinct locations which you can see from the gallery of images below which is my semi-abstract take on the region. The region is photographically rich and offers plenty of scope for using ND filters and wide angle lenses, kit that often doesn’t get a work-out in Morocco. 

The photographic sites include the natural parks to the north west of Malaga with their unique cork trees, Rivers near Seville and beaches areas close to Cadiz. The tour will be instructive hands-on showing you how to get the best compositions and how to develop your own approach. We won’t cover the basics as we’ll be on location most of the time but techniques such as depth of field, hyperfocal distance will get covered and there will be the chance to review images during the day or in the evening. Whilst most of the locations are accessible by car, there’s a little steep walking in the river areas but easily achievable without a heavy rucksack. There will be the option of extending your stay in Seville or Malaga with the option to fly into either airport. The accommodation will be in rural settings as close to the photographic zones as possible. The cost for 8 nights will be £1799 which includes your accommodation and transport to locations based on 4 people.

Forests, rivers with waterfalls and rocky seascapes are all in the mix and there are both wider views to be taken as well as more abstract close-up work so ideal also for owners of macro lenses or a telephoto with a good macro facility. Available dates will be in July this year plus May and September in 2018. Click to view a gallery of my images from the region.

Spain photography tours

 

A review of our northern tour of Morocco

Fez-Riad-Morocco-Photo-tour
We stay in some splendid locations and Riads, and in Fez one of the best; Riad Ahlam, superbly run, is has a wonderful downstairs courtyard to take breakfast in. With a moveable roof you get both the options of warmth and sunlight in the day. Our northern tour in March went down very well and you can read more about it with a review by Peter Wyles.
Having been out with Darren on three previous trips, I knew we would be seeing some excellent photographic sites and we were not disappointed!

We covered Maracech, Fez, the Cascade Ouzoud Falls, Volublis (Roman ruins), Chefchaouen,and Meknes. There was a lot of travelling involved but the compensation was seeing the rolling hills and thousands of hectares of fertile valleys – so different from the stony deserts further south.

There was plenty of opportunity for street photography but also for architecture and landscape.

Our favourite was Chefchaouen, the blue city, where the architecture was so different and unique that you could not fail to take some brilliant images. The people there are so friendly too.

We were accommodated in traditional Riads which were very good and also provided excellent catering

Being only three hours and ten minutes from Gatwick, this is a fabulous way of getting exposure to a vastly different culture and amazing photographic opportunities.

Visited March 2017

10 photography tips for beginners | how to take better travel photos

Photography tips for beginners by Darren Lewey

photography tips for beginners

I don’t have the figures to hand on global travel but it seems travel further afield is increasingly popular and with it the desire to produce good photos to show to friends and family or to satisfy a creative need. Here are my 10 photography tips for beginners on how to take better travel photos and certainly something to be considered ahead of one of the numerous photography tours available.

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Travel Photography holidays inspired – a look at 3 greats

The inspiration for some of the teaching on our travel photography holidays

Back in the mid 1980’s the purchase of a few books via a book club lead to my early forays into examining the work of photographers from the great era of the 1930’s to 1950’s. The tradition of realism was firmly cemented through the images of 3 very different but now considered crucial photographers of their generation. Their individual approaches inspire the kinds of photography that guests on our travel photography holidays seek to weave into to their own way of looking at the world.    Continue reading

Autumn in Spain

Landscape photography tours in the northern Spanish forests in autumn offer colour and spectacle to the photographic enthusiast. The region east of Bilbao comprises key national parks including the largest, Ordessa in the Spanish Pyrenees. With collection and departure from Bilbao, the tour is geared for photographers who have an interest in taking better landscape photographs in locations within easy reach of overnight accommodation. 

Working with light

At the autumn time the weather in the region is mixed shifting from sunny to cloudy days with a touch of cooler air. The Pyrenees may offer some light high altitude snowfall which will decorate the wider epic scene otherwise your focus will be on the seasonal change with the leaves in full rich fall colours.

In landscape photography, a variety of weather conditions can work. There is no one ideal light for all scenes and locations.

Photographers will often recoil at sunny days and superficially this is true; the direct sun is problematic. However, the exceptions are those when strong sunlight passes through tree cover in misty conditions or when deep forest tree cover needs light penetration to lift the scene.

Perhaps the most useful approach in bright sun is to work with reflected light coming back from the other side of the valley. The quality of light is softer and warmer and offers a different quality.

Learning to work with the light that’s available and tailoring your photography to suit will be a key feature of the tour.

Forest floor

Weathered

Framing

This tour is different

Genuinely small group sizes make a difference and a maximum of 5 makes for an ideal guide and guest ratio. Whilst we’ll be going to popular locations we’ll keep away from the crowds as there are enough places off the beaten path where we can explore unhindered. The tour places emphasis on finding gems within any given location and it’s not about going to the hotspots to recreate classic well known photographs.

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The tour plan

We’ll spend 2 -3 days at each of the locations so there is more than one night in 2 of the 3 locations. Travel times are not excessive between them and these days can include morning or late afternoon photography. Early and late light will mostly work best for exterior locations with some time spent in the forest during the day when the light is filtered and optimum. Day 8 will be a drive day of about 6 hours back to Bilbao.

+ click for a typical itinerary

The places you’ll visit

We’ll take in three national parks during the week. Gorbea, Iraki Forest and Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Each of them is markedly different and across the 3 you’ll experience a range of photographic options including rivers and lakes as well as mountain scenes and more classic forest views with autumnal leaves and the special colours which draw photographers each year to the north of Spain.

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What you’ll gain photographically

As one of the leading landscape photography tours to this part of Spain, my approach is about developing your own take on the locations and less about technical expertise. It’s about quietly surveying a scene and thinking about how to record it. Almost a touch of mindfulness is necessary.

There won’t be heavy trekking at the locations, just shortish walks which means you’ll spend more time at one place than shooting varied scenes on the hop.

Controlling exposure and highlights will be a key feature of the week alongside thinking about the choice of focal length. If you use a zoom that’s fine but you’ll cover how to position yourself to combine DOF, perspective and spatial compression using the lens to its capabilities.

There will be ample opportunities to work in the close-up domain with the available leaf structures but mostly it will be about instilling some abstract properties within the composition and learning to convey more than a description of what’s in front and instead create a timeless image.

View my gallery of images from the region taken on a recent trip.

Isolated

Always keep in mind the opportunity for finding a tree that sets itself apart from the rest. Weathered or damaged branches offer separation of contrast and tonal range. Its starkness and decay are a standout scene against the uniformity of seasonal change. Single trees can also make good images but I also like more complexity in the scene so the complete frame is offering textures and form. We’ll cover how to look for both.

+ another take on the locations

Autumn hues

Whilst colour is in abundance in this part of Spain, the mountainside swathes of yellows and reds can be exchanged for a more refrained look at revealing the autumnal hues. Using careful framing you’ll learn how to balance greens with vibrant colour. The eye leans towards tonal range within a scene rather than a vast expanse of one colour. Learning to balance reds and greens in a scene will lead to more interesting images.

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Mist

Gorbea Park at altitude lends itself to the possibility of morning mist. Tall trees offer the perfect foil for light to descend through. Photographers will often say they cannot photograph in sunlight but there are exceptions and this is one such situation. Learning how to control your exposure will be key to stopping highlights from burning out. Bracketing is another solution to rendering the scene as full as you see it.

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Detail

Mood

Soft light

Accommodation & dining

As always on our landscape photography tours, there’s a mix of B&Bs in rural and village locations. They are well facilitated with good bathrooms and on-site access to wifi.  There’s no room sharing or supplement coming as a single person – you’ll have your own en-suite private bathroom. Couples are welcome and this is also a popular option. Evening dining is regional cuisine either served in local restaurants and there’s of course plenty of available local wine. Across the 7 nights, we’ll stay in 3 places. Click on the following links to see our first-choice selection for the establishment’s Hotel B&B B&B

Reserve your place on one of our Autumn Spain photography tours

After a successful trip in October 2019, I’m offering a tour in October 2022 & 2023. The group size will be limited to 5 persons which is an excellent tutor-student ratio with me as instructor and guide. Transportation will be via private car and includes collection from the airport. The price will be £1995.00 for the 7 nights based on at least 3 people in the group including transport, accommodation and breakfasts. You can view my gallery of the region here to get a feel for what’s possible.

Photo Tours

Use the form below to register your interest and I’ll promptly get back to you with availability. You’ll need a telephoto in your kit bag, a wide-angle and a decent tripod. If you require filters then I recommend Format Hitech. Let me know if you are unsure what to purchase. You’ll need to arrange flights into Bilbao. BA run a service from London Heathrow and Easyjet from Manchester. Reserve your place soon for one of the best value landscape photography tours around. This tour is only available for one date.

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Spain Photo Tour

Join one of our unique Spain photography tours for landscape photo workshops in Andalusia exploring the southern coast, verdant national parks and forests in the region between Cadiz, Seville & Malaga. With collection and departure from Seville or Malaga, the tour is geared for photographers who have an interest in taking better landscape photographs in locations within easy reach of overnight accommodation. You can independently add more days to the trip at the end which will give you city-based photographic experience.

Learn how to find compositions

This tour is about spending time in a few varied locations and exploring the possibilities with your camera. To discover compositions that excite you and learn how your camera ‘sees’ as opposed to your eye.  You’ll be guided not just to locations but on how to think about evaluating a scene and making decisions about how to get the key features to stand out. You’ll encounter many landscape opportunities that offer variety and the opportunity to use different focal lengths and filters. You’ll be working with the elements; breaking waves, gusts of wind, cascading water and using your camera controls to get the effects you want. Still, you are still in Spain and not the most inhospitable of places. A low-medium level of adventure, just enough to feel you’ve earned your photos. Ideal for photographers looking for tutored guidance and personal development within the landscape domain.

Forests

Shoreline

Rivers

This tour is different

Many companies say 8-10 is a small group but I genuinely think no more than 6 persons is ideal and typically for this tour it will be no more than 4 or 5. In a small group at each of the locations, you’ll have the chance to find your own area to explore; there’s sufficient scale to find your patch. Most of the locations are in national parks and protected areas unique in Spain. There are very few other tourists photographing or indeed even visiting these places. Spain does attract many landscape based photo tours and they are mainly based in the north. With a small group, you’ll have the opportunity for plenty of one to one tuition.

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The tour plan

Your images are our priority. We’ll spend at least 2 days at each of the key locations; cork forest, beach and river allowing a day’s travel to get between them. Travel times are not excessive and these days include morning or/or evening photography. Early and late workshops are the best for light so we’ll travel to the photographic areas for those times and then return to our base to download images and review them before heading out again. Allowing a couple of days at each place means you have a chance to get to know the location and refine your first day’s technique or composition. The more you look the better your images will be.

+ click for a typical itinerary

The places you’ll visit

Aside from your arrival cities such as Malaga or Seville, we’ll be located in National parks located between Cadiz and Malaga and in the region west of Seville. Los Alcornocales Natural Park is the cork tree forest that runs north from Gibraltar and we’ll be spending most of our time in this area at several locations. Forests of cork and oak, waterfalls, rhododendrons and orchids allow different kinds of images. The ‘red river’ Rio Tinto gives you plenty of opportunities to both go wide and get in close and abstract, playing with colours although reds and yellows are already present without post saturation, a result of many years of mining.

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Hands on instruction

The tour is for all levels of ability, you don’t have to be a landscape expert or have a brilliant sense of composition but it’s essential that you have the basics of how to control exposure and how to navigate around your camera. I’ll explain the depth of field, putting hyperfocal distance into practice, choosing the right lens and using your tripod and improving your workflow as well as how to approach a scene and order your composition and technique to get the shot you have in mind.  The week is open to all ages but there is some walking over short distances. The tour is primarily about developing your skills as a photographer and acquiring more images for your portfolio. View my gallery of images from the region taken on a recent trip.

About time

Essentially the locations offer a timeless perspective on the Andalusian landscape. Rocky beach sandstone erosion, the rivers and waterfalls and shoreline and seascapes. The process of time is apparent but how can photographic textures be played with. In attempting to convey time how exactly do we vary our shutter speed to achieve different kinds of images and even surprise ourselves in these instances.  Investing in an ND filter before arriving will be useful here. You can also begin to think about how your images relate to each other so there is some cohesion in your approach.

+ another take on the locations

Colour palette

Although there are some fabulous colours to be found on the shoreline and river on the tour, it’s often about subtly as well. Green, forest green en-mass does represent a challenge to photographers which is why there are few great landscape shots taken on the greenest Greek islands.  Landscape photography is about finding tonal contrast within the subject and the cork trees of Andalusia provide such opportunities which is why it’s a great location to explore. It’s not all about saturating your photos in post which is a shortcut way to gain appeal but ultimately not as satisfying.

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Framing

As always it’s about composition. Mostly what you leave out and perhaps as importantly the relationship between foreground and background. Does the background interfere with the key elements in the scene? How does the main subject clearly stand out or perhaps there is no dominant focal point. Having an idea of what the photograph is visually trying to convey can be a starting point. Too much and too little contrast are also deal breakers. Learning to look for tonal separation whilst avoiding distracting highlights will also be part of what each workshop will cover every day. Evening reviews are essential for this.

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Wild woods

Surreal edges

Honeycombe

Your accommodation

There’ll be a mix of B&B’s and self-catering facilities set in rural locations. They are well facilitated with good bathrooms and on-site access to wifi.  There’s no room sharing or supplement coming as a single person – you’ll have your own en-suite private bathroom. Couples are welcome and this is also a popular option. Evening dining is regional cuisine either served in local restaurants or you have the option of self-catering. Across the 7 nights, we’ll stay in 3 places. Click on the following links to see our first choice selection the establishment’s Hotel SC Hotel 

Reserve your place on one of our Spain photography tours

After successful tours in 2018 & 2019, the next available tour will be in April 2023. The group size will be limited to 4 persons with myself as instructor and guide. Transportation will be via private vehicle and includes collection from Malaga airport. The price will be £1995.00 for the 7 nights based on at least 3 people in the group including transport, accommodation and breakfasts. You can view my book of Andalusia from 2017 voted book of the month by Bob Books.

Use the form below to register your interest and I’ll promptly get back to you with availability. You’ll need a telephoto in your kit bag, a wide-angle and a decent tripod. If you require filters then I recommend Format Hitech. Let me know if you are unsure what to purchase. You’ll need to arrange flights into Malaga as your first choice and Seville as your second.

Contact Form Demo (#6)

Morocco photo Tour

47 Morocco photography Tours over eleven years, our 8 day Morocco photography tours begin and end in Marrakesh and take the route over the High Atlas mountains down to the dunes and are geared for photographing local people as well as landscapes. The tour is a ‘soft adventure’ for photographers of all levels of ability who want both the assurance of a guided and secure way of experiencing the country, combined with inside tips and advice on getting the most exciting photographs. You can add more days to the trip by visiting Essaouira, Fes, Meknes & Chefchaouen which will give you another photographic experience. Check our tour prices against competitors and you’ll be surprised. We’re the leader in Morocco for specialist photo experiences.
 

An exotic journey

Nothing can quite prepare you for the landscapes in this part of Morocco. Choosing one of our Morocco photography tours is to enter into another world where rock formations, valleys and desert sands offer a kaleidoscope of shifting colour and texture set against the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains. Add to that, Kasbahs, dunes and oasis communities and it’s quite the smorgasbord for scenic landscape enthusiasts. For many, the highlight of the tour is photographing the local families, including nomad people, who are now our friends. During the past eleven years, we’ve built these relationships, allowing you to make portraits of them at your leisure.

Families for portraits

Nomad gamily, Todra Gorge

Scenes for mood

Visiting the famous Ksar Morocco Photo Tour

Dunes for shapes

Visiting dunes Morocco Photo Tour

This tour is different

Many Morocco photography tour itineraries for this part of the world essentially offer a similar description.  There’s the exotic element in the published itineraries; Kasbahs, snow-capped mountain views, village children – it’s all there. This tour is different for introducing you to local people and families where you can photograph them in their homes. Secondly, we’ll get you to the more unusual spots in the best light for the photo opportunities you have in your mind. If you don’t have any preconceptions about what images you want to get, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  This tour is about the real country away from the cities where the people and lifestyles are arguably more interesting. The tour also offers lots of technical variety so you’ll be using most of your kit.

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The week’s tour plan

Your images are our priority. Those who have been on the guided photo tours are pretty focused on getting memorable shots every day –  the itinerary is planned to keep that in mind. We confine driving to the late morning or afternoon when the light is less useful, arriving for landscape shots at about the right time. Each day we’ll offer you a mix of landscape and people photography, either reportage or portraiture. We cover 1600km for the tour but you’re not travelling every day and not constantly changing hotels; it’s nicely paced.  We get the balance about right in terms of variety and keeping fresh. In the evenings there’s the opportunity to review the day’s images for individual feedback so bring your laptops – you’ll be shooting a lot of photos across different genres giving you a huge variety of imagery.

+ click for a typical itinerary

The places you’ll visit

After your arrival day, on day one from Marrakesh, we travel towards the desert which offers some stunning scenes as well as opportunities to stop and photograph the rural river valley communities. Our arrival in Ait Benhaddou sets up two days of exploring both the famous Ksar there and some village families. Then eastwards, and for days four and five we are based near the Gorges at Dades and Todra, where we’ll photograph rock formations and local families as well as nomad families. Our next location further on into the desert is the wonderful Ksar and the oasis of Elkhorbat. By day seven we’ve arrived at the colourful market of Rissini and the dunes in Merzouga where you have the chance of an overnight desert camp stay. Our last night before heading back to Marrakesh is at the Palmeraie of Skoura.

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Photography tours for your portfolio

The tour is for all levels of ability so you don’t have to be a landscape expert or have a brilliant sense of composition. You can pick some of this up as you go on the tour. However, it’s assumed that you have some knowledge about how to use your camera controls. Don’t worry if you’re not completely comfortable with exposure control. Some of the tour locations challenge even the most experienced photographers and we’ll cover this as part of the tuition on the spot, but there will be limited time to explain what shutter speed or depth of field (DOF) is. The week is open to all ages but there is some walking over short distances. The tour is primarily about building a set of great Morocco photos for personal or competition use. Take a look here for a great tour portfolio courtesy of Brian Law.

Ancient past

Travelling across desert plains you’ll see grandeur from a bygone age. Dramatic rock formations, an extraordinary testament to natural forces, form a backdrop to sweeping river valleys and crumbling Kasbahs. The architectural splendour of the region’s most famous Kasbah – Ait Benhaddou, dating back to the 13th century is undiminished and it still houses many families within its mud-brick walls. In the Dades and Todra areas, there are the remnants of hundreds more, many of which are seeing the reintroduction of local families.

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Berber communities

Berbers are Morocco’s indigenous inhabitants.  With their distinct customs and an officially recognised language, they populate great swaths of the country. Predominantly in the High Atlas, they are smallholding farmers living in traditional communities sometimes in difficult circumstances who are warm and generous people. Some live as nomads coming down to the river beds in winter and venturing up into the High Atlas plains with their goats for the summer months. Many of the people you’ll meet on the tour will be Berber.

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Epic landscapes

The tour offers a variety of expansive vistas to photograph with classical landscape framing, particularly useful in the High Atlas just south of Marrakesh, in the Dades Valley and the desert dunes. These locations as well as others in the desert regions around Ait Benhaddou also lend themselves to more intimate abstract landscape interpretations, treating scenes as graphic elements with shape and form coming to the fore.  In the dunes, we concentrate on finding shapes and flow in the sand as well as passing camel trains which is always a favourite.

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New scenes

Night-photography

Street photography

Street photography on tour

High Atlas Landscapes

Your dunes hotel

All the hotels on tour are carefully selected for their unique style and traditional charms.  Many guests have been surprised by the level of comfort. Wifi and air-conditioning are standard along the route and three have swimming pools. There’s no room sharing or supplement arriving as a single person – you’ll have your en-suite private bathroom. Couples are welcome and this is also a popular option. Evening dining is regional cuisine served in the hotels. Alcohol is available in some of the establishments but as we head towards the desert, the menus become more limited in choice and wine and beer are less frequently available. All the hotels can cater for vegetarians and vegan diets. View our link here to choose the right photography tour.

Join a group and reserve your place

We run our Morocco photography tours in the spring, autumn and winter. Please also request dates for availability.  The price is USD 2595/ £1995, per person based on a maximum group size of 6 for the 8-day tour. We offer a 10% loyalty discount for previous clients. Please use the adjacent form for an initial enquiry.

Dunes for a Morocco Photo Tour

Our Morocco photography tours offer exceptional value, introducing you to local people for portraits and providing a comprehensive photographic experience from a published photographer and guide. It’s designed as a tour to include a range of imagery and experiences. For a longer trip including the imperial cities of the north, we have a Grand Tour of Morocco with upgraded accommodation.

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Photo holiday

We run 8-day Morocco photography holidays on the Atlantic coast of Morocco in the UNESCO Medina of Essaouira for all levels of photographic ability.  With daily flights into Marrakesh and twice-weekly flights into Essaouira from several European cities, it’s time to take the next step up with your photography and indulge yourself with a week’s learning in an exotic location. The course offers exceptional value from a tried and tested supplier. 

Take Beautiful Photographs on one of our photography holidays

Truly a treat for photographers, this part of the world offers so much to photograph. Its exotic appeal has drawn photographers for generations so why not follow in their footsteps and book one of our all-inclusive photography holidays. With workshops in street or reportage photography, portraiture, abstract and landscape photography, we’ll help you get the best from the location. A beginner’s week available during the summer, also includes getting to grips with camera controls.  So if you have some gaps in your photographic knowledge, be it the composition, how to get what you want from your camera or shooting people then we’ll get them ironed out for you.  Photography is pretty complicated if you delve down into its possibilities but on these photography holidays, we simplify it.

The port of Essaouira

The historic medina

Rural surroundings

Leading provider

We are the premier supplier for Morocco photography holidays having received over 500 guests. We can offer you the reassurance of booking a holiday with a provider of note when visiting a country you may see as ‘foreign’. It’s a destination that draws around 10 million visitors a year and arriving individually you’ll be taken care of.  Join a group of like-minded enthusiasts and indulge yourself in picture-making. For all the preparation and learning to take a photograph, the thing that most photography experts don’t tell you is that surprises in photography are often the highlights. You’ll be surprised by what you can achieve here.

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The week’s plan

We run 4 days of photography teaching in the medina and port here in Essaouira with a morning out in the countryside.  Your sixth is your project day where you can find your own ‘photographic feet’ shooting to a brief after a one to one discussion.  Each day you’ll also have free time in the afternoon for yourself when you can do other things and there are many other activities to do here including cooking workshops, massages (Hammam) and horse riding to name a few, as well as shopping. In total the week’s tutor contact time is about 30hrs and at the end of the week you’ll have your own galleries of images available online.

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Intensive learning

Compared to taking a part-time course back home, here you’ll learn quicker, more intensively with images to show for your learning. The week’s teaching is progressive so each day you’ll learn new skills and how to shoot across different genres. The group size is a maximum 5 so you won’t get lost in numbers and with daily image reviews of each other’s work you’ll learn how others saw the same location in their own individual way. Tutorials are also scheduled for the week. With great accommodation and the culinary delights of dining at different restaurants as an all-round activity or learning holiday, it’s hard to beat.

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Exotic locations. Photography for all levels

I cater for all levels of ability for the week’s photography holiday. With a background in teaching, I can juggle different ways of learning, requests and students’ individual needs often all at the same time! So don’t worry if you feel at a loss with any aspect of your camera skills. We’ll cover the basics in a fun and inspiring way assisting you on the way to technical proficiency. If you’re a photographer with more experience but need a push with creativity then we’ll create a personal development plan for the week to get you on to the next level. For the more experienced, the locations and review session some of the wonderful and surprising images you’ll get will keep you busy. The week is open to all ages and we get a good mix.

Camera Controls

It’s useful if you come armed with some understanding of where your camera controls are but during the beginner’s week, we’ll cover the technical aspects of setting your camera up properly including the correct mode to shoot in for your level of photography. We’ll also cover the following: eradicating camera shake and producing sharp images time after time, changing your camera for different lighting situations, understanding how to utilise the depth of field and for what situations, controlling the exposure and using histograms to save time correcting on your computer afterwards. If you have a smartphone camera then all these tools are on there to work with. Check the gallery link for photos taken with an iPhone 13.

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Composition

Seeing the world around you a-fresh purely for photography needs a bit of practice but everyone is capable of producing photos that are compositionally sound. Learning how to see how the camera sees is something we cover.  It’s an essential component of becoming a better photographer. During the week you’ll learn how to see the ordinary in a new light; to find value in less obvious touristy scenes, skills that you can use long after your week here. Another aspect of the holiday is understanding how to harness light and its creative powers; the real essence of photography. Likewise, portrait, abstract and reportage (street photography), all require different compositional strategies and we’ll cover them during the week.

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Your photography

I hope that by the end of the week, your photography has come on leaps and bounds and your ability to shoot different situations and get the best from each of them becomes intuitive. Exceeding expectations is part of my grand plan. It’s quietly revealed by the end through the online galleries of your best work uploaded on the last day, for you to send to friends and family or enjoy yourself once home. During the week you can expect to photograph seascapes, boats in the port, medina architecture and rural communities. Photographing people is quite a skill and it’s generally the first thing people ask on the first day. Suffice to say it’s an integral part of the week’s learning and we cover different approaches in street photography.

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Abstract Photography

People Photography

Landscape Photography

Your accommodation

You’re booked to stay in an authentic 18th Century Riad, with rooms usually allocated on the rooftop terrace, perfect for privacy and catching a bit of sun. Rooms are all en-suite and authentically decorated. There’s no room for sharing or single supplements. Everything is arranged from the moment you touch down. The course is inclusive of private airport transfers, your en-suite room and 30 hours of teaching. Perfect for singles, the holiday is absolutely safe for women arriving alone; the hotel has excellent Trip Advisor reviews for its warm service – it’ll feel like home. Click on the picture for reviews. The Atlantic coast of Morocco is also an ideal all year destination with about 300 sunny days a year.  Essaouira town is also famed for its laid back attitude. There’s none of the street hassle associated with a more famous larger city 2 hours away. You can enjoy exploring at your own pace during non-teaching time.

Join a group and reserve your place

With prices starting at £1185 for a single person, excluding flights, our Morocco photography holidays in Essaouira, are an exceptional experience and sharing the week with other photo enthusiasts makes it an unforgettable memory shared through your photo galleries. Please use the adjacent form to enquire about availability. Your week is inclusive of 7 nights’ accommodation and airport transfers. Take a look at the week’s itinerary here. You can also fly directly into Essaouira with Ryanair from London Stansted and save the transfer costs on this end. Email for discounts. Please note from 2022 we are offering two different kinds of workshops in Essaouira. One for beginners to understand their camera controls and a second course for developing your creativity. Visit our new Photography workshops page to find out more: Creative Camera Workshops.

Contact Form Demo (#4)