Description
Tuscany Workshop & Retreat: Critique & Creative Process – June 10 to June 14, 2024
Are you looking for:
- Some in-depth critique of your work and suggestions on how to improve?
- Ideas and strategies for improving your creative mind?
- Time with like-minded photographers to discuss your work and theirs?
- Ways to start (and finish!) photographic projects?
- Tips on using Adobe Lightroom and other post-production strategies to enhance your creative workflow?
- A relaxing few days and nights in a beautiful little village in Tuscany’s Chianti region?
Then this 5-day photographic retreat is for you!
Registration Closes March 30
Day 1: Pick up in Florence on June 10 and transfer to Radda in Chianti + Overview of Creative Processes
Our driver will pick us up in central Florence and transfer us to the charming hamlet of Radda in Chianti, one of the oldest wine-producing towns in Italy. We’ll check in to our hotel, the charming Palazzo San Niccolo, settle in and then meet to begin discussion of our goals in photography and use of the creative process.
Using a combination of presentations, guided discussions and hands-on exercises, we’ll talk about the creative process, how it works and how you can generate new ideas for your photography. By tapping into the best tool that any photographer ever has – the brain, we’ll learn methods for developing creative ideas and a variety of strategies for making your own uniquely personal, project-based work.
Day 2: Creative Process
The morning will begin with a leisurely breakfast and time to wander Radda and photograph. After lunch we’ll begin in-depth critique of work that you bring along with you (prints, your laptop, an iPad, a thumb drive, etc). By looking at and deconstructing your work and the work of the others in the group (maximum 5), we will unravel common threads that hang through the photographs you’ve already made, looking at ways you can not only improve on what you’ve done, but also how you can use use those ideas as a point of departure for new bodies of work.
Day 3: Post-Production
The next day will begin again with a relaxed photographic start to the day, perhaps wandering outside Radda’s walls to photograph the vineyards that surround the town.
After lunch, we’ll spend time with Adobe’s Lightroom software, exploring the differences between Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Mobile and how they can all work together to make your image post-production life easier, more creative and more productive. After an overview of the Lightroom ecosphere, I’ll do a few deeper dives within the software, exploring masking, color grading, creating your own presets and more, all in the service of furthering your creative goals.
Day 4: Post-Production and Presentation
Another morning of photographing around Radda in Chianti and lunch on your own, we’ll circle back to Adobe Lightroom to look briefly at how it can work alongside Adobe Photoshop and its new AI capabilities. We’ll finish our time together looking at distributing your work – ways to get those images off your hard drives or the prints out from under your bed and out into the world to a wider audience.
Day 5: Return to Florence
After breakfast, our van will pick us up and return us to central Florence, where we’ll say our goodbyes.
But wait… there’s more!
Of course, we’ll eat and drink well. Breakfasts will be at our great hotel and dinners in some of the charming little restaurants in Radda. Lunches will be on your own and can be at one of the several little bars, delis and pizza restaurants in Radda.
Tuscany Retreat & Workshop: Critique & Creative Process – June 10 to June 14, 2024
Land Cost: $3200
Your non-refundable deposit of $1000 reserves your workshop – Balance of $2200 is due by March 30, 2024. See our Terms and Conditions here.
Questions? Contact Jeff: jeff@jeffcurto.com or call 630.202.3635
What’s Included:
Our strategy? Arrive in Italy, make photographs and learn – we take care of the rest (ground transportation, meals, guides, tips, etc – it’s all included).
- Small group instruction
- Maximum of 5 participants
- Extensive pre-trip planning documents for both photography and Italian culture
- Admissions for all Included sightseeing
- All lodging during the workshop – single occupancy
- Local expert guides
- All included Gratuities, Taxes and Fees
- Breakfast and Dinner daily
Important Notes:
Physical Activity:
This retreat-style group will have limited physical activity, though we will likely walk a mile or a bit more each day, with some moderate inclines.
Airfare:
Since our workshop participants join us from places all over the world, airfare is not included.
Other Travel:
You may decide that you’d like to travel around other places in Italy either before or after the workshops. Or after reviewing flights, you may discover that you may want to arrive the day prior to the beginning of the planned trip in order to meet the group in Italy. La Dolce Via Travel can assist you with transfers, accommodations, or other travel needs you may have. Regardless, we advise early arrival at least a day in advance so that you can be at your best and ready to go when we begin.
Exchange Rate:
The land cost is based on current exchange rate between the Euro and US dollar. Should these rates change significantly, there may be an adjustment in the trip price.
