Frequently Asked Questions
I heard that your workshop is a very intense experience, what does it mean?
Yes, it’s very intense, exiting, fun and sometimes challenging. The explorations that we do together suggest to the students a totally different prospective on their capacities and potentials. According to their feedbacks, for most of them the workshop is an important turning point.
What is the usual age of participants?
I get participants of all ages, from 20 to over 60. Generally speaking, the greater the range of ages the more interesting the workshop.
How many students are attending a workshop?
Usually there are around 18 students. The teachings are very different from other photography workshops and are structured to make the most of the interactions among students.
Am I expected to be very advanced technically?
No, just to feel comfortable with the functionality of your camera.
Will the workshop focus on technique, light schemes and such?
Technical aspects of camera use will not be addressed during the workshop.
What is the workshop focused on?
The focus is on the ability to get in touch with some aspect that makes the person that we want to photograph special and unique and compose our images quickly and intuitively. We work on each participant very own limits and potentials. A lot of attention is given to the relationship between the photographer and the subject. We do extensive exploration of the dynamics of a portraiture session. There are exercises meant to help participants get beyond their fears and inhibitions as photographers and others aimed to boost our capacity to interact. We work on our perceptions, empathy, creativity, composition, natural light…
How does the workshop practically unrolls?
There are exercises be performed individually, in pairs or in a group, with or without the camera. Several pictures are shot by the students and the group gets together to view and comment on a selection of the images to see what could be improved before the next day of shooting.
Will there be models to photograph?
No there will be no models. Participants will photograph each other in this Toscana photographic workshop.
What kind of equipment is required?
Digital reflex camera with 50mm luminous lens plus the participant’s favorite lenses, laptop computer with Photoshop and photo-editing software, USB key.
I don’t have Photoshop but another image manipulation program, would that be all right?
Yes, no problem. It’s required just to re-size your pictures before sharing them on the screen and in case you need to do minor adjustments.
I’ve never done portraits, can I still participate?
Yes, but ONLY if you try taking a few portraits on your own prior to the workshop. You will receive guidelines for doing this when you sign up.
Why do you recommend doing some preparatory work before coming to the workshop?
We will explore many aspects associated with portraiture during the workshop. In some cases the exercises will be much more fruitful if students have already begun exploring on their own. When you sign up you will receive an email with a few simple suggestions for exercises you can do.
I have an unbreakable commitment on the same dates as the workshops. When will the next one be?
If you want to be notified about other dates, send us a message from the Contacts page and we’ll send you an email as soon as the upcoming dates have been fixed. But remember that workshops are not scheduled at regular intervals.