FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS

Much of my philosophy in making landscapes images is bound up in working in Morocco’s wilder regions.  These locations offer a testing ground for developing your individual way of seeing and finding your form in fine art photography.  In the rough textured environs of the Anti-Atlas mountains and the soft sweeps of unmarked dunes you’ll discover compositions and approaches that are new to you. It’s an opportunity to reset your photography and extend your interests in simplification or complexity.

SKILLS ACQUIRED AT THE END OF THE WEEK

*  Learn how to photographically interpret wild natural landscapes.

*  How to make off-beat visually arresting images.

*  Use shadows as a major compositional element.

*  Build a series that explores a specific and personal visual language.

*  Critically evaluate your own images.

*  Develop an approach that relates to fine art photography.

*  How and when to focus stack.

Our ‘fine art’ photography workshops over a nine-day trip provide the playground for creatively interpreting otherworldly landscapes of desert boulders and dunes.  Both can be tackled in different ways but this experience will encourage a less is more approach, with the emphasis on looking at medium to intimate views and small details instead of wider epic vistas. 

The teaching approach will encourage you to first find form rather than view the places as scenes.  We’ll lean on a wealth of great landscape abstract photography back at the base which will encourage you to suggest shapes and let shadow areas fall into darkness.

To get the best out of this experience, you should be open to developing a sophisticated way of seeing that’s less based on the representational and more on the small elements within your frame that sustain viewing and intrigue. 

Fine Art photography is used liberally these days to describe all manner of image-making.  In this experience, we’ll define the essential components, that matter to you.

In some cases, this will be a minimalist approach and in others, it’s about arranging structure and a wealth of information within the frame.  As such the workshops will encourage the use of black and white as well as colour.  Part of the pre-workshop material pack will include detailed references looking at the best landscapes relating to form in dunes and rocky terrain and comparing these to the less good.  The aim is to heighten your artistic perception and for you to emerge with a mature collection of images.

Location one is situated in the Anti-Atlas mountains where we’ll spend three nights with two full days of photography divided up into four workshop sessions.  Tafraoute is our base here and it was the first place I visited in Morocco in 1991 to see the fabulous rock formations first-hand.  I’ve made several subsequent visits to the boulder valley and it always leaves me in awe.  The photographic challenge is turning what is an unreal 360-degree experience into compelling photographs.

The second location is a stunning area of dunes away from the tourist trails.  Situated aside from lakes, the combination of water and sand offers textural contrasts whilst the coastal winds shape the sand unlike the more well-known dune locations in Morocco’s desert further east. There is something quite magical about the place and I’m reminded of David Lynch’s ‘Dune’.

Day One – Arrival day in Marrakesh. Overnight stay in Marrakesh.

LOCATION ONE – Boulders – Minimalism, Texture & the Dramatic

Day Two

10:30am – 6:30pm

A journey along through the Atlas mountains from Marrakesh to Tafraoute.  We’ll be stopping by Taroudant for lunch.

Group dinner

After arrival at our first hotel, Darren will introduce his own images from the two locations and explain the plan for the week.  This includes looking at examples of similar works that use more abstract approaches to landscape imagery. 

Day Three

8.00am – 11:00pm

A short drive from our base hotel to a desert location.

12.00pm – 4.00pm

Lunch is followed by an initial review of images.  In consultation with Darren, participants will form a visual approach for the afternoon shoot.

4.00pm – 6:30pm

Exploring a new area.

7:30pm – 8:30pm

A group dinner followed by individual processing work.

Day Four

8.00am – 6:30pm

In format and timing, this will be a reprise of the previous day.

7:30pm – 8:30pm

A group dinner followed by individual processing work.

LOCATION TWO – Dunes – Shapes, Shadows & Juxtaposition

Day Five

9:30am – 5.30pm

We’ll spend the day travelling down to our second location base, 20 minutes from the dunes. Some sequencing of images be will be followed by a group viewing.

Day Six

7:30am – 11:00am

This is the first of four workshops at dune locations.

12.00pm – 4.00pm

Lunch is followed by an initial review and processing of images.  In consultation with Darren, participants will set a visual plan for the afternoon shoot.

4.00pm – 6:30pm

We’ll explore a second area.

8:00pm – 10:00pm

Group dinner and discussion on the day’s photography.

Day Seven

7:30am – 6:30pm

In format and timing, this will be a reprise of the previous day.

8:00pm – 10:00pm

A group dinner followed by a review of the afternoon’s images.

Day Eight

10.30am – 6:30pm

We’ll take a leisurely drive to our last overnight stop in Tiznit, stopping for the coastal views en route.

7:30pm – 8:30pm

A group dinner is followed by the final group image presentation.

Day Nine

10.00am – 3:00pm. Depart for Marrakesh in time for evening flights.

You have the option of your final selected images uploaded to your own personal private portfolio gallery either at the end of the workshops or afterwards once you’ve finalised your processing and selection.

Equipment required:

A laptop loaded with photo processing software that you can use to a basic level.

DSLR or mirrorless camera with wide-angle and telephoto lenses.

A link to Darren’s profile.

Next year’s fine art photography experience runs from January 21st – 29th 2025. The tour cost is £2100 pp based on a maximum group size of 3.

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