VSP

Calendar

Sunday 16 May 2010 - ARRIVAL DAY

• After meeting your VSP contact at a location to be confirmed, very close to Rome's 'Fiumicino' airport from where a private bus service will transport you all the way to your hotel, and home for the coming week in Tuscany
• After settling into your rooms and freshening up, we'll be meeting for welcome drinks and dinner together in your hotel's own traditional 'osteria' (traditional restaurant)

Monday 17 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 1

• After breakfast there will be an introductory talk by your instructor Jonathan Maher. The talk will aim to introduce you to some of the photographic concepts you will be using each day, and is also our chance to start gaining a clear picture of each of your individual goals for the coming week
• On our way to lunch, we'll take the scenic route, which will take us along some very picturesque landscapes that are beautiful to shoot even in the brighter sun. In May, the landscapes can be greener, producing a more vivid patchwork of interlocking shapes and colours. This is also a good opportunity to acquaint yourself with the environment, any new equipment you have, and also a chance for your instructors to speak with you within the context of setting up for a shoot
• For lunch, we'll be visiting to stunning hilltop town of Pienza. Perched up on the hills overlooking the hills of the Val D'Orcia, it is a medieval town steeped in history. It's also the location of some of Tuscany's finest wines and cheeses, and a great place to have lunch! There will be time for you to explore the small town and its many pretty streets
• After lunch we'll return back to the hotel where there will be a talk from the instructor about this evening's shoot. Your instructors will discuss various topics ranging from how to setup for a later afternoon landscape shoot, to issues of composition and visualising your end image.
• In the later afternoon we'll drive up to our shoot location, where we'll have several hours to photograph one of Tuscany's most iconic landscape locations. As the sun falls, the surrounding hills and sky will transform through a range of colours, offering new photographic opportunities throughout the evening
• After the shoot, we'll drive to the nearby town of San Quirico for dinner together followed by returning to the hotel for a well-deserved night's rest

Tuesday 18 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 2

• This morning (for those keen enough!), there will be a sunrise landscape shoot at one of our nearby favourite locations.
• Back at the hotel there will be a proper breakfast served, followed by some time to relax. After an early morning shoot, we find its always best to have a few hours to either steal back a few more hours sleep, or download your images from the morning's shoot
• Today we'll take lunch at the hotel, allowing our instructors to spend some time personally with each of you, looking at your past work, or perhaps discussing your goals in photography should you wish
• In the afternoon we'll do the first image review session. Together we'll have the chance to see each others' images, discuss how we got on, and ensure that your happy with what you are doing and how you are progressing
• This afternoon we'll head out for a landscape shoot. As always, we'll ensure that you are there when the light is at its best.
• Dinner this evening will be in a restaurant near Montepulciano

Wednesday 19 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 3

• For the super-keen dedicated of the group, there will be an optional sunrise shoot this morning. Our hotel is wonderfully located just below the thermal springs of 'Bagno Vignoni', dating back to Roman times. We'll walk up through the fields behind the hotel, up to the springs, where we'll enjoy some great views of the Val D'Orcia. In May, the thermal springs produce a beautiful scene as the warm water mixes with the chilly morning air, giving off gentle clouds of steam. A beautiful sight!
• For lunch we'll be visiting the town of Montalcino - famous for its fabulous wines and stunning piazza and castle.
• This afternoon we'll be visiting the beautiful abbey of Sant Antimo. Sat at the bottom of a gentle valley, it is surrounded by vineyards, and well kept gardens. We'll photograph the abbey as the sun sets as well as inside, as the last rays of light beam through the main doors, and we'll be there in time to listen to the resident monks performing the daily Gregorian chant.
• After such a full day we'll have dinner back at the hotel.

Thursday 20 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 4

• Today there will be a pleasant change in rhythm as we visit the splendid medieval town of Siena. This will be a chance to take some great shots of life in a Tuscan town, as well as a good time to get those presents and souvenirs you were thinking of buying. We'll have lunch in Siena, and head back to the hotel for the afternoon
• Later in the afternoon we'll conduct another image review session, discussing our various images and experiences of the last few days
• Dinner at Bagno Vignoni in a lovely restaurant located right by the Roman thermal baths

Friday 21 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 5

• This morning (for those who wish), we'll be doing another early morning landscape shoot. As usual, there will be a small picnic breakfast on location, followed by a proper breakfast waiting for us when we get back to the hotel
• As we normally do, following our early morning shoots, there will be time to relax back at the hotel
• For lunch we'll head up to the nearby village of Montichiello. More a hamlet Montichiello commands some of the most stunning views over the surrounding hills.
• After lunch we'll head back to the hotel, where there will be a talk by the instructors before this evening's shoot
• This evening we'll visit a nearby location for a landscape shoot
• Dinner at a nearby restaurant

Saturday 22 May 2010 - WORKSHOP DAY 6

• This morning we'll do the final image review session - whilst not the end of your shooting for the trip, its when we do a final look at everybody's work, and conclude some of the concepts that we will have been looking at with you
• Lunch in Montepulciano.
• This afternoon we'll head out to shoot some beautiful landscape spots nearby to where we'll be having the farewell dinner. The farewell dinner is located in our favourite place in Tuscany, which was also the filming location for some of the English Patient film

Sunday 23 May 2010 - DEPARTURE DAY

• On the day of your departure we will transfer all participants to Rome's 'Fiumicino' airport at a fixed time so that you can move onto your homeward journeys. Usual arrival at Rome airport not earlier than 11am. Please ensure your return flights do not leave before 1pm.

Accommodation

An elegant and refined four star hotel, the result of rebuilding an ancient 1600 post house, it is situated in the lovely countryside not far from Siena, inside the reserve of the Val d'Orcia, a few minutes away from Montalcino, the home of Brunello wine, from Pienza, the ideal town of Pope Pius II and opposite the village of Bagno Vignoni with its spa waters.

• Hotel Osteria dell' Orcia

Travel

For this workshop you will be collected and returned from Rome's 'Fiumicino' airport. Pickup from airport is at 2pm on Sunday 16th May 2010. You will be returned to the airport by 11am on Sunday 23rd May.

Companions

Photography is a passion that touches millions of people, but that doesn't always mean that it is shared throughout your family! A great many of our participants choose to travel with their husbands, wives or partners, and we make every effort to make them just as welcome as everybody else. Should you wish to attend with your partner we would welcome them to come along. Please note that non-participating partners would need to have their own transportation as space in our minibus is limited. For help in finding things to do in the area, the staff at the Villa will be more than happy to assist with this when you arrive.