Month: May 2022

Today is the day I have been dreading. It’s a portrait shoot in the market and will be totally out of my comfort zone. I dislike crowded spaces, do not speak the language and have to stick my camera into strangers’ faces and invade their personal space.

Yet again the weather could be better. There is a fine drizzle falling and people have umbrellas up making the already crowded market even more cramped. The market is vast, sprawling up streets and alleys seemingly endlessly. I wander for over an hour looking for inspiration. It is not coming. I take a few experimental shots but they are nothing special. The problem is that I am trying to be surreptitious and it’s not really working.

Tim comes to join me and lend moral support. He encourages me to approach people and ask them with wild gesticulations if I can take their photo. It is an improvement but I am clearly going to need to push myself if I am to take anything worthwhile.

These are a little better but I know the extroverts in the group will have produced some stunning pictures – and indeed they did. I wander around for another hour or so and am still struggling to nail it.

I meet up with Tim again before lunch and he reviews my morning’s work. He says “You have 10 minutes Maggie. Engage with someone and take something special.” I was pleased with the result. Pin-sharp focus, perfect exposure, context and stall-holder fully interacting with me.

We find a lovely authentic restaurant for lunch. I have the freshest and tastiest bruschetta. The quality of the ingredients is superb and turns a simple dish into something very special.

The afternoon is at leisure. We roam around the old streets of Palermo and find time for a beer in a street cafe. The buildings are characterful and it even stoops raining. Hooray!

This is the last evening of our course and we head down to the marina for our final photography review session. Jon is staying on a friend’s boat and has invited us all aboard for pre-dinner drinks.

With Tim’s assistance we all have to pick our best 3 unedited photos from the trip. The quality of everybody’s work is astonishing and each person has very much their own style. Jon says he would like to publish a book with our photos in it. A lovely idea but it will never happen – he is so disorganised. On a positive note he has sorted out my room for the next two nights and also negotiated it at a much reduced rate but he does come from the school of lastminute.com.

We reluctantly finish our drinks and head off for our evening meal. It is going to be a late night. Jon has booked the table for 21.30 and says we are going to bars afterwards. It is a long walk from the marina and the heavens open again. The roads are busy but Sicilian drivers are incredibly courteous and generally stop to let pedestrians cross. This even applies to the six lane highway running along the old walls of the city. Remarkable.

We eventually arrive at the restaurant. It is tiny with bottles stacked from floor to ceiling. Our table is even tinier and not really sufficient for 11 people.

The meal is excellent though not the cheapest. We settle the bill and then head off to sample the local nightlife. We find a lively bar with large outside awnings, make ourselves comfortable and order the first of many drinks. We spend a very pleasant few hours talking rubbish and make it back to the hotel at something like 3am.

Annoyingly our itinerary has changed. I think this is because we could not stay in Syracuse. The result is that two days itinerary have been crammed in to one and beautiful Taormina has been ditched. This will be a long day with a lot of driving. To be honest, I am pretty disappointed about this, as is everyone else.

The day starts as originally planned with a visit to the fish market in Catania. Here we will try out black and white documentary shots, with the emphasis on sharpening our observation and story-telling skills. We are shown some examples of this type of photography, given a few pointers and then set loose. Tim tells us to set the camera to Mono but also RAW so that all details are kept. The RAW file will actually be in colour even though the camera was set to B&W. It means you can use dedicated software on your PC to convert to B&W in the future without using the camera’s software. So that is something new that I have learned.

This was one of the first shots I took and I was very pleased with it. I saw the umbrellas and wondered if I could make the swordfish nose look like it was holding the umbrella up. It has context and the exposure is good. Now for more – we have a couple of hours.

I liked the shot below but it does not work in B&W

I enjoyed my time in the market. It was very challenging but definitely feel as though my observational skills are improving.

As we leave the market a fine rain is starting to fall. The forecast is not good. There is a bad storm on its way. We go back to the vehicles and start the drive to Etna where we are meant to take some amazing sunsets. Well – that is not going to happen for two reasons:-

1. It is the middle of the day
2. There is zero visibility. Low cloud has descended and the drive up Etna’s lower slopes is challenging. There are hairpin bends and seeing the road ahead is very tricky indeed.

Eventually we reach the cable car station to take us further up the volcano. The weather is really atrocious now. The wind is gusting fiercely. Heavy rain is driving horizontally and it is 6C. Nobody wants to go to the summit. What would be the point? Jon goes to talk to the guides to see if it is likely to improve. When he returns the news is that it will only get worse. The storm has really set in. We go to the restrooms, buy takeaway lunch and setoff back down the volcano for the long drive to Cefalu.

We try to put a brave face on it. We park the cars and walk through Cefalu to the sea front. Rivers are running down the streets, my jeans are soaked where the rain has run off my waterproof coat. This is not pleasant. The forecast however is that it might just ease off later. Ummm – that seems unlikely.

We find a bar and decide the only thing for it is to order drinks. I order a negroni, music is playing, the bar staff are dancing and then we are joined by all the local teenagers who have just come out of school. It’s party time. I can’t see youngsters in the UK mixing with oldies like this. I love Sicily. The people are fantastic. Such a joie de vivre!

The rain eventually eases and we leave the cafe and stroll down to the harbour. Despite the rain there are some fabulous photo opportunities. In fact, we all quickly realise that potentially we can capture some very enigmatic and moody scenes here.

I start by using my newly discovered monochrome skills to capture this very bedraggled fellow.

I spot the empty benches on the harbours and the reflections in the puddles. I must be able to create something from this.

This shot is quite pleasing, but I want to isolate the central bench and perfectly balance the reflection in the puddle. I spend ages in landscape mode but cannot achieve the right perspective. I need a box to stand on and then a thought…. How about portrait mode?

I am very pleased with the result. This is unedited and will make one of my three tonight but it took me at least 20 minutes to capture perfectly.

More inspiration followed as I walked along the pier.

I love the shot with the umbrella. I call it a splash of colour. It cannot be one of my 3 of the day as I had to crop and straighten it slightly.

My absolute favourite and apparently everyone else’s was this. I had applause and Tim said he would pay money for it and put it on his wall. It brought tears to my eyes.

We left Cefalu and made our way to our hotel in the capital of Palermo. As we drive up the hill out of Cefalu we look back and see the skies starting to clear

It was a longish drive made longer by the inability to find the hotel. We must have driven down the same streets several times. One alley was so narrow we literally thought we would get wedged half way down. Poor Tim, he lives in London, doesn’t drive much and has to tackle some really interesting road systems. He did not sign up to be a driver on this holiday. We were meant to have transport. Fortunately Mike is co-pilot and is a whizz with the navigation on his phone. We eventually find our hotel – Palazzo Sitano. It is situated in a perfect position in the historic old quarter so close to shops, bars and the harbour.

I check in and tell the receptionist that I have 2 extra nights booked. He corrects me and tells me that I definitely have not. Jon had assured me that he had sorted it. I shall be having words.

Dinner is in a fairly smart local restaurant. For smart read expensive! I made the right food choices, but I think other people’s meals were of variable quality. Nevertheless it was another fun evening and the wine flowed.

It’s a beautiful morning with cloudless blue skies. My room was very comfortable and I have woken feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Breakfast is marvellous. A selection of amazing cakes and pastries, cold meats, cheeses and fruit. All so fresh and totally delicious. If I lived here I would put on so much weight. Tim comes round to see us all and give us our individual assignments. Before the trip he asked everybody what they hoped to achieve on the course. I said that although I take reasonable wildlife shots, I struggle with portraits, buildings and landscapes. My task for today is therefore to take buildings in light and shadow but they must be interesting. I take a few practice shots around the courtyard while I wait for the group to gather.

We head off to Syracuse which is a mix of modern buildings and ancient architecture.We park and head off individually on our designated assignments. I try to find something interesting that contrasts old and new. I quite like the first shot – I have the germ of an idea. The exposure is good and composition OK but it just feels too busy. I know can do better. The second shot is just a snap. It says nothing.

Next I try an alleyway in light and shadow. Had I captured the moped in the sunlight behind, it would have been an interesting photo. I should have sat there until another opportunity presented itself. I have now learned that good photography is all about visualising the shot and then exercising patience.

Next I try detailed architecture. Technically it’s fine . The exposure is correct. It is perfectly in focus, but it’s just not that interesting.

I stand in the square outside the cathedral looking for inspiration. And actually that is the key. You have to look. Really look. I spot a low arch beneath a flight of steps. If I kneel down I might just capture something a bit more unusual…..

That’s more like it. We have to present 3 unedited photos to the rest of the group this evening for comment and critique. Well, that is number one in the basket. Hooray! We’ve had a couple of hours, yet they have flown by and now it is time for lunch. We meet in a little traditional restaurant by the Cathedral. The food is excellent and Jon, who flew out this morning, now joins us too.

After lunch we head over the bridge from Syracuse to the little island of Ortigia. This place is so traditional and unspoilt. Surely there are some good photo opportunities here. I make my way down to the seashore looking at every building in detail to see if I can capture something special.

It’s just not working. I try to do something with the building below but parasols prevent me getting the angle I need. Tim comes to join me to see how I am getting on. I show him these building shots. He says they have potential and suggests other things I could have done. I show him the arch shot. He loves it and says ‘Just do more like that”. So easy to say – I’ve had an hour and a half since lunch and have taken nothing else that really fits the brief.

I make my way down to the fortress and finally find inspiration by the bucket-load. I am pleased with the shots below. The first one with the roof angles and steps would have made the cut if I had not needed to crop it slightly.

I like the surreal quality of the palm tree reflections in the glass below but unfortunately the light was not right, so it is under-exposed and just does not quite work. The arch and iron work are good ideas.

I love the detail of the lock on this 1000 year old door but the two photos below that are the ones that made it to the evening’s viewing.

We all met in a bar in one of the beautiful squares in Syracuse for a well deserved cocktail or two.

We then head off to a family run seafood restaurant that Jon has recommended. It is superb and on his suggestion I try the local delicacy – red prawns. You eat them raw and they are delicious. I followed them with the best spaghetti vongole I have ever eaten accompanied by a wonderfully crisp local white wine.

We head back to our accommodation and have a quick critique session before bed. Everyone has taken some inspirational photographs and managed to produce totally different styles of shots. Comments are positive and helpful.

I have a 07.00 flight from Gatwick. This involves leaving home at 03.30 so not a lot of sleep to be had. As I am only away for 6 nights I had assumed the parking would be cheaper than a chauffeur. This was incorrect. Parking charges had gone through the roof and I decided to park in the short stay as it was only about £20 more than the meet and greet and much more convenient. It does seem now that chauffeurs are cheaper. I won’t dive myself to the airport in future.

A few years ago I vowed I would never fly with Easyjet again as they were so horrendous. This time I have no choice but am pleasantly surprised. I have booked an extra legroom seat so I can take an extra bag onboard. My camera equipment pretty well used up my hold allowance. For the princely sum of £43 I had a great seat with loads of room, boarding pass issued when I booked, swift progress through the airport. I could not fault it in anyway. The crew were great too.

Tim setup a WhatsApp group for us all. This meant the entire group could stay in touch whilst out on assignments. He suggested we meet in a cafe just outside the airport. Everyone is friendly and we compare notes on trips and cameras while we wait for everyone to arrive.There are 7 in the group: Caroline, Sharon, Mike, Lou, Rita, Mel and I.

Tim apologises that there is a problem with the booking of our minibus. Consequently he has to hire car and take some of us and the rest go by taxi.

We are staying at Masseria Degli alive (meaning Large Farmhouse with olive trees). That is exactly what is was. A beautiful old farmhouse, converted in to a guest house, with a pool and gnarled olive trees in the grounds.We were taken to our rooms then ordered drinks. We had our first briefing session with Tim on the large terrace overlooking the manicured grounds.

I was nervous. It sounded as though everyone else had done way more photography than me and several of them had been on photographic holidays before. I needn’t have worried. Everyone was friendly and my camera skills were better than I thought. Tim’s purpose of the briefing was to check that we were all happy using our cameras in full manual mode and to emphasise the most important thing – exposure. This led me to have a complete Eureka moment. I asked Tim how I could lock the exposure as well as the focus. His response:-

‘ Are you using AUTO ISO?’

‘ Yes’ I said.

He said ‘Don’t. Point the camera at your subject and set the ISO you want. Exposure then fixed and you just play around with aperture and shutter speed to get the effect you want.’

Now I appreciate that if you are not into photography this will be totally mystifying but I assure you that this was so blindingly obvious when he said it that I felt like a complete idiot. In fact, it is what I used to do until photographing chimps in dark jungle. Because they were fast moving, I just didn’t have time to think about ISO and set the camera to AUTO for convenience. Trouble is I never changed that setting in the next 4 years because it seemed so easy. Also, as I generally shoot wildlife this seemed a sensible choice. I now only use AUTO ISO if its very challenging light and something fast moving. Undoubtedly my new camera helps with that too.

We then all played around in the grounds taking photos and Tim giving us guidance on how we could improve the shots we’d taken. A really constructive and useful session for me. The shots below were me playing around and concentrating on perfect exposure. White flowers are always tricky to get all the detail and not blow the rest of the picture.

We go to our rooms and freshen up for dinner which is in the restaurant at the Masseria. The food is excellent, the wine flows and we have a great first night together. I already know this will be another fun trip.