CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY WORKSHOPS REPORT
I have been exploring Cinque Terre & Tuscany since my childhood and I have been photographing their amazing landscapes intensively since 2014, visiting many times a year. The iconic landscapes of Cinque Terre & Tuscany, ranging from picturesque villages and rough seascapes to serene rolling hills and medieval towns, epitomized Italy for generations of artists and photographers. For me, it feels like Cinque Terre & Tuscany’s beauty has always been a part of me, and I am always looking forward to going back for more photography. We started running Workshops in Cinque Terre & Tuscany in 2017, going back multiple times a year since.
DESIGNING THE WORKSHOP | Designing our Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshop, I focussed on combining a wide range of very different landscapes and shooting situations, for a truly diverse and inspiring experience. In Cinque Terre & Tuscany, as I always do, I chose locations that are spectacularly beautiful, presenting at the same time many artistic and technical photographic challenges. I believe that helping you to face and solve together as many photographic problems as possible during our time with us will, in turn, help you to develop your vision both during and, most importantly, after the Workshop, when you are back to working without a tutor.
THE LOCATIONS | This is a list of the locations we photographed during our eleven Workshops in Cinque Terre & Tuscany, among others and in no particular order, out of all our 30+ available locations. In Cinque Terre: 4 different spots in Riomaggiore, 3 different spots in Manarola, 3 different spots in Vernazza. In Tuscany: 2 different spots in castel Boccale, Podere Terrapille, Podere Belvedere, Podere Baccoleno, Podere Casanova, 6 different spots at the Cypress rings, 4 different spots at Poggio Covili, the Cross, 3 different spots at Madonna di Vitaleta, and more.
Every time we go to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our Workshops there or just when we pass through on our way home, we try and add some extra days to our schedule to keep exploring Cinque Terre & Tuscany, so that we can keep adding new spectacular locations to our list. Having as many extra locations as possible gives me maximum flexibility in my choice of locations for any given Workshop day, plus it allows Alumni wanting to come back for a second tour with us to know that they’ll be able to see different locations as well, besides taking another shot at the locations they loved on their first trip.
IN THE FIELD | During our Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshops, our trademark limited attendance of maximum three people allowed me to dedicate every participant plenty of personal time in the field. Before each session, as I do during all my Workshops, I briefed the group with the location’s challenges, offering my advice on how to best solve them. I then followed participants during their work, quietly offering my suggestions to each of them, both respecting their individual approach to landscape photography and without imposing my views.
Besides answering any questions they might have had, when I thought it might have helped I shared my ideas and my own approach to the locations with them, sometimes showing them images on my camera’s LCD screen. When the occasion arose, during the eleven Workshops I led in Cinque Terre & Tuscany we enjoyed revisiting some of the locations as well, something I always find very useful.
IMAGE REVIEW & POST-PROCESSING | In Cinque Terre & Tuscany, thanks to our limited attendance and to a limited number of hotel changes during the Workshop, we had the opportunity to do in-depth image review and post-processing sessions at leisure. These sessions allowed participants to go home with ideas about which images were stronger than others, and with post-processing pointers helping them to make the most out of their photographs. As well, thanks to our image review sessions, our participants had the opportunity to try out in the field the new ideas gathered during these sessions, either in new locations or revisiting old ones, applying novel solutions to whatever problems they might have faced the first time there.
NO CROWDS | As customary for all our Workshops, during eleven Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshops we never had problems working in locations crowded by other photographers, despite the popularity of these two destinations. Thanks to my knowledge of Cinque Terre & Tuscany, I carefully selected dates, locations and vantage points to make sure that even in the most popular spots there we either were alone, or we had enough room and distance from other photographers to make working easy and pleasant. Not having to deal with crowds definitely made a great experience even better!
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AFTER THE WORKSHOP | Our Workshops never end on the last day! As we always do, once every Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshop ended, we kept working on post-processing and image selection with those participants interested in that, either on our private Facebook groups or via the email.
Let’s see now how our Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshops went, starting from the most recent one and going back to 2017!
CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY OCTOBER 2020 WORKSHOP REPORT
In October 2020, we returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our eleventh Workshop there, this time a 7-day Workshop with a full group of three participants.
During our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2020 Workshop, we truly enjoyed meeting a group of new participants and working together with them both in the field and during our image review sessions. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and the related restriction in effect in Italy during the Workshop, thanks to our knowledge of the locations and to our perfectly tuned organisation we could make sure that everything went smoothly, without any problems either with logistics or with safety. After seven intense days of work, I found everyone’s work and confidence to be much improved, both about trusting their instincts for composition and light, and in terms of fine tuning their workflow in and out of the field. During this Workshop, we had the chance to revisit Castel Boccale, photographing it both at sunset and at sunrise.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for us. In Cinque Terre & Tuscany we had a really great group, made of liked-minded people, all enthusiastic about landscape photography. We truly enjoyed our conversations on the most varied topics, from camera gear, including in-depth examinations of various medium format solutions, to photography and art; from one of the topics of the hour, Covid-19, to the US elections, and more, for a really great Workshop!
CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY OCTOBER 2019 WORKSHOP REPORT
In October 2019, we returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our tenth Workshop there, this time a 7-day Workshop with a full group of three participants, two of whom were returning Alumni. In particular, one was on his second trip with us, and the other one on her fourth.
During our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2019 Workshop, it was great to continue developing the work previously done with my returning Alumni, and I really enjoyed meeting a new participant and sharing my knowledge with him. After seven intense days of work, I found everyone’s work and confidence to be much improved, both about trusting their instincts for composition and light, and in terms of fine tuning their workflow in and out of the field. During this Workshop, we had the chance to revisit Castel Boccale, which we photographed both at sunset and at sunrise.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. In Cinque Terre & Tuscany we had a really great group, made of liked-minded people, all enthusiastic about landscape photography. We truly enjoyed our conversations on the most varied topics, from photography and art to social issue and politics, from food and wine to technology and photo equipment, for a really great Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANTS’ IMAGES AND COMMENTS | The participants in our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2019 Workshop kindly sent me a few images each to share here with you, together with their testimonials about our Workshop. Enjoy the work they did in Italy and see what they had to say about our Workshop together!
WITOLD KACZANOWSKI
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ANNE FERARA
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R. F.
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I learned a lot during the week with regard to photography, but at the same time I enjoyed the beautiful areas we visited as well as the comradeship with you and the other two participants. Your organization of the trip was without fault in every respect, be it housing, food, transport or – of course – weather; just the right mix for a delightful week among people of similar interests and a common hobby.
CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY APRIL 2019 WORKSHOP REPORT
In April 2019, I returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our ninth Workshop there, this time a 7-day Workshop One-on-One.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One allowed me to fully customize the Workshop to my Alumnus’ level and requirements and to give him my undivided attention. Our Cinque Terre & Tuscany participant was enthusiastic towards landscape and our visited destinations. His being a fellow Hasselblad X1D user made it easy for me to help him with any questions he had, and it allowed me to share with him my tricks to make the best out of the camera. Working together was a real pleasure, and in seven days of intense work we could face and solve a lot of different problems, both in the field and during our post-processing sessions. During this Workshop, we had the chance to revisit both Castel Boccale and one of our spots in Manarola, to put different light conditions to the best use.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. In Cinque Terre & Tuscany I had a really good time with our participant, a real gentleman and a very interesting person, and I truly enjoyed our conversations on the most varied topics, from photography to aviation, from equipment to literature, from music to politics, for a very pleasant social side of the Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANT’S IMAGES AND COMMENTS | The participant in our Cinque Terre & Tuscany April 2019 Workshop kindly sent me a few images to share here with you, together with his testimonial about our Workshop. Enjoy the work he did in Italy and see what he had to say about our Workshop together!
JOHN P.
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I have done many workshops and one-to-ones over the years. I can truthfully say that Vieri’s is up there with the best of them (and his is probably the best).
So, thank you Vieri! See you again soon.
TUSCANY JANUARY 2019 WORKSHOP REPORT
In January 2019, I returned to Tuscany for our eight Workshop there, this time a 3-day Workshop One-on-One with two participants, husband and wife, both photographers.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One allowed me to fully customize the Workshop on my Alumni’s level and requirements. In particular, since the husband was more expert with landscape photography, while the wife was just starting out in the genre, they each required a very different kind of tutoring, which made the Workshop very interesting for me. I really enjoyed working together with them, plus seeing someone new to the genre getting inspired to do more landscape photography after our Workshop together was a very rewarding experience.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. Despite the short duration, in Tuscany I truly enjoyed our time together and our conversations over lunches and dinners, for a very pleasant Workshop!
CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY OCTOBER 2018 WORKSHOP REPORT (3)
In late October 2018, we returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our seventh Workshop there, the third this month in these spectacular destinations, this time an 8-day Workshop with a full group of three participants.
During our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2018 Workshop (3), we had some very different personalities in the group, with some participant more open than others to listen. When that happens, rather than seeing it as a negative I always get inspired by the challenge, which makes my work more interesting.
Logistically speaking, this hasn’t been an easy Workshop as well, thanks to a really bad storm that hit the west coast of Italy right during our time there. Due to the storm, we had to reschedule on the fly, skipping our mid-Workshop Cinque Terre stop and rebooking our accommodation to stay longer in Tuscany instead. Thanks to years of experience exploring Tuscany, resulting in an extensive list of extra location, we never run out of things to photograph there even after the change of schedule resulting in some added extra days in Tuscany.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. This wasn’t an easy Workshop, but as we always do, we tried and enjoyed our conversation and time off the field with the group as much as possible!
THE PARTICIPANTS’ IMAGES AND COMMENTS | One of the participants in our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2018 Workshop kindly sent me a few images to share here with you, together with his testimonials about our Workshop. Enjoy the work he did in Italy and see what he had to say about our Workshop together!
JAN KAPPETIJN
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CINQUE TERRE & TUSCANY OCTOBER 2018 WORKSHOP REPORT (2)
In October 2018, we returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our sixth Workshop there, the second this month in these favourite destinations of mine. This time, we run a private Workshop One-on-One for three participants, all returning Alumni, two of whom joined us with their wives. The whole Workshop lasted two weeks, between Cinque Terre & Tuscany and Comacchio & Venice (see our COMACCHIO & VENICE WORKSHOPS REPORT for that leg of the Workshop), out of which we spent 9 days in Cinque Terre & Tuscany.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One with all returning participants allowed me to fully customize the Workshop on my Alumni’s level and requirements, choosing the best locations both for great photography and to continue along our educational path together. As always, I have been very pleased to see my Alumni coming back for more, one on his second, one on his third and one on his fourth Workshop with us. Working together again was a fun, inspiring and rewarding experience, and after nine days of intense work everyone’s skills improved greatly. During this Cinque Terre & Tuscany Workshop One-on-One, we had the chance to revisit Podere Belvedere and Castel Boccale, to get a second shot at these beautiful locations under a different light.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for us. Both Zeynep and I were really happy to see our Alumni again (two of them after just a few months, the third one after one and a half year), and we enjoyed having their wives with us as well. We truly enjoyed our social times with the group, and during our transfers, lunches and dinners we had conversations on the most various topics, from photography to lifestyle & food, from equipment to politics, but most importantly we had really a lot of fun, for a great Workshop together!
TUSCANY OCTOBER 2018 WORKSHOP REPORT (1)
In early October 2018, we returned to Tuscany for our fifth Workshop there, this time a 4-day Workshop One-on-One with a returning Alumnus. After working together on Dorset’s amazing Jurassic Coast, this time he decided to stay closer to home, choosing Tuscany for our second Workshop together.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One with a returning participant allowed me to fully customize the Workshop on my Alumnus’ level and requirements, giving him my undivided attention and choosing the best locations both for great photography and to continue along our instructional path together. After our previous trip in Dorset the previous year, he took a long leave of absence from landscape photography and it was very rewarding for me to help him going back into action and getting his confidence back, both in the field and during our post-processing sessions.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for us. Our participant in Tuscany was a real gentleman, and we thoroughly enjoyed our social times and our conversation during our lunches and dinner!
TUSCANY JULY 2018 WORKSHOP REPORT
In July 2018, I returned to Tuscany for our fourth Workshop there, this time a 4-day Workshop One-on-One.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One allowed me to fully customize the Workshop on my Alumnus’ level and requirements. In particular, she was interested in learning landscape photography techniques with her Leica M, including the use of filters, and she was interested in the business side of photography as well, something we tackled during our off-the-field sessions. I really enjoyed our work together, and after four short days I could already see a change in confidence and in the resulting images.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. During our Tuscany 2018 Workshop we enjoyed our conversations about photography and the business of photography, about art and about life in general, for a truly pleasant Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANT’S IMAGES AND COMMENTS | The participant in our Tuscany 2018 Workshop One-on-One kindly sent me her testimonial about our Workshop. See what she had to say about our Workshop together!
MANISHA SHAH
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TUSCANY NOVEMBER 2017 WORKSHOP REPORT
In November 2017, I returned to Tuscany for our third Workshop there, this time a 4-day Workshop One-on-One for two participants, one of whom a returning Alumnus on his second trip with us.
As always, I was very pleased to see one of my Alumni coming back for more, and knowing him from a previous Workshop helped me to better tailor my tutoring on his specific level and requirements. I really enjoyed working with him and with our new participant as well, both in the field, where we put to a good use fog, clouds and everything the weather threw at us to create great images of the iconic Tuscan hills, and out of the field, during our image review sessions.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. During our Tuscany 2017 Workshop we truly enjoyed our time together during lunches and dinners. The great Italian food, including an amazing Fiorentina’s T-bone steaks, together with our conversations about the art and craft of photography, made for a really great Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANTS’ IMAGES AND COMMENTS | One participant in our Tuscany 2017 Workshop One-on-One kindly sent me his testimonials about our Workshop. See what he had to say about our Workshop together!
MATTEO BRASCHI
Vieri’s expertise and complete mastering of the locations allowed us to adapt and take best advantage of all the weather conditions we faced, to enjoy all of Tuscany’s beauty at their best, including the culinary ones!
TUSCANY OCTOBER 2017 WORKSHOP REPORT
In October 2017, I returned to Cinque Terre & Tuscany for our second Workshop there, this time a 7-day Workshop One-on-One with two participants, both returning Alumni. After working together in Glencoe & Isle of Skye, for this second Workshop One-on-One together they decided to join us in Italy for a complete change of scenery.
Doing a Workshop One-on-One with returning participants allowed me to fully customize the Workshop on my Alumni’s level and requirements, choosing the best locations both for great photography and to continue along our photography developing path together. As always, I have been very pleased to see two of my Alumni coming back for more, working together was very enjoyable and productive and after seven days of intense work everyone’s level improved as well as their confidence in the field. As on Glencoe & Isle of Skye, part of their expectations for our work together were set towards streamlining and simplifying their post-processing workflow, to try and make post-processing less intimidating. Thanks to a limited number of hotel changes during the Workshop, we could dedicate a lot of our daytime to image review and post-processing work, and they left with a much stronger confidence in their own post-processing skills.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. Knowing both participants already, together with their being friends, made for a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere both in and out of the field. As in Scotland, sharing common equipment in the Leica SL made our gear-related conversation very focussed and helpful on helping them extract the most out of their equipment. Overall, a truly fun and rewarding Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANTS’ IMAGES AND COMMENTS | The participants in our Cinque Terre & Tuscany October 2017 Workshop One-on-One kindly sent me a few images to share here with you, together with their testimonials about our Workshop. Enjoy the work they did in Italy and see what they had to say about our Workshop together!
MAGNUS JONASSEN
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Vieri will always give you good theory foundations and answer to all your questions. This includes everything on how to work a new location, set up your camera and equipment, handle the light and finally how to post process the images when you get back home. Last, but not least, Vieri is also giving you feedback on your final images finalized after you have returned home from the workshop. This is always very helpful and nice as it makes your workshop even "longer"!
This became a long testimonial - but well deserved Vieri! For all of you thinking about joining a workshop - think no longer. Let 2018 be the year when you took your photography to the next level together with Vieri Bottazzini!
SCOTT BRAYLEY
CINQUE TERRE MARCH 2017 WORKSHOP REPORT
In March 2017, we went to the Cinque Terre for our first Workshop there, a 3-day Leica Akademie Italy Workshop with five participants.
In Cinque Terre, we truly enjoyed meeting our participants and working with a group of people sharing a common passion for photography and for the rugged beauty of Cinque Terre, and all showing great enthusiasm towards trying new things, be it landscape photography or be it the Leica SL equipment available for them to try during the Workshop.
I truly appreciated their positive attitude in going out of their comfort zone, and the good results they got in such a short time are a testament to that. I was very proud to see some participants in this Workshop getting passionate about landscape photography following their experience in Cinque Terre with us and coming back for more Workshops, something that really meant a lot to me.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for me. In Cinque Terre we had a great group, for a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere both in and out of the field, and we truly enjoyed our time with the group for a fun and productive Workshop!
THE PARTICIPANTS’ IMAGES AND COMMENTS | The participants in our Cinque Terre 2017 Workshop kindly sent me a few images each to share here with you, together with their testimonials about our Workshop. Enjoy the work they did in Italy and see what they had to say about our Workshop together!
GIULIA LANDONI
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While I set off a bit worried because I never used equipment like this and because I never studied photography, all my worries went away after the first frame I took. Not because of the way it came out, but because I understood that my fears were caused by what was, in reality, the solution to them: starting to photograph again without any preconceived ideas about myself. Truth is, I always felt very vulnerable when photographing, but I now understood that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The biggest thing I’ll bring with me after these three days is the idea I got from you about the importance and value of anticipating. Not only in terms of waiting for long exposure times, but anticipating the light, the moment, the wind’s changes, the arrival of a wave. On the cliffs Saturday morning Zeynep told me “you have to wait and count until the 11th wave…” at that moment I understood how much care and poetry there could be in waiting for a shot.
What you told us at the beginning of the class is very true: photographing the landscape isn’t that different from portrait photography.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the way you taught me to really see what I have in front of me, rather than just look at it anymore.
LUCA LANDONI
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Thank you for everything!
LEONARDO BERCHIELLI
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MATTEO BRASCHI
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It has been like finding yourself with a group of old friends, guided by two professionals perhaps even too well prepared for my starting level, but whom never made me feel inadequate… a true full-immersion in photography and photographic experiences, which went on during moments of relax, lunches and dinners as well… we never stop learning for a second during the two days… Vieri and his wife looked after us all the time, offering suggestions always very well received (I hope my resulting images will make them happy as well).
Simone Bassani (the man without vowels…) open the road towards Leica’s universe and the DNG as only he can do, planting a seed that is now growing in me…
In short, we laughed, ate well, made friends and more than everything else we learned and fuelled our desire to explore photography and the world of Leica…
I have been very happy about this Workshop that went a bit out of the classic “street” philosophy associated with Leica, Vieri showed us that with these exceptional cameras you can create also different images, to each the choice of what to write with light…
Thank you for everything…
GIULIA CONCIATORI
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