Categories
cooking workshops

Cooking workshops in Essaouira with Morocco weekend breaks

Weekend breaks in Morocco – Essaouira cooking workshops & photography classes.

Weekend breaks for photography classes & cooking workshops in Essaouira – Friday to Monday from May 2015.

We’re pleased to announce weekend breaks in Morocco on the Atlantic coast at Essaouira with new cooking workshops and photography classes for 2015 priced at £325.  With direct return flights starting at £75 from London Luton you can enjoy a 3 day break in sunny Morocco for £400.

The dates available are:

May – 8 – 11, 29 – 1 June, June 26 – 29, July  3 – 6, 10 – 13, 24 – 27, Aug 28 – 31, Sept 11 -14, Oct 30 – Nov 2, Dec 25 – 28

Our itinerary

Friday arrival – a chance for some shopping and adventure activities.

Friday morning. It’s an early flight from the UK and once in Essaouira you’ll be collected from the airport in the late morning before checking into your hotel about 20mins afterwards. Your afternoon is free for shopping and any other activities; horse riding, camel trekking or quad biking which we can arrange for you in advance.  If you’d like a shopping guide for purchases such as leather bags or carpets then our friend Ali can assist you. In the evening you can choose from a selection of recommended restaurants and bars available in the handout we’ll give you.

Saturday starts with a day’s photography and tour in the medina. We’ll make best use of this photo workshop giving you different things to photograph.  Fear not if you’re used to having the camera on auto, you’ll be focusing on your composition covering some of the basics. The key is to get out and about, to enjoy the colour and light. We’ll wrap things up in early evening when once again you can dine at a restaurant of your choosing.

On Sunday we’ll collect you from the Riad before heading by car to a womens’ Argan cooperative a short drive away.  Here you can chat and photograph the ladies who produce by hand, the increasingly popular Argan cosmetic and cooking oil.  There’s of course the chance of a tasting session.  Afterwards you’ll continue on through some of the region’s best scenery before arriving at the big chaotic Sunday market where you’ll delight in seeing Morocco’s rural life. I’ll assist you in taking photos here.  It’s something special and you’ll never forget the experience. You’ll also be sourcing ingredients for your afternoon’s cooking classes. 

For the afternoon we’re located at our resident country kitchen at short drive from the market where first you’ll lunch before your afternoon’s cooking workshops with Naima. Depending on seasonal availability you’ll also have the chance for a dip in our swimming pool.  You’ll depart for the medina full of good food at around 8pm.

Monday is your transfer day so you’ll have the first part of the morning to finally explore the medina or historic port before heading off.

Your hotel is Riad Maison du Sud located in Essaouira’s medina. It’s a 3 star hotel with excellent reviews.  All rooms are private en-suite. If you wish to upgrade your accommodation then just let me know in advance. 

Monday is departure day:

The price inclusive of airport transfers, your en-suite room and all workshops is £350.

Contact me for availability at info@photomaroc.co.uk

Categories
photography workshops

Photography Workshops Morocco

Our Photography Workshops in Morocco are entering into their 5th year and we’ve had some great successes.

 

photography-workshops-moroccoOne thing that has developed during the last couple of years is the improvement of camera equipment. Many guests are now arriving for our photography workshops in Morocco with decent recently acquired kit. It really makes a difference to the quality of photos taken.  I’m noticing that increasingly guests are producing more higher quality images at the end of their time here.  This is course makes the task of selecting their best photos all the more tricky, so invariably we’re ending up with larger final galleries!  I suspect we’re the only provider that runs photo workshops that review all images taken in one way or another. We feel only by looking at all your images can we see any technical hitches or indeed what your success rate is from shooting 300 photos.  Only 3 are Ok, then we’ll see why this is the case and take at look at some basic camera use or compositional aspects.

As an aside it’s also great to see photographers arriving with a 50mm prime lens. The ‘portrait’ lens is a great addition to any camera kit and available at f1.8 is not expensive, coming in at under £100. The extra wide aperture over most zoom lens will allow more light to enter the camera which is necessary for those lower light level situations. Most of the portrait work we shoot during our photography workshops in Morocco is situated in workshops or doorways rather than in open street situations so the ‘faster’ lens is beneficial.

 

photography-workshops-moroccoIf you’re thinking of taking one of photography workshops and have yet to buy kit then do get in touch with us. I can certainly recommend some alternative lenses to the supplied kit tens, such as the Tamron 18-270 which is a great utility/travel lens. It comes in about £320 and is very good quality. It does have it’s drawbacks; not a large aperture which is why the 50mm prime is so useful to have alongside. If budget is an issue then why not consider a secondhand lens from London Camera Exchange (UK).  They have branches all over the country and you can try out the kit before you buy as oppose to buying online. You can view the latest photos taken on our photography workshops in Morocco at our gallery page here. Best of luck with your photography. Darren

NB. Many thanks to John & Shauneen; their images are kindly reproduced above. All of November’s group produced some excellent photos.