Langhe and Barolo hills Photography Workshop
Farmlands, Barolo's Vineyards and Castles in Piedmont
Here in the rural plains and the hills of Piedmont you might miss the majestic views and the wilderness of the Alps, but you gain an entirely different world of small, romantic, enchanted scenarios.
A simple line of trees running along a ditch in the vast expanse of the Po Valley, the repeating patterns and textures of the vineyards of Barolo, La Morra and Serralunga, a lonely farmhouse or a medieval castle atop a slope in the Langhe hills.
I believe that framing a beautiful composition out of a relatively busy scene or in a place that might not look very attractive at a first glance, can often be a much more difficult task - and thus more rewarding - than photographing the grand vistas landscape photographers always dream of. The country side is simply the ideal playground for photographers who want to spark their creativity and bring their vision to another level.
Main Shooting Locations
La Morra
Placed on a dominant position atop one of the highest hills in the heart of the Langhe hills region, from this small town is possible to enjoy and photograph a 360 degrees view on the vineyards of Barolo, Novello, Monforte d'Alba and La Morra itself.
The rural scenes of the Po Valley
A vast expanse of farm lands, fields and fields of crops of every kind, sparse trees, dirt roads and scattered farm houses. The country is the place where nature and the hand of man melt together, producing sometimes harmonious landscapes and quiet rural scenes.
Castle of Racconigi
The Royal Castle of Racconigi is a palace and landscape park in Racconigi, province of Cuneo, Italy. It was the official residence of the Carignano line of the House of Savoy, and is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy included by UNESCO in the World Heritage Sites list. The park of the castle features amazing trees, some of them older than 400 years.
Sacra di San Michele
The Sacra di San Michele, sometimes known as Saint Michael's Abbey, a 10th-12th century religious complex situated on the south side of the Susa Valley overlooking the small town of Avigliana and Chiusa di San Michele.
Castle of Pralormo
Not far from Montalcino, surrounded by the vineyards of Brunello, the worldwide renown red wine, lies the incredibly old Abbey of Sant'Antimo, founded in the VIII century by Charlemagne. T
Castle of Serralunga
On the crest of the hill overlooking the town and the surrounding vineyards stands Serralunga Castle. One is immediately struck by the steepness and height of its Gothic architecture. The fortification contains two asymmetrical towers, one cylindrical and one square, and a turret roof. From the time of its construction (XIV century) up to the present day, very few alterations have been made. Fortunately, the castle suffered no serious damage from battles.
The Po River banks
The bank of the Po, the longest and largest Italian river, nearby Carignano, a small town about 20 kms south of Turin. This location is just 15-20 minutes far from where I live and I can say I almost know each single tree, stone and blade of grass of it. I love this place, as it's very peaceful and rich with mood at every hour of the day and night, and it's for me like a gold mine for photographic opportunities.
Example of a typical
day in the field
Sunrise and early morning
Wake up about 30-40 minutes before dawn. We will shoot the sun rising from the early morning mist in the country side nearby the B&B. We will scout the area for about 1-2 hours looking for some beautiful rural scenery.
rest of the morning
Later on we will take the car and with a 20 minutes trip we will get to the banks of the Po river nearby the town of Carignano. We will spend the rest of the morning at this location shooting the river banks with its beautiful lines of poplar trees and the Alps range in the foreground, and we will also focus on water reflections and small scenes such as leaves in the water, emerging logs and poles, etc.
Afternoon
Right after lunch, with a transfer by car of about one and a half hour we will get to the Langhe hills. We will spend the whole afternoon shooting these amazing landscapes in the vineyards of Barolo and La Morra.
Sunset
About one hour before sunset we will get to the small village of Serralunga, lying atop a hill and dominated by the imposing Castle of Serralunga, a wonderful fortress built in the fourteenth century. We will shoot the sun setting behind the Langhe with the Castle as the main subjects and the vineyards of Barolo in the foreground.
Looking for more images?
Check my photo portfolio online for hundreds of images from this and other areas of Italy - Click the image below.
Requirements, prices and other useful information about this workshop
Details and Requirements - Key Features
Number of students per workshop: minimum 1, maximum 3 students
Duration*: minimum 2, maximum 5 days
4 days is the recommended length, as it is indeed the ideal timeframe for putting
together a very effective itinerary, and it still allows enough free time
for a few good image processing/image critiquing sessions.
*upon request the maximum duration can be extended up to 7 days. Please inquire for prices.
Workshops Availability
Year around - Particularly scenic in Fall and Spring
Difficulty
Easy. Most of the shooting locations are directly accessible by car. A few of them require short hiking of no more than a few hundred meters one way on easy trails, with little or no elevation gain.
What's included
- full time in-the-field tutoring and instructions
- at least one image processing class (min. 2 hours) per workshop
- all travel costs from the B&B to the shooting locations and back (fuel, tolls, tickets, etc.)
- lodging costs of the instructor.
What's not included
- Travel costs for reaching the accommodation
- hotels/B&B rates
- entrance fees (if any)
- meals and beverages
Insurance
All participants must be in possession of a valid Health and Accident Insurance with repatriation cover.
Key Skills You Will Learn
- build a strong technical background
- learn how to frame effective compositions
- recognize how the quality of the light, the time of the day and weather conditions can play
in your favour for producing strong images with higher artistic content
- learn when and how use filters
- understand how and when breaking the rules can be helpful for creating images of more impact
- learn how to pre-visualize, compose and shoot panoramas
- learn how to pre-visualize, compose and shoot very long exposures with the help of strong ND filters
- advanced techniques of image processing with the most common software tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom
Prices, Payment and Cancellation Policy
Prices*
2 days, 1 student: 1.150,00 € + VAT 22%**
*a discount applies for groups of 2 or 3 photographers:
2 photographers pay each one 75% of the base rates above,
3 photographers pay 65% of the base rates.
Of course partners and/or friends who are not active photographers
are always welcome to join for free.
**
VAT (Valued Added Tax) is not applicable - and it will not be charged -
for businesses and/or companies from outside the European Union
Deposit
A deposit of 35% of the total amount is due at the moment of the reservation,
this is required to secure your place at the workshop.
The final balance payment is due no later than 15 days before the beginning of the workshop.
Accepted payments
Bank Transfer, Credit Cards, Paypal
Cancellation policy
If you cancel within 60 days before the workshop start, you will be refunded the deposit minus 100,00 € as administrative fee. No refund will be issued for cancellations received with 60 days or less remaining before the workshop starting date.
Please note that there is no exception to this policy. For this reason it is strongly recommended
to purchase refundable plane/train tickets only and endow yourself with a trip cancellation insurance.
All cancellation request must be in writing.
Accommodations
and thus very handy for picking the students up on every morning.
Tenuta
La Cascinetta
Price: 70-90 € per night depending on season. Continental breakfast included.
Both accommodations are situated in the green, peaceful countryside about 20 kms. south of Turin,
they are very nice and comfortable, recently restored and regurarly maintaned.
All rooms come with ensuite bathroom and wi-fi connection.
Of course you can choose a different venue, provided that it is not too far from where I live.
If you need assistance in choosing your accommodation please contact me.
Clothes and Accessories
Weather in Piedmont is very variable, particularly in Fall and Spring, when you can experience
blue skies and pouring rain in the same day. In Winter it snows quite often and temperatures
below 0°C are very common, while in summer is often very humid and hot.
So, how to be dressed here really depends on the season.
Here's a list of the most common items you should always wear/have with you for outdoor activities:
- comfortarble walking shoes
- gumboots (optional, but useful in certain situations such as rivers and lakes)
- wind/rain proof jacket
- a warm pullover
- headdress
- sunscreen
- sun glasses
- Head lamps and batteries
Camera Gear - Recommended Equipment
- Tripod
- Dslr camera
- Camera user's manual
- Wide angle to normal zoom lens, at least 24/70 mm on a full frame sensor, the equivalent on cropped sensors. Ideally one 16/35 mm and a 28/70 mm
- Long tele zoom lens - 70/200mm is enough, 300mm is recommended
- Enough storage cards for at least 16 GB
- Extra Camera batteries
- Photography backpacks come in handy to protect the equipment if it rains and to facilitate transfers from a shooting location to another
- polarizer filter
- a set of Graduated ND filters, at least a 2 and a 3 stops (it is ideal to have all the range from 1 to 4 stops)
- ND filters for long exposures, ideally one 10 stops and one 6 stop
- remote (or cable) switch
- for the image processing session, a laptop with Photoshop CS3 or newer and Lightroom 3.x or newer
About your Photography Instructor
Ciao! My name is Paolo.
I have been a full-time professional landscape, nature, travel and architecture photographer since 2007. Since then, I have planned and led hundreds of private one-to-one and small groups photo workshops and tours in some of the best looking regions and cities of Italy and France.
My pictures have appeared in calendars, books, travel magazines, brochures and as wall art in offices, hotels, restaurants and corporate venues. For more info please click here
More Photo Workshops
Private, one-to-one photo workshops, available year around
Small Groups Photo Workshops
