TRAINING COURSE | CECONI CASTLE | VENICE | ITALY | LAUREN & ZACH | APRIL 2016
Well this blog has been a long time in the making to be honest! haha –
What, with the amount of pictures & everything else going on – But its here now!!
The fun started the night before, but even with a heavy head, the views from the plane, over the Alps were spectacular!
We were nearly our destination & I must say, that although I’ve been on a few of Chris Chambers’
training courses in the past, I knew this one was going to be a belter!
…. And when we arrived at Ceconi Castle, owned by Graphistudio, I must say that none of us were disappointed!
PHOTO CREDIT : CHRIS CHAMBERS PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO CREDIT : CHRIS CHAMBERS PHOTOGRAPHY
The castle & its grounds are outstanding – such an amazing place for a photoshoot!
Chris’ courses cover many topics, but are, as this one was, based around Off Camera Flash & its use in providing beautiful images.
As I said, I’ve done a few (many!) of Chris’ courses before, but as the week progressed
I really did start to feel comfortable with OCF – which was nice!
Lauren & Zach were the models & both were amazing.
We started Day 1 with a few simple shots just outside the castle, then, as the sun was still shining,
we used the beautiful mountains as a backdrop & with a little bit of On Camera Flash to fill in the shadows slightly,
we again were shown how to create some stunning images!
Again using the beautiful, Ceconi Castle as the backdrop, we used a mix of On Camera Flash & natural light for these great images.
You can really see where the use of Off Camera Flash comes into its own on these next couple of images – Ceconi @ night helps too! 🙂
Day 2 started indoors, showing us how to create some brilliant images, even in the strangest of places!
Zach’s ‘groom prep’ photos are easy to create, given the right conditions, but they do look amazing! 😉
A simple red couch, a blue gel, a little bit of Off Camera Flash & voilà!
We ventured away from the castle after lunch, to a little river & waterfall, just down the road & yes the water really was that colour 🙂
Always wanted to try this shot – Again, its fairly easy to do, but always nice to practice, when not under the scrutiny of a ‘proper’ wedding 😉
The rest too, are very simple poses, but it just shows, that with the right backdrop, any simple pose can look beautiful.
This is my attempt at shooting the stars over Ceconi Castle, on the evening of Day 2… Wish I’d have left it a little longer now!
Day 3 was one of the main reasons we were on the course – The chance to visit Graphistudio & see how our albums were made!
Martin, our guide, was brilliant & very informative & It really was great to see everyone & everything that went into the making of the gorgeous albums.
PHOTO CREDIT : CHRIS CHAMBERS PHOTOGRAPHY
In the afternoon, we did a little boudoir shoot with the stunning Lauren – I think you’ll agree – She looks beautiful.
We, well me & Jonny, even managed to have a little bit of fun too! 😉
Day 4 was the last day & some needed to be at the airport, so we had a few hours to have a look at a pre wedding shoot &
how we could make these images ‘pop’ too!
The rest of the time was spent in Venice, where we had the chance to follow Chris on actual pre wedding
shoot & see how he worked – It really was an insight!
The rest of the time though, was spent enjoying the brilliantly beautiful surroundings & even grabbing a few shots!
I must say that this was one of the best courses, and photography experiences I’ve had.
Many thanks must go to Martin & Graphistudio, for being great hosts for most of the week,
the models, Lauren & Zach, who were, as I said earlier, amazing and not forgetting
of course, Mr Chambers, for all the information & guidance. It really was brill 🙂