The photographers arriving for their Photography Holiday in Menorca starting tomorrow are in for a great surprise – the free WiFi at the Hotel S'Algar has been completely upgraded. WiFi is now available in the hotel rooms and not just in the hotel lounge area.

The service is FREE for our photographers.

The photography group arriving tommorw will be the first of the season here in Menorca and Norene and I are really looking forward to he week.

There will be several regular friends and some new faces among the group, so we have tried to balance the itinerary with some new locations and subjects as well as those always popular subjects like dear old Pedro the farmer.

Above: The Hotel S'Algar, Menorca – our base on this lovely island.

Both the Photography Holidays this month are fully booked – but there are still places available for the holiday in September.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS IN MENORCA

Since returning from running the two Photography Holidays in Venice I have had little time to sort out my photographs from the trip – or share them on the blog.

I also need to sort and post some more of the images taken by the other photographers who were with me – and very soon we will be away again to Menorca where I have two Photography Holidays coming up – both fully booked.

However, I would like to show you this portrait of a rather sylish old lady sat in a water bus shelter waiting for a vaporetto.

Photography by Philip Dunn

I hope it serves as an example of the sort of pictures that can be captured of complete strangers in the street if you approach them in the right manner.

I had never met this lady before and took several candid shots of her before she realised she was being photographed. She did not object when I then asked if I could take more pictures and this is the result of a very fleeting portrait session that lasted all of 30 seconds or less.

• Camera: Fuji X-Pro1
• Lens: Fujinon XF 18-55mm
• ISO: 640
• Shutter Speed: 1/17sec
• Aperture: f/7.1

There is a wealth of wonderful subjects out there in the street – all just waithing to be photographed.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS WITH PHILIP DUNN

My regular client and photography student Ken Terry has been photographing the urban fox that visits his garden most evenings.

Clients on our Photography Holidays in Menorca can now enjoy a 10% discount with S’Algar Diving

S’Algar Diving is based right outside the Hotel S’Algar, our holiday base in Menorca.

The discount applies to ‘Try Dive’ for those wanting to try diving for the first time, and also individual divers who have some experience.

Menorca offers some of the finest diving opportunities to be found anywhere in the world, and is famous for its clear water and fabulous cave diving.

Photography and diving can be the perfect combination and offer fabulous photo opportunities

Find out more about S'Algar Diving

Photography Holiday in Menorca

I have now had a little time to sort pictures from our two Photography Holidays in Venice.

As always, my emphasis when running these photography holidays is on coaching the photographers and not on taking my own pictures. I have been seriously impressed by the pictures members of the groups have shown me so far.

But that doesn't mean I don't get a little time to take my own pictures.

Above: The life of Venice – yes, real people live here and do normal, everyday chores. I enjoyed capturing the real world that goes on behind the tourist hot-spots. Photograph by Philip Dunn

These two photography holidays were the first real chance I have had to put my new Fuji X-Pro1 camera to the test.

I was not disappointed. The camera proved a delight to use and suits my way of working to perfection. I will try my best to post a practical review of the camera as soon as I am able.

Meanwhile I have put some snaps of the photographers tackling the challenges of Venice – in particular doing battle with the extraordinarily dreadful weather one group experienced – on Flickr.

You can see the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/venice1

http://www.flickr.com/groups/venice2

Above: A great chance to put the Fuji X-Pro1 high ISO to the test. This shot was taken at ISO 3200. The quaility astonished me. Even more surprising was the quality achieved at ISO 6400. Photograph Philip Dunn

The weather the photographers endured during the second of the two holiday really did test their keeness – but what wonderful picture opportunities this weather actually presented us with.

St Mark's Square flooded, of course, but that's pretty regular these days, and our second trip to Burano Island was an occasion for trying to protect out cameras from the rain and grabbing quick photographs of the amazing reflections from those colourful buildings alongside the canals.

Above: I waited in the rain beneath my own umbrella for quite a long time to capture this shot of tourists walking along one of the raised flood gangways near St Mark's Square. The problem was that I wanted each figure to be separate and most people came along in tightly huddled groups. Photograph by Philip Dunn

Above: The mundane normality of getting to work for local people on Venice's Vaporetto water buses. Another test for the Fuji X-Pro1. The shutter is so quite, this chap had no idea he was being photographed. Photograph by Philip Dunn

So, lessons learned from these first two Photography Holidays in Venice? I think we may go back next year in April when there is a better chance of good weather.

Now all planning is going into the Photography Holidays next month in Menorca. We have some wonderful new venues and people tp photograph and I'm really looking forward to working with the group in the sunshine. Both the May and the June holidays are fully booked, but there are still places available for the Menorca Photography Holiday in September.

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS MENORCA

I've just finiished a Photography Workshop here in Kirkcudbright with a lovely group of photographers from Stranraer Camera Club.

This is begoming quite a regular event and was, as always, well attended.

Today we were blessed with glorious sunshine so there was a last minute adjustment of itinerary to enable us to spend as much time as possible outdoors taking pictures.

Our main theme for the day was Street Photography, but we started in the morning by going over some basic topics on Manual Exposure and metering.

I was delighted how easily members of the group relaxed with taking pictures of people in the street – once they realised that people are mostly very friendly – especially in a place like Kirkcudbright.

Anyway, I think the day was a success – to such a point that the club has taken up my suggestion that the theme for one of their forthcoming competitions should be Street Photography.

If your Camera Club would like to come to Kirkcudbright for a special Photography Workshop and day of photography tuition – please contact Philip Dunn.

Well, the two Photography Holidays in Venice are now behind us.

Hundreds of photographs were captured by all the photographers and many miles were walked through the narrow streets, over the bridges,  and beside the canals of Venice.

Above – the first group of photographers during their day on Burano Island – the island proved a hige success for the photographers.

Top of the favourite Venice picture locations was the island of Burano. Such a shame that for the second group the weather was so dreadful. Still, many good pictures were produced with the emphasis on reflections of the brightly-coloured houses on the rain-spattered pavements.

Above: After a day's photography on the chilly streets of Venice, the second group of photographers relax in the warmth of an excellent local Italian restaurant. Yes, the empty seat belongs to the photographer who took the picture – me.

These were the first photography holidays we have run in Venice and we have certainly learned a great deal about how we can make them even better. The general feeling was that the holidays should be at least one day longer, and this suggestion has been taken on board for next time.

More time will enable me to ease the pace a little and give us greater time flexibility in the event of poor weather.

As far as the choice of Venice locations is concerned, we think we have got things pretty much spot-on.

One of the most striking things to me was just how easy it is to work in Venice; street photography, for instance is a pleasure. There is always something to photograph, it’s almost always visually interesting and the Venitians were on the whole extremely tolerant – even the gondoliers were mostly helpful  to our photographers.

Left: All the photographers enjoyed photographing the gondoliers, and, mostly, the guys in the straw hats were very patient. Photograph by Philip Dunn

Our 72 hour Vaporetto tickets (included in the price of the photography holiday) were well-used. These public transport boats are both efficient and useful.

I am slowly sorting out some photographs of the photographers themselves and I will be sending these to everyone as soon as I can. I'll also post some of my pictures from the holiday.

Meanwhile, my sincere thanks to all the photographers who came on these two Photography Holidays in Venice – you all contributed so very much to their success and it was a joy having you with us.

Now I must concentrate on preparations for the Photography Holidays coming up soon in Menorca… one things is certain – it will certainly be a whole lot warmer there than it was in Venice.

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS MENORCA

The date for the Photography Workshop at Carlisle Cathedral has been changed to Saturday November 16th 2013.

This is because the cathedral choir will be taking over the cathedral for rehearsals on our planned day of 2nd November.

Apologies to those already booked – I have emailed them today, but I think the choir probably has first call.

Our old friend and regular photography student Gerwyn Jones has just launched his first website.

The website is still very much in the construction stage with just a few of Gerwyn's pictures – but I think he's doing a great job and I wish him well. Gerwyn is using Zenfolio, which seems to offer simple clean design and he tells me the cost is not too daunting.

Gerwyn has been on several of my Photography Courses and to Menorca twice. He will be making that a hat-trick when he comes back to Menorca for another of my Photography Holidays in May.

gerwynjones.zenfolio.com

These May and June Photography Holidays are now fully booked but there are still places available for September.

These digital days photographers often seem at a loss as to how they should show their pictures to a wider audience.

Although I am purist enough to believe that nothing will ever top the joy of actually seeing one's own pictures in real, physical paper print, I do believe that a gallery of images on a well-planned website can be hugely rewarding for both the photographer and the viewer.

Which reminds, me – I really should get around to upgrading my gallery on the PhotoActive website.

It's been a busy time – and right now a lot of effort is going into the planning for the two Photography Holidays in Venice due to start next week.

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS

PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES

The photographers who come on my Photography Courses are a generous lot. They like to learn, they like to laugh and above all they like to take pictures of interesting subjects.

PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE SHED
When it is possible I take the smaller groups to photograph my friend Colin in his wonderful shed. And when it comes to generosity, few people are more sincere than Shedman Colin.

He is always ready to welcome our photographers – all of whom are utterly blown away by the picture possibilities offered in his amazing garden shed.

I'm sure Colin will forgive me when I say that his shed is not the tidiest place in the world and that space is restricted in there, especially when the photographers are usinjg tripods.

DISASTER IN THE SHED
Tragedy struck the other day – a photographer knocked over and broke Colin's tea mug!

Naturally, the photographer, Stuart Barkworth – there. I've named and shamed – was crestfallen. Colin tried to be brave but you could see the loss of a much-loved tea mug, especially one with tea still in it, had traumatised him.

The first thing Stuart and his partner Christine did when they returned to the hotel was to get straight on to Amazon and order Colin a very special new tea mug in the shape of a lens. Unfortunately it looked a bit like a Canon lens, but never mind, the thought was genuine.

LENS MUG
The lens mug arrived yesterday (great service from Amazon) and I took it straight round to Colin. Of course I found him in his shed. His eyes lit up at the sight of his lovely gift from Stuart and Christine. He immediately christened it with the contents of his beer can.

That's Colin in the picture with his broken tea mug and his new lens mug. He sent his thanks to Stuart and Christine, and so do I.

I was so impressed by this Lens Mug that I have set up a new section in the PhotoActive Shop and you can find the mug – and some other fun items in there. There's even a thermos cup that looks exactly like a Nikon f/2.8 24-70mm lens. Have fun

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