Three nights is the perfect amount of time to extensively cover all of the iconic viewpoints as well as some less known ones too.
Cinque Terre are an experience, with all their pros and cons – and experience that it’s definitely worth living and capturing with you camera.
Out of the five villages – three are the ones that stand out for their photographic beauty: Riomaggiore, Manarola and Vernazza. The best time of the day around here, by far, is sunset: having three sunset sessions at our disposal during this workshop – we will be able to dedicate a full session to each town and your instructor will have enough time to teach you all the tips and trick about seascape photography!
If you’d like to get more infos about the locations – you can also visit our Cinque Terre Location Guide, that should give you an even clearer idea of the places – and if you’d like to know more about the best times to visit Cinque Terre, check this Cinque Terre Season Guide instead!
Truth is that we never run two identical workshops – due to the weather, due to the light, due to the length of the days at any given time of the year and a bazillion other variables that come into play when dealing with outdoor photography.
Take this general itinerary for what it is – and by any means don’t think that we’ll stick to it at all times!
Time to start our workshop together! On our first day, we will pick you up at the Pisa (or Florence) airport around mid-morning, so that we can start our drive to Manarola (our final destination of the workshop, 1h15m drive from Pisa and 2h20m from Florence) straight away.
Lunch: 12:30PM
As soon as we arrive at the parking lot in Manarola – the culture shock of Cinque Terre will hit you: we won’t be able to drive all the way down to our hotel, since the town centre is closed to traffic. This means that we will park our car up there and then walk down with all our stuff! It’s going to be a short walk – no worries!
Whenever we reach the town centre, we’ll leave the luggages at the hotel and head straight for a delicious lunch where you will get to try the seafood or the pesto sauce (actually “invented” here!).
Hotel Check-in & Afternoon Break: approx. 2:30/4:30PM
After our tasty lunch together, we’ll return back to the hotel to check in and take a breath before hitting the road again.
Sunset Session: 5/8PM (depending on sunset time)
Finally you will get the chance to bring out the camera from the backpack! Time to take an incredibly short walk to the seaside and capture the beauty of Manarola itself, the place where we are staying and arguable the most beautiful out of all the villages of Cinque Terre! See the images down here for reference.
Dinner: 8:30PM
It’s been a long day: finally we will have the chance to sit down and have a warm meal with some wine to end it in the best way!
Time for an early wake up call! We will do our first sunrise of the workshop in Manarola again – this time for a different and less known perspective though! We will hike up above the village (10 minutes walk) through some steps and get the twilight and sunrise from up there.
Breakfast & Morning Break: 8/10:30AM
By the time we’ll be back at the hotel, I’m sure that you will be very much looking forward to having a nice breakfast and a bit of a break to gain some energies back.
Visit and Lunch to Monterosso al Mare: 11:00AM/2:30PM
What you need to know about Cinque Terre is: not all of them are photographically interesting.
Monterosso al Mare, as pretty as it is, photography-wise doesn’t quite hit the spot as Manarola, Riomaggiore or Vernazza – and that’s why we will visit this town mid-day: it’s still worth seeing it, just not worth it to spend a golden hour session there. We will take a stroll through the city streets, along the seaside and have a tasty lunch around there.
We will reach the town by train: the train is what we will use to move between the villages for the whole workshop – as it’s 10x faster than using a car and all the stations are downtown (almost at the sea level), so that we won’t have to walk uphill everytime.
Afternoon Break/Editing: 2:30/5:00PM
Depending on how tired we are, we might either take another break or do some post-production on the shots taken in the past couple sessions. Or maybe a mix of both!
Sunset Session: 5:30/8PM (depending on sunset time)
Time to hit Vernazza – another gorgeous town of Cinque Terre! This location is also the one that probably offers more viewpoints: your instructor, depending on the time of the year and the weather conditions will decide which one will be the best on that day.
Dinner: 8:30/9PM
After twilight is gone, we will take the train back to Manarola and get our well deserved dinner there!
Second sunrise of the workshop: at this time we will probably take an early train once again and return to Vernazza to shoot it from one of the perspectives that we missed the night before. As we mentioned earlier, there’s no shortage of compositions there!
Breakfast & Morning Break: 8/10:30AM
By the time we’ll be back at the hotel, I’m sure that you will be very much looking forward to having a nice breakfast and a bit of a break to gain some energies back.
Visit and Lunch to Corniglia: 11:00AM/2:30PM
Same thing we did on the previous day – we will visit one of the less interesting (photographically speaking) towns, this time one named Corniglia. We will reach it by train in just 3 minutes, as it’s right next to Manarola: expect a looong staircase to reach the town centre from the main station, but with some beautiful views all over the coast!
Afternoon Break/Editing: 2:30/5:00PM
Depending on how tired we are, we might either take another break or do some post-production on the shots taken in the past couple sessions. Or maybe a mix of both!
Sunset Session: 5:30/8PM (depending on sunset time)
Last sunset of the workshop: tonight we will cover the last village we haven’t seen yet: Riomaggiore. Seeing the sun setting over the sea while the light hits the colorful houses of the village is just one of the most romantic experiences you can capture in Italy!
Dinner: 8:30/9PM
After twilight is gone, we will take the train back to Manarola and get our well deserved dinner there!
We are mentioning one last sunrise in the itinerary, even in our very last day: since you’ll probably have to pack things up and get ready for your trip back home, you are 100% free to decide whether you’d like to go for it or maybe just sleep in and get ready a bit later. Our recommendation is to see how the weather looks like, depending also on what conditions we got the previous day and then decide.
Breakfast & Check-out: 8:00/9:30AM
Time to pack everything up, get some “juice” for the trip back home and start our drive back towards the airport!
Drop-off: 11:00AM/12:00PM
After a 1h30m drive back to Pisa (or 2h30m to Florence), it’s unfortunately time to say goodbye: your instructor will help you take the luggages into the building and wish you a safe flight back home!
– Scroll down, select the package that more fits your needs, fill in your details and follow the process to the check-out. You will be able to leave a refundable deposit (500€ x person most of the times) via credit/debit card, bank transfer or even Paypal.
– Scroll down to the very end of the page to find the contact form or visit the “Contact Us” page to, well.. Contact us! We will be more than happy to help you with any request you have and set up the ideal workshop you have in your mind – and ultimately give you all the details to complete the deposit and secure your spot on the tour.
Why? So that you to get your own room for yourself without having to share it with anyone else. The single supplement is something we add at cost price (if not less), and as annoying as it might be, that’s something that unfortunately we can’t avoid.
That’s also how we manage to guarantee every workshop departure, even if you are the only participant for that date.
Of course you can opt for the single supplement even if you are traveling with friends and you like to have your own personal space.
– Digital Camera (preferably a DSLR or mirrorless camera, APS-C, micro 4/3 and FF will be more than fine);
– An ultrawide lens (e.g. Nikon 14-24mm, Canon 16-35mm, Tamron 15-30mm, Tokina 16-28mm etc); we recommend a lens with a wide maximum aperture (like f/2.8) in case we might do some night photography.
– A standard zoom lens (e.g. Nikon/Canon/Sigma 24-70mm or 24-105mm);
– A telephoto zoom lens (e.g. various Nikon/Canon/Tamron/Sigma 70-200mm);
– A super telephoto zoom lens (e.g. Sigma/Tamron 150-600mm); this lens is not necessary but we recommend it anyway since it allows to capture the far away details of the landscapes;
– A sturdy tripod that permits to do some long exposure photos, specially at twilight;
– A set of ND filters; these are the only filters we feel to recommend, since they become useful when you need to stretch the exposure time a little bit during some difficult light conditions;
– A camera remote to avoid blurry shots.
TOUR
Andre Erlich2024-10-14 A great tour in spite of some weather hostility. Leonardo is a great guide and knows probably every photo opportunity in every light situation. He's also extremely helpful with composition and other photography techniques. Although I consider myself an experienced (amateur) photographer, I still learned quite a lot from Leonardo. I strongly recommend this tour with this guide. Thank you Leonardo for your guidance and insights Andre Erlich, Paris, France Beth F2024-09-25 Don’t hesitate to book a trip with Leo at Tuscany Photography Tours. Your experience will cover everything from camera instruction, to finding locations to best capture what Tuscany has to offer, to local history…to dining at some of the best local restaurants in Tuscany. Leo is very organized and has the perfect disposition to make the trip instructive, as well as fun. His help with how to handle the raw files after the photo shoots is an added plus. Leo makes the trip easy for the guests by doing all the prep work, including booking the hotel. He also knows how to be flexible with the schedule based on weather and light conditions. You won’t be disappointed by joining him in Tuscany, or one of his other main locations. Enjoy it! Peggy Swords2024-05-19 Leo is the perfect choice for a photographic tour of Tuscany. He has detailed knowledge of the places to shoot, in which weather, and what time of day to optimize your time in Val D'Orcia. He combines that with charm and wit to keep you entertained during the waiting times, drives, and meals. He also selects fantastic local Agritourismo locations for your stay and local, often family-owned restaurants for your gastronomic delights while on tour with him. There is just no comparison! Janet2024-05-09 I have just returned from a delightful week with Tuscany Photography Tours, led by Leonardo Papèra (Leo). A native Tuscan, Leo is an expert in the region, an accomplished photographer, a gifted teacher and a delight to have as a guide of the Tuscany region. We travelled to well known key photography locations as well, lesser-known places for beautiful shots that provided us great learning opportunities as well as unusual beautiful photos. Leo quickly assessed each of our technical and composite skills and tailored his teachings and support to each of our individual needs. His full attention was on his clients at each photo shoot. Unlike some tours I have experienced, he approached each of our photo sessions as a workshop and I have come away from the week with a significant advanced knowledge of composition, how light plays in photography and an understanding of the need to 'see the story' before I take the shot. Leo's goal was to ensure that each of us walked away better photographers. In addition to his own personal photography skills, Leo is a born teacher; he is professionally critical in his feedback. As I continue my photography journey, I will carry with me, his encouraging words - 'you can do better'. He has built relationships in the Tuscan community with local establishments which meant each day we dined in beautiful restaurants and ate delicious Tuscan food. Every meal with Leo meant joyful conversations, laughter and sometimes more lessons. In addition to beautiful photography sessions in historic Tuscany, he spent time walking through how he produces the photographs in Lightroom and Photoshop. He freely shared his knowledge in pre and post photography and provided us tools to move forward on our own. And last, with his easy style and sense of humour - the week was absolutely delightful. As I move forward in my own learning of photography, I will be following Leo and looking for future workshops with him. Thank you, Leo! Patricia López2024-05-08 Leo is an extremely talented photographer, very professional and generous. I participated in the Tuscany Spring Tour and had a wonderful time! He not only cares deeply about teaching his art, but also about providing his customers with an authentic Italian experience. He is careful in selecting a combination of locations that include famous sites, hidden gems and various types of environments that can provide different learnings. I was very surprised to find out that the tour also included some walks around different towns in Tuscany. During the tour, Leo provided thorough explanations to help us improve our photography skills, but first challenged us to think of the solution ourselves. His editing workshops were amazing, he showed us how he edited more than 8 of our own pictures, which was also recorded for our benefit. In general, I was shocked to learn how many tours he leads (many), because of the commitment he brings to each one of the participants. Thank you for a wonderful experience! Arnold Brown2023-11-28 I have wanted to do a photography tour for many years and finally chose Tuscany Photography Tours. I am so glad that I did. All the arrangements were first class, the service was exceptional and the photography opportunities outstanding. I would highly recommend Leonardo and hope to take another tour with him. yang michael2023-11-14 It’s an amazing workshop. Leo did excellent job for organizing from logistics, right spots for shooting and great meals arrangements. He is also a great landscape photographer and shared a lot knowledge, skills and experience of Tuscany photography. Best Wish for his future success! Mary S2023-11-08 What a unique experience! Leo is not just a passionate and very skilled photographer, he is a patient teacher and fun and resourceful guide. Our Tuscany tour combined intense work on photography, breathtaking landscapes and immersing ourselves in the local way of living to create a lifetime experience. I really appreciated the small group, the exclusive locations, and highly professional booking process. Not to mention that my photography skills notably improved during the tour. The whole experience is rounded off by some super useful hands on instructions on photo editing. I definitely look forward to joining another of Leo's tours. Arun R2023-11-08 Leo was an excellent guide. I don’t say that lightly as not all photography experts are great guides with good interpersonal skills, but he definitely meets both requirements. Coming from such a long way away, it was important I found a guide who was prepared to take me to more adventurous and remote locations in the Dolomites rather than just doing the typical shots everyone does, and once Leo understood what I was after, he carefully planned on location at the right time. I think he would be one of the best photography guides running tours in the Dolomites. Being a fairly independently minded photographer he was able to read this correctly and didn’t try to over coach me but offered helpful advice when it was sought. Leading up to the trip, I asked many questions and he was patient and helpful each and every time and went above and beyond to organise an outstanding experience for me. I don’t regret going with him at all and hope we can travel together again as we had a lot of laughs along the way. Thanks mate! It was a pleasure. Thank you for some life long memories. Mark Brown2023-10-27 Experience of a lifetime! Leonardo is the best host imaginable for a photo tour - fun, friendly, kind, supportive, knowledgeable, and intensely capable. His ability to help tour members with their compositions, photo settings, and even post-processing is spot-on, yet at no point did he boast about his own work or look down on the tour members. Even if you're more interested in going along for the ride than taking photos (perhaps accompanying a partner), you'll have a blast, with Leo arranging magnificent hotels, meals, and places from which to enjoy the majesty of this world, or even a bit of shopping. The all-inclusive formula also means that you can leave all the logistics of hotel check-ins and meal payments up to him (and his perfect Italian). The route we took through the Dolomites was perfectly planned to start with a "Wow" and then build upon it each day. By the final location, we were absolutely awestruck. Leo was able to easily adjust plans based on inclement weather, and at no point did we feel shortchanged. If you're considering booking one of his photo tours, stop thinking and just do it. 🙂
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