I review photo workshop opportunities all the time. And every once in a while I’ll find a real winner. The price is right; the location is amazing and the subjects are equally incredible. Those are the ones I post in this blog. Lately, though I have been hard pressed to find a workshop that I felt was worth the time and money… that is until I was sent this incredible opportunity.
Grasshopper Adventures is offering a travel photography workshop to China for $3,400 per person. I know. It sounds steep, but look at what it includes: 14 nights’ accommodations, hotel taxes, sightseeing, admission fees, a tour guide, most meals (13 breakfasts, one lunch, eight dinners), two flights, an overnight train ride, and private bus transportation within China. A one-month single entry visa ($50 per person) is required for U.S. citizens and must be obtained from a Chinese embassy or consulate prior to travel. If you break down the $3,400 rate you are paying just $243 per night and that includes your meals, ground transportation, and hotel accommodations.
The trip takes place from October 13-27, 2008 and you are responsible for arranging your flight to China (the workshop begins in Xi’an and ends in Kashgar) and supplying your own digital camera. The other catch: The trip is limited to 10 people.
The tour is being led by China guidebook writer Simon Foster and by professional photographer Ewen Bell, winner of Australian Society of Travel Writers’ 2007 Travel Photographer of the Year award.
For two weeks you will participate in hands-on photography discussions organized by theme, including capturing intimacy and expression, using light for dramatic effect, shooting for context, portraiture and digital techniques. You will be working at your own experience level and each day of shooting is followed by a discussion and review of the images you captured in the last 24 hours.
Some of the trip’s highlights include a welcome dumpling banquet followed by a tour of the Ming dynasty city walls, and a journey to see the famed terra-cotta warriors and Muslim markets. You will also take a quick flight (which is included in the package price) to Jiayuguan to visit a crumbling section of the Great Wall in the desert (the focus here will be on landscape photography). Then you’ll ride through the desert in a private bus to Dunhuang, where you’ll explore cave art in the nearby Mogao Grottoes.
Interested?
If so, click here for more details and how you can sign up.
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