The very first Fujifilm School UK Photography Holiday
It’s always been a dream of mine to run training courses, workshops and product experience holidays for one of the biggest names in the photographic industry. So having been 10 years in my head, 5 years in the making, 3 years of bouncing ideas around, 2 years of location scouting, 12 months of intense planning and 6 months of agonisingly waiting for sales. In January 2023 my dream was finally realised. It all came together and Fujifilm, along with Carol Hartfree and Linda Koolen, we ran the first-ever customer-based Photographic Holiday for the greatest product experience.
Introduction to Landscape Photography
“Introduction to Landscape Photography” holiday premise was that we would have 5 days in Glencoe, Scotland teaching landscape photography. Teaching paying customers who want to improve their photographic skills on location, with like-minded people. We chose Glencoe for its absolute beauty, it’s one of the most photogenic places in the UK. But it’s also far enough away to have a holiday. We stayed at the beautiful Kingshouse Hotel, a 250-year-old coaching inn that really is the gateway to the Scottish Highlands. This was our base for the 5 days and we couldn’t have asked for anywhere better to stay. The hotel is incredible, having recently opened in January 2022 after a long renovation. The staff were amazing and incredibly accommodating to the group.
Holiday Structure and The Product Experience
We had 2 days of practical photography out in the field at a few extremely beautiful and picturesque locations such as Black Rock Cottage, Buachaille Etive Mór, Loch Actriochan, Lagangarbh Cottage and Cauldron falls. Additionally, we spent two days in the hotel discussing editing, techniques, and answering technical questions due to unpredictable weather. Each customer had unique challenges and received personalized 1-2-1 guidance throughout the week.
Challenges
The weather was the biggest challenge for the product expereince throughout the week for us. With lots of rain, wind and cloud, all of these are the nemesis of the landscape photographer. Even though they can create some incredible photography conditions but when a photographer is using a tripod to keep the camera steady and trying to use a set of filters on the front of their lens which acts like a sail in high winds, it can be quite difficult.
It was lovely to watch the customers grow in confidence throughout the week and use different photographic techniques that they were nervous of in the beginning. Such as HDR or exposure blending; which is taking 3 images at different exposures and using post-production software to blend them together to increase the tonality and dynamic range of the final image.
Building on Success
Overall, we had a great time, the customers had a great product expereince and left some incredible feedback for us to take into other photography holidays going forward. In fact it was so successful, we’ve already been allocated time for the same holiday in 2024!
written by Carl Hare
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