Without doubt, the most exhausting photography event I have been on but by far the best as well.
Rafael Pons and his team at PhotoPills not only have the best photography planning app, they also know how to plan and organise an event.
Sold out within hours, I was lucky enough to be one of nearly 60 attendees who “got in”. From the moment I booked until I flew home everything went like clockwork and every piece of information I needed to know arrived before I needed it. Never had to ask a single question.
The venue was excellent. I have food allergies and Rafa had told them. When I checked in they said the chefs and restaurant staff had been notified already. This was confirmed at the first meal when the Chef came to see me and assured me he would look after me. And he did – no issues at all.
Pills Camp is a week packed with presentations and activities but run on an informal and relaxed manner. The Photography Masters were all highly skilled nd shared their techniques and knowledge freely and not just in their presentations. We ate together, traveled together and shot together. Elia Locardi, Nico Trinkhaus, Albert Dros and Francesco Gola were always on hand to give one-on-one tuition. (others may have done this without me seeing). I personally benefitted from colour image processing with Albert and Francesco – the most worthwhile 2 hours of my photography life so far.
The check-in at 4pm on Sunday was followed by an introduction by Rafael Pons (the Bard) with an explanation of the weeks events. The Masters were introduced and the welcome party started shortly afterwards.
Nearly everyone “took it easy” at the welcome party as there was a 4.15am start the next day.
Monday
4.15am – meet and get bus to Cavalleria for Sunrise. Back to hotel at 8am for breakfast.
Cavalleria Sunrise
The first session started at 9.30 each day and was given by Rafael covering the main elements of using PhotoPills to plan Sun, Moon, and Milky Way shots. Elia Locardi gave a fascinating talk on turning ideas into action. I particularly liked the phrase “Location Independent" that he used to describe when he sold everything and lived on the road for 7-years. Alyn Wallace educated everyone on Milky Way photography and showed some stunning images. Francesco Gola then told us all how to take better long-exposure seascapes and was brilliant. Boy does he have some great work. | ||
The afternoon was taken up with Photopills which filled in a lot of blanks for me.
5.45pm – back on the bus. My group went to Pregonda, a cliff-top location where we shot sunset with Allyn Wallace and Nico Trinkhaus, followed by light painting with Eric Pare and Kim Henry. This was stunning.
We set up to shoot the Milky Way but clouds rolled in so we gave up at 2am. Got back to the Hotel just after 3am, so a 23 hour day.
Tuesday
8am breakfast then presentations from Rafael on PhotoPills.
Laura Oppelt gave a presentation on mastering composition and showed some of her stunning work. Amazing what you can do when you are 24 years old and can get to some remote places.
Eric Pare and Kim Henry talked about painting with light which was great as we had seen them in action the night before.
In the afternoon each group had a different session. Our group was a PhotoPills Q&A session which I ducked out of to go and watch Albert Dros and Mark Denney’s post-processing demo.
5.45pm – on the bus where my group went to Atalis with Francesco Gola, Albert Dros and Elia Locardi – 3 Landscape photography heavyweights. Once again there was no Milky Way due to clouds so an early night back to the Hotel at 1.20am. While we were waiting there was a tremendous storm out at sea and some of us got to shoot the lightning.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning we were treated to Albert Dros explaining how he dissects a scene to capture every possible composition, he really is a photography addict (and freely admits it).
Royce Bair captivated everyone with his knowledge of and examples of Low-Level Lighting in large night landscapes.
The evening gave us all a choice of 4 venues and I chose to go to the city of Ciutadella and what a good choice it was. Not only were we led by Albert Dros, Elia Locardi and Nico Trinkhaus, but the old part of the city was also stunning. Lots of narrow streets with colourful terrace houses on each side.
Albert, Elia and Nico in Ciutadella.
Thursday
The second sunrise shoot so another 4.15 start. This time we went to Favaritx and shot across the bay with the Lighthouse in the distance.
The morning sessions were given by Rachel Ross-Jones and Mark Denney. Rachel showed everyone how to shoot the Aurora Borealis, wow! Mark gave an intriguing talk on using shutter speed to add to your story.
The evening shoot for us was at Pont d’En Gil and was brilliant. Accompanied by Mark Denney and Royce Bair we had a great location with excellent light. A funny moment for me was when Mark climbed down to where I was trying to set up and asked what I was looking at and if it was going well. I told him I was struggling to get focus – it was way bright and I had a 12mm lens on trying to near focus at 18 inches up to infinity. I couldn’t see the screen. Mark replied, “yeh, I cant help with that”. We both laughed and he buggered off. You gotta love the honesty. I did get the shot though.
The shoot was followed by dinner with Rafa in Ciutadella and then half of us went back. The others went to shoot a 4000-year-old tomb and hope for the Milky Way – it didn’t happen.
Friday
Friday was great. We were given a glimpse into the future of Photopills and boy does it look good. I can’t tell you what’s coming, Rafa will tell the World when it’s ready for release.
A lively debate on the future of photography followed, not surprisingly dominated by AI.
For the evening shoot, we went back to Favaritx Lighthouse and shot from the other side in miserable conditions. Clouds and rain ensured we had another early night.
Saturday
It was a fun day. A boat trip along the coast with some brave people going swimming. A 3 hour lunch followed in a Ciutadella fish restaurant (superb). We had an hour free time before getting the bus back to the Hotel FOR DINNER! Many people fell asleep on the bus, a decision they now regret I’m sure as Tony (the animal) from Photopills photographed each of them, often with himself right in the frame poking his tongue out. The night finished with a farewell party although a few brave (meaning stupid) souls went to a nearby bar that shut at 5.30 am. I was a lightweight and only lasted until 3am