May 2 - 9, 2009

Pienza, Italy

"Having done several workshops in the past I can safely say that this was the most enjoyable and beneficial. You really provide individualized attention in the field and in the classroom."

M. Levin (previous participant)

8 days/7 nights in the beautiful Renaissance town of Pienza in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Val d'Orcia

Joel is a master of available light with 30 years experience and more than a few "tricks of the trade" to share with participants. Learn how to use light, perspective, exposure, composition, design and more- to your creative advantage.  With individualized attention you will work with Joel in the field and classroom to progressively employ the techniques and creative vision you learn during the course of the workshop.  You'll gain insight on how to convey a feeling, sense of being there, or tell a story with a single photograph.

* We welcome all levels but please have a working knowledge of the operation of your camera so that we can concentrate on making fabulous images.

There's no better way to experience Tuscany than with a camera. For this 8 day workshop not only will you get one-on-one training while shooting one of the most beautiful places in the world- you'll also get classroom time, critiques, exquisite meals made by locals, famous Italian hospitality, and fabulous wine.  We limit this workshop to 8 participants so that everyone gets individual attention and a fabulous experience.

We’ll be taking photo treks to nearby villages such as Siena, San Gimignano, and Montalcino, as well as photographing vineyards, olive orchards, architecture, people and the Tuscan countryside. We've designed the activities and tours so that spouses and friends that are not photographers will enjoy the experience just as much.  

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Accommodations are at the lovely Relais Il Chiostro di Pienza

 Based in such a magnificent setting - this program is designed for both the photographer wishing to increase his or her skills utilizing Joel's effective and progressive teaching techniques as well as for the traveler wishing to experience a fine vacation with deluxe lodging, excellent dining experiences, knowledgeable guides and visits to fascinating places. 

All in a small group environment for maximum benefits and pleasure.

Joel Wolfson has been teaching photography since 1985 and enjoys sharing his experience and skills with his workshop participants. He conveys these in an easy to understand manner. Joel also loves to travel and thoroughly researches locations before organizing workshops and insists on very small groups to provide individual attention.

The History of San Francesco Cloister

“…. At the beginning of the 1300’s, with the spreading of the Minor Order of the Franciscans, a convent of these monks also arrived in Pienza. The Monastery of St. Francis was certainly the most important religious and cultural institution in old Corsignano, at least until the radical transformation of the city, which occurred from 1459, by Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), who was born here in 1405. On his first visit to Corsignano as Pope, Piccolomini celebrated a solemn mass at St. Francis, it evidently being the most important church of the hamlet.

The only precise information that we have about the life of the Monastery, comes from the 1500’s and are details by the caretaker-priest Domenico Gabrielli who tells about the violence with which the undisciplined soldiers treated the convent and the church during the Sienese War. The poor brother tells that in 1555, the soldiers “wrecked the cantina and upturned the wine, rampaging, burning clothing as well as the timbers”, and he also informs us that following this they “remained without utensils and furniture but recommenced bit by bit, with the diligence of the brothers and the compassion of their benefactors, to recover”. In 1634, St Francis hosted the Provincial Congregation with solemnity, and it was an occasion for “preaching, Latin prayers and beautiful music”. A few years later, by a Papal Bull, the ‘little convent’ was suppressed, the Franciscans were forced to leave. But the population were not pleased and many of the people became enraged, and were successful in returning the brothers to St. Francis in 1658. “There was a celebration throughout the city, with the sounds of the bells and fireworks everywhere”.
The monks remained until 1788, the year in which the Bishop Giuseppe Pannilini, suppressed the convent making it an ‘Ecclesiastical Academy’ boarding school for the altar boys from the diocese of Pienza and Chiusi. As such the institution had a brief life being substituted by a Bishop’s Seminary in 1792 (this remained until 1956)…….”