8 Reasons Why A Photo Workshop Or Tour Might Be Just What You Need

There has been a huge boom in photography workshops and tours in recent years. The choice is endless with photography workshops and tours set in countries all around the world. There’s no doubt that if you want to improve your photography then a photo workshop or tour could really help you. Here are 8 reasons why you should give it a try.

Immerse yourself in photography

One of the big limitations of starting to learn photography for most people is that they have to juggle it with other full-time jobs. So, photography has to be done around everyday commitments and responsibilities. The great thing about a dedicated photo trip is that you will be immersed into photography full time for a period of time. For most people, this represents the most intense bit of learning they will do in their photography journey.

By being totally immersed in photography and doing it every day for days or even weeks, you will see a big spike in your learning. The hours that you will spend photographing on a trip might take months to replicate if at home.

Learn from a pro

Whilst it’s so easy in this day and age to learn things online for free, nothing will beat learning from someone who is an expert at what they do. After all, they have been doing it for many years and have the experience to give tips and advice that only comes with years of knowledge and practice. But the other great thing about having a professional photographer with you is that they can teach you while you are in the scenario that you are photographing. For example, if you are struggling to work out settings, they can help you.

The important thing is to make sure you research who the instructor will be and have a look at their work. Try to find someone whose work you admire rather than just the cheapest option.

The best locations

Photography tours are usually led by photographers who have been to that destination. So, they have already done the research, scouted the photo spots and worked out the best time of the day to photograph there. All of this takes time, money and effort that usually people with full-time jobs don’t have. So, by attending a photo tour you can allow someone else to work out the logistics leaving you to just focus on capturing the photos.

Meet new people

Photography is a lonely profession and unless you have friends or family who are interested in photography you will find that you have to do it on your own. By attending a photo tour, you not only get to focus just on photography, but you’ll also do so with other like-minded people. Often this leads to you forming friendships and being able to draw inspiration and advice from fellow photographers.

Because let’s be honest your spouse or family members don’t want to hang around for hours waiting for that sunset shot. But other photographers will.

Push yourself

A good photo workshop or tour should push you as a photographer. There should be a mix of different scenarios and photography conditions that will test your knowledge and make you think about how you can overcome that particular photography challenge. It might be low light photography in a market. It might be capturing sunset shot looking into the sun. Or it might just be a scenario that you have never actually photographed such as food.

Often when you are photographing by yourself you will end up just photographing what you like. Over time this becomes repetitive and you will stop learning. Photographing things, you don’t photograph normally is a great way to extend your skills and improve your photography.

Go to new places

Being a travel photographer can be daunting for some people. Besides the obvious issues around being somewhere foreign that you don’t know, there are also safety issues. For example, if you are travelling to a country where there is crime, being by yourself can mean you are targeted especially if you are a woman. But even more so because you will have camera equipment with you.

Travelling as a group can mean safety in numbers. But also, the added protection of knowing that there is someone who knows where to go. This is because most tours will often have a local guide. Lots of people use photo tours to go to places they may not go to by themselves but then go back by themselves when they have the confidence to do so.

Feedback on your photos

Depending on the photo workshop or tour you attend, you may find that there is dedicated time allocated for reviewing and getting feedback on your images. This might be out on location or in a classroom. These sessions can be incredibly useful for beginners to see where they are doing well and where they need to improve. There might even be structured learning sessions which go into topics such as post-production. Getting feedback on your photos is a great way to improve your photography.

To have fun

Once all is said and done, ultimately travel photography should be a fun and an enjoyable hobby. One that allows you to see and document the world in a different way to normal tourists. Sometimes doing this by yourself over and over again will mean it starts to lose its glamour. So, a photo tour could help reignite that passion by allowing you to do things that you might not do by yourself. For example, there might be special activities, or even dedicated photo shoots with a model. These are things that sometimes you would not be able to replicate by yourself.

Photo tours and workshops are a great way to improve your photography. Not only that, but you will also come back from a trip with great photos. You’ll be surrounded by like-minded people who all share your passion and you’ll be immersed into photography for an extended period of time. Yes, they are usually expensive, but in the long term, a photography workshop or tour could be just what you needed to push yourself further.