Scotland With the Fujifilm GFX 50S

I recently returned from my third trip to Scotland, leading a group of enthusiastic photographers, and I have to say that the more I visit that beautiful country, the more I want to return. For this tour I had decided to revisit some of the locations I had touched during my previous foray, hoping to get better weather and better …

The Little Shop of Glass Wonders in Venice

Every time I lead a photo tour in Venice, I always try to offer my students some new and unique experiences. These typically involve visits to workshops and factories where ancient and obscure crafts are still practiced by artists and craftsmen using the tools and techniques of yore. In the past, we visited a workshop where an artist makes beautiful …

Ithaca, a Mediterranean Getaway

by Massimiliano Cremascoli Ithaki or Ithaca, as it’s known for most of us in Italy, is Odysseus’ mythical homeland, a Greek island rooted in history which, so far, has not succumbed to the worst of mass tourism. There’s a special kind of presence in this land, in this light; it seems that the ancient world is still there, at your …

Photographing the Wild Horses of Cappadocia

by Nuri Çorbacıoğlu Cappadocia, a region in the center of Turkey, has a stunning spiritual beauty that is due to its unique nature and history: tufa hills, deep ravines, fairy chimneys, rock-hewn churches, underground cities, hot-air balloons dotting the sky in the early morning hours. You won’t find the atmosphere of Cappadocia in any other place in the world. Many …

Trainee monks at Punakha school

Bhutan East to West

by Peter Sheppard Bhutan is a country secluded in the Himalayas north of India. The small population is deeply traditional, and it keeps its distinct identity based on Buddhism and a popular constitutional monarchy. The society is notable for its sense of values, such as the concept of gross national happiness. And most people live in rural self-sufficiency with a …

Photographing Fireworks in Japan

by Magdalene Teo Yong I have been wanting to visit Japan for a long time but never got around to doing it until about 2 years ago, starting with a brief visit to Tokyo. It was love at first sight for me in Japan, although it was burning a hole through my pocket with every visit. A lot of the …

The Making of the Gondola

Did you know that gondolas used to be painted with the colors of the families that owned them, before 1630? I was only after the plague that ravaged Venice in that year, that they started being painted black as a sign of mourning. Did you know that a gondola is built using six different types of wood? Oak, elm, cherry, …

Passport of Seborga

Seborga, a village that is its own country

by Pia Parolin On the occasion of a 50 year anniversary of a friend, we wanted to organise something really special with a group of ladies. And in the year 2019, is there something more romantic than being received by a prince? And furthermore, receiving a passport of one of the smallest micro nations in the world? All of this …

A view of Assos from the kastro above

Kefalonia, a Hidden Greek Treasure

by Massimiliano Cremascoli In my mind the Ionian Islands have been, so far, a somewhat neglected part of Greece, lying as they are in the shadow of the more aesthetically beautiful archipelagoes of the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, the Sporades and the Argo-Saronic. I have to admit that my first foray to the Ionians, the island of Lefkhada, strengthened my conviction …