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9. /10
While the on location photo shoots were the best, the fun was amplified with a variety of good restaurants (and chocolate cake!), great hotels, and outstanding company.
Overall, Vieri and Zeynep orchestrated an extremely well planned, world’s best workshop experience!
Below you will find reports covering all our ICELAND PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP and ICELAND SNAEFELLSNESS RESIDENCY WORKSHOP from 2017 on, including our Alumni's Testimonials and photographs. Enjoy!
QUICK JUMP: DECEMBER 2017 | FEBRUARY 2018 | MARCH 2019 | NOVEMBER 2019 | DECEMBER 2019 | FEBRUARY 2020 | DECEMBER 2021 | MARCH 2022 | OCTOBER 2022 | FEBRUARY 2023 | NOVEMBER 2024 | FEBRUARY 2025 | FEBRUARY 2026
In February 2026 we returned to Iceland for our thirteenth Workshop there. This time, we had an 9-day Group Workshop with a group all composed by returning Alumni. One of them was coming back for his second time; one for his third; the last one for his ninth time, this time joined by his partner, whom we loved having on the Workshop with us.
During our Workshops, we enjoy working with returning Alumni very much. First of all, because people coming back for more - one for the ninth time, in this case! - is for us a recognition of the quality of our work. What means the most to me, though, is having the pleasure and privilege to follow our Alumni along their journey with landscape photography and keep working together while shooting some of the planet's most incredible landscapes.
When it comes to pairing spectacular landscapes with inspiring challenges, both technical and artistic, Iceland is second to none. The landscapes are as varied and inspiring as can be, but they are definitely not easy to photograph: during these 9 days of work together I was happy to see our Alumni becoming more and more confident with their work in the field, with finding powerful compositions and creating photographs of both the iconic, unmissable Icelandic locations and of lesser known, but perhaps even more inspiring places where almost no Workshop ever goes.
During this Workshop we managed to revisit locations such as Londrangar (photographed both at sunrise and at sunset) and Vestrahorn, photographed once at sunrise and once at sunset from two different vantage points. Revisiting locations is one of the most important tutoring tools for me, and especially working at Londrangar confirmed me how people work much more confidently photographing a location the second time over.
Last but not least, during this trip we truly enjoyed the social aspect of the Workshop, which is always very important for us. During these nine days in Iceland we had a lot of fun both in the field and during our downtimes; we enjoyed our conversations on the most various topics, from the art and craft of photography to gear talks and film photography talks, from economics to politics, for a truly wonderful Workshop!
One of the participants in our Iceland February 2026 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial together with a selection of images to share with you. See what he had to say about our Workshop together and enjoy his work in Iceland!
Two months on, I can close my eyes at any time and see Iceland’s breathtaking landscapes before me. And once again, I’ve learnt a great deal. With Vieri’s unobtrusive teaching style, you don’t realise how much you’re learning whilst you’re out; it feels more like a trip with friends. But the next day, you realise you’ve learnt so much again. Many thanks to Vieri and Zeynep for an unforgettable holiday!
In February 2025 we returned to Iceland for our twelfth Workshop there, this time a 9-day Private Workshop with a returning Alumnus, joining us for the second time. This time he came together with his wife who joined as non-photographer at first, although I was very happy to see her getting more and more into working with a tripod and filters, thanks to the invaluable help of my wife and assistant Zeynep.
Working with returning Alumni is something I always love doing. It is great to follow enthusiast photographers along their journey with landscape photography. In this case, since the gentleman's first Workshop with us was in Tuscany & Cinque Terre, the completely different setting made things even more interesting: working in Iceland offered a completely new and different set of challenges.
During this Workshop, we were lucky enough with the weather to be able to often do three sessions per day, which allowed us to tackle quite a bit of locations. I find revisiting locations to be a great tutoring tool and I always try and make it happen on all our Workshops. During this Workshop we had the opportunity to photograph Vestrahorn twice, both times at sunset, and Lomagnupur also twice, both at midday but with different light conditions.
During these 9 days in Iceland, I was happy to see our Alumnus getting more and more confident with photographing in such different environment and conditions, and getting great results from the beautiful Icelandic landscapes. Last but not least, we truly enjoyed the social side of the Workshop, something fundamental for us. During these 9 days of Workshop together, we had a lot of fun with our Alumnus and his wife in the field, during transfers and during our downtime, laughing and enjoying conversations on the most varied topics, from photography to economics, from art to inspiring and educational political exchanges, albeit from different positions, for a truly enjoyable Workshop!
In November 2024 we returned to Iceland for our eleventh Workshop there, this time a 9-day group Workshop with a full group composed by a returning Alumnus, joining us for the fourth time accompanied by his non-photographing wife, together with two landscape photography lovers whom we were looking forward to meet for the first time.
It is always a great pleasure to see and work with our Alumni again, and to keep helping them developing on their journey with landscape photography. As well, we truly enjoyed getting to know, and working with, our two new participants. The two gentlemen were very different from each other both in their personality and in their enthusiasm for our work together, which made working with them truly interesting and rewarding, albeit for different reasons.
I always love revisiting locations, to me that is a fundamental tutoring tool and something I always like to make happen. During this Workshop we had the opportunity to photograph Vestrahorn twice (plus a third exploration trip in between), once at sunset and once at sunrise, as well as Kirkjufellsfoss. In both cases, as it often is the case, everyone looked much more confident the second time over.
During these 9 days of work together, it was great to see one of our newcomers enthusiasm for working together, as well as his confidence in the field grow every day. More, I was very happy to see our returning Alumnus improving further and gaining more and more confidence with photography and the outdoors on his fourth trip with us.
Last but not least, we throughly enjoyed the social side of the Workshop, something always very important for us. During our 9 days of Workshop together, we enjoyed conversations on the most various topics, from photography to economics, from car racing to politics, for a truly enjoyable Workshop!
In February 2023 we returned to Iceland for our tenth Workshop there, this time an 8-day group Workshop with a full group composed by a returning Alumnus, joining us for the second time, together with two newcomers whom we were very much looking forward to meet.
Unfortunately, our returning Alumnus had to cancel a few days before our Workshop's start, so we ended up taking off from Keflavik with just our two new participants. While we missed not having our Alumnus with us on this trip, we truly enjoyed getting to know our two newcomers and working with them in Iceland. For one of them, this was his first ever multi-day Workshop, and we were honoured that he choose us for it!
This year, the weather was definitely a protagonist of our 8 days in Iceland. We were expecting February conditions, but we found nearly summer weather instead! Warm days, no snow on the ground and no ice pretty much anywhere made for more comfortable shooting conditions, but also for a very different looking landscape than what we all expected.
I find revisiting locations to be a fundamental tutoring tool and I always try and make it happen, if possible. During this Workshop we had the opportunity to photograph Vestrahorn twice, once at sunset and once at sunrise, under quite different light and weather conditions.
During these 8 days of work together, I was happy to see our Alumni getting more and more confident with their gear (one of them shared my love for Phase One, and joined us with his XT!), and crucially with their confidence in the field. Most importantly, I was very happy to see them going home with some amazing images and energised by their time with us!
Last but not least, we truly enjoyed the social side of the Workshop, something always paramount for us. Not only our participants were both accomplished photographers, but they both turned out to be great people to travel and work with, and great fun as well. During our 8 days of Workshop together, we had a lot of fun both in the field and during our downtime, laughing and enjoying conversations on the most various topics, from photography to economics, from art to politics, for a truly memorable Workshop!
Both participants in our Iceland February 2023 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together!
My experience with Vieri’s Iceland workshop was amazing!
For my first ever multi-day photography workshop, Vieri set the bar high and delivered an exceptional experience.
The morning and evening photo shoots were carefully planned and brought us to stunning and dynamic field locations. Vieri’s expertise with each location, camera settings, and composition options positioned all of us for success. After each set up, Vieri checked in with us throughout the shoot to ensure we got the desired shots. Zeynep was equally amazing, assisting on every shoot with set up, filters, camera questions, and more.
The photo selection and post processing sessions were great learning opportunities, with helpful image critiques and editing suggestions.
While the on location photo shoots were the best, the fun was amplified with a variety of good restaurants (and chocolate cake!), great hotels, and outstanding company.
Overall, Vieri and Zeynep orchestrated an extremely well planned, world’s best workshop experience!
Thank you so much! You are both such genial and generous hosts.
The Workshop was, for sure, the most thorough and appealing to me. I admire your passion for everything, that is what makes the difference. Looking forward to the next one!
In October 2022 we returned to Iceland for our ninth Workshop there, the second for 2022. This time, we had an 8-day Private Workshop planned, with a group composed by a returning Alumnus, joining us for the sixth time, accompanied by a photographer friend of his whom we enjoyed meeting for the first time.
During our Workshops, we always enjoy working with returning Alumni. First of all, because people coming back for more is obviously a recognition of our Workshop's quality. What means the most to us, though, it's the pleasure to see our Alumni again and to keep working on their photography while shooting some of the planet's most amazing landscapes. At the same time, we are always happy to welcome new photography lovers and share our passion for photography and our beautiful planet with more people.
During these 8 days of work together, I was happy to see our Alumnus becoming more and more confident with his Phase One gear - despite some hiccups! - and with his confidence in working in the field; as well, I truly enjoyed meeting and working with "Chalky", a professional photographer (albeit not landscape-oriented).
Despite this tour being one days shorter than what we normally plan for the southern and western coasts of Iceland, during this Workshop we managed to revisit locations such as Reynisdrangar (photographed both during daytime and at sunset) and Londrangar (photographed both at sunrise and at sunset). Revisiting locations is a very important tutoring tool for me, and this Iceland Workshop confirmed me once again how people work much more confidently photographing a location the second time over.
Last but not least, during this trip we truly enjoyed the social aspect of the Workshop, something always very important for us. During these eight days in Iceland, we had a lot of fun both in the field and during our downtimes, enjoying our conversations on the most various topics, from the art and craft of photography to economics and politics, for a truly enjoyable Workshop!
One of the participants in our Iceland October 2022 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial together with a selection of images to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together and enjoy their work in Iceland!
Extremely well organized with thorough but uncomplicated tuition in technique and the creative process. Vieri passes on his considerable knowledge with humour and a light touch. Excellent!
In March 2022, we returned to Iceland for our eight Workshop there, this time a 9-day Group Workshop. For this trip, we had a full group composed by two returning Alumni, both of whom joining us for the sixth time, plus a newcomer. Sadly, one of our Alumni had to cancel just a couple of days before the Workshop's start due to family matters, and so we started the Workshop with just a smaller two-people group.
As always, we love to work with returning photographers; not only it's always a pleasure to see them, in this case after just a few months hiatus, but I find it very rewarding to have the opportunity to keep working on our photography while portraying amazing landscapes such as Iceland's, one of my all-time favourite destinations. During these 9 days of work together, I was happy to see how our Alumnus kept improving and developing on her landscape photography journey.
As well, I enjoyed meeting and starting to work with our new participant, an enthusiastic landscape lover and a perfect gentleman. It was great fun to share our love for photography and the landscape with a like-minded photographer such as him.
Once more, during this trip we had to manage Covid-19 related restrictions, making sure everyone stayed safe during their time with us. As always, we implemented on-board protocols much stricter than those if effect on location, and as a result we all went back home safe.
During this Workshop, as I always try to do, we revisited locations such as Vestrahorn and Kirkjufellsfoss, which we photographed both at sunrise and at sunset.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. During these 9 days in Iceland we truly enjoyed our conversations on the most various topics, from the art of photography to food, from technology to gear, always in great fun, for a wonderful social side of the Workshop!
In December 2021, we finally returned to Iceland for our seventh Workshop there, after a year and a half of absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This time, we had a 9-day Workshop planned, with a 4-day extension. For this trip, we had a full group composed by a returning Alumnus, joining us for the sixth time and coming accompanied by his non-photographing wife. Plus, we had a couple of newcomers, husband and wife, both photographers. This trip had originally been scheduled for December 2020 and postponed one year due to Covid-19, so everyone was eager to finally make it happen!
As always, let me start to say how much we love working with returning Alumni! It's always a pleasure to see them and to keep developing our photography together while shooting some of the planet's most amazing landscapes. As well, we are always happy to welcome new participants and share our love for photography and nature with more people.
In this case, however, one of the new-coming participants suffered a knee injury prior to the Workshop's start and while they joined us anyway, they had to drop out after just a few days, leaving us alone with our returning Alumnus and his non-photographing wife for the rest of the trip.
During this trip we had to manage Covid-19 related restrictions and make sure everyone stayed safe, which - as always since the pandemic started - we did through the implementation of on-board protocols much stricter than those in effect in Iceland at the time. As always, everybody went home safe.
The Workshop effectively turning into a Workshop One-on-One just a couple of days after its start allowed me to fully customise the remaining time on my Alumnus' level and requirements. I truly enjoyed working with him for the sixth time in the field, developing our work further after so many trips together.
As I always love to do, during this Workshop we managed to revisit locations such as Reynisfjara (which we photographed both at sunrise and sunset) and Kirkjufellsfoss (which we photographed both at sunrise and at nighttime for Northern Lights).
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. After the first few, more trying days, this Workshop turned out to be one of the most pleasant, fun and enjoyable we ever did! Our returning Alumnus and his non-photographing wife are among the most pleasant and fun persons to be around and we always love to have them with us! This time was no exception, we truly enjoyed working together in Iceland, both in and out of the field, and we greatly enjoyed our downtime as well. During these two weeks in Iceland, we truly enjoyed our conversations on the most various topics, from the art and craft of photography to the business side of it, from technology to equipment, always in great fun, for a truly enjoyable Workshop!
The participant in our Iceland December 2021 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together!
I have been on six trips with Vieri and Zeynep, obviously top notch from start to finish. There are a million workshops all promising this or that but so many are just marketing and fail to deliver. Vieri and Zeynep are the real thing, very highly recommended!
In late February 2020 we returned to Iceland for our sixth Workshop there, this time a 9-day Private Workshop.
Doing a Private Workshop allowed me to fully customise the Workshop on my Alumnus’ level and requirements, focussing on his request to develop more experience photographing seascapes and working around the ocean. I truly enjoyed working with him during these 9 days on the island, sharing with him my knowledge and expertise on the topic.
After nine days of intense tutoring I noticed vast improvements, both in finding strong, powerful compositions and in putting to service compositional elements that most people wouldn’t even look at, and about his confidence working around the ocean. During this Private Workshop we revisited Vestrahorn (returning at sunrise, at sunset and once at night-time as well to photograph the Northern Lights), Dyrholaey and Kirkjufellsfoss.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. Our participant in this Private Workshop was a man of many interests; in particular, he turned out to be a fellow musician (a semi-professional classical music singer). During our downtimes we enjoyed our conversations on the most varied topics, from photography to equipment and technology, from music to art, from politics to history, for a very rewarding social side of the Workshop!
The participant in our Iceland February 2020 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial together with a selection of images to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together and enjoy their work in Iceland!
Vieri is a fine photographer, but also a very good teacher and this pays dividends for someone who attends one of his workshops. I found Vieri and Zeynep (Vieri’s wife and assistant) to have a very good knowledge of the sites in Iceland. They know more than a sufficient number of fine locations, but even more importantly, Vieri knows them as a photographer. This means that he not only knows where to go, he knows when to go, and what vantage points offer the best possibilities for making good photographs. I found Vieri and Zeynep to be very safety conscious, pleasant to be around, and professional in their approach to the workshop.
On location, Vieri was helpful in observing how I went about photographing and offering suggestions for improving efficiency and safety. I had not previously photographed in such extreme environments as we had in Iceland, and Vieri's suggestions for how to handle the conditions were spot on. He also gives suggestions for framing and image capture but is not overbearing in his style. He gently suggests improvements in the technical methods of image capture and his suggestions are well grounded in significant experience. While I was initially hesitant regarding some of his ideas, more often than not I found them to be sagacious.
In Iceland, there was a fair amount of driving necessary to journey between locations, so there was less time in front of the computer as might be the case in other workshops. Having said this, Vieri taught me some new techniques for my post processing and helped in image selection and critiques of composition. Still, what I have found perhaps most impressive is that Vieri’s commitment to teaching does not end at the end of the seminar. I have submitted a number of photographs from the trip that I processed to Vieri for his comments. He has responded promptly and with helpful suggestions for how to improve the photographs and gives, I think, honest appraisals of the merits (or lack thereof) of the pictures I have presented to him. In my experience, it is rare to find both an honest and capable critic of one’s work and one who also has the ability to suggest ways to improve.
In sum, I have found Vieri and Zeynep to be a class act, really nice folks, and to provide an experience that represents good value for one’s money if one really wishes to improve as a photographer!
In December 2019, we stayed in Iceland for our fifth Workshop, this time a 5-day Private Workshop with one of our November group Workshop’s participants who booked an extension to do more photography with us. His aim was to revisit some of the locations we tackled together during the group Workshop and have more opportunities of photographing them under different light and weather conditions.
Doing a Private Workshop allowed me to fully customise the Workshop on my Alumnus’ level and requirements, and I truly enjoyed working together during these extra 5 days on the island. During our Workshop, we revisited locations such as Reynisfjara, Dyrholaey, the Diamond Beach and Vestrahorn, where we could photograph the Northern Lights as well, and we also managed to add some new locations such as Lomagnopur and Vik's church. As well, sharing the same equipment in the Hasselblad X1D allowed me to show him all my workflow tricks to make the most out of the camera.
During all our Workshops, safety always comes first. This time, the Icelandic weather conditions make our commitment to safety even more fundamental than elsewhere. During this trip, in fact, we have been caught by one of the worst storms in recent years, causing the Icelandic government to shut down most roads for two days. Thanks to our experience with Iceland and the local weather, we could nullify the storm’s impact on our travels and photography, while keeping our participant and ourselves perfectly safe. In particular, I decided to change our program and rebook our hotels to spend the worst days of the storm in Vik, knowing that the coast’s conformation there would have protected us from the western winds. This turned out to be a very good call, allowing us to photograph at leisure and in total safety while elsewhere on the southern coast some 100km/h winds were keeping everyone locked indoors.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. During these extra 5 days in Iceland, we had conversations on the most various topics, from the art and craft of photography to the business side of it, from technology to equipment, from history to politics, for a truly enjoyable Workshop!
In November 2019 we returned to Iceland for our fourth Workshop there, the second in 2019. For this 9-day Workshop we had a full group of three participants, one of which was an Alumnus on his third trip with us.
During this Workshop, it was great to continue developing the work previously done with my returning Alumnus, and I really enjoyed meeting our new participants and sharing my knowledge with them. As always, I have been very pleased to see one of our Alumni coming back for more, and previously knowing him helped me tailoring my tutoring on his specific level and approach to photography.
Working together with participants all equally enthusiastic about landscape photography while enjoying Iceland's inspiring beauty was very rewarding for us, and after nine days of intense work I was extremely pleased to see how everyone improved their skills, according to their different starting levels. I was very happy to see a participant beginning to use filters with us in Iceland and truly enjoying the creative possibilities that they opened for him, and I was very pleased to see our returning Alumnus keeping developing on a journey that we started together over 3 years before.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. In Iceland we had a great group with very interesting people, making for always interesting conversations on the most varied topics, from photography and art to social life, politics, technology and economics, and we thoroughly enjoyed both working with them as well as our downtimes!
One of the participants in our Iceland November 2019 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial together with a selection of images to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together and enjoy their work in Iceland!
As an enthusiastic amateur I was initially concerned that I might not be able to cope having never used graduated or neutral density filters before. I needn’t have worried.
First of all Vieri and Zeynep’s detailed research and knowledge means that they know the best locations and you are driven to a location with plenty of time to access the location and set up in the best position.
The small size of the classes means you get pretty much undivided attention whenever you need it and Vieri’s detailed technical knowledge means any questions or issues can be quickly answered or resolved.
I am delighted with the shots I took but have no doubt that the only reason I got them was from your expert advice. Thank you Vieri and Zeynep!
In early March 2019 we returned to Iceland for our third Workshop there, this time a 9-day Group Workshop. Unfortunately, one of the participants had to cancel at the last minute, turning this effectively into a Private Workshop.
Doing a Private Workshop allowed me to fully customise the Workshop on my Alumnus' level and requirements. In particular, we started to work together on landscape photography specific techniques and on the use of filters, something he had no previous experience with. I always enjoy working with people at the beginning of their journey with landscape photography, I find their enthusiasm to be truly rewarding. More, I love to see the look on their faces when they discover the possibilities opened to them by advanced landscape photography techniques, and how these help them develop a new way of looking at the landscape in front of them.
After nine intense days of Workshop, I found the quality of our participant’s work to be much improved, as well as his workflow in the field and his awareness of the importance of equipment, particularly support and filters.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for us. In Iceland we enjoyed both working in the field as well as our social times and conversation on photography and equipment, for a very pleasant Workshop!
The participant in our Iceland March 2019 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial together with a selection of images to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together and enjoy their work in Iceland!
I had a memorable trip to Iceland and had a new experience photographing snow and very tough conditions. I find Vieri and Zeynep very organized and each day thoroughly planned out. They were extremely hospitable and passionate about their work. Vieri was by my side all the time instructing and teaching valuable skills in approaching landscape photography, and I got some great images!
In February 2018, we returned to Iceland for our second Workshop there, a 3-day Private Workshop with a returning Alumnus on his fourth trip with us overall - and the second in Iceland!
Doing a Private Workshop with a returning Alumnus joining us for the second time here allowed me to fully customise the Workshop on his level and requirements, choosing the best locations both for great photography and to continue along our educational path together. In particular, I enjoyed working with a participant both truly enthusiastic about the Icelandic landscapes, and shooting with a Leica M10 which he brought again to Iceland after our 2017 trip.
My love for Leica M cameras made me bring my own M10 on this trip again as well, to help him better and to show him my tips and tricks to put the M10 to its best use in the field. Working together was once more fun and rewarding; in three days of intense work we covered different parts of Iceland than those we photographed during our December 2017 trip, and I was very pleased to see him progressing some more after our first Workshop here.
Last but not least, the social aspect and the human side of the Workshop, always very important for us. In Iceland, we had a great time with our Alumnus both when working in the field and during our downtime, enjoying our conversations about photography and Leica equipment for a very pleasant and rewarding Workshop!
In December 2017, I had the pleasure to lead our first Workshop in Iceland, this time a 4-day Private Explorer Workshop. Our participant was a returning Alumnus, and this was also our first Private Explorer Workshop together.
Doing a Private Workshop with a returning participant allowed me to fully customise the Workshop on my Alumnus’ level and requirements, continuing the work started during our Leica Akademie Workshop in Cinque Terre followed by a Workshop One-on-One in Tuscany a month before Iceland. More, I enjoyed working with a participant shooting with a Leica M10, a very unusual choice of gear for landscape photography and more so in such a harsh environment.
To be able to help him make the most out of his camera, I decided to bring my own M10 on this trip as well, and for your reading pleasure I wrote my FINE ART LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE LEICA M10 REVIEW as a result of this trip. Working together was fun and rewarding, in these four days of intense work we covered a lot of ground, and I was extremely pleased to see his progresses continue after our first two Workshops together.
Last but not least, the social aspect of the Workshop, always very important for me. During our Iceland 2017 Private Explorer Workshop we had a great time with our participant both in the field and during our social times, when we enjoyed interesting and fun conversations about photography, equipment and life in general for a truly pleasant trip!
The participant in our Iceland December 2017 Workshop kindly sent me a short testimonial to share with you. See what they had to say about our Workshop together!
Calling them Explorer is almost wrong, I never had the impression that we were really exploring: Vieri prepared the trip with such expertise and attention to detail that he looked like he was already a regular of the place, with just a bit more curiosity about the locations compared to his regular Workshops. Just one thing was missing: for once, when arriving to a Hotel they didn’t greet him like he was part of the family!
