LA GOMERA CANARY ISLANDS Join me on a fantastic six night photographic tutoring holiday in La Gomera La Gomera is the second smallest of the main Canary Islands with a population of around 22,000 and a volcano that last erupted over 2 million years ago. When you choose to travel and take photos in the winter months in La Gomera you take advantage of the great light and fabulous warm weather. The temperature is usually around 20c during the day. The island is approximately 12 million years old and its landscape is full of ravines, leaving it with some of the most spectacular and sensational scenery ever seen. La Gomera is a natural paradise, and this can be proven by the sights and vegetation found in the world s most unique forest: Garajonay National Park. Taking up 33.3% of the entire island with its laurel forests and green prehistoric vegetation, the forest has survived for so many millions of years due to La Gomera s impressive temperate climate.
The forest of El Cedro is a hidden treasure and a world reserve for the conservation of laurel. Thanks to the action of the sea of clouds the vegetation is very thick and we can find faille, heather, laurel and ferns camouflaged within the forest. It is a walking enthusiast s dream, packed full of trails to hike, not to mention the artistic and pictorial opportunities that lay deep within the forest. There are numerous amounts of viewpoints situated in La Gomera. From viewpoints which allow you to see the ravine of La Laja and the Chejelipes reservoir, such as La Laja Mirador to the breathtaking views which can be seen from El Mirador de Abrante. Here you are able to view the town center and three other centres at the below, El Charco, Las Casas and the most isolated, La Montañeta. The island of Tenerife can be seen clearly on the horizon, this is Spain s highest volcano on Tenerife, El Teide. These viewpoints allow mindblowing opportunities for panoramic photos to be taken. Air travel can be incredibly cheap when flying out of season into Tenerife with one of the budget airlines. I recommend you travel light, take something warm to wear for the evening and have a good pair of walking shoes. The plan would be for all guests to fly into the South airport of Tenerife on a morning flight. Your ferry tickets from Los Cristianos in the afternoon will be booked before you arrive. The ferry from Tenerife to La Gomera usually takes one hour.
Day One: When booking your flights, please make sure you fly into the south airport of Tenerife (Aeropuerto Reina Sofia). You will also need to book a morning flight as we need to travel to La Gomera later that afternoon. I will arrange a taxi or I will be picking you up myself from the South Tenerife Airport. We will then travel to Los Cristianos where we will be boarding a ferry later that afternoon to La Gomera. The hour crossing will give us good time to get to know each other and for you to rest from your journey. Once we have arrived at San Sebastian in La Gomera we will be travelling north to your accommodation, this will take around one hour to drive to. You will then get time to settle in and have an evening meal. Day Two: After breakfast we will be having a talk on the basics of photography before we start on our photographic tutoring tour. Once we have finished we will be heading further north to Los Organos stopping off along the way for some great viewing points, one being El Mirador de Abrante where you can also have a coffee and some lunch. There is a beautiful viewing platform where we can set up and take great photos of the towering mountains. After this, we will continue to Los Organos (Monumento Natural) and then we will be heading back to our accommodation via Vallehermoso where there are beautiful mountainous scenes overlooking the local village. Day Three: Today we will be travelling to the west of the island to El Mirador Ermita del Santo where there is a spectacular viewing platform where we can set up and capture the farmland and tropical scenery around us. After some lunch, we will then travel down to the coast of Valle Gran Rey. As we travel west on this day we will be travelling through the D Garajonay National Park where there are numerous places to stop off for some stunning views. After we will be heading back to our accommodation. In the evening, we will meet up and load up some photos that we have taken over the last couple of days and discuss them as a group. We will also be looking at some basic Photoshop skills.. Please note: this itinerary is subject to change based on weather conditions
Day Four: Day four is a free day for you. You can do whatever you like on this day, such as visit the local shops and cafes in the local town. Although this is a free day, you are welcome to join me for sunrise near Lepe which is close to where we should all be staying. Sunrise in the winter months in La Gomera is usually around 6.30/7am. Day Five: We will be travelling and taking photos at three locations today. The first being El Roque de Agando. This is a place you must stop off at if you are visiting La Gomera. The mountains that surround you are just breathtaking, you can get some stunning photos at this location. We will then stop off for some lunch in El Mirador Deollada de Preaza, very close to another great viewing area. Later that day we will be travelling to El Cedro deep down into the forest of the National Park. We should be guaranteed some running water in the forest. This will be a great time to try to capture running water using long exposures on our cameras. We will then be returning back. Day Six: As this is our last full day on the island we will be returning back to our hotel a little earlier today so we can have a critique of the photos that you have taken over the last few days. Today we will be travelling south to Playa de Santiago for some coastal photography. We will either have lunch there or on our way back through Alajero. After we will be returning back to our accommodation for our final night Day Seven: Breakfast will be early this morning as we need to get to the ferry port at San Sebastian to catch our ferry back to Tenerife. Your flights should be booked for later afternoon for your return trip home. We should have plenty of time when we return back to Los Cristianos to travel back to Tenerife South Airport and drop you off. Please note: this itinerary is subject to change based on weather conditions
Accommodation: I have visited this place and I would recommend it. It is clean, the staff are friendly and there is plenty of space for us to set up Photoshop workshops. It is authentic and traditionally Spanish. It acts as a good base, with options of an onsite restaurant and many other eateries close by in the town. There is the option of half-board, where you can have breakfast and your main meal in their restaurant in the evening.
La Gomera photographic tutoring tour information: Booking information: - Total cost of this 6 night stay in la Gomera, including travel to all locations, tuition, ferry tickets to la Gomera from Tenerife and lunch each day of tuition is 750 per person. - To book, a booking form will need to be filled in and emailed or posted back to me. BOOKING FORM LINK - A deposit of 300 will be required to secure your booking, full balance due 8 weeks before your travel date - Payment can be paid by bank transfer/ debit / credit card - Please think carefully about your suitcase size as we will all have camera cases as well What is included: - Pick up and drop off service from Tenerife South airport and transport to and from the ferry port - Ferry tickets - Travel to and from each photographic location - A light lunch each tuition day - Photographic / Photoshop tuition - 5% discount of the total price for couples that book What will not be included: - Flights to and from Tenerife - Your accommodation in La Gomera is not included in the package - I can book this on your behalf, I do charge a 5% commission (of your accommodation) for this service - Full payment for the accommodation would need to be paid on day of booking - Travel/camera insurance - Alcoholic drinks - Camera equipment Contact information: Website: www.travelphotos.biz Contact number: 07484 628 288 Email: gary@travelphotos.biz ã All photos are copyright of Gary Atkinson