In May 2005 I joined a week-long photography workshop in Provence, led by Andrew Squires... www.photographie.net/andrew (free advertising Andrew!). There were six of us plus Andrew: Allan, Sue, Megan and me from the States, Noel from New Zealand, and Bjorn from Norway. A nice group. This was a different sort of experience for me...most of my photography has been oriented towards the individual image. Andrew's approach was different...looking to tell a story with a series of images. My favorite Andrew quote was in response to the question, "How many images should we use to tell our story?", with the answer, of course..."as many as it takes, but not one more".

As you can see in these galleries, I've sometimes had trouble with that concept...sometimes I just can't decide which version of an image I like, so I show both (or all of them). The images in these galleries are a small subset of what I took. Each one does have some reason for being.

I can't tell the story of the trip without mentioning that a big part of the experience was the food. In addition to being a engaging teacher, Andrew takes pleasure in sharing his love for the local restaurants. Though we breakfasted on our own, each lunchtime was a several hour affair, complete with wine (rose, usually). The little cups of cafe, plus a little rest helped revive us for the rest of the day. Dinner was three hours, always three courses, and never too much food...always the right amount. Each night was a party...a nice end to a busy day of photography.

The galleries progress generally chronologically through the week, from my first day on my own in Aix-en-Provence, to the week based in the village of Ansouis, and our side trips to Cucuron, Siverges, Arles and the Camargue.

After the workshop was over, I returned to Arles for additional exploring there, plus some side trips to Nimes, Le Baux de Provence, and Pont du Gard. I also made it to Avignon, but was too tired to take any pictures worth showing anyone.

Finally, I TGVed up to Paris from Avignon, for a couple of days of taking in the basic Paris tourist destinations, since I'd never been there as a tourist. I took a lot of pictures, but again, not many worth showing (although there may be some worth salvaging...I may add those later). The one exception was my Eiffel Tower experience. There's a platform overlooking the Eiffel Tower where people from all over the world ask their friends, lovers, acquaintances and total strangers to snap their picture in front of the Tower. It's quite the ritual. Since I was by myself, and had no place in particular to be, I spent several hours taking pictures of this scene. Again...I'm probably sharing too many of these, but I had a good time doing it...so there.