Central Spain Castles & Lavender
Price range: £700.00 through £2,700.00
2nd July – 8th July 2027 – Guadalajara pairs historic Alcázars and hilltop villages with wide lavender fields and open countryside. By day, it’s all clean lines, dry light, and layered landscapes; by night, low light pollution brings clear, star-filled skies. A straightforward mix of heritage, scenery, and strong day-to-night shooting conditions.
Description
SPAIN LANDSCAPE & ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
Spain Photo Tour
2nd July – 8th July 2027
2027 Spain Castles & Lavender Photography Workshop
Central Spain Landscape & Astrophotography Workshop, focusing on nightscapes and landscape photography amongst lavender fields and medieval villages and townscapes, and historic Arabic castles (Alcazars)
Tutor: Chris Frost
PRICE
Full Price £2700 Single occupancy
Non-refundable Deposit £700
DATES
PARTICIPANTS
6 Photographers max group size
Tutor: Chris Frost
EXERTION LEVEL
LOCATION
Siguenza & Guadalajara
Central Spain
ACCOMMODATION
Parador Siguenza and Pax Guadalajara
(Single occupancy rooms unless otherwise requested)
Landscape Photography Tuition
This workshop will include landscape photography tuition where required.
Nightscape Photography Tuition
This workshop focuses on multiple landscape astrophotography, and astrophotography techniques from beginner to advanced beginner.
Expertise
Amateur/Intermediate
Knowledge of manual camera settings essential.
PACKAGE Includes
Transfer to and from Adolfo Suárez Madrid- Barajas Airport
Accommodation
Breakfast
Transportation
Professional landscape photography & astrophotography tuition and advice throughout the tour
Digital darkroom sessions covering both landscape and astrophotographyigital darkroom sessions within accommodation (only in the event of bad weather)
PACKAGE Excludes
Flights
Personal travel and equipment insurance
Meals, drinks and snacks
Contact Form
LANDSCAPE & ASTROPHOTOGRPAHY WORKSHOP CENTRAL SPAIN
Spain’s Guadalajara province, part of the Castilla de Mancha region, is a hidden gem full of photographic opportunities. The region is awash with ancient Alcazars, Arabic fortresses over 1000 years old, with easy access day or night. The region is littered with monasteries both intact and in ruin alongside hundreds of medieval villages and towns.
The regions of Aragon and Castile and León share borders with Guadalajara, and also have a wealth of ancient ruins, gorges, and abandoned medieval villages alongside epic medieval townscapes.
To add to this, Guadalajara province has abundant, easily accessible lavender fields, offering strong landscape and nightscape settings in early July.
This workshop combines all these factors to create a landscape and astrophotography combination workshop.
BOOK YOUR PLACE
SPAIN WORKSHOP STRUCTURE
The Spain workshop is aimed at photographers at amateur level and upwards; no previous landscape or astrophotography experience is required and the course caters for beginner to intermediate landscape and nightscapers with structured group instruction and 1-2-1 tuition where required in the field. Mornings and early afternoons are for downtime, with the exception of some post-production sessions, which may start earlier in the afternoon, or if the group mutually agrees to meet for lunch.
Having some understanding/experience of landscape photography, and night photography is highly advantageous, but not essential as Chris will work with the group together, and individually, often working on different subjects with different group members, depending on experience and progression. Each day and night, the group progresses through different topics with locations chosen to suit the subject. The workshop fieldwork is late afternoon to night orientated.
THE CENTRAL SPAIN Astrophotography Course Covers the Following Core Topics
- Composition by day and night
- Single-frame exposure techniques & double-frame blended exposure astro techniques
- Different focal lengths and calculations
- Stacking & star trackers though not compulsory
- Filter effects for nightscapes, when to use them, advanced blending techniques
- Filters for landscape photography
- Night sky and location planning on Photopills, Stellarium, light pollution maps & other resources
- Post-production using Photoshop, Lightroom, plugins, Sequator, and Starry Landscape Stacker.
Fieldwork Equipment
Full frame, crop sensor, and micro four-thirds can be used, alongside larger format cameras; however, as technology and therefore techniques and workflows advance, it is recommended the camera body has an absolute minimum ISO of 6400, with 12800/25600 and above preferred for astrophotography work.
- Camera body
- Wide lens (fast if possible but F4 can be used if the camera has high ISO capabilities)
- A range of focal lengths as fast as possible for more advanced photographers wishing to undertake longer focal length Astro work
- Tripod
- Remote timer or long exposure bulb control built-in on the timer
- Star Tracker (optional)
- Filters for landscape such as ND’s and ND grads (optional)
- Spare camera batteries
- Head torch with a red mode (this is not for night vision, it makes it easier to work as a group, and stops us from blinding one another)
- Warm clothes for night, layers, hiking boots/hiking trainers
- Although the days will be warm, some locations are elevated and the temperature can drop drastically so summer and slight cold weather clothes are required.
Post-production & Planning Necessities
The planning and post-production are absolutely critical elements of landscape and nightscape photography.
- Lightroom (please make sure this is Lightroom Classic)
- Photoshop (or another suite with layer options)
- A laptop running the above ideally with a minimum of 8GB Ram (though 16GB Ram or over is recommended for advanced post-production)
- This part of the workshop can be undertaken with no laptop and note writing, though following on a laptop is recommended
Recommended apps that will be taught and demonstrated:
- Photopills (paid one-time subscription)
- Stellarium (free on desktop), free mobile version, the full mobile version now costs a fee
- Starwalk 2, Sky Guide or similar “what’s in the sky mobile/tablet application”
CENTRAL SPAIN Photography Workshops FAQs
Ollie has been running landscape and astrophotography workshops for over a decade and a half, and now has a small team of tutors, travel planner and admin working with him. Chris runs workshops both for himself and a select few tour operators and brings with him a wealth of knowledge gained over the years. Chris and Ollie have been travelling out to Spain several times to work on the logistics of this tour, and met on many other occasions working out core fieldwork and post production principles.
Chris will always be at hand for 1-2-1 landscape and nightscape tuition and help, and will also present structured workflows to the entire group aiming to equip the group with tested workflow structures that provide results every time.
All EU countries have freedom of movement which includes the Canary Islands as they are a Spanish archipelago. The UK does not need a visa at this point, though that is set to change in 2024. Most other countries will need a Schengen Visa.
The daytime in Spain will naturally be hot. Some nights will be warm, but some nights will actually feel cold to the altitude and a potential breeze.
Light summer clothing is required for the daytime and light late autumn/winter clothing is required for some of the astrophotography work.
- Comfortable light hiking pants
- Windproof heavier duty hiking pants
- Coat/down jacket
- Base layers
- Summer socks and warmer socks
- Hiking boots or trainers
- Hat/gloves
- Sunscreen
Nice to haves!
- Hand warmers (throw away or electronic)
- Swimwear if you wish to use the pool at the Pax Hotel in the day
- Gym kit if you wish to use the gym
There are one or two 20/30 minute hikes no more than 1/2km, however there is a steep hill with a castle perched atop, the path is lose underfoot, and it takes around 15/25 minutes to walk up. We undertake very long hours under the stars predominantly on your feet, or bring a portable stool.
This workshop is self-catering with the exception of hotel breakfast, if, you are awake to make breakfast time. You can use the hotel or local eateries for lunch and food to take out in the van in the evening.
CENTRAL SPAIN Photography TOUR ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation
We use two hotels for this workshop to achieve close proximity to locations. Perched above the medieval streets of Sigüenza, the Parador de Sigüenza occupies a restored 12th-century castle where thick stone walls, vaulted halls and heavy wooden doors still carry the hush of its past. It’s less hotel, more time capsule with good lighting: sunrise spills across the surrounding plains, while evenings settle into a warm, amber glow over the cathedral and old town below—ideal for capturing the castle’s textures and atmosphere. Rooms balance heritage with comfort, some carved directly into former defensive towers. Nearby, Hotel Pax Guadalajara offers a simpler, modern base, well placed for reaching the region’s lavender fields in bloom, where soft purple rows stretch toward the horizon under wide summer skies. Together, the two stays create a natural rhythm: the Parador for moody, historic castle photography, and Pax Guadalajara for easy access to the luminous, open landscapes of lavender season.
Transfers
Transfers are made between 14:00 and 15:00 from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, and return transfers are made to arrive for approximately 12:00 on the last date advertised.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Group emails are set up once the group is fully booked, as an icebreaker, and also to serve as a Q&A platform.
Please note deposits are non-refundable and balances are due 120 days prior to the workshop commencing.
Please contact us for any further information required.
BOOK YOUR PLACE
If there are spaces left, you can book your place on this photography tour below.
If you have any questions please click here to contact Ollie Taylor.
Additional information
| Group Courses | 0, Deposit, Deposit 2 People, Full Price, Full Price 2 People |
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