- DISCOVER THE NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM! -

Instructor: Mike Mezeul II

April 23 - May 2, 2024

Class Size: 5 - SOLD OUT

Tuition: $5699

Windmills, incredible architecture, reflecting canals, tulips, Belgian waffles, museums, castles, UNICORNS and more! Okay, maybe not the unicorns, but The Netherlands & Belgium have so much incredible beauty to offer you and your camera, you will not be disappointed! If you have ever wanted to explore these two countries, or maybe have never thought about exploring these two countries, I invite you to come join me for an amazing 10 days as we explore the best of these locations! Scheduled during the peak of tulip season, we will photograph our hearts out on this tour with a bit of cityscape mixed with a bit of landscape. Starting off in the heart of The Netherlands, Amsterdam, we will traverse the city and countryside throughout the days as we work our way towards Belgium, where we will discover the best of Ghent and Bruges, before heading back into the southern Netherlands. This workshop is aimed at showing you the beauty of these two countries, not only with photography, but also learning about the culture as well through several local tours.

What You Will Learn:

• How to create compelling cityscape and landscape imagery.

• How to see intricate and intimate moments within a scene.

• How to discover and utilize your camera to its fullest capabilities.

• How to create a variety of scenes with multiple lenses and how to think “outside the box.”

• An understanding for light and how to take advantage of it in all conditions.

• An introduction to black and white photography for cityscape photography.

• How to eat more Belgian waffles than your stomach can handle.

What You Will Need:

• A DSLR or mirrorless camera body.

• An assortment of lenses from a wide-angle to telephoto (up to 200mm).

• A sturdy tripod.

• At least the trial version of Lightroom or Photoshop on your laptop.

• Multiple batteries and required power converters for Europe (Type C).

• A valid passport.

• A desire to learn, have fun, be flexible, and enjoy Europe!

What’s Included:

·      Transportation within the workshop (vehicle & bicycle rental).

·      All accommodations (based upon double occupancy).

·      All tours (canal, museum, castle, etc.).

·      All park entrance fees.

·      All parking.

·      One incredible, drool worthy and oh so, so delicious…Belgian waffle.

·      Access to my photography brain 24/7.

Itinerary:

April 23 - Day 1:  On our first day together in The Netherlands, we will get to know the city of Amsterdam. We will start with our meet & greet which will spill over into a tasty lunch together. From lunch, we will enjoy a 90-minute canal tour of the city. With canals connecting all of the inner workings of the city, it is the best way to view so much of this wonderful city. After our canal tour, we will begin our evening photography session where we will photograph a variety of canals and cityscapes for both sunset and twilight. We will be concluding the day with a wonderful dinner.

April 24 - Day 2: For our second tour day, we will be up early to go photograph some more incredible canal scenes. From beautiful architecture to endless reflections, we will take advantage of as much of the morning light as we can! We will then give our cameras a breather and have breakfast together. During the middle of the day, we will have a three-hour window where we will visit the infamous Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s most famous museum. Here you will be able to view some of the legendary artwork from artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and more. After our museum tour we will have a nice break where you can catch up on some rest or explore more of the city on your own. We will then meet up for an afternoon of city photography and finish with dinner.

April 25 - Day 3: Day three will be our last morning in Amsterdam, so we will be up early again to take advantage of twilight and sunrise photography in some of my favorite locations within the city. We will have a quick breakfast together and then check out of our hotel. Due to the difference in check-out and check-in times for our accommodations, we will fill that vacancy with a drive to the Muiderslot Castle for some photography and lunch. We will then head to the city of Zaandam, where will check into the incredibly weird, yet amazingly looking Inntel Hotel. We will spend that afternoon photographing the historic windmills of Zaanse Schans.

April 26 - Day 4: For this morning, we will be up before the crack of dawn to head out in search of some beautiful sunrise colors above the Zaanse Schans windmills and tulips! We will have breakfast nearby and then spend a bit of time at the actual museum for the windmills, learning about the history and culture of the area. Midday will be a great time to rest up, enjoy the hotel pool and sauna, and take a moment to breath. We will head out in the afternoon once again to go create more stunning images of the Zaanse Schans windmills and local tulip fields.

April 27 - Day 5: We will have one more go at the beautiful Zaanse Schans windmills and tulip fields for sunrise! After our morning photography, we will have a quick breakfast and then depart for Belgium. After a 2.5 hour drive, we will arrive in the majestic city of Ghent. A location that makes you feel as if you have stepped right into a Harry Potter book. We will check into our accommodations and then head out for an afternoon of more amazing photography. Of course, we will have an amazing Belgian dinner after!

April 28 - Day 6: We will be waking up to the sounds of church bells echoing through the city of Ghent as we take advantage of the empty cobblestone roads for sunrise photography. Sounds kinda nice, doesn’t it? After sunrise, prepare your stomachs for a Belgian waffle breakfast. We will spend some time after breakfast resting up before heading out around lunch time to go tour three amazing churches and towers within Ghent. After completing our tours, we will head on over to Castle Gravensteen where during our self-guided tour, we will have an incredible panoramic view of the city of Ghent. I will be booking us the latest tour of the day to provide us with the best light possible. After completing our tour of Gravensteen, we will make our way back out to the streets of Ghent for a final evening of photography.

April 29 - Day 7: Another day of waking up in a beautiful city, I’m sorry. We will once again be out for sunrise before we eat one more Belgian waffle and then it’s off to Bruges we go! Only a quick 45-minute drive away, Bruges is easily one of my favorite places on the tour! With hidden alleys just asking to be photographed, to intimate canals, bell towers and more, we will be filling even more memory cards here the next couple of days! Oh, and don’t forget the excessive amounts of chocolatiers in which we will have to unfortunately test out.

April 30 - Day 8: Step and repeat! Up early for amazing twilight and sunrise imagery, followed by an amazing breakfast and then midday will be open for you to explore Bruges and do some personal sight-seeing. In the early afternoon, we will get together for sunset and twilight photography within Bruges.

May 1 - Day 9: One last sunrise and breakfast outing in Bruges before we will take a quick 90-minute drive to one of the most iconic locations in Holland, the Kinderdijk windmills! On this evening, we will have more windmills and tulips to photograph than we will know what to do with!

May 2 - Day 10: Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, right? On our last morning of the tour, we will spend as much time as we can handle with the Kinderdijk windmills before we head on back to Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (about an hour drive away). We will officially wrap our workshop at the airport with a heart full of memories, stomach full of great food, and memory cards filled to capacity.

Physical Requirements / Expectations:

This workshop will require a couple of miles of city walking for most days. Although a vehicle will be rented for our workshop, we will not be utilizing it within the cities due to extremely limited parking options. This will leave us with either walking or renting bicycles to reach our shooting locations within Amsterdam, Ghent and Bruges.

Airport Information:

You will want to fly into and out of Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport. Flights from the United States typically arrive in the early morning hours and depart back to stateside in late morning.

Arrival / Departure Flight Information:

It is highly recommended to arrive a day prior to our workshop start date and to depart the day after our workshop concludes. This will help prevent any possible issues with flight delays or possible traffic (on the last day) issues. The hotel nights for these nights are not included in the tuition, but I am more than happy to help you with accommodation arrangements for those nights! 

Meet & Greet:

Our workshop will start with us all getting to know one another and discussing what to expect while exploring these two beautiful countries! We will meet at our AirBNB accommodation located in downtown Amsterdam at 12PM. The address of the AirBNB will be provided after the final balances are paid a few weeks prior to our workshop.

Getting To Our Amsterdam Hotel:

Public transportation within Holland is extremely efficient and the best way to commute to the Amsterdam area. You do not need your own vehicle for this workshop, so please do not book one. To get to our hotel, you will purchase a train ticket at Schiphol Airport and take a 20-minute train ride into the city center train station. From there, you will be able to navigate using your phone to our hotel just a few blocks away.

Workshop Start & Wrap Times / Locations:

We will begin our workshop in Amsterdam with our meet & greet at 12PM. Our workshop will wrap on the last day after one last breakfast together in Kinderdijk. We will then take about an hour drive back to Schiphol Airport where we will say our farewells at approximately 1PM.  

Post-Processing:

Due to the nature of this tour, I will try my best to work in some time for post-processing during our time together. I will be sending out post-processing videos after the tour is complete though showing step-by-step how I would personally edit some of my favorite scenes from the tour.

Spouses:

If you have ever been on a workshop of mine, you know I happily allow spouses! The same goes for this tour, but unfortunately due to the small group size and limited accommodation / vehicle space, spouses will need to be signed up as participants, even if they are not photographing. I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

Payment Options:

We want nothing more than you to come join us for this incredible workshop in Europe, and that’s why we are breaking down our tuition payments into increments that we feel will make this workshop affordable for all!

Payment 1 - 50% of total tuition - Due upon registration (non-refundable).

Payment 2 - 25% of total tuition - Due by October 14th, 2023.

Final Payment - 25% of total tuition - Due by January 14th, 2024.

Not sold on it yet? Well, here’s some Belgian waffles to entice you!

JOIN THE ADVENTURE!

*A 50% Non-refundable deposit is required to register.*