Photography Workshop Retreats
Join Chantal, Lena and a group of like-minded creatives in a beautiful house to learn how to master your photography practise, connect with like-minded creatives and get inspired. Our workshop retreats offer dedicated time to perfect your practise as well as time to relax and meet new people.
The vision..
Come and join Chantal Convertini and Lena Aires on their photography workshop retreats where they create a curated, intimate space for you to learn, connect with others, share your passion of photography and feel inspired. Chantal and Lena host their workshop retreats all over Europe and welcome all levels of photographers from beginners to those who are more advanced. They share their knowledge and experience of photography (with a focus on portraiture) teaching you a series of masterclasses that run through all the tips, tricks and techniques to help you make photographs you love.
Read on to learn more!
An intensive programme which aims to teach and inspire..
Over the course of four nights and five days Chantal and Lena invite you to a communal creative space where you can learn, share knowledge and experience and come away with new ideas and a fresh approach to your practice. The retreats offer a fully immersive experience from morning to night. The programme includes three masterclass sessions which include practical portrait shooting demonstrations, activities and exercises which focus on the technical side of photography as well as how to find inspiration and delve deeper into your practise. For those who want to learn more about shooting film and specifically self-portraiture on film, we have a dedicated Fundamentals of Film session where we teach you all the basics and a self-portrait masterclass. We also cover themes such as working with models, how to use lighting, perfecting exposure and how to use props, space and style to create the photographs you want.
The retreats are designed for all photography levels, film and digital - whether you are a complete beginner looking to learn the basics or you are an advanced photographer looking to find new inspiration and meet new people.
For each retreat we plan a carefully curated programme of activities and shooting demonstrations that guide you through three main masterclasses. Aside from this we set aside extra time for spontaneity and improvisation and we tailor the experience slightly differently each time depending on where the mood takes us as well as the individual requirements/requests of the group.
Food, wine and good conversation..
During the retreat you will no doubt create relentlessly and be filled with ideas but around the constant sound of shutters firing, there will be plenty of time to rest, relax, have good conversation, eat delicious food and drink good wine (all of which are included in your ticket).
The house - a beautiful space with charm and plenty of light..
For each retreat we spend a lot of time finding the right location to host our group. We look for houses that serve as the perfect back drop for photography —a space that has lots of natural light, charming decor and enough outdoor space such as a big garden and/or pool so we can fully relax and enjoy the pleasures of nature. The house has to have character and atmosphere, somewhere we feel comfortable and most importantly, somewhere we feel inspired to make photos. Previously we have hosted our retreats in a medieval Portuguese villa in the Portuguese mountains, a traditional French chateau in Normandy, a mountainside villa outside of Rome that was once an ancient monastery, and in 2023 we spent our days in a seaside villa in Greece that came with its own private beach. For each retreat we have our own personal chef who makes us lunch and dinner (usually a cuisine that is authentic to our location) and for breakfast we offer a continental style buffet with cereals, fruits, eggs, bread and local meats and cheeses.
Connecting with like-minded creatives…
People who have attended our retreats have travelled from all over the world to join us, many of whom have only picked up a camera once and others who have been shooting for years. It’s always so heart warming to see a group of strangers travel from afar, gather in one corner of the world and become close companions over the course of a few days simply through the shared passion of photography. Check out our testimonials at the end of this page to learn more!
What’s included in the retreat?
Four nights of accommodation in our beautiful villa (usually a variety of single and shared rooms)
Full board of nourishment - this includes three meals a day - breakfast, a homemade warm lunch and dinner and an afternoon selection of tea, local cakes and biscuits. We also supply some alcoholic drinks for the first night.
Full programme - this includes three masterclass sessions on portrait shooting, fundamentals of film and self-portraiture. We also teach several demonstrations and a range of curated exercises and activities to get you shooting, modelling and creating with others.
The opportunity to have a one-on-one shoot with Chantal and Lena individually and have your portrait taken by us.
Discounted film development and scanning at Southsun Film Lab
Gifted film
Additional gifts from Chanti and I
(Not included: your airfare and any transportation to and from the villa)
Come and create with us at our next retreat
For more information on our 2025 retreats (dates and locations TBC) send an email of interest to: lenachantalphotographyretreats@gmail.com
See below for photos and testimonials from our previous retreats.
We hope to meet you soon!
Lena and Chantal xx
Upcoming Retreat
May and October 2025 dates TBC.
Previous retreats
Tuscany, Italy: 17 - 21 October 2024
Stockby, Sweden: 13 - 17 June 2024
Thessaloniki, Greece: 5-9 October 2023
Malaga, Spain: 18-21 May 2023.
Rome, Italy: 6-9 October 2022.
Normandy, France: 19-22 May 2022.
Porto, Portugal: 15-17 October 2021.
To stay up to date about all the retreats and be the first to know before we officially launch, subscribe to Chantal’s life-letter here.
Sponsored by Southsun Film Lab
Southsun Film Lab kindly sponsors our retreats and offers us a discount on their film development services.
Testimonials
“Living in such an amazing creative bubble with so many special humans has been incredible. Thank you all for your kindness and company and love and for creating a safe space to simply be ourselves.”
“What an amazing weekend; I’m so grateful to Chanti and Lena for having this workshop and for all you beautiful people being so amazing!”
“I loved our crazy little world and it changed my perspective on so many things..didn’t think I end up at the brink of crying after such a short time!”
“So many memories, photo lessons and life lessons. This was really priceless.”
“I can’t thank you enough Chanti and Lena for getting us together, and everyone for their beautiful energy, beautiful souls.. thank you for trusting me in my craziness, you made me feel loved, creative, alive and happy!”
“I am so happy with so many pictures, I didn’t expect that…It’s all thanks to you guys. You and Chanti showed me it’s possible. I never thought I’ll be taking portraits of other people and now I know I can and I’m not particularly bad at it!”
“What a weekend…still overwhelmed by all the emotions. I’m sure the energy I got from you all will keep me going for weeks!!”
“It was so amazing learning from you all and being in this creative wonderland! Thank you Chanti and Lena for creating this beautiful safe space for us to take photos!”
“This weekend reminded me of how beautiful humanity is, how there is connection and hope and joy right at our fingertips when we choose to reach for it”
“Thank you for these days of letting guards and masks down, hopping out of comfort zones, thank you for touching my heart..I am so grateful that I had and am still having this short, endless, enormous, little tiny universe with you all. It made me feel seen, loved and so alive!”
“I haven’t felt this fulfilled in a while..it was like being children again, asking all the questions, digging deeper into one another, eating together, laughing together, making art together..I thought I’d only learn about film but I got so much more. ”
“I find it hard to connect with people, and to have had such deep, meaningful moments with everyone personally at the workshop, and all at once, it’s hard to let that go!”
“I’m still not able to find words for what I’m feeling since we left the beautiful villa. This weekend was exactly what I needed!”
“The experience of meeting all of you and being photographed by kind, accepting, non-judgemental people is very healing. To be surrounded by beautiful souls who don’t judge and just see you as you are.”
“A constant exchange of trust mixed with encouragement, appreciation, common goals, shared passion, and a very similar taste in beauty. And a lack of judgement or rejection. And it helped that we were also in a photographer’s playground!”
“I feel like we were all in a big bubble of enormous empathy..”