Barcelona, Spain, known for its stunning architecture, amazing food and the annual La Merce Festival. We scheduled our workshop to coincide with this annual event, Barcelona’s largest street party!  Held in honor of Mare de Deu de la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona, the La Merce “bids goodbye” to the summer and welcomes the cooler months of autumn.  This year will be the 106th anniversary of this storied event.

Welcome to the Firstlight Workshop in Barcelona, Spain
September 20-27, 2008

A seven-day digital photography workshop that will allow you to improve your travel photography, overcome your fear of photographing people and learn how to make your photos shine in the digital darkroom. The workshop will be headquartered and located in the nearby village of Sant Cugat del Valles.

During this spectacular event, we will be photographing the “Correfoc”- the fire run with “The Devils”; the amazing fire-breathing “Dragons” which roam the streets offering incredible photographic imagery; the “Castellers”, the building of the human towers; and the Giants Parade, or “Gigantes”: huge giants, effigies of queens, kings and nobles parading through the streets of Barcelona, percussion groups accompanying them, pounding out a rhythm on their drums.

In addition to these incredibly visual events, and as part of FirstLight tradition, we will also provide “assignments” for those eager to step further into the community. These have been pre-scouted, and our photographic subjects are looking forward to your spending time capturing their lives.  These will include traditional vineyards, farmers, fishing villages, artists, and other “fabric of the community” opportunities. At a pre-assigned time photographers will return to the workshop headquarters in Sant Cugat to download images and discuss the morning shoot with your photo editor. You will then have the afternoon to further explore the area or go back to your assignment to take advantage of the “golden-hour” of photography. Each day the instructors will host projection sessions and critiques of the days work while sharing in the camaraderie for which FirstLight is famous.