John and I are back from our Belgium Workshop where we saw Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges. After 2.5 weeks abroad, jet lag has taken it’s sweet time wearing off, but we are finally sleeping past 4 a.m. and feeling less like zombies. Now that we’ve got the wherewithal to really reflect on the trip, review our images, and review those of our participants, we feel 100% comfortable in calling it a success. Here is a brief recap of our time there with our workshop group.
We started off the workshop by exploring Brussels’ cathedrals, architecture, and parks. Here are a few of our photos for you to enjoy.
Notre Dame du Sablon, one of the prettiest cathedrals in Brussels.
Grand Place, one of the finest squares in Europe, is always filled with tourists and locals, all trying to enjoy the gorgeous architecture.
Then we traversed via tram to the Atomium, Belgium’s answer to the Eiffel Tower for the 1958 World’s Fair. We captured the Atomium from near and far, working on fun reflection images and interesting compositions.
Atomium
A reflection of the Atomium in a mirrored sculpture.
Then we grabbed our gear and headed to the train to visit Ghent. Ghent, a Flemish city (Ghent is the English spelling, in Dutch, the local language it’s Gent, and the French call it Gand, which is altogether a bit confusing!), is full of gothic cathedrals, and medieval architecture, including a bonafied castle! Ghent is the second largest city in Belgium, but it has a small town feel, was easy to navigate, and had ample photographic opportunities.
St. Nicholas’ Church in Ghent
After getting home late from a long day trip to Ghent, we again headed out on the train to visit Bruges. Bruges is a pristine town, with beautiful canals that we explored on a boat tour, and a picturesque square with a bell tower as the centerpiece. The canal tour was definitely a highlight for me, the only trouble is that getting a good photo from a boat poses quite the challenge!
Canal Photography: The Bruges form of street photography!
We had a great time on this workshop, our participants all got great images, and were a blast to hang out with. To see more of John’s images, check out his newest book, “Travel and Street Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots,” publishing this fall.
