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Scottish Holiday Workshops

Throughout the past months I have been in discssion with a family who have a few years ago moved from England up to Scotland in an attempt to get away from the hustle and bustle of the towns and cities, and in doing so have relocated to a 10 acre estate which is fully surrounded by hundreds of acres of the  "Dumfries & Galloway National Park", the lagest national forest in the UK. Not a bad back garden!!.

The dwelling was originally built back in the late 19th early 20th centurary as an "Arts & Crafts" shooting lodge for a large land owner. The main dwelling is also complimented with an additional 3 "workers cottages". The new owners, the "Goodall" family, took on a total renovation task, and what a task it was. The original and official name of the main house is "Black Clauchrie" and it sits approximately 4 miles out of Barrhill which can be found north of "Newton Stewart".

This year, 2010, we have already planned and released dates for three different residential workshops  which are a Raptor weekend in March, one summer and one winter wildlife safari weeks, all of which are packed with full eventful days. We will start each day immediately after breakfast and will finish when we finish. We will not be ruled by meal times and to confirm this we will be providing lunch on location, unless otherwise agreed by everyone. Our main object throughout each workshop is to provide you with every photographic opportunity either you or us can think of. Throughout each day I will be on hand and available from before breakfast until bed time. Following diner is an unscheduled and unprogrammed period, therefore we can do anything you wish, for example: sit down and have a drink (soft or alchoholic), have a Q&A session, have an image critique session, have a digital presentation of images supplied by either you or me, or finally we could always goout on a night shoot. Below is a brief itinerary of each workshop, but please do not take this as written in stone, if you want an official itinerary please contact Caroline at Black Clauchrie directly.

Raptor Weekend

 The "Raptor" weekend would commence with the participants arriving on the Friday afternoon, anytime after 1pm, at which time you would be made most welcome by both Caroline and myself, complete with some refreshments. The time between your arrival and diner is yours to do with as you please, familurize yourself with your rooms, the house and the grounds before sittiing down to a beautifully home cooked 3 course evening meal. This would be followed by a social evening of getting to know one another and to talk about the two days to follow.

Saturday and Sunday would commence after a hearty breakfast by travelling into the forest to meet our falconry team and his birds where we would create some traditionally Scottish situations for the birds to pose for as long as as you wish and in different locations. The birds would be changed at various times throughout the day. Hot or cold drinks and a packed lunch is provided in the forest to avoid loosing time travelling back and forth to the big house.

The weekend would close on Monday morning after another fulfilling breakfast, however you would be more than welcome to go for a final walk around before departing, but this would be accompanied.

Summer & Winter Wildlife Safari Weeks.

The "Summer & Winter Wildlife Safari" weeks would commence with the participants arriving on the Friday afternoon, anytime after 1pm, at which time you would be made to be very welcome by both Caroline and myself, complete with some refreshments. The time between your arrival and diner is yours to do with as you please, familurize yourself with your rooms, the house and the grounds before sittiing down to a beautifully home cooked 3 course evening meal. This would be followed by a social evening of getting to know one another and to talk about the two days to follow.

 These "Scottish Wildlife Photographic Holidays" consist of every day being fully packed with opportunities to photograph a great variety of native Scottish species, in their own natural habitat. Obviously the species would vary quite considerably depending upon which safari you decided to book on. Various species which we would be working with would be on an exclusive arrangement, specifically with our group.

Each evening following a scrumtious 3 course home cooked evening meal we could provide various forms of photographic sessions such as: image critique session, technique including composition, digital shows (your pictures and/or mine), Adobe Photoshop CS4 or Elements V7 etc. Or we could simply sit down, chill out, have a drink and go to bed early ready for another fun packed day.

The weeks safari would close on the following Friday morning after another fulfilling breakfast, however you would be more than welcome to go for a final walk around before departing, but this would be accompanied.

Further Information:

The staff of Black Clauchrie are more than prepared to help you make arrangements for private transportation to and from the local railway station, airport, and sea port if necessary.

For any further information you require or questions you may have, please feel free to contact me directly, at which time I will do my utmost to help you.