Springtime in Italy

A Food Styling + Recipe Development + Photography Workshop 

Come join Joann Pai, Gabriel Cabrera, Jodi Moreno and Jennifer Chase for a four day workshop in in the Southern Italian countryside.  Puglia is strikingly beautiful and less touristed than other areas of Italy.  Picture olive groves and vineyards, whitewashed houses, and dramatic seaside towns, filled with wonderful people and the most incredible food. 

STAY

We’ll be staying at an ancient farmhouse, 5 km from the sea.  This farmhouse (masseria) comes with whitewash stone walls, a large beautiful pool and a 16th century kitchen we will be using for photoshoots!   

EAT

Breakfast and dinners will be enjoyed together, gathered around a large common table at the farmhouse. Meals will be prepared from fresh, local products, picked from the property’s vegetable garden, olive grove, orchard, and of course fresh seafood brought in from the sea. On days that we are exploring the region, lunches will be enjoyed in a local village restaurant that showcases the incredible foods of the area. 

CREATE

Our days will be spent learning from our teaches and creating beautiful content which will help build your portfolio and expand your knowledge on photography, styling, and recipe development. We’ll be teaching you how to tell stories with food and photography, from planning to execution. This is a hands-on workshop.  You will get lots of time to practice, learn some great tricks and foolproof techniques… all while creating your own images for your portfolio.  In addition to styling, photographing, and recipe development, we will also visit local producers and style a story in a charming seaside town. You will walk away from this workshop with a great body of work, and even greater memories. 

EXPLORE

Along with the action packed sessions filled with learning, creating, and sharing we are also going to get out and explore the area from the very land of the Masseria we are staying, to the land of the region. We will explore olive groves, vineyards, farms, and wild Mediterranean bush.  We’ll forage for herbs, flowers, wild asparagus and other edible greens to use in our styling and cooking. 

One of our days, we’ll travel to the coast.  Along the way we will drive through the beautiful Puglia countryside.   You are going to be glad that you have your cameras because it is gorgeous!  Picturesque villages with whitewashed houses and endless olive groves.  We’ll stop along the way to take photos and sample local specialties.  Arriving at the port we will board our own private sailing boat to cruise along the enchanting Adriatic coast!!  Our cruise will stop at a hidden cove where we will create and style a beautiful picnic to photograph.  

When and Where

April 20th - 24th, 2016 in Manduria, Italy
The closest airport is Bari or Brindisi, Italy 

Who Should Come?

Photographers, bloggers, home cooks…  Anyone who wants to learn how the art of cooking and photographing beautiful food.

What is included?

All food and lodging are included while at the retreat.

Joann Pai

Joann is a food & travel photographer in Paris, originally from Vancouver, Canada. She has journeyed all over the world; her travels and unique experiences have played an important role in influencing her unique visual style. Joann started taking photographs as a way to document small moments in life, mostly surrounding food, and continues to explore how food brings people together and keeps them connected. She has been published in online and print publications around the world, most recently in Air Canada’s EnRoute Magazine.  Her clients include: Shangri-la Hotels, Relais & Chateaux, various tourism boards and restaurants.  Her work has been featured in notable publications such as Forbes, The Telegraph, and Huffington Post. Joann co-founded Acornmag, a collaborative food & lifestyle magazine.

Gabriel Cabrera

Gabriel Cabrera is Vancouver based Food Stylist and Photographer and author of the popular blog Artful Desperado. His work has been featured on several online and print publications including Vancouver Magazine, Western Living Magazine, Huffington Post, Food52, The Kitchn, and many others. His client list includes game changing brands such as Tourism Australia, Air New Zealand, West Elm, Urban Outfitters, and Luvo Inc where he currently acts as resident Stylist and Photographer.

When he is not teaching or styling, he can be found at a local coffee shop planning his next move or sipping a few cocktails with friends at his home in Vancouver.

Jodi Moreno

Jodi is a trained natural food's chef, professional recipe developer, and creator of the acclaimed blog, what's cooking good looking. Her blog has been a two time finalist for the Saveur Blog Awards in the best recipe and best overall blog categories. She has also developed recipes for Whole Foods, Saveur Magazine, Simply Organic , Zico, Reynolds Wrap, Food52, Prevention Magazine, and many more, and her work can also be found on countless sites all over the web. When's she not in the kitchen, Jodi can be found riding her bike around NYC dreaming about her next meal or next big adventure. 

Jennifer Chase

Is a food and travel photographer based out of Washington, DC.  She is a regular contributor to the Washington Post and her work has been featured in Washingtonian Magazine, Elle online, Photo District News, Thrillist and Zagat.  Jennifer loves photographing people, food, and stories about food culture and the way that food connects us to each other and the environment around us.   Before becoming a food photographer Jennifer photographed weddings world widearound the world.  In an even earlier life she worked international development and photographed Kurdish peoples in Northern Iraq and Senegalese refugees in Spain.  

REGISTRATION

Terms and Conditions:

Registration is non-refundable so please make sure that you can come.  

​