The Spectacular White Horses of the Camargue, France

March 22 - 27, 2025

Even if you don’t ride horses, you have to appreciate their beauty and grace when they are in motion. They are magnificent, powerful, and very exciting to photograph. In the Spring of 2023, I am leading another photo workshop to photograph the white horses of the Camargue. This is a marshy region in southern France where the horses have been living for 5000 years. The Romans knew them, and in the famous painting of Napoleon rearing on a white horse, he was riding one of the white horses from the Camargue.

During the workshop, we will photograph the horses running through marshes, running in the surf at the beach, and galloping free in a field where you can pan with slow shutter speeds for artistic blurs or use faster speeds to freeze the action.

In addition, we will have a session with mothers and foals (the young horses are born black or brown; it takes five years for them to turn white) as well as two sessions with stallions sparing.

We will have 8 sessions in total, and we shoot at sunrise and sunset to take advantage of the best lighting. This is a very special photo opportunity that may very well produce some of the best images you’ve ever taken.

In addition, there is a nearby bird sanctuary where we will have an afternoon photographing many species of migratory birds including herons, egrets, and thousands of flamingos that feed just a few feet from your camera. It’s exciting to see them land on the water and fly past us in huge numbers.

What you will learn in this photo tour

What camera settings are best for action photography

How to photograph birds in flight

How to expose when shooting into the sun

What autofocus point arrangement is best for action subjects

Which shutter speeds produce the best artistic action blurs

With multiple subjects, how to get the most depth of field

Itinerary

DAY 1: Saturday, March 22. Leave home and arrive in Marseille, France. Allow enough time in transit so you can meet Jim and the group at 2:00 pm in the airport on this day. We meet in Hall 1 as you exit the baggage area in the international terminal. If you arrive the day before, stay in a hotel near the airport. At 2pm on May 8, you will be met in the airport and driven to St. Marie de la Mer. This will be our base of operations for the workshop. We will have our first photo session of the horses in sunset lighting in the late afternoon. Overnight in St. Marie de la Mer.

DAY 2: Sunday, March 23. Our sunrise shoot today is with mothers and foals. We will have up close and personal encounters with the horses in the open with no fences or distractions in the background. The afternoon session is amazing. Two stallions are placed together in the shallow water of a marsh and they spar with each other for dominance. The photography is spectacular. Jim will give you the camera settings for the best results. Overnight in St. Marie de la Mer.

DAY 3: Monday, March 24. We get up early today and drive to the beach to photograph the white horses running in the sand and in the surf. This photo opportunity is tremendous, and everyone gets incredible pictures. In the afternoon, another session where the horses run through the marsh directly at your camera. Overnight in St. Marie de la Mer.

DAY 4: Tuesday, March 25. Panning shots, creative blurs, and freeze-frame action shots are on the agenda this morning. A dozen or so horses run past us at breakneck speed, and you can position yourself to pan with the horses or have them come directly at you. They will be on land this time for a very different photographic experience. The afternoon is spent in the bird sanctuary where you'll get amazing shots of birds in flight, water birds feeding, and closeup headshots of birds in the trees. Overnight in St. Marie de la Mer.

DAY 5: Wednesday, March 26. To make sure you get spectacular shots of the stallions sparing, we have another early morning session with them today. Use fast shutter speeds and high speed continuous shooting because things happen fast. In the afternoon, we have our final session with the horses running through the marsh at your camera in beautiful sunset light.

DAY 6: Thursday, March 27. Today you have an early morning transfer back to Marseille to catch your flight home, knowing that the images we've captured are truly incredible.

Tour cost: $4550

Single supplement: $850

Includes: Five nights lodging, eight photo sessions with the white horses, all ground transportation, all breakfasts, entrance fee into bird park, photo instruction. and critiques on demand.

Does not include: International airfare, meals except those noted above, tips, drinks, alcoholic beverages, and items of a personal nature.