I recently travelled to the quaint village of Giverny, France to attend a fine art photography workshop led by a photographer who’s work I’ve been admiring for quite some time, D’Arcy Benincosa. We stayed in adorable AirBnBs in the French countryside, while the workshop was hosted in a 17th century Tudor style French home. Not only is D’Arcy’s work and success inspiring, and she was highly generous with her insight and knowledge, but she’s one of those people who is so charismatic and positive, you just want to be around them all the time.

With D’Arcy’s guidance, this was my first time shooting medium format film on the Contax 645, and having just received my scans back, I’m so thrilled with the results. They weren’t exaggerating when they said it feels like Christmas morning getting the scans back! The images here were all shot on Fuji 400h film stock with a Contax 645 medium format camera and scanned by Carmencita film lab.

The workshop elements were inspired from the French Impressionist style, and we went along to the gardens of Monet on one of the mornings to have a wander and hear how the florists draw their inspiration. How dreamy and gorgeous are the dresses from Maria Luisa Rabell?

The talented ladies Becca and Maz from The Garden Gate Flower Company joined us to create some gorgeous blooms to accompany the models, as well as the wonderful and artistic Nessa from LA MARIEE AUX PIEDS NUS who styled the stunning French dinner table for us to capture.

D’Arcy’s sister, April, a hair and make-up artist was there to create soft and elegant looks for the gorgeous models.

We had the opportunity to set up and photograph some gorgeous details from close-ups of the beautiful morning gowns by GIRL WITH A SERIOUS DREAM, exquisite bespoke jewellery by SUZIE SALTZMAN and stationery by THE LITTLE NORTH SEA STUDIO set off with LANCASTER & CORNISH plant dyed ribbons.

We spent the second afternoon on developing your business and crafting a cohesive marketing strategy, with D’Arcy sharing some of her fantastic resources as well as the habits and methods that have proven successful for her.