Light & Land
Flamenco in Andalucía with Astrid McGechan
11th April 2024
Many of Spain’s regions have much to offer to the photographer, but one of my favourite regions is Andalucía – it has beautiful landscapes, architecture and culture, and is rich in history and traditions.
Our Light & Land tour explores many of the above elements, and this year we added a Flamenco experienceto the programme. It was most enjoyable, yet at the same time tricky to make images in near darkness of the fast - moving dancers. To get sharp images is fairly easily accomplished – higher ISO, short shutter speed and voila–you freeze the dancers’ movements. But I also wanted to keep some of the movement in the image at the same time, as the dancers had dresses and shawls, which were cleverly flung around them.
![Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour](https://lightandland-1eef0.kxcdn.com/images/uploads/blocks/_constrain_450/_A6A8963.jpg)
Finding the shutter speed that allowed for a reasonably sharp face, yet kept the movement in the image at the same time, was challenging, but we had an hour to experiment, and I came away quite happily with a few images that, for me, convey the spirit and passion of the dance quite beautifully.
![Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour](https://lightandland-1eef0.kxcdn.com/images/uploads/blocks/_constrain_450/_A6A9027_v2.jpg)
There are so many different elements of Flamenco - within the song, the dance, the instrumental music – that in one hour we could only catch a first glimpse of this most fascinating art. I am very much looking forward to going back next year to learn more. Astrid McGechan.
![Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour Flamenco in Andalucía Photography Tour](https://lightandland-1eef0.kxcdn.com/images/uploads/blocks/_constrain_450/_A6A9029_v2.jpg)