Kajsa, a former participant:
“Thank you for turning 4 days of my life into complete magic!”
Join us on the 4th edition of our bespoke Sicily Workshop for an inspiration packed experience that will evolve around everything food, flowers, antique buildings, textures and Sicilian beauty.
We will teach food and stillife styling and photography, food videography, we will indeed live next to the traditional food market ‘La Pescheria’, so market atmosphere, fresh produce and lots of photo opportunities are right at our feet.
We will make beautiful scenes in our palazzo to film and photograph, we will take you on wine and food tour in Catania and surroundings to visit one of the best producers of Sicilian wine with focus on documenting and creating beautiful imagery. We will eat the most delicious food you can ever imagine, and we will cook in the palazzo with our ‘nonnas’. This time, as the first ever, we will also include a tour to the Sunday antique Market in Catania to look for beautiful ceramics and props!
Besides sharing our knowledge about food and stillife styling, photography and videography, we will also talk about working as commercial and editorial photographers, about entrepreneurship, how to find your creativity and share our experiences as self-employed with you. We will gather and learn about each other and our paths in life. We will laugh. And maybe also cry a little, because that happens when you’re in Sicily. Big emotions and big times.
We will show you the hidden gems of the beautiful baroque city of Catania that Signe knows inside out. Signe has relatives in Catania and has come here for 25 years and she almost regards herself as more Sicilian than Danish and speaks the Sicilian dialect. Her connection to Italy runs deeper than mere admiration for its beauty and gastronomy. She finds resonance in the Italian way of life, which can also be seen in her work —a celebration of family, food, and ‘la dolce vita’. To her, being Italian isn't about nationality; it's a state of mind—a philosophy rooted in passion, creativity, and ‘gioa di vivere’, and together with Francesco from Sardegna we love to pass that passion on to our workshop students!
This time we’ve extended the retreat with one day, so we now have 4 days to immerse ourselves, to explore, to learn and to be creative, as we included two new features; Antique market and a shoot in the baroque Palazzo Biscari!
A New Path in Your Professional and Creative Life
Now maybe is the time to get a few days for yourself, to learn, to be inspired and to invest in yourself and your dreams and business? The Autumn in Sicily Retreat will fuel you and give you a new path in your professional and creative life. Regardless of who you are, what you do and what you dream of, we can promise that you will gain something fruitful during this workshop. We start from where we are and together take ourselves to new, creative heights during the 4 days full of inspirational surroundings, talks, likeminded souls and networking.
Embark on this photographic journey with us and discover why Sicily has been inspiring artists for centuries.The retreat is a complete experience from arrival to departure where everything is included and seats are very limited and sell out fast.
We’re looking SO much forward to welcoming you in Sicily!
Love, Francesco & Signe
- And our team: Louise, Alessandra, Gabriella, Barbora & Francesca
And read much more below…
What Former Students Said
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Experience of Life
‘I am pretty sure we all left something in Sicily and we all take something back with us ❤️ Thank you to all of you, it was more than a photography workshop, it was really an experience of Life! Than you so much Signe and Francesco for all these food vibes, enery, spirit and knowledge sharing 🙏🏻
/Eva -
Amazing Experience
’Thank you for this amazing experience! Lovely days and evenings with a tot of laughter, good talks, colorful creativeness and beautiful people (in every way). And the food and wine!’
/Lotta -
Keep this Experience in My Heart
Amazing days! Will keep this experience in my heart. And of course, the inspiration and teaching of 2 amazing persons as Francesco and Signe. ✨
/Luciana -
A Dream Come True
“Thank you Signe and Francesco for sharing your creativity and expertise in a fun way, watching you both was a dream come true” /Renee
Bustling Markets
Close your eyes, feel the sun on your face, breathe in the perfume of citrus fruits in the air with their fresh, zesty fragrance, and smile. You’re in Sicily!
Just the thought of the bustling markets, the scent of the last tomatoes of the season that fills the air, while nearby, the unmistakable aroma of freshly baked bread wafts from traditional bakeries, make us all eager for October to come! It’s a wonderful season to visit Sicily, with a great variety of fresh produce, from vibrant pomegranates and sweet persimmons to aromatic mushrooms and freshly pressed olive oil. Autumn’s gentle sunlight casts a warm, golden hue over the rolling hills, ancient ruins, and charming villages, creating a picturesque and serene ambiance, perfect to capture with our cameras and phones.
New Feature:
Palazzo Biscari Shoot
And this year, for the very first time, we will have the opportunity to visit the breathtakingly beautiful antique Palazzo Biscari to shoot and to create a stillife scene.
We will have the Palazzo Biscari for ourselves an entire afternoon and it would be an understatement to say that we’re beyond excited to share this experience with you!
For Whom
The workshop is for anyone who wants to learn more about creativity. Maybe you are self-employed, working with food, flowers, interior, branding and PR. It could also be that you are a cook, blogger, dietician, graphic designer and want to upgrade your visual expression or need a creative and inspiring boost. Anyone of all levels are welcome, whether you capture with DLSR camera or phone or even draw on paper. We’ve had artists who came to study our styling and our take on natural light and shadows.
Where
The workshop venue is an antique palazzo with the most amazing ceiling frescos in the middle of the old and beautiful historic centre of Catania. The whole palazzo is exclusively for our group during the 4 days. Some of you will sleep in the palazzo and if the demand of single rooms is big, then a couple will sleep in a nearby apartment, as well as teachers, cook and assistants will stay in other nearby apartments too. Part of the workshop-palazzo is with original interior, part is with modern furniture. We will teach our classes, dine together and live our workshop life together in the old part. The palazzo is located in the middle of La Pescheria, the antique food market of Catania and right around the corner we’re at Piazza Duomo.
It is a very short trip from the airport of Catania (Fontanarossoa) to the palazzo, approx. 15 min. by car. You can take both taxi or bus. Much more info will follow prior to the workshop.
Programme & Your Experience
Day 1
Thursday 24/10
Check in from 17-17.30
We will show you your rooms, and you’ll have some time to get settled after your travels, you can go to the kitchen to chat with the chefs, or you can sit in the salon and have a cup of tea. Just feel yourself at home.
18: We begin with welcome brindisi and snacks, at the palazzo. Together we can get to know each other a little better and share who we are and what expectations we have for these days.
Then we’ll have a delicious welcome dinner and create wonderful memories, new contacts and the beginning of new network. We will sleep well in either double or single rooms at the palazzo or in the next door apartment and wake up well rested and with new ideas.
Day 2
Friday 25/10
We will have a wonderful and abundant breakfast at the palazzo, followed by a walk down to the incredible local markets to get fresh produce and shoot images and videos of the beautiful and vibrant markets.
We will have lunch and then we will head to the antique baroque Palazzo Biscari, where we will shoot the interior of the palazzo and then set up and photograph an abundant flower and stillife scene, talking about composition, colors and light.
Back at our palazzo, it is time for a late afternoon siesta.
A lovely dinner followed by talks and stories around the long table will end this inspiration packed day.
Day 3
Saturday 26/10
Today we will have breakfast at the local café at the piazza, to taste the most typical Catanese breakfats; La granita.
After breakfast we will be picked up by our bus and we’ll go to another big and vibrant food market of Catania, where all the locals do their daily shopping of fresh produce. Here we will take photos and videos and we will sense and understand how important the fresh, locally produced food is to the Sicilians. They are so proud and passionate about it, and the salesmen let everyone feel and taste.
Then we’ll head out in the countryside, up North of Etna to visit a wine castle; a local organic wine producer, to know about the fertile soil here, the grapes and to taste local products. There will be plenty of photo and video opportunities and one on one guidance along the way. We will have lunch on the tour.
When we head home in the afternoon it is time for siesta. You can rest, look through all your photos and videos or you can go down to one of the many cafés down the palazzo to sit and relax
A nice dinner together will end this beautiful day.
Day 4
Sunday 27/10
We will have our nice breakfast at the palazzo and then hurry down to the antique Sunday Market behind the cathedral. This a wonderful market, where you can find antique ceramics and linen, books and many other props. We will take photos and videos along the way.
Then we’ll head back to our palazzo, where we will focus on food videography, when Francesco will take you through the whole process of how to create a cake recipe video.
After a delicious lunch at the palazzo, it is time for a siesta.
In the afternoon we will focus on editing, showing you our different styles and techniques in Lightroom Classic as well as how to edit a reel in Premiere Pro. We will also come around several efficient editing apps for both still and video., while talking about how to keep your style consistent in portfolio and grid.
We will have a scrumptious farewell dinner and finish the day with much meaningful connection and talks.
Day 5
Monday 28/10
We will have our last breakfast together at the palazzo for this time, and it’s time to say goodbye.
Check out at approx. 10 o’clock.
Our Guest Teachers and Assistants
As always we bring our talented cook and food stylist Louise Bondebjer til the retreat and alongside our Italian cook, she will create and make sure that everything looks and tastes like a dream! Our digital assistant Alessandra Bartolini will assist us with everything digital - and much more. This will be her 4th retreat together with us. Our local assistant and family member Francesca will take of us all and everything logistical as she has done now on all our retreats in Sicily.
This year, for the very first time, we have a guest teacher and assistant Barbora Barectic and we are super proud and honored that she also wants to join us on this adventure!
Pratical Information
Price
Price for the workshop in shared double room (separate beds) : 1980 €
Price for the workshop in single room: 2480 €
The educational service provided is VAT-exempt. (For Danish citizens: Momsfritagelse for undervisning og faglig uddannelse).
Payment in two installments, 50% now and 50% October 1st 2024 is also possible. See below.
Included
5 days, 4 nights all inclusive workshop with the best homemade food (primarily vegetarian and from local produce).
Room and meals, wine, snacks are included as well as classes and class materials and tour. All transportation during the workshop.
Not included: Airplane ticket, transportation to and from the airport to the palazzo.
Bring
Bring the device you shoot on; Whether it be your DSLR, compact camera or iPhone. If you’d like to edit photos during the workshop, you can bring your laptop, but you can also edit on your phone. If you prefer to shoot on a tripod, you can bring that as well. We also have a couple to lend out.
Due to logistics and all our partners involved, the workshop is non refundable. However, if you should be prohibited from attending, we will do our best to help find another participant, but unfortunately we can not guarantee it. We recommend to get a travel insurance in case of flight cancellation or other unforeseen events.
Questions
We can assure you that we do out very best to give you a unique experience that will give you so much on many levels. Both professionally and personally. If you have any questions prior to booking your spot, please don’t hesitate to contact us: info@signebay.com
Programme may be due to smaller changes. Info letter will be sent to attendees one month before the workshop.
“To say the days spent with Francesco and Signe is a photography workshop is a huge understatement.
It is an experience for all senses and you return home enriched both professionally and personally on so many levels. Thank you, both of you for sharing your passion for light art, food, beauty, wine, people and life with us!”
/Sara
Enroll Now and Secure Your Seat
Autumn in Sicily
24-28 October 2024
Catania, Italy
A 5 day, 4 Nights Intensive Workshop Retreat.
A complete experience from arrival to departure where everything is included!
If you wish to pay in full, press picture below. It will take you directly to enrollment
For split payment, fill out formular below
Thank you!
Split Payment?
If you prefer to pay in 2 installments, one now and one October 1st 2024, please fill out this formular:
Meet Your Teachers & Hosts
Francesco Pruneddu
Francesco Pruneddu, whom everyone calls Checco, is a food artist, a food photographer and videographer. Francesco photographs by observing food, in its broadest sense. Food photography shows the beauty of the dishes, narrates their evolution and transformation, in the same way that it is customary to tell a landscape, a monument, a story. It starts from a table that sets up like a theatrical stage: food, flowers, hands and objects, which are beautifully mixed. His great inspiration is painting, mainly the compositions of the seventeenth century, which he reworks with the fertile taste of a young artist of the third millennium food, using images to capture emotions and forbidden dreams. Francesco has won great acknowledgement for his food videos and Reels on Instagram.
Signe Bay
Signe does commercial styling, photography and creative direction within food, flowers and interior for various International brands such as Georg Jensen, Handvärk, WMF. Signe is an educated teacher and worked as such, before she went fulltime as a single mum into styling and photography 7 years ago to have more time with her kids and to decide the pace of life herself. The light in the Danish master’s work as well as nature and its changing seasons are her daily inspiration. Signe’s work has been featured in VOGUE, New York Magazine and numerous other International magazines. Being able to create atmospheres and working with natural light is her passion, as well as the business side of being self-employed and connecting with other creatives. Thus Signe organizes a couple of exclusive workshops a year to gather likeminded and to inspire and be inspired. Signe has family in Sicily and regards herself as more Italian than Danish and she speaks the Sicilian dialect. Her connection to Italy runs deeper than mere admiration for its beauty and gastronomy. She finds resonance in the Italian way of life—a celebration of family, food, and la dolce vita. In contrast to the reserved demeanor often associated with Danish culture, Signe embraces the warmth, spontaneity, and emotional expressiveness of her adopted Italian identity. To her, being Italian isn't about nationality; it's a state of mind—a philosophy rooted in passion, creativity, and ‘gioa di vivere’, and she loves to pass that passion on to the workshop students.
