China Photo Workshops

I’m a street photographer. I participated in several workshops that were a mix of landscape and street photography. However, I have never enjoyed landscape photography before. Thierry is something else. His total commitment to professional photography is contagious. He taught me how patience bears fruit. By following his ways my images surprised me. He never gave me false compliments but showed me how to be better. He is both a teacher and a friend. On top of all these goodies – Thierry knows the country inside out. He brought us to the photography delightful treasures of China. He speaks Chinese, French and English and it helps him get to the right places and the right people. He also managed to assemble a unique support team. TinTin, with a beautiful personality and perfect English, took care of all the coordination tasks with flying colors. All in all, I recommend Thierry's workshops all heartedly!

To Thierry, I wanted to say, Thank you! for a great trip! It was fun, exciting, and above all great to meet and travel with you. Your photo workshop made for a fantastic first trip to China, and I’m looking forward to many more!

To Thierry, I’m back in rainy Switzerland. I hope you have recovered from the past two busy weeks, which I enjoyed very much despite the unfavorable weather conditions. I’m sure we will meet at several more workshops. I appreciate your uncompromised focus on photography, your detailed knowledge of the regions visited, as well as your refreshing sense of humor. Furthermore, the perfect organization implemented by your friendly and helpful collaborator Tintin was a pure blessing.

Thierry shares so much information and tips during the workshop, about thinks I have never heard or read about anywhere else. He shows how to set his knowledge into practice with the camera. And what’s more, he teaches with a light-hearted and considerate style that makes everything easy to understand and fast to pick up. Thanks, Thierry.

To Thierry: After safely returning home, I want to thank you in writing for your great China workshop in March 2017. You are not only a brilliant photographer but at the same time a good teacher and an excellent organizer. I learned more from your workshop than from all my other photo tours together. You’re not simply offering a photo tour like most other photographers, but a real workshop. You place teaching the participants higher than taking pictures of yourself. You care about people. You work with each person to try and overcome their weaknesses. This is why I recommend your workshops to anyone who seriously wants to improve their photography and are not afraid of criticism, long days, and tiring travels.After safely returning home, I want to thank you in writing for your great China workshop in March 2017. You are not only a brilliant photographer but at the same time a good teacher and an excellent organizer. I learned more from your workshop than from all my other photo tours together. You’re not simply offering a photo tour like most other photographers, but a real workshop. You place teaching the participants higher than taking pictures of yourself. You care about people. You work with each person to try and overcome their weaknesses. This is why I recommend your workshops to anyone who seriously wants to improve their photography and are not afraid of criticism, long days, and tiring travels.

I have done two photography workshops with Thierry Bornier. I have participated in quite a few photography workshops, and Thierry’s have been the best out of them all. He is an outstanding photographer. His photos are a source of inspiration, and he openly and thoroughly answers any questions one has about his photos or photography in general. Thierry guided us to the most beautiful shoot locations in China, at the most ideal times of the season. He knows China better than any other photographer and speaks fluent Chinese, so he makes it easy for everyone to get around. He is extremely friendly, pays attention to everyone in the group, and is always ready to lend help or advice. I could not think of a better guide for a photography workshop in China.

We moved around and chased the best light and weather conditions every day. Every bit of downtime was put to good use with a workshop, where we reviewed pictures and post-processing techniques. Thierry gave good suggestions in the field, and I very much appreciated his willingness to teach and explain things clearly and straightforwardly. Whether a picture was good or bad, he would just tell the truth, suggest deleting the rubbish, and then teach how to get results in post-processing with the good ones. The itinerary and transfers were well-planned, with the best possible comfort achieved, especially since some locations were in rural, undeveloped areas. I thought it would be quite a challenge to find decent accommodations, but Thierry’s partner, Yangzi, managed to surprise us all. Based on this positive experience, I have already booked another one of Thierry’s workshops for next year.

I have been on three workshops with Thierry, the fourth is scheduled for 2020 and the fifth is in the planning. Thierry is a great photographer and a wonderful photography teacher, finding the best locations for photography and assisting us with the technical and artistic issues. Not less important, I found Thierry to be a real gentleman, listening very carefully to us, the customers, and both him and his assistant bent over backward to fulfill our requests very professionally. Besides, I found China to be a very safe and hospitable place to travel - much to my surprise - which contributed a lot to the success of the workshops.