Come to Bulgaria for a week of food photography and food writing
Join us for a creative week of food photography and food writing in Bulgaria, with award-winning food and travel photographer Tim Clinch, and award-winning food writer Claire Ruston.
7 nights, 25th September to 2nd October 2025
Maximum 6–8 people (Minimum 4 people)
With Tim Clinch and Claire Ruston
This is your opportunity to improve your food photography, invest in your food writing, and be inspired by the unique beauty of Bulgaria. September is a magical time to visit this undiscovered country, as the markets overflow with local produce – think incredible tomatoes, glossy peppers, huge bunches of herbs – and as Bulgarians preserve their bounty for the winter.
In this immersive, week-long experience, we’ll split our time across two locations: Bulgaria’s atmospheric old capital Veliko Tarnovo and a traditional mountain village, close to the Central Balkan National Park.
What to expect from your week with us
Visit to a Bulgarian market (we’ll shoot at the market and buy produce to photograph later).
Hands-on food styling and photography sessions at Tim’s house (close to Veliko Tarnovo), with his Aladdin’s Cave of food styling props.
A ‘plot to plate’ day at Claire’s house (in the mountain village), picking food from her vegetable garden, and cooking and eating together.
Food writing workshops – including writing on Substack, pitching to magazines, finding your voice, and understanding book proposal basics. There will be practical exercises and plenty of writing time.
Visit to a traditional Bulgarian monastery.
Private wine tasting session, sampling local wines.
Lots of traditional Bulgarian food, at the peak harvest time.
This will be a small group, allowing us to tailor photography and writing sessions to your particular interests. Upon booking, we’ll be in touch with a questionnaire to learn more about what you’re hoping to get out of the week.
Who this workshop is for
Anyone who wants to improve their food photography and food writing skills.
Anyone who wants to immerse themselves in this unique corner of Europe.
Anyone who wants to feel inspired and come away with lots to say.
All levels are welcome, but this workshop is particularly suited to those at beginner or intermediate level in one or both aspects:
You might be more skilled in one area than the other. For example, you might be a proficient photographer but less confident as a writer. Or maybe you’re already a food writer, but you want to use photography to get more eyes on your work and win more commissions. (Because, let’s be honest, being able to professionally shoot your own food is an advantage.)
Phone photographers are very welcome – you do not need fancy camera equipment to participate.
The price
€2,850, including meals, drinks, accommodation and transfers.
Early bird price (book before 1st July 2025): €2,650.
To secure your booking, we require a non-refundable deposit of 25% of the price in advance. A further non-refundable 25% will be asked once the workshop has reached the minimum number of participants to go ahead (4 participants). The final balance will be payable a minimum of 60 days before your arrival. There is an option to pay the final balance in instalments if preferred.
If for any unavoidable reason the workshop does not go ahead due to problems at our end, your deposit will be refunded in full. However any cancellations from the client side will be the sole responsibility of the client. We strongly recommend you take out travel insurance to cover this possibility.
What’s included in the price
Transfers to and from Sofia Airport.
Transport between locations.
7 nights’ accommodation in a 3* hotel and 2* village guest house.
Private single or double bedrooms – no need to share bedrooms with other participants.
En-suite rooms at the 3* hotel. Mixture of en-suite and shared bathrooms at the 2* guesthouse (typically one bathroom shared between two rooms).
Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Drinks (including alcoholic and soft drinks).
What’s not included in the price
Flights to and from Sofia.
Travel insurance (comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory for this trip).
How to book
To book or ask any questions about the week, email Claire or Tim:
About us
Tim Clinch is an internationally renowned photographer with a career spanning over 40 years in the fields of travel, interiors, food, portraits, hotels and advertising. He is a multiple award winner at the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Awards and has had his work published in magazines all over Europe and the US. Tim also writes regularly for a variety of photography-related magazines including Black & White Photography, Amateur Photographer and Professional Photographer.
Tim’s latest passion is for using his iPhone, which he believes is one of the greatest advances in photography in his lifetime. He writes extensively about this in various publications and on his Instagram feed (@clinchpics).
See more of Tim’s work at www.timclinchphotography.com. Tim is also one half of the successful collaborative Two Photographers, alongside Joanna Maclennan. More on that here and here.
Claire Ruston is an award-winning food writer focusing on edible gardening and plant-based recipes. She was named the Guild of Food Writers’ Newcomer of 2023, and has written for magazines including Delicious, Prima, The Vegan, Gather and Chickpea. Claire also writes the Substack newsletter Auntie Bulgaria’s Kitchen all about growing, cooking and eating plants, with a dash of life in Bulgaria.
As well as food writing, Claire has worked as a freelance writer and ghostwriter for more than 10 years. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in non-fiction publishing as commissioning editor.
Claire’s approach strips away any pretence that food writing is for fancy folk. She injects warmth and humour into everything she writes, while still evoking how magical it is to grow and cook your own food from scratch.
One final temptation
Still on the fence? Below are more pictures showing what to expect from Bulgaria.
If you want a camera roll stuffed with images like these, join us in September. If you want to overflow with inspiration, join us in September. If you want to find your voice – and your feet – as a food writer, join us in September.
We can’t wait to share Bulgaria with you. In the meantime, feel free to email us with any questions.
Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.
check us out:
https://thesecretingredient.substack.com
This sounds fabulous. I can’t get there this year, but maybe next year if you do it again.