Daily Mail
Whenever I review my holiday photographs, I am usually filled with disappointment.
Uploading the pictures to my computer, I am tempted to press Delete All on the menu.
So to progress from holiday snaps to real travel photographs, I joined six other budding snappers on a journey through Morocco with travel photography guru Steve Davey.
Atmospheric: Djemaa el Fna at dusk, when food stalls are set up and locals, performers and tourists gather
In Marrakech, we may have looked like ordinary tourists but we were pilgrims in search of the holy grail of a well-composed photograph.
In Djemaa el Fna, Marrakech’s vibrant main square, Steve gave us tips and set us tasks. Street performers, singers, snakecharmers and jugglers – all were suddenly potential photographs.
A row of stalls selling steaming bowls of snails caught my attention. I focused on a young vendor in a white lab coat, with a moody sky and towering minaret in the background.
In the morning, a spectacular four-hour drive took us over Morocco’s highest pass, the Tizi n’Tichka. Next stop was Ait Benhaddou, a fortified village known for its clay architecture.
Tea shot: Max puts his snapping skills to the test with a photo of ‘Action Action Hussein’
Its kasbah, a Unesco World Heritage Site, has appeared in films such as Lawrence Of Arabia and The Jewel Of The Nile.
We stayed at the Fibule Hotel and met the owner, Hussein Boulkil, nicknamed ‘Action Action Hussein’ because he has been an extra in at least ten movies, including Gladiator and Alexander.
As he is no stranger to the camera, we assembled on the terrace to take his portrait. Across the valley, the kasbah was bathed in photogenic moonlight.
The next day, we travelled into the heart of the High Atlas Mountains and the scenic Toubkal National Park, via Ouarzazate, Morocco’s movie capital, where Lawrence Of Arabia and Black Hawk Down were filmed.
Starring role: Ait Benhaddou, a fortified village, has been the backdrop for a number of films including Lawrence of Arabia
We reached the end of the road at Imlil, hiking up to the village of Aremd, where we stayed the night in a mountain refuge.
In the morning, an incredible sight welcomed us: a bright pink sunrise and a backdrop of North Africa’s highest peak – 6,330ft Mount Toubkal. I was suddenly inseparable from my camera. It was as though it had become an extension of my arm.
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