Pentaprisma method
Photography can feel confusing when everything seems worth capturing but nothing quite works. Here, we simply explain how we approach it at Pentaprisma: working from your own photographs, in real situations, and building the clarity to understand what you see.
Learning photography begins with photographs
Have you ever wondered why, when you are in front of a scene with many things happening, it becomes difficult to decide what to do?
Something catches your attention, then something else, and before you realise it, you have already taken a few photographs without being entirely sure what you were trying to achieve.
It is not always a lack of knowledge. Often, it is something harder to place: a sense that you can recognise when something is there, but not quite follow it through.
This is where we begin.
At Pentaprisma, the starting point is your own way of looking. The session adapts to where you are, working directly with the images you take, without trying to fit them into a predefined structure.
The setting is part of the method
If the goal is to work from your own photographs, the way the session is set up cannot resemble a classroom.
There is no moment where you stop to listen to a structured explanation, and no masterclass to absorb before putting anything into practice. The work happens while you are photographing, and that changes what the setting needs to provide.
For that reason, we work outdoors, in places where photography can unfold as it normally does. Light shifts, people move through the frame, situations appear and disappear. Rather than isolating the process, the session stays within those conditions.
The locations are chosen carefully. They are often beautiful, but not in an overwhelming way. They do not rely on spectacle, and they do not push you to react too quickly. Instead, they allow you to stay with what is in front of you.
What happens when nothing immediately demands your attention?
The pace changes. You begin to look a little longer, to adjust slightly, to notice what might have been missed at first.
Every session begins by understanding the person, not just the camera
Before anything else, there is a short conversation.
Nothing formal. Just enough to understand what you are looking for, what feels unclear, and where your attention tends to go when you photograph.
From there, the photographs take over.
The first exercise reveals more than any introduction could
It begins without much preparation.
You are given a small area and a few minutes, and before there is time to overthink it, you are already taking photographs, moving through the space and reacting to what you notice.
At first, it feels straightforward. Something catches your attention, you take a photograph, and then move on. The process continues like that, one image after another, without spending much time on any of them or really testing what could happen if you stayed a little longer.
After a few minutes, the images begin to accumulate, and with them a vague sense that something is there, although it is not always clear what.
When we look at the images together, those differences become easier to notice.
You start to see that certain frames already contained something worth pursuing, but were left too early, or approached without enough precision.
The question that follows is simple. If you can see it, why didn’t you do it?
You do not need to resolve it on the spot. We use it to help you stay with what you are seeing a bit longer, so you can make the most of it before moving into questions of composition, technique or light.
Better photographs often begin with slowing down, not with more knowledge
You stay in the same place and try again.
Nothing has changed in the setting, but the way of working begins to shift. Instead of moving quickly from one subject to another, you stay a little longer. A single element holds your attention, and you begin to adjust small things: your position, the distance, what enters the frame, what stays out.
Working like this changes the photograph. It is no longer something you either take or miss, but something you can approach gradually.
From that point on, the workshop is built around your own photographs
From that moment on, the session follows what begins to appear in your work.
Your photos are reviewed as you work, not all at once, but enough to understand where attention holds and where it breaks.
Certain ideas begin to surface from there. A question about framing, something in the background, a decision about distance or timing. They are not introduced in advance, but emerge in relation to what you are already trying to do.
At Pentaprisma, photography is already a form of editing
At some point, it becomes clear that editing does not begin on the computer.
It is already present in the way you approach a scene, in what you decide to include and what you leave out.
What we do is make that process easier to recognise.
As we look at the images together, you begin to see more clearly what holds and what does not, and that makes it easier to question your own decisions and adjust them as you go.
What we teach depends on what your photographs are asking for
As the session unfolds, certain elements begin to appear naturally in the work.
Composition is not approached as a way of making an image look balanced or pleasing, but as a way of directing attention.
Technique is not something separate from the image, but a way of shaping it so it can say what it needs to say.
Light is not treated as a variable to control, but as something that defines the atmosphere of the photograph.
All of it appears in relation to the images you are making.
Seeing how everything comes together
By the end of the session, what changes is not just how you take photographs, but how you understand them.
Things that at first seemed separate begin to connect. Composition, technique, light, timing — they stop feeling like isolated elements and start to work together.
Images become more coherent, not because they follow a formula, but because the different parts begin to align.
Where workshops take place
Pentaprisma workshops are currently offered in the following cities where outdoor environments allow calm observation and practical learning.
Barcelona
Workshops in Barcelona take place in walkable areas that allow steady practice and attentive observation. The city’s rhythm supports a balanced approach between structure and creative exploration.
Gran Canaria
In Gran Canaria, workshops benefit from consistent light and open environments. The island offers calm, accessible spaces ideal for focused practice and gradual understanding.
Madrid
Madrid provides varied urban scenes, strong geometry, and changing light. Workshops here focus on building clarity while working in dynamic but accessible environments.
Berlin
Berlin offers layered spaces, texture, and seasonal light that invite careful observation. Workshops are designed to use the city’s character as a framework for structured learning.