The Workshops Campus
Our home is La Posada de la Aldea, a charming hotel complex in the heart of San Miguel de Allende. Located just blocks from el Jardín, the central plaza, la Aldea offers comfortable hotel rooms, a restaurant and bar, classrooms, and administration offices. Its extensive grounds, featuring beautiful gardens, fountains, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and secluded courtyards, provide a stimulating, private, and serene backdrop for photographing and enjoying the creative workshop process. The staff at la Aldea offers excellent customer service and attention to detail.

Package Price
Our workshops in Mexico are priced to include most expenses once you reach the airport in León, Mexico. The package price for each workshop includes tuition; group transportation as necessary; model and location fees if applicable; double occupancy hotel accommodations for seven nights, Sunday through Saturday nights (single supplement available for additional $300); most meals; and shuttle transportation between the airport in León and San Miguel.

Not included in the package price are travel expenses to Mexico, five meals, alcoholic beverages, and personal expenses including laundry, gratuities, phone calls, sundries, and gifts.

Discounts
Early Registration
Participants registering for workshops in San Miguel de Allende before July 1, 2009, receive a discount of $100 off each workshop.

Frequent Photographer
The Workshops offers discounts for participants who take more than one workshop. A discount of $100 is offered for each additional workshop in San Miguel de Allende.

Transportation
It is very important to confirm your workshop status before making travel arrangements.

Travel to and from Mexico is straightforward. You need a valid passport and an airline ticket—the rest is easy. There are daily, direct flights into the international airport at León, Guanajuato (BJX), from Dallas (American Airlines), and Houston (Continental Airlines). Other airlines to consider are Delta, Aeromex, and Mexicana. Plan to arrive in León by 3pm on the Sunday your workshop starts. If you need to arrive in León on Saturday, please note that Viajes San Miguel shuttle company will only meet flights arriving before 10pm for transport to the campus in San Miguel, a 90-minute trip. Participants arriving after 10pm should plan to stay at the Silao- Aeropuerto Bajio Holiday Inn Express near the airport, and meet the shuttle back at the airport on Sunday morning. Shuttle transport after 10pm are subject to a surcharge. You do not need to rent a car. San Miguel is a city that is best experienced on foot.

After your workshop, we will shuttle you back to the León airport in time for your flight home. We recommend flights that leave midday on Sunday.

Meals
Our meals together in Mexico foster the important group sharing and networking experience; they also provide convenience and a variety of great foods. We begin with a Sunday evening welcome dinner on campus at la Aldea’s restaurant, followed by an orientation session. A breakfast buffet is served on campus, Monday through Saturday, and a continental breakfast is provided on Sunday. Lunches are
served buffet style on campus. Mid-week join your classmates and instructor for a dinner together. At the end of the week we celebrate the week and its achievements with a dinner in town, followed by the popular “Week in Review” and individual workshop image shows.

Beverage service and snacks are available daily on campus. We will do our best to accommodate vegetarians and participants with special dietary needs. Please indicate these requests when registering.

Digital Capture
Digital SLRs and laptops are required for all workshops in San Miguel. You are expected to have working knowledge of downloading images from your camera to the laptop, organizing files using your image viewing software, and selecting images for critique.

The following indicates the minimum equipment requirements all participants should bring

Computer Equipment

• Laptop computer with current operating system (Mac OSX or WinXP)
• Minimum 1.33 GHz processor (processing speed should meet or exceed specifications of your image editing software)
• 2 GB or more of RAM • Minimum of 15-20 GB of free hard drive space
• CD/DVD burner
• Mouse and mouse pad (highly recommended, not required)
• Power adapters, battery, and cables for laptop
• External hard drive and/or blank CDs/DVDs for backing-up images
• Current version of an image editing application installed on your laptop

Camera Equipment We recommend using Adobe Lightroom to efficiently organize and select your digital images. Other possibilities include Adobe Photoshop with Bridge, Aperture, and Photo Mechanic. Please note that instructors and course assistants may not be familiar with software programs other than Adobe Lightroom.

• Digital SLR and lens(es)
• Minimum of three 1GB digital memory cards with reader (2GB and higher is recommended)
• Power adapters and cables for digital camera
• Manuals for camera, flash, etc.
• Batteries and charger for rechargeable batteries

Manual Mode on Your Camera
Working knowledge of your camera in manual mode means that you are capable and comfortable with evaluating your in-camera light meter and choosing the appropriate manual settings.

The following statements can help determine your comfort level with manual mode:

• You have a working knowledge of aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual mode, and understand the difference between each setting.
• You understand how to adjust the aperture and shutter speed to control the in-camera light meter.
• You understand that in order to maintain the correct exposure, as aperture becomes larger, shutter speed becomes faster.

Weekly Schedule (subject to change)
Our week in San Miguel follows a well-organized structure, with enough flexibility to enjoy the varied pleasures of daily life in Mexico. While each workshop schedule has been designed by the instructor, there is a weekly calendar of events. Please note that your day may begin before sunrise and end late in the evening.

Sunday – ¡Bienvenidos! Arrive by 3pm at León airport, travel by shuttle to La Posada de la Aldea in San Miguel de Allende. Check-in begins at 5pm, welcome dinner at 6pm, followed by orientation and meeting with instructors.

Monday – Breakfast at 8AM and initial workshop meetings, lunch at noon, afternoon photographic sessions, evening image presentations by instructors at 7:30PM, dinner on your own.

Tuesday – Early morning photographing on your own, breakfast at 8AM, classroom time, lunch at noon, afternoon photographic sessions, dinner together with your class or on your own.

Wednesday – Early morning photographing on your own, breakfast at 8AM, classroom time, lunch at noon, afternoon photographic sessions.

Thursday – Early morning photographing on your own, breakfast at 8AM, classroom time, lunch at noon, afternoon photographic sessions, dinner together with your class or on your own.

Friday – Early morning photographing on your own, breakfast at 8AM, classroom time, lunch at noon, afternoon photographing sessions, end-of-week celebration dinner at 7PM, slide show presentations from each workshop.

Saturday – Breakfast at 8AM, final class meetings end at noon; afternoon is free to shop, sleep, photograph, eat, swim (yes, there is a pool!)—relax and reflect on the week; dinner on your own, and get a good night’s sleep.

Sunday – Continental breakfast at the hotel; depart for the airport. ¡Adiós!