Falling in Love with Your Digital Camera

Hacienda de los Santos is proud and pleased to announce a comprehensive week-long course that will take you from the first step in image-making—capturing a photograph--through to the final step of storing and preserving your photographs.  The instructor will also introduce several valuable tools to assist in your processing and workflow.

Each day will begin with an optional morning shoot, followed by presentation.  Bevin Bering, a Houston-based photographer and curator of the Bering and James gallery, will offer presentations such as the differences between digital and analogue photography, photo composition, and printing materials.  We will also have time for hands-on, interactive classes that will cover topics such as getting your images into the digital environment, image adjustment, and any specific concerns you may have about your camera or pictures.  At the end of the morning sessions Bevin will send you off with the charge to relax and explore Alamos, and also to take pictures for us to work with the next day. 

This course is ideal for someone who loves to photograph, but still has questions and concerns about digital imaging.  While we will cover a lot of information, the course is about having fun and walking away with some knowledge and confidence that will help you explore the world photographically.

What To Bring:

• A digital camera!  Either Point and Shoot or Single Lens Reflex
• Memory Cards:  The more memory the better!  Preferably 2 1GB cards or more
• Batteries and charger for your camera
• Tripod if you are interested in interior or night photography
• Laptop
• Photoshop CS2, recommended
• Blank CDs or DVDs if your laptop can burn them, or a USB drive.  We will use these to store your photographs
• A card reader or cable to connect your camera to your computer
• A notebookManuals

Itinerary:
Sunday, October 21, 2007

• 7:00 pm—Welcome reception and introductions.  Bevin will give an overview of the course, present an introduction to digital photography and talk about the next day’s assignment. All assignments are optional.  Bevin will also be available for any questions.

Monday October 22, 2007

• Morning Photo Assignment:  “Views of the Hacienda”.  Hacienda de los Santos is filled with spectacular views, passages and sights.  Take advantage of the morning light and the beautiful chain of haciendas.
  
  
• Morning Presentation: “Getting Your Images into the Digital Realm”.  Bevin will show you how to get your images from your memory card to your computer, and then safely store your photographs.  We will also talk about image size and resolution.
  
  
• Lunch, Siesta, Spa and Explore.  And don’t forget to bring your camera!
  
  
• 7:00 p.m. Presentation—“The Decisive Moment”. View images by legendary photographers and listen to how their views on photography changed how we shoot and capture our images.

Tuesday October 23, 2007

• Morning Photo Assignment: “Outside the Hacienda Walls”.  Go out and explore the cobbled streets of Alamos.  The town-square and the look-out are both great places to start, and you’ll probably find that the journey offers most of your material.
  
  
• Morning Presentation: “Getting the Right Exposure—Looking at Light and White Balance”.
  
  
• Lunch, Siesta, Spa, Explore, and don’t forget to bring your camera!
  
  
• 7:00 pm Presentation: “Looking at Composition”.  Have you ever wandered why some photographs are just more appealing than others?  Learn some of the guidelines to composition to consider while you photograph.

Wednesday October 24, 2007

• Morning Photo Assignment:  “The Airplane”.  We’ll go out to one of the most beautiful landings in Mexico to shoot the landscape, planes and also talk about aerial photography.
  
  
• Morning Presentation: “Workflow and Image Adjustment”. How to use tools such as Photoshop to enhance and alter your photographs.
  
  
• Lunch, Siesta, Spa, Explore, and don’t forget to bring your camera!
  
  
• 7:00 pm Presentation: “Printing Methods: Exploring Papers and Beyond”.

Thursday October 25, 2007

• Morning Photo Assignment: “Shooting Abstract Photographs”. Your challenge will be to view your surroundings in an abstract way—whether it is a fountain, flower, rock, person, or architectural detail, try to break the image apart and create an abstract image.
  
  
• Photo Presentation: “How To Present Your Photographs” Bevin will cover a variety of ways to store and share your photographs, whether you want to create online albums, print for family and friends, or show to a client or gallery.
  
  
• Lunch, Siesta, Spa, Explore, and don’t forget to bring your camera!
  
  
• 7:00 pm Farewell Reception with laptop slideshows of the week’s work.

For reservations for this exciting workshop, kindly email marlenehacienda@hotmail.com
The workshop cost is $200 for Hacienda Guests and $250 for Non-Hacienda Guests.