San Miguel offers a wealth of photographic opportunities, and the only artistic talent you need is the ability to press the shutter release. (An artist's eye comes in handy too, but if you're traveling with Dory, that's a given.) I'd like to share with you a few observations and photos I took on the 2005 Art Escapes excursion. Because of space limitations in this newsletter, I'll show you only a few pictures. If you want to see an even wider selection of my images from San Miguel, click below.

Click here to see Bob's photos of San Miguel

San Miguel is in a high desert area, and there are some great vistas along the road from the Leon airport to San Miguel. You might want to ask your driver to stop once or twice so you can capture the view. I didn't, and I regret it. Keep your eyes open for some very photogenic cacti, fruits and flowers. The Botanical Garden has a nice collection, but you'll also find good subjects on walks around residential areas. Remember for your nature shots as well as any other outdoor shots that the magic hours are the couple of hours after sunrise and before sunset, when the sun's rays travel obliquely through the atmosphere and infuse everything with a red/yellow glow and shadows show bring out the texture of objects. If you're shooting digital and playing with post- processing, try not to lose entirely that special glow when you apply color correction. Photographs taken in midday suffer from the opposite problem; they can be a bit flat. Adjusting saturation and contrast in post-processing may help. Photos taken in strong sun often have contrast that exceeds the dynamic range of the film or electronic sensor that is capturing the image. Light overcast and shade are your friends. Not since the Kodak Brownie has it been necessary to have the sun over your left shoulder.

Some photographers have philosophical issues with taking pictures of other's people's art--too derivative, they think. I'm not in that camp. How you choose to capture the art brings your own sensibility to the image. So take your camera along when Dory takes you to view folk art collections. Unlike many fine art museums, they seem to be fine with having the objects photographed.

San Miguel is great for people watching-- in the main square (the jardin), along the busy streets, wherever the locals gather. (But keep in mind that some indigenous people are sensitive about having their photograph taken.) And there are wonderful examples of Gothic and Mexican architecture, including the obvious but easily overlooked views of your B & B. A telephoto lens or a zoom lens that extends into the telephoto range will allow you a comfortable working distance from your subjects. Be aware that when you shoot with long focal lengths, the depth- of-field of the image becomes more limited, so careful focusing is critical. If you're using autofocus (and these days, who isn't?) and your subject will not in the center of the picture, you can compose the photo with the subject in the center, partially depress and hold the shutter release, then re- compose the photo as you wish (with the subject off to one side) and fully depress the shutter release. The camera will freeze the focus when you partially depress and hold the shutter release, so the image will be in focus even though the subject is no longer in the center of the frame. Note also that telephoto focal lengths are more prone to blur from camera shake than are shorter lenses. If you're setting shutter speed yourself, you generally want to use one that's the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens (e.g., for a 200mm lens, you normally want to use a shutter speed of 1/200 or higher). If the camera is setting the shutter speed automatically, all you have to remember is that a steady hand is especially important when you're using the telephoto portion of your zoom lens' range.

Enjoy your week in San Miguel, and give yourself permission to be as creative with your photographs as you are with your painting.

When you have your plane reservations, email them to Dianne at the Casa Luna. (You can click into her email by going to their website and scrolling to the bottom of the home page.) She will arrange for a driver to pick you up upon your arrival to the Leon airport and bring you directly to the hotel. She will also arrange for the drive back to the Leon airport for your return flight.

Remember - if you are arriving early or staying after the workshop, be sure to make any extra nights' reservations with the Casa Luna.

Don't hesitate too long to make your plane reservations. We never know in what direction plane fares will go. Bear in mind that this is spring break season and flights to Mexico are very popular at this time.

Click here for the Casa Luna B & B

Just a reminder that all final payments are due on Janurary 15. If you have taken a single room, remember to include the single supplement fee of $670.

This photograph was taken from the Botanical Garden - where we will go to sketch and paint. I love this view of colorful San Miguel.