Exploring the Secrets of the Night: San Miguel de Allende

with Jason Langer

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Course Description

Night photography reveals an entirely different world than experienced during the day. Long exposures and artificial light allow us to see the passage of time, human activity, and the natural world in a way that is mysterious, instinctive, and unique to the night. Fueled by the moon and nocturnal activities, this night photography intensive in beautiful historic San Miguel de Allende Mexico gives participants an opportunity to explore the outer reaches of our camera settings and imaginations.

“Exploring the Secrets of the Night” combines lectures, hands-on-camera and postproduction assistance, group and individual feedback, and helpful, practical tips. Participants have time during the week to photograph individually and in a group. Our time together delves into technical aspects of night photography including astrophotography and star trails as well as aesthetic knowledge of the history of night photography and understanding the psychology of the night. Jason leads students through examples, image presentations, demonstrations, and collaboration. Group photographic outings are conducted in interiors and exteriors at night. Subjects include architecture, people, and the natural world; and participants are encouraged to pursue individual narrative projects.

This workshop includes lessons on understanding ambient lighting sources such as streetlamps, exterior lighting, their kelvin temperatures, the moon and stars, and artificial lighting such as those from strobes, flashlights, and car headlights. Jason also addresses the most common misunderstandings about night photography including chronic underexposure and exposure blending. The highlight of the week is in each student discovering and interpreting their unique experience of the night in a magical city. These learned skills are all transferable to any photographic project.

Additional Information

COVID-19 Update: For all in-person workshops and trips in 2023, Santa Fe Workshops highly recommends that all participants, staff, and instructors attending be up to date with Covid vaccinations (per definition of the CDC). For international trips, local laws will apply, so it is important that you confirm you will be fully vaccinated according to the countries on your trip.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Amateurs, Advanced Amateurs

What You Should Know:

Working knowledge of your camera; all camera formats welcome. Participants must be able to download and select images using image editing software for class sessions.

Activity Level:

To get the most from your workshop experience, participants should be in good physical (mobility, stamina) and mental health. Come prepared for the high elevation of San Miguel de Allende, long days, and seasonal weather. You must be able to carry your own photographic and personal gear at all times, both on campus and on location. You are responsible for being open and honest about your physical fitness, and we reserve the right to remove you from the workshop if we find your fitness to be less than that which you have described.

Participants should be able to engage in moderate outdoor exercise for up to an hour or more at a time including walking on uneven terrain such as cobblestone walkways and roads, dirt, and loose rock. Location work is likely to include early morning and/or late evening shoots.

Policies:

View Payment, Refund, Withdrawal, and Transfer Policies for this International Program.

about

Jason Langer

Jason Langer is known for his positive and encouraging instructing style, often motivating students to recognize and move past their own limitations to dig into deeper stores of creativity and expression. He excels in helping each student discover and highlight their technical and aesthetic strengths and abilities and help them find their core photographic narrative.

Jason is best known for his long-term photographic projects. His photographs often ruminate on enigmatic universal ideas stemming from his Jewish upbringing and Buddhist and Jungian concepts. He has published four monographs: Secret City (2006 Nazraeli Press), Possession (2014 Nazraeli Press), Twenty Years (2015 Radius Books), and Berlin (2022, Kerber Verlag).

Supported by grants from The Ford Family Foundation, The Joy of Giving Something Foundation, The Oregon Arts Commission, and The Wood Institute, Jason’s photographs are held in permanent collections such as the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Zimmerli Art Museum, and Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger, International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, and are represented or distributed by CLAMP (NYC), Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris), and Gilman Contemporary (Sun Valley, ID). He has been published in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, American Photographer, and countless other publications and exhibits and publishes regularly.

A popular workshop instructor, Jason is also part of our Mentorship Program »