On Location
San Miguel de Allende

The Next Step: San Miguel de Allende

with Sam Abell

October 13 – 17, 2025

  • Package Price $3295.00
  • International Deposit $1500.00

Course Description

The high but attainable purpose of this workshop is to understand and hone one’s vision and technique with Sam Abell by your side. This is a documentary photography workshop designed for those individuals serious about taking the next step in their photographic lives.

The workshop proceeds in three stages: the critical review of existing and new work, daily field sessions in and around the colorful city of San Miguel de Allende, and one-on-one sessions with Sam. In addition, Sam presents concise lectures about his technique and style. Our shared goal: to deepen our understanding of how meaningful photographic essays are created. 

Growth is essential to both a well-made career and a well-lived life. Are you ready to take the next photographic step, personally and professionally? Participants in this legendary workshop should have enough of an established path in photography that, through their work and words, they can share with one another the road they have traveled so far, their dreams, and their future destinations.

Join Sam in transcendent San Miguel de Allende this fall for a life-altering photographic experience. This is the only workshop Sam is leading for Santa Fe Workshops in 2025, so don’t miss it!

Additional Information

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Advanced Amateurs, Professionals
What You Should Know:

Participants need to be technically self-sufficient, as this is not a workshop to learn how to use your gear or editing software. Participants must be able to download, select, and transfer images to their own jump drive for class each day.

Portfolio Required:

Please see the Portfolio Section of Registration Information for guidelines on your submission of recent images that represent your current photography.

Special Notes:

Participants should plan to travel to San Miguel no later than Sunday, October 12. Workshop check-in will be on Monday morning, followed by breakfast and a brief orientation. The workshop ends on Friday evening with a final dinner and image presentations.

Visit the San Miguel Campus page on our website for details on accommodations, meals, transportation, and more.

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.

Accommodations:

We encourage participants to stay on campus at Hotel Posada de la Aldea for ease of proximity to retreat activities and well-priced rooms. Double accommodations (for couples or friends taking workshops together) are $415 per person for 6 nights (approximately $70 per person, per night), Sunday through Friday, or $830 per person, single accommodations for 6 nights (approximately $140 per night), Sunday through Friday. Additional nights at the hotel can be arranged for participants; please discuss needs with the Administration Office in Santa Fe.

Package Price INFO:

$3,295 (USD) includes tuition, breakfast Monday through Saturday, lunch Monday through Friday, final dinner on Friday, and model/location/materials fees if applicable to the class. Hotel accommodations are not included in the package price; see details above.

Categories
Creative Vision, Fine Art, Storytelling, Travel Photography
about
Sam Abell

Sam Abell is a gifted and insightful teacher, an expressive artist, and a sensitive photographer who learned photography from his father, Thad Abell. Sam worked for National Geographic as a contract and staff photographer, and also as a Photographer in Residence. In 1990, Sam’s work was the subject of a one-person exhibition at the International Center of Photography in New York. Since then he has published three collections of his work: Seeing Gardens, Sam Abell: The Photographic Life, and The Life of a Photograph. In addition, Sam maintains a career as a writer, teacher, and lecturer on photography.

Get to know Sam in our Inspiration Series video »

Website: samabell.com

Instagram: @samabellteacher

The Next Step: San Miguel de Allende

October 21 – 25, 2024

You May Also Like

boundaries unknown

with nicholas x bent

May 14 – June 18, 2025

Brand Storytelling for Photographers

with Benjo Arwas

April 25 – 27, 2025
– Summer Season

Documentary Storytelling

with Matt Black

July 21 – 25, 2025

The Art of Installation

with Frances Jakubek

May 17, 2025

Festival Time in San Miguel de Allende

with Jennifer Spelman

September 25 – 29, 2025
– Summer Season

The Narrative Portrait

with Joe Perri

June 23 – 27, 2025
– Summer Season

The Cultural Portrait

with Jennifer Spelman

July 7 – 11, 2025

Creative Collage: Techniques for Visual Storytelling

with Sarah Hadley

April 30 – May 21, 2025

Making Digital Negatives and Cyanotypes

with Cotton Miller

April 26 – May 17, 2025

Silver and Gold Leaf Photography

with Marcy Palmer

April 29 – May 20, 2025

The Creative Alchemy of Fine-Art Photography

with Thibault Roland

April 8 – May 6, 2025

Fine-Art Zine Making

with Zoe Peterson

March 22 and 23, 2025

From Photo to Frame: Introduction to Digital Printmaking for Exhibition

with Stefan Jennings Batista

October 13 – 17, 2025

Moving into Motion: The Art of Video

with Kristi Odom

May 7 – 28, 2025

The Expressive Lens

with Renee Lynn

March 27 – April 17, 2025

Meaningful Travel Photography and Visual Storytelling

with Raul Touzon

July 14 – August 18, 2025