What I did on my summer vacation: part 1

I'm back and I can't say enough about what a fabulous time I had.
We traveled by bus(yes, bus) overnight to San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel is in central Mexico, in the mountains. It's an old city and the Mexican government has worked hard to preserve the authenticity of the city. This means incredibly narrow, cobblestoned streets and traditional architecture. It's really an amazing city to just wander around in.
San Miguel is also home to vast number of artists, many of whom offer classes and workshops. While we were there and not horseback riding, swimming, eating, or shopping, I took a one day photography workshop with Jo Brenzo. This class focused on basics which, frankly, I thought I knew, but actually didn't. She taught us about exposure compensation, focus lock, white balance and all sorts of other aspects of shooting pictures and manipulating them with photoshop. The class was primarily lecture, but we were sent out on a few assignments.These photos are a sampling of the ones I took when we were practicing the concept of focus lock. We were instructed to utilize focus lock and take pictures of circles. Circles! I love circles.
We were also given assignments that encouraged us to use our newly acquired knowledge of exposure compensation( basically overriding the exposure your camera thinks it needs in a particular light setting) and white balance( understanding the color of the light you're shooting in). I had been looking forward to this workshop as I enjoy using my camera and want to have a better understanding of how it works and how to manipulate it. I'm planning on continuing my photography education now that I've returned and am looking for another, lengthier class to take. Hopefully, what I've already learned will translate into better pictures to post. Hasta Luego!