These emails come with the intent of helping you be a better photographer. 

And if you want more photography stuff to read, there's a place on the interwebs where past emails I wrote are stored. You'll find 'em in the "Newsletter Hub." 

Remember, I'd like to know what you want to know about photography. So, If you have any questions, ask by sending an email to me at sam@samdamico.com.

About Elements of Composition

I learned not to use "rules of composition" when making photographs.

Instead, I've learned to think of everything involved in making a photograph as an element of composition. 

And I mean EVERYTHING. 

From how we think about what we see to our intent of composition, the equipment we use, and our thought process while creating a photograph. 

Everything we do and have is an element of composition. 

Furthermore, rules are limiting, while elements can be combined in nearly endless ways to give us nearly endless visually complex compositional possibilities that hold the viewer's attention. 

If we wanna make better pictures, I always say it's better to change our minds than our cameras.

And one of the first things I suggest we do is change our minds about composition. 

Specifically, stop using rules of composition that limit us. 

Instead, we can start thinking of everything we do and everything we use elements of composition that go into creating every photograph we make.

Hello , 

A lot of photographers think of contrast in limited ways. 

Today, I'm here to let ya know that contrast offers us a wide range of compositional possibilities. 

Elements of Composition: Contrast

One way of thinking about contrast is as the differences in the tonalities of a photograph or the intensities of light. 

We can also think of contrast in terms of subject matter. 

Some examples are color, objects, concepts, love/hate, fast/slow, man/woman, high/low, etc. 

Are There Different Types of Contrast? 

We can characterize contrast as high or low.

But, of course, there are nuances between the extremes.

Where Can We See Contrast in Photographs? 

Contrast is always in photography. And there's usually multiple types of contrast in the same photograph.    

How To Study and Practice With Contrast

All we need to do is look for differences.

For example, a classic example wedding photographers face is the bride's white gown and the groom's black tux. That would be a high contrast by itself. 

But if the bride was in the sunlight and the groom was in the shade, the contrast got higher because of the differences in the intensity of transmitted light that they're standing in.

Just look around, there's plenty of observable stuff that'll get us thinking about contrast. 

A good study and practice is to observe it and describe it it as high contrast or low contrast. 

This is the kinda stuff we go over during the Introduction to Photography course. Classes are schedule for October and they're kept small (no more than 5 participants) to ensure participants get all they can out of the meetings. Register now to hold your spot. 

And remember, we learn and improve by doing, so practice making at least one picture today. 

That's all for now; thanks for reading!

Sam 

I'll help you be a better photographer—study and practice photography with me. 

And what if the timing doesn't work for you in any of my scheduled group classes? If that's the case, let's schedule a one-time lesson or a series of in-person or online private instruction that covers the same things as my group classes. 

Ways to work with me are listed below.

I look forward to helping you be a better photographer.

Best Regards, 

Sam