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. And for what it's worth. When you send me an email, unless someone's lookin' over my shoulder, I'm the only one that sees it.

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 , 

Elements of Composition: Curiosity

What's Curiosity? 

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, curiosity has a few definitions. 

These are the ones that apply to us as photographers:

Are There Different Types of Curiosity? 

Yes. 

When I got curious about curiosity, my research showed two types. 

There's pleasant curiosity and unpleasant curiosity. 

We should be aware of the type of curiosity driving us because it can make our studies and practice enjoyable or make our studies and practice a miserable schlep. 

An unpleasant curiosity, or D-curiosity[1], is associated with the anxiety and stress of not knowing.

It's a deficit in our knowledge.

We can think of the D as standing for "deprivation".

An example of D-curiosity is not knowing how to operate our camera or why our pictures aren't coming out the way we want.

On the other hand, pleasant curiosity, or I-curiosity, is associated with interest being piqued in a subject and wanting to learn more about it. 

We can think of the I as standing for "Interest." 

An example of I-curiosity is our interest in learning more broadly about photography.

I-curiosity is deficit-free and is all about enjoying our journey of learning. 

There isn't a specific point we have to get to because it is simply about enjoying the learning process.

In a nutshell, with deprivation-based curiosity, the reward is getting the answer. But with interest-based stuff, it feels good simply being curious and learning. 

Where Can We See Curiosity in Photographs? 

I'd say the photograph itself is evidence of the photographer's curiosity about whatever they were photographing. 

How To Study and Practice With Curiosity

First, it'd help to identify our primary curiosity type. 

Are we operating out of a deprivation-based or interest-based curiosity? 

Let's assume we're operating out of a deprivation-based curiosity.

Then, it'd be helpful to change our approach to an interest-based curiosity. 

When you study and practice photography with me, I'll reduce the deficit of your knowledge of photography, and I'll do my best to make the process enjoyable. 

Introduction To Photography classes are starting soon. 

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.

References

1. Brewer, J., M.D., Ph. D (2019). Curiosity: Our Superpower for Just About Everything. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-craving-mind/201909/curiosity-our-superpower-just-about-everything

I look forward to helping you be a better photographer.

Best Regards, 

Sam