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.

Photography Lingo

If we spend enough time hangin' around photographers, we've probably heard a lot of phrases that have to do with what we do as photographers. 

The problem with these phrases is they're open to interpretation. 

And the meaning is dependent on the photographer using it. 

This inconsistent use from photographer to photographer is confusing at best. 

So, let's develop a visual vocabulary specific to light, camera operation, and compositional intent instead of relying on inconsistent jargon.  

This week's jargon that we often encounter is:

Photography Lingo: Shutter

Weve got two blinds or curtains in our camera. 

They're not decorative curtains or blinds.

But they block light like the blinds and curtains on our windows. 

The blinds or curtains we have in our camera are called the shutter. 

And the shutter plays a big part in our composition.

Shutter speed is the part of exposure that deals with time. 

We get to pick the shutter speed if working in shutter priority or manual exposure mode.  

If we're workin' in fully automatic exposure or aperture priority modes, the camera chooses the shutter speed for us. 

Shutter speed allows us to record things that are moving as blurred or static (not blurred)

When the shutter release on our camera is pressed, the first curtain opens and then the second curtain closes for whatever amount of time the shutter speed is set to finish the exposure.  

We can make the shutter speed faster or we can make the shutter speed slower. 

We can also think of this as more time or less time. 

Shutter speed allows for some interesting compositional effects because of its ability to record motion as static or record motion as blurred. 

This is the kind of stuff we go over during the Introduction to Photography course. And there's classes starting soon.

Classes are kept small (no more than 5 participants) to ensure participants get all they can out of the meetings. Register now to hold your spot.  

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