These emails come with the intent of helping you be a better photographer. But if you're tired of hearing from me, unsubscribe.

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, email 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.

Hello, .

We get into creative work because we have a unique way of seeing the world and want to express it. 

We can also call this unique way of seeing the world our vision; in our case, photography is our way of expressing it. 

But there's a gap between our way of seeing the world and expressing our vision, which makes us not too thrilled about our work.

We create, but we feel our expression falls short of our vision.

In other words, our work could be better than it is.

It's the gap between our vision and the expression of it that disappoints us. 

Our vision, which got us doing photography, is still unique, but our expression isn't what we want it to be. 

We know our work doesn't have that "specialness." 

We can either give up because of our frustration and disappointment or use our frustration and disappointment to get better.

This has been my experience, and when talking with other creatives, it's a similar experience. We all go through this; it's normal. 

I decided to give up.  

But years later, after coming to terms with my frustration and disappointment, I decided to give photography another go and used my frustration and disappointment to become a better photographer. 

And that's the key: not giving up.

To keep us from giving up, we need to remember that It's the gap between our vision and the expression of it that disappoints us, but we need to realize we can close the gap.

And the way to close the gap is by doing the work. It's a lot of work.

But it has to be intentional work.

We need to develop a measurable, in terms of time and outcomes, studies and practice.

I did this by studying and practicing with good teachers who guided me on how to do the work effectively and intentionally in a way that would provide the outcomes I was looking for.

None of these teachers taught vision; they clarified that we can only close the gap and ensure that our work matches our vision by studying and practicing techniques.

It took me a while to figure this out. It takes us all a while to figure this out. It's normal.

Frustration and disappointment can either make us give up or work through our frustration and disappointment by learning techniques and applying them skillfully.

It's our choice.

I'm glad that after giving up, I decided to give photography another go and chose to learn with good teachers.

I hope you choose the same. I can assure you won't be disappointed. 

The Introduction To Photography classes scheduled for March are now open for registration. Other scheduled group classes are below.

Smaller classes mean better learning, so no more than five participants and me are in each class. 

But smaller classes also mean spots fill up quicker. 

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

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.