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, .

Average is another word for "mediocre."

In our photography there's a lot of ways we achieve average.

But when it comes to our pictures, the last thing we want is mediocre.

The funny thing is, to avoid mediocre pictures, we need to start with some mediocrity.

Specifically, by metering, we start with average (standard) exposure to achieve a standard (average) tonality.

Metering happens by us doing it or our camera doing it for us.

We can meter when using the priority and fully manual exposure modes.

The camera gets it done for us in fully automatic exposure mode.

Also, In the priority and fully manual exposure modes, we can pick the metering patterns and what to meter, and if we don't like the standard tonality, we can change it to something darker or brighter.

We can't do that in fully automatic exposure mode.

Learning to meter bridges the gaps between understanding the relationships between camera operation, light, and composition by getting us more involved in what we do when making pictures.

And by getting more involved in our work, we leave the world of mediocre pictures.

And for what it's worth, I'm a big fan of spot metering.

If you don't have spot metering, partial metering is the next best thing.

And don't buy what your camera's owner's manual probably says about spot metering: that it's a pattern used only for bright background scenarios.

We could use it anytime for anything, and that's how I use it.

An Introduction To Photography class starts this Sunday, March 10. 

Private in-person or online lessons suited to your schedule are always an option. 

While all my classes will involve you more in how we make pictures, the Introduction To Photography class is the most comprehensive when it comes to getting a good foundation in the basics of photography. If you want to learn to work your camera in a way that'll provide the most creative technique available, the Introduction To Photography group class is the thing to do..

Classes start soon.

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.