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 look to have our work critiqued for different reasons.

Some photographers look for validation, and some look to improve their work.

The best critique focuses on improving our work. 

But be careful, as some critiques are useless. 

A photography critique is a deconstruction of a photograph.

There are two types: factual and opinionated.

A factual critique describes the elements of composition, an objective deconstruction of the picture.

For example, the visual effects of our choice of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and other camera operation options.

An opinionated critique builds upon the factual critique by adding an opinion.

We could do this as a self-critique or ask someone to critique our work.

And by the way, a self-critique should occur immediately after creating a photograph. 

Self-criticism is always helpful because it allows us to evaluate our work and guides us in improving our photography. 

Additionally, opinionated critiques are helpful ONLY if the person giving the critique involves the person asking for the critique.

Specifically, the critiquer should ask the photographer about their communication intent when creating the photograph and what did not visually work. 

I can't say enough about the importance of self-critique.

Learning this skill transforms our photography.

We see where our compositional intent fell short when deconstructing our picture into its compositional elements.

Self-critiques help us see our strengths AND weaknesses regarding our understanding of camera operation, light, and composition. 

And knowing what we don't understand is as essential as knowing what we do understand. 

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.