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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, .

The other day, I was working with a photographer, and we started talking about making pictures of cherry blossoms in the tidal basin.

I understand the attraction of doing that. 

But I'm not a crowd person, and if there's anything the tidal basin is around cherry blossom time, it's crowded.

So I won't be there.

But I'm not a cherry blossom grinch.

I appreciate the cherry blossoms, but I appreciate 'em more in the different neighborhoods.

If we pay attention, the neighborhoods of DC have plenty of cherry blossom trees.

Why not photograph those?

There's tons of pictures of the tidal basin during cherry blossom season, and many of them are similar.

We can make the usual obligatory pictures of the monument cherry blossoms combo, but why not do something different?

Something to challenge ourselves to come up with a different approach to the yearly overshot event.

We usually have pictures in our heads already, probably ones we've seen before. 

Forget 'em, but if you need to make the obligatory images, get them out of your system and then move on.

Move on to connecting what we see to camera operation because this approach stretches our imagination.

How would we incorporate movement as blur into our pictures using shutter speed? How about playing with the aperture to control the depth of field? As counterintuitive as it'll seem, use ISO to bring noise into the picture.

Forget the photographs we've seen; make the pictures you imagine. 

The Introduction To Photography class will get you more involved in photography by learning how to work your camera in manual exposure mode. You'll get a good foundation in the basics of photography while learning reliable creative techniques. Classes are scheduled to start on March 25, March 27 and April 14. 

Smaller classes mean better learning, so class sizes are limited to 5 participants plus me.

But smaller classes also mean spots fill up quicker. 

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

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.