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've got picture troubles when our pictures come out differently than expected.

That's where troubleshooting helps.   

Sometimes, troubleshooting points to us as the fault; sometimes, it's our equipment. 

If it's us, troubleshooting discovers what we did incorrectly. We correct it and become better photographers.

If it's equipment, our choices are to understand its capabilities better or acquire new equipment that better suits our needs. 

Yesterday, an intermediate-level photographer I work with showed their picture, demonstrating some trouble. The cause appeared to be a blur (shutter speed) or a sharpness (focusing) problem. 

Blur was fine when viewing the picture's metadata and considering the relationship between focal length and shutter speed.

That narrowed the cause of the trouble down to focus. 

So we troubleshot focus. 

We lowered ISO to its lowest, eliminating noise as a distracting visual.  

 By focusing on distant traffic signs, we tested focus area and mode functions; there were no problems. 

But the words on the signs weren't as sharp as I expected. 

I suspected equipment, but the photographer remembered the Introduction to Photography class lessons and pointed out my shutter speed was too slow relative to the focal length. 

I caused the trouble in this case because I thought I'd be steady enough using a shutter speed slower than needed to avoid blur. Now, thanks to the photographer who troubleshot me, I know better.  

While continuing our practice with focusing, the photographer honed techniques learned during the Introduction to Photography class, and their focus trouble is gone.

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 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.