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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, .

Yesterday was the first of four One-on-One Private Lessons (each lesson scheduled to last approximately one hour to one and a half hours) with a photographer I've never worked with before.

After she had critiqued a few of her previously created photographs that were still on her complex digital camera (think DSLR or mirrorless camera) and described what she was struggling with, she gave me some insight on what we needed to cover during our first lesson.

I also observed how she made a picture.  

And since she was working in fully automatic exposure mode, the first lesson would be most helpful if we got her comfortable with camera operation so she can control focusing,  tonality, and aperture and shutter speed to compose intentionally.

We started working in aperture and shutter priority exposure modes.

This immediately made previously unusable camera functions (because she worked in automatic exposure mode) available.

But now that she was working in aperture and shutter priority exposure modes, she had access to camera controls, allowing her to control her photograph's compositional elements intentionally.

It allowed her to control focusing, tonality, aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, and how she records motion.

As we finished the lesson, she mentioned that she was no longer afraid of using the camera and now had confidence in creating pictures.

What she got out of the class was the ability to use the camera intentionally, efficiently, and effectively.

With intent comes knowing what we want to communicate.

With efficiency comes only doing what we must to communicate our intent.

With effectiveness comes knowing how to use our camera controls to communicate what we want successfully.

Any of my group classes or One-on-One Private Lessons will help you become a better photographer through intent, efficiency, and effectiveness. 

I'll help you be a better photographer—study and practice photography with me. 

Current ways to work with me, including group classes and private lessons, are below.

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

But smaller classes also mean spots fill up quicker, so sign up soon. 

And what if the timing doesn't work for you in any of my scheduled group classes? 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