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, .

If you critiqued my writing yesterday, wasn't it horrible?  

I know it ain't scary in the Halloween frightening sense, but it was pretty scary when considering someone could be so careless about their work,

Yesterday, I wrote differently from my usual writing but sent you the email anyway.

What was different was that I didn't critique the work before sending it to you.

What was the same was that I wrote to reflect my informal way of speaking.

What I did out of the ordinary was write my first draft and send my first draft to you.

Usually, my process is:

1. Solidifying the idea of what I want to write to you about.
2. Writing a first draft that expresses that.
3. Critiquing the writing.
4. Polishing it up by restating any ideas that I feel can be presented better.
5. Correcting any spelling errors.
6. A second critique and polishing if needed.

You can see my sloppy work because I didn't follow my usual process.

There's a lesson worth learning here.

While everything we do is important, it's the critiquing and correcting that makes us better at what we do, and when we do better, our work is better.

The same goes for our photography.

The difference is that, depending on our work, we don't get a second chance to correct or "fix" our picture like the way I get to fix my writing.

In other words, we use a process that allows for corrections, or we don't.           

If we don't get a second chance that allows for corrections, we have to know what we're doing and get the picture "right" the first time.

That's why I work in manual exposure mode.

If you want to learn to work that way, too, I've got an Introduction to Photography class scheduled. 

If the schedule doesn't work for you, we can always schedule a series of private lessons. to teach you the same stuff.

Enjoy your Halloween, and do your best not to eat too much candy.

And remember.

This weekend's weather is gonna be perfect for making peak fall foliage photographs. 

So why do that with me and learn how to be a better photographer during my Washington DC Fall Foliage, Architecture, and Street Photography Excursions scheduled.

Bring whatever camera you use, and let's make unique pictures of the vibrantly colored foliage before it falls from the branches and becomes ground cover.  

I hope you've been studying and practicing your photography.

The ways to study and practice photography with me are below.

Call me if you need help determining the best course for you.

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

Currently scheduled classes are below.

Smaller 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