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 who sees it.

I think we misunderstand photography.

Every once in a while, I’ll work with a photographer who begins their studies and practice with me from a place of thinking photography is easy.
 

That’s because photography seems instantaneous.
 

We press a button and we get a picture.
 

This has been happening for a long time, from Polaroid cameras to point-and-shoot cameras and now to fully automatic complex cameras.
 

The part that people miss is that photography is actually a complex process.

There’s a mishmash of information out there suggesting we can simplify this complex process and quickly become good photographers by following rules of composition and other standards and axioms that boil photography down to generalizations instead of the unique specifics of the photograph we want to create.
 

If we wanna be better photographers…
 

If we want to make pictures that connect with the people viewing them…
 

If we wanna make unique one-of-a-kind photographs…

Then we’ve gotta begin by understanding photography.

Better yet, understand how to do photography in manual exposure mode.
 

Our job isn’t to find interesting things to photograph; our job is to make whatever we photograph an interesting photograph.

To put it another way, it’s one thing to photograph what we see, it’s another thing to photograph how we think about what we see.

When we photograph how we think about what we see, our pictures are automatically unique and one of a kind because no two people see the same thing and think about it in the same way.

Although we press a button ( also called a shutter release ) and get a picture, before we press that button, there’s a complex and intentional thought process behind that picture.

In other words, a lot happens in the photographer's mind before the picture is created by pressing the shutter release, which is the last thing we do to create the photograph.
 

That process includes picking an aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, as well as a metering pattern, focusing mode, and focusing area.
 

After all that, we choose the right moment to press the shutter release to make an exposure that becomes our photograph.
 

And that photograph is an intentional visual communication based on how we think about what we see.

The Photography Basics (Introduction To Photography) group classes starts soon or you can learn the same stuff as a series of Private Lessons.
  
More ways to study and practice photography with me are below.

Call me at (202) 531-2344 if you need help determining the best course for you.

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A note about group class sizes: Did you know that some places that teach photography have up to 25 students in each class? 

Bigger ain't always better.

That's why I limit my group classes to no more than five participants because smaller classes make for better, more effective, and more efficient learning experiences.

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

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

Currently scheduled classes are below.

And what if the timing doesn't work for you in any of my scheduled group classes? Private in-person lessons suited to your schedule are always an option.