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.

What do we need to commit to at a basic level to be better photographers?

If you’ve been getting and reading my emails, you know I’m a big fan of working in manual exposure mode because it allows us the most creativity.

But there’s one thing, regardless of whatever exposure mode we choose to work in, that’s a common element of composition.

And that’s what I refer to as framing and content.

Framing and content are probably the easiest and fastest elements of composition and the first to improve.

Specifically, framing and content are what we put in the frame of our photograph from edge to edge.
 

When it comes to framing and content, we don’t want to include too much or too little .
 

Framing and content is something we could also practice with the cameras on our phones.

To pull this framing and content thing off successfully, we’ve gotta commit something to our compositional process; what we’ve gotta commit is our attention.
 

The real benefit of this practice is increasing our attention, which we can also call increasing our visual awareness.

Increasing our visual awareness in framing and content carries over to increasing our visual awareness and understanding of other aspects of our photography studies and practice.

This includes characteristics of light, camera operation, and critiques.

Our attention to what we’re doing when we’re doing it is probably one of the most important things we need to observe when making a picture.
 

For example, when we’re focusing, we need to be aware that we’re focusing.
 

We need to be aware that we’re framing content when we frame content.

Framing and content are the most accessible elements of composition because we can practice framing and content with any camera, regardless of our understanding of photography.
 

I make sure every photographer I work with learns to do this.

And if we’ve never brought it ( framing and content ) to our attention, we can immediately begin to do it.
 

Give it a try.

I’ll bet you’ll be happier with your photography immediately.

The Introduction To Photography classes are starting soon.
 

If the schedules don’t work for you, we could arrange a series of private lessons covering the same material.

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.