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.

If you're a photographer working in fully automatic exposure mode, or even if you're working in one of the priority exposure modes, and you want to dip your toe into working in manual exposure mode without plunging in headfirst, here's a real-life example of how a photographer I worked with did it.  

Yesterday I worked with a 12-year-old photographer and her father.

And since I don't know if they'd mind me using their real names, I'm not.

Sara, the 12-year-old girl, was using a digital camera, and Matt, her father, was using a film camera.

Matt purchased a one-hour private lesson for both of them, which wound up being about an hour and 40 minutes; this is why I always advise people to allow for more time than they purchase when it comes to private lessons.

But during that time, Sarah went from working in automatic exposure mode and having next to no control over the outcome of her photographs to having complete control over the outcome of her photographs in manual exposure mode.

We achieved that by using aperture and shutter priority instead of automatic exposure mode.

We also used the metadata as the baseline for our exposure and ISO settings in manual exposure mode.

Once we were in manual exposure mode, Sarah could control tonality using aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

Although this isn't the most efficient way to work in manual exposure mode, it's a good start and allows us much more control over our compositions.

If you're feeling ambitious, give it a try.

Working in aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure mode opens up a world of camera functionality unavailable in automatic exposure mode.

And the more camera functionality we have, the more techniques we can apply.

And remember, technique serves creativity.

The Introduction To Photography classes are starting soon.
 

If the schedules don’t work for you, we could arrange a series of private lessonscovering 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.