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.

Nowadays, photographers who are new at photography are at a disadvantage.

The prevalence of online videos that more often confuse us than give us a solid understanding of photography, stifling rules of composition, and cameras that make mindless pictures that lack feeling and humanity in automatic exposure mode for us.

The "do whatever formulaic, rule-based or auto-approach we're told to do, and we'll create good photographs that we'll like" doesn't hold up because a lotta times we don't like the pictures.

So, it's not surprising that after trying all that stuff, we doubt that doing the extra work involved in working in manual exposure mode would do us any better; at least, that's what I thought.

At the same time, one of the best decisions I made to become a better photographer was to enroll in a photography class with a good teacher who taught me how to work my camera in manual exposure mode.

A good teacher will encourage and support us as we struggle to understand camera operation, composition, and light.

By engaging us, they'll challenge us to do better and teach us the techniques to work efficiently and effectively.

They'll help us be better photographers by getting us to do the work that needs doing.

Often, good teachers know that they're good teachers and are looking to work with photographers who'll challenge them as much as they challenge the photographers they're teaching.

Here's some of the characteristics good teachers appreciate in the photographers they teach.

• Ask questions
• Show up with work you're struggling with
• Set big goals and make an effort and work to keep 'em
• Identify mistakes and self-correct
• Be optimistic
• Do work that resonates with you
• Come up with a way to study and practice that's sustainable for you
• Do your homework
• Develop your own visual sensibility and approach to your photography
• Give useful self-critiques
• Make thoughtful and intentional compositional decisions
• Be precise when communicating

It's easy to say we do these things, but it's another thing to actually do 'em well.

But we gotta be careful not to sell ourselves short.

It's been my experience that most teachers don't want or even deserve this level of effort from the photographers they work with.

Like I did, I hope you can find a teacher that does.

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

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

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.

And remember, we learn and improve by doing, so practice making at least one picture daily.