Special Notice(s)
(My email to keep you thinking about your studies and practice is below any special notices)
Kick off the new
year by becoming a better photographer. The Photography Basics/Introduction to Photography classes start in early January. (or you could do it as a series of Private Lessons.)
End of the Special Notice(s)
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A lot of photographers who get in touch with me are looking for easy photography.
What I mean by that is they’re looking for tips, tricks, and hacks.
That ain’t what I’m offering.
I’m offering an approach of understanding photography as a means of visual expression.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think photography is difficult, but it is complex.
And instead of looking for the easy way, a better approach is to work on learning all we can about photography, while pursuing simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness in our studies and practice.
The truth of the matter is that, when it comes to our photography, shortcuts usually take longer and keep us from doing the work we need to create meaningful photography.
Recently, I started working with a photographer who spent more time looking for an "easy way" to improve than actually sitting down to study and practice.
About halfway through our first meeting, they told me that they had made more progress during the brief time
spent working with me compared to trying to create a meeting for photographs based on tips, tricks, and hacks.
This has less to do with me as a teacher than the fact that they’re actually doing the work now.
The satisfaction of learning about a shortcut doesn’t last long.
But good, solid learning that leads to understanding the interplay between camera operation, composition, and light will last us forever.
The real advantage of the approach to
learning photography I offer is that a big part of the studies and practices focuses on learning the craft, intentional practice, and making pictures with the intent of communication.
So instead of looking for the easier way, we can do
ourselves a favor and get involved in the complexity of photography through intentional studies and practice geared toward learning all we can about photography.
Learning all we can about photography includes learning about:
Camera Operation:
- Exposure modes
- Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO
- Focusing
Composition:
Forget about any rules of composition.
Instead, think about elements of composition as building blocks that enable us to make pictures that are not only visually engaging but also effectively communicate facts, feelings, opinions, concepts, etc.
Most of these elements of composition can be applied regardless of the cameras we use.
Light:
Light is our raw material.
Light to us is like clay to a potter or food to cook.
We’ve got to observe and describe the characteristics of light because when we learn to do that, we begin to understand what we can and can’t do in terms of composition.
And while we’re learning about photography, we’ve gotta include making at least one picture a day while applying what we’ve learned.
We all start not knowing anything about photography.
But if we wanna know, all we need to do is simply begin.
That’s how we get better—not just as a photographer, but at anything we feel is worth doing.
There’s ways to learn
photography with me listed below, and if you want to give or get a gift certificate, nothing beats my Instant Gift Certificates.
Questions or want to discuss your next steps?
Email me at sam@samdamico.com or call 202-531-2344.
Remember, keep studying and practicing, and make at least one picture a day.
