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. 

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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Most photographers know the first kind of practice-we repeat the same thing over and over until we know how to do it.
 

That’s how we get comfortable with camera operation, and it’s related techniques.
 

But the other kind of practice that’s just as effective is practicing with our failures.
 

Practicing with our failures means taking risks, experimenting, and, when we make pictures we’re not thrilled with, understanding why we’re not thrilled with ‘em and relating that back to camera operation, compositional outcome, and the light we had to work with.
 

This is a well-rounded, universal approach to understanding photography, and, more importantly, it helps us develop our unique visual voice.
 

This is the kind of approach I do my best to instill in all the photographers I work with, and this is why we should never delete the pictures we don’t like.

The pictures we don’t like are the fodder for our improvement.

There are times when we focus on the basics of camera operation, like metering, focus, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and controlling tonality.
 

Then there’s times when we push ourselves to experiment, kicking aside the creativity-killing rules of composition so we can develop our visual vocabulary, embrace our one-of-a-kind way of seeing and expressing ourselves uniquely based on how we think about what we see and what we wanna communicate through our photography. 

We don’t look for perfection; we look for originality.

Originality ain’t luck.
 

Originality is realized through experiments, failures, and lessons learned.

We’ve gotta study and practice with our failures as much as we do with our successes.
 

That’s how we develop our own unique photographic voice.

We’ve gotta keep studying and practicing technique and set aside time to experiment.

If you need some guidance, I’m here to help, from photography basics through creative expansion.
 

I’m here to help you be a better photographer.

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.

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.

I keep my group classes small 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.