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. 

At some point, when we're beginners, especially if we’re working in an automatic exposure mode, our photographs don’t come out the way we want them to, and it can be frustrating and discouraging.
 

That’s because we’re not making pictures our way-instead, we’re letting a machine's algorithms make our pictures for us.

The only way to get the pictures we want is to use our minds instead of relying on machines' algorithms to do our work for us.

We’ve got to consider working in

manual exposure mode— after our mind, it’s the most essential and creative tool we’ve got.

And as I’ve heard said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”.

Here’s why manual exposure mode is a fountain of creativity:

• We make the decisions. We control shutter speed, aperture, and ISO—so we decide what’s bright, dark, sharp, and blurred or not blurred.

• Every picture has our intent in it. There’s no more guessing why our photographs came out the way they did. That’s because we know what we did to affect the outcome of the photograph.

• The most creative freedom we could get with our camera. Wanna record motion as blurred or static ( frozen )? Want motion blur for energy? Dark, moody pictures or bright, airy ones? Working in manual exposure mode, we do all that on purpose.

• We learn a lot every time we do something. Every time we take a photograph, it is an opportunity to teach us something we didn’t know about, such as light, composition, and our camera’s behavior.

• Our pictures show the viewer us,not a camera algorithm. That’s how we find our visual voices.

When we’ve had enough of our pictures not coming out the way we want, we’re ready to stop letting our camera take our photographs and start taking pictures that come out the way we want—that’s the time to get comfortable with manual mode.
 

That’s precisely what we do in my Introduction To Photography class—we study and practice until you’re in control and your creativity runs the show.

Stay curious, keep making pictures, and if you’ve got questions about manual mode or anything else, reply to this email and let me know what you want to learn about next.

There’s more ways to learn with me below.

Remember, I'll help you be a better photographer—study and practice photography with me.

The Photography Basics (Introduction To Photography) classes are starting soon.
 

If you can’t make any of those schedules, Private Lessons would be the way to go.

If none of my in-person ways of learning work for you, then you can study and practice at your own pace and schedule by joinining me on my Online Learning Platform for Photographers.

It’s the next best thing to taking an in-person class with me; you could even ask me questions, and members get exclusive access to all the other member-only educational content created to help you be the best photographer you can be.  

As one member told me, their monthly membership is cheaper than their weekly coffee habit, and more useful than any YouTube videos they’ve watched, especially since they could ask me questions.

Access to this content and other content related to the photography classes I teach in person requires a membership, which costs $25 a month. (You can also join for free and get access to content that’s available to everyone.) 

Here’s the link: Online Learning Platform for Photographers 

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 in-person scheduled group classes? Then, in-person Private Lessons suited to your schedule are always an option.