Begin With Seeing

What You Will Learn

Over eight sessions, you’ll begin to:

• Notice more of what’s interesting in ordinary settings, so that you see more no matter where you go

• See possibilities: find more and different ways to approach any given subject

• Decide what goes in the frame, what to leave out, and how to make the composition work

• Read light: its direction, its quality, and the mood it creates

• Choose your strongest images and say why, in your own words

• Bring it together in a set of photographs with a written statement

We will be focusing entirely on the visual, not on technique. That can come later. Think of this as an invitation to be curious and play with new possibilities.

How It Works

One new idea, one assignment, one conversation about your own photographs.

Each session introduces one way of seeing, and each assignment puts it to work before the next one. Between sessions, you'll photograph and write a journal entry about what you noticed. I'll then look at both before we meet. When we do, we start with your pictures, and with what you saw in them.

Sessions follow a reliable pattern:

• Look. We talk about your strongest image from the week, starting with what you see in it.

• Learn. One new idea, shown through example photographs.

• Try. An assignment that puts the idea into practice before the next session.

At first, we'll have an intro session. This is a proper session and not a sales call. It's a chance for us to get to know each other and establish some important things about how to proceed. We'll look at photos you've taken in the past, talk about your motivations and preferences, and establish your first creative exercise. After our session, I'll send you written notes based on our talk.

After the intro session, the course is divided into two blocks of four lessons each:

• Block 1: Seeing and Composing (sessions 1-4) First we practice noticing, and choosing a specific subject rather than a general scene. Then we look at the frame, and at where you stand, and how both change what a photograph says. In the fourth session, we look for the small detail that carries an image, and you choose three to five photographs from the block as a mini-set, with a sentence or two on each.

• Block 2: Light, Timing, and Putting Images Together (sessions 5-8) First we look at how light shapes a photograph, in direction, quality, and mood. Then we look at timing, and waiting for the moment. In the last session, you choose your strongest images and bring them together as a set with a short statement of your own.

Scheduling is flexible, but it's best to maintain a pattern of a lesson every 1-2 weeks for the sake of consistency. Rescheduling is usually possible within reasonable limits. All sessions must be completed within 180 days of beginning the course.

Required Equipment

Any digital camera or smartphone should be sufficient for our purposes here. No other equipment, experience, or technical knowledge is needed.

About Your Teacher

I’m David R Munson, a photographer, nonfiction writer, and educator based in Saitama City, Japan. I've been devoted to photography since first picking up a camera in 1996, and completed my bachelor's degree in commercial photography at Ohio University in 2003. I have also been professionally involved in education since 2009, so teaching photography has always seemed a natural choice.

I made this course because one of the most profound things photography can do for a person is to help them see the world in new and different ways, and this is deeply enriching, regardless of whether there's a camera involved. The focus here is photography, but developing visual skills makes everything more interesting in general.

Unfortunately, it's often neglected, with most photographic education focusing more on technique and compositional rules, and I'm here to push back against that a little.

This isn’t about gear or technique. It’s about slowing down enough to notice more, and learning what you can do with what you see.

Course Pricing

As this is a new course, I am currently running it as a pilot program at a reduced cost, limited to the first ten students. Additionally, if you're not certain about taking on the whole course, you can book the intro session on its own for ¥5,000, which is applied to the cost of the full course if you decide to proceed. Blocks 1 and 2 may also be purchased separately.

You have my word that you will not be pressured to buy anything. I'm not here as a salesman but as a teacher, and I want people to join my classes and workshops because they want to.

Do you know someone you think would enjoy this course? Please let them know about it. It also makes a great gift.

As an added bonus to pilot program participants, I will share updated course materials and resources as they develop and are finalized, including if you've already finished your course.

Let's Get Started

To book an intro session or to buy the full course, please use the links below. If you're purchasing the course as a gift for someone else, please email me at david@davidrmunson.com and let me know the details.