Before photography, family memories were kept alive through annual reenactments of the year's best moments, despite Grandpa's continued miscasting as the mischievous puppy. Learn to capture life's natural choreography with today's Groupon: for $39, you get a group photography class at Tripp Photography (a $99 value).

With an eye sharpened by extensive portrait and wedding shoots, including a cover for Ottawa Wedding Magazine, photographer Christine Tripp treats photography as an investment in storytelling. In the 2.5-hour group class, Tripp teaches budding shutterbugs how to excel beyond the automatic settings on digital cameras and digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) cameras to freeze time in manual mode. Newly armed with sophisticated photography techniques and camera-specific vocabulary, students leave ready to capture the everyday magic all around them, such as when a child takes its first steps toward renouncing video games. Classes are held weeknights and occasionally on weekdays or Sundays, depending on student demand. Pupils must bring their own encyclopedia of cheeses and DSLR camera, or any digital camera capable of adjusting shutter speed, ISO, and aperture.