School is about to be back in session for another year.  School signals turning another page to the chapters of your child’s life.  Your children have been excited to head back to school, and you have shopped for the supplies and the clothes to make their first day back perfect!

And as most moms know, we LOVE to capture these back to school moments with a photo or two. So, I was excited to have the opportunity to review the book, “Focus on Photographing People,” by Haje Jan Kamps.

From Haje Jan Kamps, “It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that I have a longstanding love of photography. The only thing I like more than taking photos myself is encouraging others to develop as photographers and watching their photography come alive. As such, I spend a lot of time writing about photography; I blog over on Pixiq, and I’ve written and edited dozens of books.

Taking photos of people is one of the most fun things you can do with a camera. You capture personality, emotion, and life in all its glory. You’re quite likely to run into me roaming the streets of London with my camera, hunting for another slice of life, captured through the art of street photography.

People are one of my favorite subjects for photography, whether I’ve captured their essence in a studio or out in the streets. In this book, I’m sharing everything I’ve learned about photographing people, step by step. It doesn’t matter if you’re not that self-confident as a photographer; I’ll take you right through from the basics to the nitty-gritty of getting portraits that dazzle, amaze, and inspire.”

Some tricks to capture the perfect back to school photo:

1.     Get in closer – The closer you get, the more emotion you can feel pouring from the photo.

2.     Focus on the eyes – The first thing your audience will look at is the eyes of the subject. Be sure to get them in focus – perfect focus – and you’ve won half the battle.

3.     Watch your background – When taking photos of people, your subjects are most important, so ensure that the background doesn’t detract from your photo. You can do this by moving your subjects (putting them in front of a clean wall instead of a messy bookshelf) or moving yourself (changing your perspective).

4.     Interact – Engaging with your kids and making them laugh will create memorable photos. Sometimes the best photos are the most candid.

5.     Think of the environment – Obviously, you want to focus on the kids, but if you can include the school bus or classroom in the background, this will help tell the story for years to come.

REVIEW:  This book was great, it goes over the fundamentals of digital photography, and it is clear, simplistic and easy to follow.  I really liked the key points in each chapter, that helped you zone in on photographing people better.  My favorite tip was to “focus on the eyes.”  This book is perfect for the beginner photographer to the more experienced looking to refine their skills or learn more about photographing people.

(Last year’s photo:  We had the Cars backpack, and of course his favorite toy at the time Nemo.)

BUY THE BOOK:  On Amazon for 10.97

Giveaway:  One Lucky Life of A Modern Mom reader will win a copy of Focus on Photographing People by Haje Jan Kamps.

Mandatory entry:  Tell me why you would like this book.  Or how you are going to make the back to school photo special.

Extra entries:

1) Follow me on Google Friend Connect

2) Follow Me on Twitter

3)  Tweet this Giveaway (you can tweet daily)

4) Follow me on Networked blogs

5) Blog about this giveaway (5 entries)

6) Grab my button (3 entries)

7) Follow me on Facebook,.  (1 entry)

Enter another one of my giveaways (3 entries)

Giveaway ends 9/1/11 at 1159CST.  Open to US residents.

Disclaimer:  I was given a copy of the book to facilitate my review, no other compensation was received.  All opinions stated are my own.