Capturing Every Day Life written & photographed by Jane Goodrich

The new, full cover book, Capturing Every Day Life written & photographed by Jane Goodrich is a great introduction to photography.  As the subtitle indicates: "the no-nonsense, cheese- free, read- while- they nap, easy- as-pie guide to taking top- notch, world- class photos of your kids", this is the perfect guide book for all kinds of parents who wish to learn about the art of photography and taking photos.  Like an intro to photography 101 course, this book starts with the basics.  Jane Goodrich does not assume the reader is an expert on cameras or photography which is a good thing.  The author begins with an introduction to cameras.  The reader will learn the basics point and shoot digital cameras as well as DSLR.  The different lenses are covered as well as megapixels, zoom, ISO and shutter speed.  Each of these is discussed simply and briefly, arranged topically for easy and quick reference.   Technical concepts such as aperture, and depth of field are discussed briefly and efficiently to allow the reader to grasp the concept without being burdened with too much information. Artistic concepts concerning composition of a photo is covered as well.  Not only that, plenty of common sense advice is offered for photographing children from new born babies to older teens.  I found this entire book to contain all the useful information one would need for taking photographs.  In addition there is a FAQ, and trouble shooting guide addressing common photography issues and problems.  Rather than sorting through useless internet information, all the pertinent information for taking photos is in this book.

Not only does this book cover everything a beginning photographer needs to know, full color photographs accompany each of the concepts introduced.  These educational photos are a guide into applying the photography concepts and strategies and serve to reinforce the effectiveness of this how- to guide. Not only that, the photographs are pieces of art in of themselves, and it is pretty exciting as Goodrich, a professional photographer, reveals her secrets to the reader, for taking expertly crafted photos.   As a professional photographer, its is no surprise that she is partial to professional photography as she still urges the reader to take a professional photography course and to seek the services of a professional photographer that has at his disposal, the  expensive and high tech equipment needed for once in a lifetime keepsake photos.  Nevertheless, I feel that the author has every right to take pride in her profession as a photographer as well as advocating the services of professional photographers in her book. 

This simple book empowers the reader to take photos of their children.  In this day of facebook, email and other social media, the standards of photography have been raised even for the novice.  These days it is not unusual for every parent to take hundreds of photos of their child even in the delivery room.  With this in mind, this book would make a great gift for every new parent or mom to be.  This 63 page book is filled with all the information needed to take great photos.  Her conversational and personal writing style and tone is very inviting to the reader. Basically every parent can learn from this book and it is a resource that can be read and re-read.  As a blogger I received a copy of this book published by Jane Goodrich photography for the purpose of writing this review.