Back to School: Printable Photo Prop + Best Mom Features on the Samsung Galaxy S8+

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August? How can it be August already? Many schools in my neck of the woods are heading back today, and next week my son will be walking through the doors of a new school. I’m usually the ringmaster in charge of all the schedules. This year offers up new challenges with 2 headed to school, 2 different ones at that, and me taking on a new full-time position. It’s going to be even more important this year to keep everything on track. That’s why I’m turning to the Samsung Galaxy S8+ as my handheld personal assistant.

From work to school and playtime I need a phone that can keep up with capturing all the precious memories and help me stay organized for every part of my life. As a busy on the go mom it’s important to have tools that are multi-functional and have great ease of use, there’s no time for learning something new with a busy schedule. The GS8 and GS8+ provide all that in a compact package.

There are so many great features in this streamlined body, but don’t be fooled this phone packs a lot in. It has the world’s first Infinity Screen. The GS8+ display fits in an edge to edge screen, giving you the most useable space in a smaller package. In fact it’s the largest screen and most powerful processor.

Mom’s are the ultimate multi-taskers, aren’t they, and the GS8+ helps simplify those everyday tasks. Multi window and the NEW snap window let you keep what’s important on-screen at the same time. No more texts interrupting your stream of thought or catching up on your favorite show. These features allow you to multi-task with ease.

I’m equipped and ready to take those first day of school photos too with a 12 MP rear camera and this fun printable back to school prop. All you have to do to is grab the file here, print, and add to a fun frame, load on cardstock, or my favorite use it as a stencil to create a custom chalkboard. Then setup a fun photo area to capture those first day of school jitters and excitement as they head out the door. This is something my parents did every year with me and I’m so excited to carry on the tradition with my kids.

Did I mention I’m excited about the camera on the GS8+? I simply point, shoot, and enjoy my beautiful photos with virtually no editing. The photos taken with the phone in this post are all raw, loaded right into my blog editor. Samsung makes it easy too to transfer photos to so many different sources for safe keeping, printing, sharing, etc. I was able to file transfer all these back to school moments within minutes to my computer.

Tips for First Day of School Photos

Use props to mark this special day. A printable sign is an easy way to note the year and grade. My printable file has all the grades so you can go from year to year with the same prop. Simply load the file into your editing program and replace the school year with the current year. A white block over the old text does the trick for hiding the old date.
Bring in elements of your child’s current interests into the photo. Whether they love reading, stepping up to bat, or twirling on the dance floor. These simple additions will really add to the occasion and mark who they are in the moment.
Take a few shots with and without their backpack on. You have to get the backpack shot, right? But have them loosen up and pick a comfortable pose. These make great photos for framing or even handing out to family and friends. I tend to like the photos we take at home in place of the school pictures. My kids are much more relaxed not in a studio setting.

The Samsung Galaxy S8+ makes capturing all those important moments a breeze and stress free. The handy microSD card slot allows you to expand your storage up to 256GB more, making room for all those precious memories. A phone with room to grow takes away the need to make choices between the 8 adorable silly faces they made before you captured the “good one”. No more deleting photos on the fly to make more room. On top of the amazing 12MP rear camera this is the one feature that has me jumping for joy!

There are those bonus features too that have this busy mom really pumped. The built-in *heart rate sensor makes monitoring your health easier without any extra peripherals. Everything from sleep to nutrition and steps is stored in the Samsung Health app. And while I’ll probably still be protecting my phone with a fun case the GS8+ is completely water and dust resistant. So while I hunt for the perfect one I’ll have peace of mind it’s safe from little hands and spills.

Everything is right at my fingertips making back to school shopping and planning a breeze. While we shopped the aisles at Target, my favorite retail therapy, for back to school styles I could easily pull up my son’s supply list and see everything needed clearly on the Infinity Screen. Target is the ultimate destination to grab everything you need in one spot.

And… while you’re out doing your back to school shopping pop over to the electronics department to purchase your very own handheld assistant. Both my Target locations had a special end-cap display. During back to school they’re running a promotion for a $200 Target GiftCard(TM) with the purchase of a GS8 or GS8+ at Target. Check back here for updates on future promotions at Target that may come available with the purchase of Samsung Galaxy S8 phones.