That is the number of hours that we spent at Disney World.  We weren’t there for very long, but we fit a lot in!  I have been to Disney World twice.  Once in fourth grade and once for cheerleading nationals in 1998 (go PACE All-Stars!).  But, this was Chuck’s first trip (first trip to Florida even!) and obviously Brayden’s first trip.  We’ll be making a big Disney World trip for Brayden’s 5th birthday so we kept this one short just because a 2 year old can only handle so much excitement.  Here are a few of my observations about Disney World:

*** Pics in this post are taken with Canon 5D and the 24 – 70 2.8 and my Canon G10 point and shoot.

-  While the Magic Kingdom has a better castle, Disneyland is a much better park.  Everything seems more updated there.  I’m probably totally bias.

-  Disney World resort is a much nicer resort than Anaheim.  Much prettier and spread out (which is kind of a good thing and a bad thing).

-  The Tea Cups are much better at Disneyland, but to a 2 year old a pink tea cup is a pink tea cup!

-  People are much friendlier at Disney World.  I think it’s the Southern hospitality.  And I love hearing all the Southern accents!

-  Animal Kingdom is awesome.  Brayden loved the jeep safari and Dino Land.  I won a teddy bear and a lizard for him there.  That’s how we roll in this family.  Mom has to win the prizes.

-  Animal Kingdom resort is a nice hotel.  It was Disney without being too busy.  The savanna view rooms are kind of a rip off.  We saw an ostrich, two giraffes, and some other animal that I don’t know the name of .  Maybe we would have seen more if we would have stayed longer.  B was pretty darn impressed by those giraffes.

-  Florida ducks are not nice.  If your kids are eating popcorn beware.  They will get bit.  Poor Brayden is scared for life!  But, like any good parents would do, we tortured him and made him take a picture with Donald Duck later in the day.

-  For a two year old the bus ride to the parks may  just be the best ride in the park!

And we had a great time in the JAX.  Brayden and I visited St. Augustine while Chuck was at his conference.  We rode the train around town for an hour (it was freezing!).  B loved the train and I loved learning about the history of the city.  Total win-win!  We then visited an Alligator farm.  It was a bit smelly, but B enjoyed it very much.  He especially loved feeding the gators.  We also visited St. Johns Town Center (twice) and I got a new pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from GAP (if you follow me on twitter you know why!) and a super cute shirt and purse from Anthro.  I also got to visit Ballard Designs.  I get the catalog and was SO, SO, SO excited to see everything in person.  Love that place!  Thanks for all of the suggestions, friends!

I received 17 entries for the UNposing Guide contest.  Between them, they donated an additional $970 (1 very generous person donated $500!) for the earthquake victims in Haiti.  And the winner is…

Sarah S.  She was the 4th email I received.  Thanks for all who donated!

The very lucky winner of the Clickin’ Moms 1 year membership is Marla!  Congratulations Marla!  I’ll be sending your email address over to Erin at Clickin’ Moms and she will be contacting you.

ETA:  Contest is now CLOSED!  Any comments received after this point will not be counted.  Winner will be announced Monday morning!

When I first started out in photography I spent a lot of time in online forums trying to teach myself everything I could.  I made some great friends who were starting out at the same time and we could help each other learn and challenge each other to become better photographers.  One forum that I’ve come across recently is Clickin’ Moms.  It’s a community of moms who love to take pictures (just like us!).  They  have great tutuorials and fun contests.  The thing I really like about it is it’s a member only forum so it’s a safe place to put your work out there and get honest and open feedback.  You do have to pay to be a member of the forum, but the reason I like paying forums is because if you’re paying you are more likely to participate and you are less likely to get lurkers who are just stealing knowledge and not contributing.

Clickin’ Moms has graciously offered to give a 1 year subscription to a lucky Mom*tog!  That’s a $60 value!  Sorry, this applies to new members only!  To enter the contest leave a comment on this post and the winner will be picked randomly on Monday.

Happy Friday!

Mom*tog opened it’s doors just 6 months and 12 days ago and yesterday we reached a milestone… 1000 comments!  I don’t even know what made me think to look, but I caught it at 999.  How exciting!  The lucky 1000th commenter was my dear friend, Polka Dot Bride (you should seriously go read her blog cause she’s Australian and that makes her rad!).

I want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments and very nice emails.  It totally makes all the extra work worthwhile when I know I’m helping so many people out.  I do get the occasional “Tell me how you (fill in the blank).  I feel I deserve the right to know everything you have spent the past four years learning in 100 words or less” emails and they are discouraging.  No introductions.  No thank you’s.  Just people who feel they are entitled to anything and everything.  I get it.  I’ve put myself out there so maybe I deserve those emails.  But, my original goal with Mom*tog has always been to help mom’s take better pictures of THEIR kids.  Not to help professional photographers take better pictures of other people’s kids  If I’m helping other pros out there than that’s great.  But, that’s not what the goal of this blog is.  I think I can also say now that a new goal is to help inspire other’s to fulfill their dreams.  To show them that becoming a professional photographer while being a mom is a totally realistic goal.

Please keep the emails and comments coming.  And please do send your questions.  But, just remember when writing your emails that I am a real person who has real feelings and a little “please” and “thank you” always go a long way

Thanks, Mom*togs!  You all rock!

So, there are going to be BIG things happening here at Mom*tog!  Big, really fun, awesome things that I’m so excited about!  In the past I’ve received several emails about people wanting to hold contests through Mom*tog.  Well, I wasn’t quite ready for them and I may have been rude and not responded to those really awesome people.  I’m excited to say that I’m now ready for the contests!  So, if you’ve emailed me in the past please email me again!  I promise I won’t be rude this time  Thanks in advance!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you fabulous moms out there including my own wonderful Mom and Mother-In-Law!  I hope you all get lots of loves, snuggles, smooches, and hugs for Mother’s Day!

And I hope your baby doesn’t fart in your face.  Yes, he really did fart in my face.  Such a boy!

For my Mother’s Day present I am heading to Kauai!  Which means there probably won’t be a whole lot of posting going on here.  Have a great week!

Welcome to Momtog! One year ago today I became a mom. A mom to the most beautiful, funny, and intellegent baby boy I have ever met. He has changed my life in more ways than I can comprehend. Everything I do I do for him. As the owner of a successful photography business I had to make changes in order to keep my business running and be the mom I want to be. This year has been a year to figure out how to do that. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m finally at a place where I think I am able to do both well. I’ve found what works for me. 

A Momtog is a Mom who is a photographer. You don’t have to be a professional photographer. You just have to love photography! I’ve started this blog as a way to connect with other moms and as a place where I can blog about all things “mommy”. Here, I will share photography tips with the non professional photographer moms, tips on how to run a successful photography business with you professional photographer moms, as well as lots of other mommy related things. I also hope to have some fun photography contests and interviews with photographer moms who inspire me. There will be a little something for everyone! So, please visit often. I would love to hear comments and feedback if you’re finding the blog useful. And feel free to send me an email if there is a topic you would like covered!

Happy Birthday Brayden Bittel!