Momtog Blog

Camp Mom*tog Review

DrewB — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:39:39 +0000

I was so nervous for Camp Mom*tog. Julie and I spent the better part of last week preparing, hauling tons of stuff up 3 flights of stairs, and agonizing over each and every detail. I just wanted everyone to have fun AND I wanted them to walk away feeling confident enough to use their cameras on manual. I wanted everyone to walk away being able to capture great images of their kids straight out of camera.

I wasn’t the only one who was nervous. The other ladies were nervous as well. It was like first day of school jitters. We came together for the most part 13 strangers, but left as 13 friends. We are already planning a reunion. We had the best group of ladies. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. They crafted. They used power tools. They learned their cameras. We took pictures. We laughed. We took photo booth shots with a stuffed bobcat (for the record that was Julie’s idea, not mine). I wish every Saturday was a Camp Mom*tog Saturday.

I barely had time to take pictures. We were so busy the entire time. I was able to grab a few quick detail shots before the ladies arrived. The cake pops from Beverly’s Best were a huge hit!

Luckily we have a little video that shows more of our day.

If you are using Safari and can’t see the video you will need to switch to Firefox.

We had so much fun that we decided on our next Camp Mom*tog date. Drum roll please…

Saturday, August 24! Registration will start one week from today! More details to follow!

Oklahoma – Want To Help?

DrewB — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:28:47 +0000

We had a left over swag bag from Camp Mom*tog this weekend and when I woke up this morning I knew exactly what we should do with it.

When things like this happen I have a hard time not putting myself in their shoes. It’s just unthinkable and unimaginable and makes dealing with an earthquake every once in a while no big deal. I can’t do as much as I would like to help, but if we all come together we can make all of our small donations into a big one.

Ironically we have had a business trip / vacation to Oklahoma scheduled for tomorrow. I can’t help thinking that we could have been there yesterday if we would have decided to go early. Brayden keeps asking if there are tornados where we are going (he’s been freaked out by them ever since we read The Wizard of Oz). I thought there was no chance we would be there when there was a big storm. So even though we were thousands of miles away and even though we would have been safe if we would have been there, it still hits a little close to home.

The outside of the bag is cute just by itself, right? But wait until you see what’s in side.

Lisa Leonard “You Are” necklace

Shutter Buddy

$25 Mpix Gift Card

Joby Gorilla Pod

The current issue of Click magazine

My Mom Snaps children’s book

Print from Katy Girl Designs

Gift certificate for one camera strap from Knitty Bitties

Knitted Peter Pan collar from Katy Rae Knits

Ring from Purdy Burdy Handmade

2 prints from Joy’s Hope

AND

Julie also wanted to donate one of the crafts we made at Camp Mom*tog. It’s a super cute 16×20 wooden sign to hang your Instagram prints. Pictures of Julie’s cute kids not included. Because that would be weird.

There are two ways to enter:

1) Donate to the Red Cross

2) Donate to the Central Oklahoma Humane Society. Please designate your donation to the OK Humane Disaster Relief Fund.

For each $5 you donate your name will be entered into the drawing. So, if you donate $20 your name will be entered in 4 times.

Please email a confirmation of your donation to hello at momtog dot com. Put “Oklahoma” in the subject line. Only donations that have been made today can be submitted. Donations made before 5/21 will not be eligible. If you texted in your donation to the Red Cross just include a screen shot from your phone. Make sure the date is visible in that shot. All donations between 5/21 and 5/26 are eligible. The contest will end on Sunday, 5/26 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, 5/28.

*** Those outside of the US are welcome to enter, but you will be responsible for shipping costs.

Lots of love to all of you who have been affected.

Mom*tog Monday Memory – Mother’s Day

DrewB — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:19:03 +0000

All I wanted was one picture with my kids on Mother’s Day. They were both happily playing so I grabbed them for a quick shot. I bribed B with movie night so he happily obliged for most of the pictures. The girl on the other hand screamed. She screamed just like she did last weekend when I had to grab a quick head shot with them. Why can I get other people’s kids to smile, but I can’t do the same with my own?

I still love this shot though. Even with our feet cut off. Because my sweet husband always cuts our feet off It just shows the stage of life that we are in right now. My crazy girl with her wild red curls and her never ending tantrums who refuses to let me get in a picture with her. My obedient first born who thought Mother’s Day was better than Christmas (he really did say that).

Even though it’s not a shot I’m going to frame or hang on my walls I’m glad to have it. And I know I’ll be even more happy to have it to look back upon in 5, 10, 20 years from now when we can laugh at her wild red curls and never ending tantrums. Because I will be able to laugh at these tantrums one day, right?

Hope your Mother’s Day was fabulous and tantrum free!

Spring Soccer

DrewB — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:00:13 +0000

When I stopped shooting weddings last year I contemplated selling my 70-200 lens. It’s a big lens and I never use it for my portrait sessions. I decided to keep it because I figured it would come in handy photographing my kids playing sports and at school events. I feel like the mamarazzi when I have that thing on my camera. But, all the weird looks are totally worth it because I’m able to get rad close up shots of my kids doing what they love. I only bring it out once a season. This was Brayden’s last soccer game of the Spring. And he got to play goalie. Which is his favorite. Because he can dance. And sing. And he doesn’t have to run. I’m glad I had my mamarazzi lens at this game.

Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8

F 2.8, 1/640, ISO 125

No. He’s not getting ready for the ball. He’s dancing.

F 2.8, 1/800, ISO 125

He actually stopped all of the shots. I was impressed!

F 2.8, 1/800, ISO 125

F 2.8, 1/640, ISO 125

And then he had to run again.

F 2.8, 1/800, ISO 125

Just another year and a half until you can play, Kennedy!

F 2.8, 1/640, ISO 125

Mom*tog Monday Memory – The Beach

DrewB — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:42 +0000

This is my favorite time of year at the beach. Unseasonably warm days. Empty beaches before the tourists come. Building sand castles. Dinner on the pier. Playing on the playground. Beautiful light. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Canon 5D Mark II, 50 1.2

F 2.8, 1/1600, ISO 125

F 2.8, 1/2500, ISO 125

F 2.8, 1/800, ISO 125
F 2.2, 1/2500, ISO 125

F 2.2, 1/1600, ISO 125

Camp Mom*tog Scholarship Nominees

DrewB — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:14:25 +0000

*** Updated 5/2 – And the winner is… Erin S! We’re so excited to meet you at Camp, Erin!

Julie and I loved reading through all the Camp Mom*tog nominations! We had a hard time narrowing down our favorites. There were so many deserving moms. But, we eventually narrowed it down to our top 5. Now we need your help!

Please read through the entries and vote for your favorite. I know the entries might be long, but each woman has an amazing story. Voting ends on Wednesday, May 1! Once you’ve read their stories you can vote below.

And, BTW, there is only ONE spot left in Camp Mom*tog! If you have been thinking about signing up, now is the time!

Erin S.

I would like to nominate my good friend Erin for your consideration. You see, Erin has had a tough few years and I can’t think of anyone more deserving! Four years ago Erin and I became first-time-Moms a few months apart. We were constantly calling and texting advice and encouragement throughout our pregnancies and first few months of motherhood. We also had both recently bought our first DSLR cameras to capture all those little moments we never wanted to forget. We’d always joke how nice it would be to actually know how to use our camera!

In August 2009, four months after Erin had Owen, she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. At only 27 years old, with a newborn, the news was devastating to Erin and everyone around her. She was scared….we all were scared. But if anyone is a fighter, I knew it would be Erin. I’ll never forget even during her hardest moments of chemo and radiation Erin was always positive about her future, about Owen’s future. I remember one day her quietly saying “I just want him to grow up with a Mom in his life” and my heart sank, unable to fathom what that fear would feel like.

That year was rough. Erin was very, very sick. But through it all she documented with pictures, which was another thing I commend her for. She never shied from the camera and wanted to remember that time in her life. She wanted Owen to have pictures of all his “firsts” even though many of them happened during those chemo months when she felt so awful. She finished treatment and the tumor had tremendously shrunk, but the doctors wouldn’t deem her cancer free for two years post treatment. During those two years there was much uncertainty. They weren’t sure if they’d be able to have more children, and they so desperately wanted Owen to have a sibling. It was a waiting game.

I can happily say the two years passed, and Erin was officially in remission! She was given the go-ahead to try for more children, and a few months later got pregnant. In January they welcomed a baby girl, Ella, into their family. Once again, we are making our kids put up with our incessant picture taking, and still wish we could learn all those settings on our cameras. Because at the end of the day, those pictures are all we have left of the tiny little moments that go by way, way too fast.

Mackenzie M

I am writing on behalf of my wonderful wife in the hopes that she qualifies for the camp scholarship

I am a pastor, which makes my wife a pastor’s wife. For the past 11 years I have been the student ministries pastor for a church in Brea, CA. I started the job shortly after we got married and so over those years, on top of ministry, my wife and I have dealt with getting life started together (awesome!), miscarriage after miscarriage, infertility testing, finding out she can’t have children, starting the adoption process, have doors shut on us including flying to Sacramento to adopt a baby girl only to find out that once we got there, the birthmother had changed her mind, finally adopting our first son and then three years later, adopting our twins. Throughout the ups and downs, the good times and bad, my wife was always a support to me. Even when things for her were at their darkest, she still made sure that I was able to do what God had called me to do. Being gone for weeks at a time on mission trips and camps while she was at home by herself, grieving (before our kids) or at home taking care of three kids under three (and two only months old), she never complained (too much J). She did the hard work so I could invest in the lives of students and she never asked for anything in return.

While on my trips and other times away, I would always get pictures from her on my phone of her and the kids blowing me kisses, playing at parks and just loving each other. Her photography made me smile, cry, laugh and share with others about how blessed I was to have my wife and kids. Over the years, Mackenzie’s gift and passion for photography has grown. She is always looking up ways to get better, classes to go to, books to read (and now camps to go to). Now it’s my turn to do what I can so she can do what she loves.

At the beginning of this year, the church we have been serving at for the past 11 years asked my wife and I to plant a church in the city of Fullerton. My wife is once again, completely supportive of this change and has even taken on the role of unofficial photographer for the new church. At every meeting and every event, you can find her talking to people, taking pictures, capturing moments and loving every moment of it. I know that you’ve probably gotten thousands of requests and I know that there are thousands of incredible stories out there but for all my wife has done and sacrificed for me, our family and people around us, I had to try to get that scholarship for her. It is the very least I could do.

Megan H.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Megan and i just turned 30 (eek) and i have a wonderful husband, Shaun, and am a mom to two lovely kiddos, Jude (2) and Sonya (7 months). i just got my first dslr last year for Christmas and have been spending my free time trying to teach myself!

my husband and i were missionaries in Hungary, that’s where we met, got engaged, and later had our two beautiful babies. Well, we are now onto another adventure… Ethiopia. We are moving there to come alongside friends of ours who run an amazing Children’s Home and are mom and dad to 26 orphans and they have 5 kids of their own! We are so excited for this new journey in our lives. I know we are not done adding to our family, we are hoping to adopt a couple of kids while we are there. We’ve made a 3 year commitment and i’d LOVE to use some of my time there learning the ins and outs of photography.. and i’m going to have some great kids/examples to photograph! These orphans don’t have their own moms and dads to take their pictures.. so i want to be there capturing those special milestones and every moments for them!

my dream is to eventually be a birth photographer! Giving birth is such an amazing, God given gift and it really is one of the BEST days of your life! I’d love to be there capturing those moments for families.. especially because dad needs to be there for mom, so i’ll be there holding the camera.

so this is me! thanks for this chance!

Katherine E.

From childhood up to my adult years, my sister Kathrine Uy, with our 14-year age gap, has always been like a second mom to me. She’s the eldest in our family so she looked out for us and disciplined us when necessary, especially when our parents weren’t around.

From the start, she has always been generous and hardworking. I was in high school when she migrated here in America to work as a physical therapist. She worked nonstop. She persevered even when she was struggling with the demands of work as well as the emotional pain of being away from her family and friends back in the Philippines.

I could never be able to repay her for sending me to college. Because my parents couldn’t afford my college expenses on their own, my sister insisted to help me out. I knew it wasn’t easy for her to provide me with the financial support I needed but she selflessly did without asking for anything in return. I wouldn’t have been able to finish school without her unwavering support.

Throughout my life, she has always been a great sister and I always knew that she would be a great mom because of how she took care of my brothers, sister and me.

Sure enough, after giving birth to a beautiful baby boy, I could say that she is a much greater mom than I imagined. After years of working, she stopped to take care of her baby full-time because the thought of being away from her little boy for even just a short period brings her to tears immediately.

The love she has for her baby is the most beautiful thing in the world to witness.

My sister has always loved to take photos. Ever since her baby was born, she has been taking pictures of him. He dresses him up, buys props and even researches places where she could take good photos of him. For example, last Easter, she scoured the shelves of Target to buy plastic eggs, baskets and stuffed toy bunnies to try to create an Easter-themed background for a photo. She even searched for parks where she could take these photos of him.

Her passion for photography is admirable and inspiring, seeing how she goes through great lengths to capture good photos of her son. But taking these photos sometimes is frustrating for her because she says she just doesn’t know how to get great pictures of him. She needs help and she acknowledges that she has a lot to learn about photography.

Receiving this scholarship and having the opportunity to learn from Camp Mom*tog would be a great way for her to finally learn how to capture great photos of her son that she has always been dreaming and striving for.

My sister has been such a wonderful mom to my nephew and she has sacrificed a lot to help support her family; I believe that earning this scholarship would bring her so much happiness.

Knowing my sister and her love for photography, she would be the best recipient of your scholarship. No one deserves it more than she does and she will make the most out of this opportunity. I hope you choose her.

April C.

I would love a chance at attending Camp Momtog for a variety of reasons, namely because I want to become a better photographer, not only for my children, but also for myself. I’ll try to make a long story short…

I didn’t grow up in a wealthy, or even middle-class home. We always had food on our plates and clothing on our back, but we (my parents, brother and I) lived in a small 2 bedroom, tin roof trailer on my grandparent’s land. One night, when I was around 13 years old, we woke up to a ghastly smell and our eyes burning. After investigation, it was determined our home was on fire and within half an hour, our home was in flames. We didn’t have much, but we had each other. Going through the rubble was heartbreaking, as we lost all of our momentos and pictures. Luckily, family was able to replace some of our pictures. From that moment on, I always took lots of pictures. I couldn’t always afford to develop the film, but I vowed to at least have the option.

Fast forward a few years and I became a wife and mother at 19 and 20. Again, I always had a camera in my hand, never wanting to miss capturing my little ones’ lives. This was especially important from 2002-2006 when my husband served 2 tours overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. I wanted to make sure he was able to, in some small part, still be a part of his children growing up. We now have 4 children and have been married for almost 14 years. With the digital age making photography easier, I have found a love of taking pictures that goes deeper than just a click here or there. I’m finding I want to capture the very essence of a good story, a feeling or emotion, a mood. I relish in my daughter’s tantrums, my son’s quirkiness, my oldest children’s indulgence in my always asking for a picture.

I’d like to take this passion and apply it to others’ memories and experiences as well. I want to be the best I can be and have clients relive their photos day after day. A day at Camp Momtog would enhance my journey in photography in a way I haven’t experienced before. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity!

VOTING HAS NOW ENDED!

Be Prepared

DrewB — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:11:47 +0000

I was a Girl Scout. I was trained early to always “Be Prepared”. You can’t capture memories if you aren’t prepared. If you don’t have your camera with you and a charged battery and plenty of shots on your card you don’t have a chance of capturing the moment. Have the right lens on your camera for the activity that you want to capture. Know your settings BEFORE the moment happens that way you can just concentrate on shooting when the time comes.

Happy Friday, Mom*togs!

Canon 5D Mark II, 50 1.2

F 2.0, 1/200, ISO 640

F 2.0, 1/200, ISO 800

F 1.6, 1/100, ISO 1600

Connect the Dots

DrewB — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:19:54 +0000

My most very favorite thing about Brayden as this very moment are his freckles. His little, elusive freckles that are hard to photograph because they are so light and even harder to photographer because it’s almost near impossible to get a 5 year old to sit still long enough for me to photograph them. But, I finally got them. His perfect little freckles that I love so much.

Canon 5D Mark II, Macro 100mm

F 2.8, 1/200, ISO 500

Camp Mom*tog Scholarship Opportunity

DrewB — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:35:20 +0000

From the inception of Camp Mom*tog Julie and I always knew we wanted to open up a scholarship spot to a deserving Mom. Because Moms work hard and deserve something nice from time to time, right? We think so!

Would you like to earn a scholarship to Camp Mom*tog? Here are the details!

1) You must be a Mom. It’s called Camp Mom*tog for a reason

2) The prize is one seat at Camp Mom*tog on May 18, 2013 in Fullerton, California (value $350). Winner is responsible for all traveling and lodging expenses.

3) Send an email to camp@momtog.com with your story. Why do you want to come to Camp Mom*tog? Feel free to include a couple of pictures if you’d like!

4) If you’d like to nominate someone who you feel deserves a spot (hint, hint husbands) please do so, but please include contact information for the person you are nominating.

5) All entries must be received by Friday, April 26. Julie and I will narrow down our favorite entries. The finalists stories will be posted online and readers will vote on the winner.

We can’t wait to read your stories!

Linea Review and Giveaway

DrewB — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:00:16 +0000

I’m a huge proponent of getting your pictures off of hard drives and into your hands. Prints, albums, whatever. In 50 years when our hard drives are obsolete what are our grandkids going to have to look at? Linea makes this a little easier.

Linea is a photo browsing app that allows you to sync your photos across several devices (iPad, iPhone, and your computer) and share them with friends and family. The great thing is you have control over who has access to your images. When you add your images it instantly and effortlessly creates “lines” which tells the story of your images beautifully. And with these “lines” you can quickly and easily order photo albums. It’s really SO easy! AND the app is totally free!

I used Linea to upload images from our Midwest road trip last Fall. I used images from my DSLR and also images from my Instagram account. I was impressed by how well my Instagram images printed. The book arrived super fast and it’s a sturdy book that I know will hold up over time.

This trip was only 6 months ago and there are already things that Brayden doesn’t remember and I know Kennedy won’t remember it at all. I love that they have this book to look back on of all their adventures.

Would you like to win a 20 page, hardcover album from Linea? They have generously offered to give away an album to 5 lucky readers!!! You must be in the US or Canada to enter and you need an iPad in order to create an album. Here’s 3 chances to win:

1) Leave a comment below stating why you’d love a Linea album.

2) Like Linea’s Facebook page. Leave a separate comment below stating that you did so.

3) Tweet “I want to get my pictures off my hard drive and into a @getlinea album! Win one from @drew_b http://www.momtog.com/?p=6962″ Leave a separate comment below stating you tweeted.

*** Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!!! You must be in the US or Canada to enter.

Contest ends Monday, April 22 at midnight PST. Five winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday, April 23. Good luck!