This week’s San Antonio Mom Blogs’ featured mom blogger is Katie Fiegel. Want to be selected as a Fan of the Week? Like San Antonio Mom Blogs on Facebook and participate!
For the last seven years, Katie Fiegel has blogged at Texas Tigers Blog about motherhood, her children, and family fun activities in San Antonio. And her photography on her blog is always gorgeous. A mama to three little cuties, she just might be the biggest LSU (Louisiana State University) fan San Antonio’s ever seen!
You started your blog in 2006! How have you kept your blogging fresh over the last seven years? Has your blog changed much since you started it?
I started my blog as a way to keep family updated with pictures and milestones of my oldest when she was just five months old. I was awful at updating her baby book and didn’t have the time to take everything out for her scrapbook. I realized I was already on the computer reading blogs or on Facebook (I joined way back when it was only for college students in 2004!) and blogging seemed like a perfect next step and a way to record those memories.
As far as keeping it fresh – I go through times when I get blogged out and don’t post as much. However, since it’s about preserving memories for my littles, that’s what I always come back to when I hit a rut.
My blog has changed a lot over the past years, especially as our family has grown. When I started blogging, it was all about my oldest and her milestones through toddlerhood. Now I update about the littles but I also blog a lot about our family adventures and activities.
Your photos on your site are always beautiful. What tips do you have for bloggers who want to incorporate their own photography on their blogs but who aren’t professional photographers?
Thank you! What a sweet compliment. It’s taken a lot of practice. I first made the jump to a digital DSLR about four years ago. I had a film DSLR and had taken a high school photography course but when I went to a digital I stuck with a point-and-shoot for a while. The blogging world actually made me more interested in photography than I had been because of the simple-to-understand language that bloggers like the Pioneer Woman. Their tutorials made it all ‘click’ in my head.
My top three tips would be:
Practice, practice, practice. One of the best things about digital photography is you can delete the bad shots. Most photo-heavy days I take hundreds and save less than 50.
I try to avoid the flash and use natural light whenever I can. I invested in a lens that was better for lowlight situations (a 35mm) so I could avoid using the flash indoors.
Don’t be afraid to move around to get the best shot. This way you can crop out the mess or distractions from your photos. Especially don’t be afraid to get low and level with your subjects, especially if they are little!
What’s your favorite post you’ve ever written and why?
Wow that’s tough! I don’t think I can pick a favorite. I love all my kids party posts because, thanks to Pinterest, I put a lot of effort into the ‘cuteness’ of them (or maybe it’s just because I’m in the midst of party planning my oldest’s 7th birthday right now?!). Here are a few of my favorites of their parties:
Abby’s 4th birthday pool party
Micah’s 2nd birthday puppy party
Alexis’s first birthday cookies and milk
I also love Alexis’s monthly updates. She’s my last baby so I wanted to be sure to remember all of the baby stages.
You’re an LSU grad – Geaux, Tigers! Right? 🙂 Do you get to go back to visit Louisiana often? How is it different from San Antonio? Have you found many Tigers fans here in the Alamo City?
Yes! Geaux Tigers! The Hubs and I both graduated from LSU. The littles and I used to to make it to Louisiana every few months to visit my parents but they recently moved to Texas so now it will probably be once or twice a year to visit my Grandparents. It’s a long drive with littles, but it can be a fun one if we plan it so that we can stop and hold the baby gators.
The heat is different here, a little hotter but less humid. Since San Antonio is a much larger city there are a lot of places and things to do that we didn’t have back in Baton Rouge, especially the big theme parks like SeaWorld and Six Flags. I’d say Louisiana still has a lot more of the ‘classic’ Southern charm: smocked dresses and big bows on little girls are a must there where, as I see, that’s not very common here. Since we are in a different stage of life (parenting instead of college) it’s harder to compare the two areas because the focus was different when we were there. Since I spent so much of my life in Louisiana, it still feels like home when I go back, but San Antonio has grown on us and we don’t plan on moving any time soon. As a friend said, you can take the girl out of Louisiana but you can’t take Louisiana out of the girl.
I have meet a few few Tiger fans here. We (well, not me because I’m pretty quiet) Tiger fans are a loud bunch. I spot people in LSU gear around town fairly often. Houston actually has the largest Tiger fan base outside of Louisiana so there are definitely Tiger fans in Texas. I’ve also connected with other Tigers fans (who are now in Texas) over Twitter. Especially since we don’t get to see all the games on TV, we are usually on Twitter, cheering on our team together.
Where is your favorite place to take your kids for fun in San Antonio?
SeaWorld was always a favorite of mine when we took family vacations growing up. Until high school, I wanted to be a marine biologist and work there. So I was definitely excited to move so close and visit more often than once every few years. My littles enjoy it as much as I do since it combines all their favorite things: animals, swimming, playing, and you can’t forget the popcorn. Some days I’m not sure if they enjoy the fun or the snacks more!
Find Katie: Blog | Pinterest | Facebook |
I agree about just practicing! Enjoy the benefits of digital 🙂