Lindsey is a 2009 Senior at Reagan HS in San Antonio, and she came in earlier this week for her senior portraits.  I had such a great time with her and her parents and we shot a ton of really beautiful portraits.  Lindsey and family: I can’t wait for you to see them all!  But here are just a couple to tide you over till next week.

Thanks!  And I never did ask if it was Lindsey-with-an-e or Lindsay-with-an-a. 

Miss Bella has gotten so big!  She’s a busy girl and is always so beautiful.  She brought her new puppy in with her for her session, and we did a family portrait as well.  I just love her sense of humor, and the way she sticks her tongue out when she’s really happy.  Y’all are a wonderful family — thanks for sharing Bella’s first year with me!

On a totally non-studio related note, my friend and client Cara is having a fundraiser garage sale this weekend here in New Braunfels.  It sounds like they will have some amazing items for purchase!  Please go by and check it out!  (If you click on the text below, you can see it bigger.)

I would like to introduce you all to my friend Hudson.  He was three months old when we shot these, and he’s such a sweetheart.  I love his crooked “Harrison Ford” smile — and I agree with his mom that he will be a heart breaker when he gets older.

Hudson’s mom and dad own a business called Legacy Carpenters in San Antonio, and they do beautiful work.  Hudson, thanks so much for coming in!  I will see you again next week!

Some of you who have been clients for a long time will remember Laura, who used to be my studio assistant.  She has her own baby now, and I finally got to meet him!  So here is Sweet Brenden.  Laura, thanks so much for bringing him by!  You are a great mom and he is beautiful.

The kids are finally home from their vacation and it’s so nice to have them back in the house. It gets really quiet over here when they are gone, and somehow I end up watching more TV than usual. During our drive to the library this morning, I asked them what we should blog about today. They agreed to choose a book at the library, but when the conversation turned to music, the arguing began.

Mac: “We haven’t done George Strait. We need to do a song by George. This is Texas.”

Cheese: “Eh, he’s okay. How about Hannah Montana?”

Mac: [insert eye roll and disgusted sigh here] “First of all, Hannah Montana is really Miley Cyrus. And she’s okay, but how could you even put her in the same category as George Strait???”

Cheese: “You. Are. A. MUSIC SNOB.”

We shuffled through the iPod until we found something they could agree on. I had no idea they were taking their weekly blog entry so seriously. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

We’re on a cowboy kick lately, so the kids chose Cowboy Sam and Those Confounded Secrets by Kitty Griffin and Kathy Combs as their pick of the week in books. Cowboy Sam is the secret-keeper for the small Texas town of Dry Gulch. Everyone knows that if they tell Sam their secret, he’s sure to keep it under his hat. But one day that hat just has too many secrets to hold, and starts causing trouble. The townspeople help Sam find a new place to keep all those secrets, because “this town’s liable to go plum crazy without a secret-keeper.” It’s a fun book, and even more fun if you read it in your best slow Texas drawl. Mike Wohnoutka’s illustrations are great, too.

They DID finally find a good compromise for the music pick of the week.  According to the kids, this song is not only good, but it’s perfect for the blog “because it’s kind of kiddish and you’re a kid photographer.”  So their music pick of the week is “Return to Pooh Corner” by Kenny Loggins. Don’t ask how we got there from George Strait and Hannah Montana because you’d have to see our iPod playlist to understand.

I will be back in the studio tomorrow to answer calls and emails, and I have several portrait sessions to share with you all this week. See you soon!

Tonight after the studios were closed, Laura and I went out for girls night. Did we see some new chick flick? Not exactly. We saw The X-Files. Parts of the story felt contrived and sometimes the dialog was downright annoying, but I think overall we both still enjoyed it. Why? No matter what the story was, it’s still about Mulder and Scully. Well, Mulder, really. We could have skipped the Scully storyline.

Thanks to Laura’s movie suggestion, I’ve been singing this song all night, and I really wish I could find a better quality YouTube video. “David Duchovny” was popular on Chicago radio in about 1999, when DD was out there filming a movie with Minnie Driver. I love it, but beware: it’s really catchy. You might still be singing it tomorrow morning.

In case the video doesn’t work, here’s the link. Bree Sharp’s album, Cheap and Evil Girl, was pretty good, too.

Tomorrow is a busy day of location sessions, but I will be back on Tuesday.

As many of you know, we went out to the beach last month for our annual beach sessions. We had such a great time, and I always love the portraits we take on the beach. The light out at our special beach is so beautiful at sunset, each day has a unique look and conditions, and the families we work with are always so much fun.

Here are just a few from the trip.

Sweet Sophie “Frankensteining” (I just love it when babies are just learning to walk!)

And one more… I will post some family portraits a little later on this month. I’m considering ONE MORE BEACH DATE this year, because I’ve gotten so many requests. Email me at info at shelbylane dot net if you are interested. We would only do one more date, a little later on in the fall.

Thanks to all the girls who were in today! And thanks for trying out the new chalkboard wall. I’ll see you all again next week for the squad pictures.

In other news, for my New Braunfels readers… did you know that our beautiful new Target is open? I visited very early this morning because the studio needed a new vacuum cleaner, and WOW. It is so clean, and it smells so good and NEW, and best of all — the pretty new carts all drive straight. For now. Those of you who have known me for awhile know how much I love “Tarjay,” so this is a big deal to me. Maybe later this weekend I’ll have time to really explore (and yes, I realize that I should not be so excited about a discount department store. But it’s Target).

For tomorrow: more cute kids on the blog. Really.

I will blog some photographs this week.  I promise.

I just wanted to say a quick (but heartfelt) thank you to the NBHS cheerleaders who were in yesterday!  Y’all were so much fun, and so sweet and polite, and it was great meeting all of you.  Shoot me an email (or have your moms send me one) at info at shelbylane dot net, because I have a MySpace/Facebook sized image for each of you… that goes for the Monoceras too, if any of you are reading this.  I will see more of you on Thursday, and again, if you have not booked an appointment, please call or email me asap to get on the schedule for this round.  Our August round will be BUSY and I want to make sure that everyone can get the time they need.  Phone hours are 10-5 Tu-F at the studio, so if you call after that, I will not get your call till we are in the next day.

To everyone else: I am booked solid this week, and by that I mean that I’ll be in the studio with clients or on location or in meetings from early in the morning until pretty late in the evening all week.  If you call and get voicemail, I’m sorry that there’s not a real person to talk to, but I will call you back as soon as I get a free moment.  Several of you have email today.    Things will smooth out a bit next week if you’re calling about needing an appointment!