Meet Bree. This was my second session with Bree. The first session, Bree was in a not-so-good mood and her mom was afraid that we didn't get many good shots. After she got the (bunch) of photos, she was happy we had gotten so many. This session, Bree was in a much better mood and a little older. One year old to be exact. I am currently working on the photos from Bree's shoot and it looks like we got a bunch more this time. It's funny because mom acted totally different this time. She would ask me "you think you got it?" I would tell her I did and she would change her into her next outfit. It's like mom trusts me now. That makes me happy. I really won't stop till I get the gold.

Something else that I have really started to notice is that people seem to think that you need to smile a lot when you get your photo taken. Why is this? If I look back at the 14,000 images on my hard drive, I would bet that less than half contain smiles. No smiles and the clients still love them. Hmm. In my humble... and overweight opinion, expression and emotion don't always have to involve teeth. What do you think?

I would also like to take a moment in this post to thank those of you who are spreading the word about me. You can rest assured that anyone you send me will be treated well and get a great deal. Don't forget... anyone who books me because of your kind words is worth ONE FREE HOUR of shooting time for you!

This past week has been c to tha r to tha a-z-y fo sho! First, my little sister (Rachel, at left) came in from the San Antonio area for reasons I cannot discuss on this site. We made sure to cram a small photo shoot into her visit. You see, she will be famous one day. She is a very talented singer. We are all VERY proud of her. Click the pic for a slightly larger version, others will get put in the gallery as soon as I get a chance.

Next, my little brother (who has lived with me for god knows how long) announced that he is moving to Seattle. It seems he has a chance at some good juju in the North West. Good luck lil' bro.

Tomorrow, the boys go to mom's house for the whole month. I haven't had time to get tired of the curtain climbers (like that would ever happen), so I am quite sad about it. This house is clearing out like someone farted... and it stinks!

In other news: I am adding a few of you from address book to the subscriptions list. If you don't want to read my blog, please unsubscribe. I just have a lot of friends asking what my website is. This should make it easy for you, lol.

As some of you know (and the rest are about to read) we just got back from 8 days at Disney World! A huge, huge, huge thank you to my parents-in-law for sending us as a Christmas gift. Stacey and I wanted to take the boys this year, but it just wasn't in the cards... or well... actually it wasn't in the money.

The boys were super brave and took on every ride at the park! People would ask the boys (and be kidding) "did you ride the Tower of Terror?" The boys would respond "Yeah! Twice!" One guy looked at us and asked "are they for real?" Most people said they were amazed that an eight and nine year old would ride such things. Well... they did. I of course HATE rollercoasters. I believe the boys did what they did to stress me out. I was dumb enough to admit that I would ride whatever they did. I am such a dumbass.

We had an awesome time. Stacey spent weeks planning this trip. We were actually able to visit each park twice in the 8 days.

I thought long and hard about bringing one of my cameras. I am really glad I didn't. The chance of damage from water or some such other drama would have been bad juju. Damage to me from carrying a big ass camera around for eight days would have been worse! Stacey brought her point-and-shoot camera, and we had our camera-phones, so we got quite a few photos. I won't post them here, you will get them in your email. In the meantime, here is one of the photos from the point-and-shoot of the Haunted Mansion (Zack's fave ride). This shot is quite photoshopped to add some depth. Click to make it bigger.

Take a moment to give thanks to the people who risk life and limb to keep you safe, and to those who have done it in the past! Thank you guys and gals... nobody can say it enough!

On another note... Ian (our eldest boy) got a cellphone for his birthday. I spent a little time teaching him how to send text messages last weekend. Holy crap it's strange to get texts from your son. Strange and awesome at the same time. They sure do grow up fast!

And another note... tomorrow (today actually) I am forcing myself to get caught up on all of my photo processing. Speaking of processing, Photoshop is an awesome tool. Not having to use photoshop is even more awesome... meet Erica (at left) you can see a few of my faves from her shoot here.

Let's talk first about photography stuff... This past weekend I was hired to shoot a very small (but great) wedding in Denton. This is my second wedding in a row to be held in a home. I have to say I am quickly becoming a fan. I have been able to set up a couple of lights (which always make for mo betta piccas, yo!) and I don't have to chase folks down for formals, etc. On the left is a little teaser for this past wedding. Obviously, the groom is having a hard time looking sad... check out the bride! He can't help but grin ;-) I am also booking a solid week out (thank you!) so be sure to call me soon for your photographic needs.

Next up... Webhosts. Ok, let me set the scene for you:

I get a call from my mother-in-law asking me why when she goes to my site, she sees a bunch of links. Not thinking too much about it, I tell her "I don't know." HOLY CRAP! Debbie Gibson is on the station I am listening to... haha! Anyways, back to the story. My mother-in-law, or "Moms" as I call her, proceeds to tell me that when she clicks on the "Shane" link, she is taken to a site which offers to show her porno for the super low price of $2.49! So, she tells me of this special offer and I am thinking I should probably check on this little issue. As if it's not bad enough for your mother-in-law to go through this, imagine if it were a customer!! Three calls to my webhost, and much foul language, my site was back up and functioning normally.

*side note: I found an awesome station on Yahoo LAUNCHcast. It's called "Gay Club Mix, A dance station that embraces all your extraordinary fabulousness!" Anywho, it's mostly electronic dance and disco... with a lot of Britney Spears stuff that I haven't heard till now. Well, apparently a lot of older artists appeal to the alternative lifestyle community. In the past 10 minutes, I have heard new stuff by Robyn and some old stuff from Debbie Gibson, lol.

Wrenching... If you know me, you know I have been slaving on my little green car "The Frog" to try to make it more comfy and Shane-like. This is was the only car I have owned since 1990 that was not customized to some extent. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out by donating something laying in the garage or labor (like Gary) who put a little of his own blood into making her purdy! Here is a picture of what the car looks like so far.

This past Saturday, I shot Ginger and Lane's great country wedding. The mood was relaxed (although you could see some nerves in the bride and groom, lol). The groom even cooked a lot of the food! It was my pleasure to shoot this event. Here is a little teaser for ya!

Well... take photos of them anyway. If you are tired of the pictures you are getting from your kid's school, or that place at the mall, give me a shout. I got ya covered!

Meet Bree! She was my Sunday session this past weekend. Even though she was a little tired, we got some really great stuff. I am sure her mommy will be proud. Bree's photos should be in the gallery soon. I am getting caught up from a busy weekend... wedding on Saturday, Bree on Sunday. Of course I worked in a few meals too... fat dudes gotta eat, right?

It's been a while... It always takes a while for me to post, lol. Sorry! I just get busy! So what's going on? Ian is playing kid-pitch ball. I watched a double header the other day and was sad when it was over. I am really digging the kid-pitch. Ian's team played really well too. I will volunteer to take the kids baseball portraits... we will see if they take me up on it.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights have been filled with American Idol, lol. That damn show just hooks me every year. This year, there is a freak named Adam on there who was almost painful to watch earlier in the year. Now the guy is tearing that show up. Every week, better and better. Our prediction... Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta will be the last two standing. I think Adam may win it all.

I have updated the gallery with some new Aly stuff. This shoot, we tried something different. We had a makeup artist (Elizabeth), and we tried to get about two shots per look. Instead of jamming up a memory card with a couple hundred images, we got 28... 28 really good ones. I still have to edit a few of those, but there is now a taste in here NSFW.