Saturday, December 13, 2008

The interior of the home is painted. Crews are making great progress on the exterior. Flatwork was poured for the driveway. Landscaping crews are abundant and the yard is taking shape. The Texas Rangers organization was on site today. They presented a generous donation to the Community Storehouse. The anticipation is growing. We have approximately 16 hours before we turn over the keys!

I will deliver all of the b&w images to the designers tomorrow they will be used to decorate table tops for the Big day when the Augustin family comes home -Monday, Also, will be presenting the 30x30 canvas that will hang in the home. I will be back out on set tomorrow and will post new images then. I can hardly wait to see how it has changed since yesterday. Sorry guys, I am posting this update from home and the newest images I downloaded today at the studio, you will have to hold out, But, I promise you will be blown away with how far it has come in such a short time. AMAZING!!!!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Lots of folks asking how the concrete dried so fast. Thanks to Southern Star Concrete and their ingredient mix - it took approximately 5 hours for the slab to cure. That set us up to frame on time. The interior of the home moved along well on Friday. Sheetrock, foam insulation, etc. The foam insulation is phenomenal. It was explained that it is the equivalent of living inside a Styrofoam cup. And, the temperature in the attic space should not ever be more than 7 degrees different from the living space inside the home. Energy Efficiency at its best! It's hard to believe that a home is: set on a foundation, framed, sheet rocked, insulated, and partially bricked and roofed in a 48 hour time period. Again - many thanks to the amazing subs and vendors who are assuring this home is built using a vertical building schedule and the most quality materials and workmanship. Update compliments http://www.extreme.wall.com/ which is the main site for this amazing project!

I was not on set today, I was behind the scene hard at work making sure all the small prints that will be used for table tops, night stands etc. were ready to order, picking up the framing and driving to Dallas to Full color lab to pick up the beautiful wall portrait of the family that I was able to photograph the first day. Thanks to full color for printing the beautiful 30x30 B&W canvas image at rapid speed and for donating the image to the Augustin family. I am so excited for them to see it! I was also doing a couple of the last Christmas shoots for our clients in the studio. I need to say the biggest thank you to Terry, had he not worked so hard and so many hours to keep the studio up and running this week (almost by himself), I would not have been able to volunteer so many hours to this project. After all it is Christmas, our busiest time of year! But, even in the extremely long hours, tiredness, cold weather and missing my own family, Oh! yeah and my own house being a disaster with no Christmas tree or lights on the house that work yet! I can truly say this has been one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part of! Wow! What a week! I am so thankful to Wall homes and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for allowing me to do this with you guys! Surprisingly for me, I am not even worried about the tree or lights, I will resume my normal, crazy life on Wednesday. The tree will go up, the house will get cleaned and this experience will all be over. Except for the family and all of us who gave... We will hopefully all forever be changed, not just because a new house was built, but because of the sacrifice and all the love it took from hundreds of strangers who gave away their own lives, businesses, kids, and responsibilities for one week to give all we had to make a difference for a omeone else who was in need. Isn't this the true meaning of Christmas anyway?

Wednesday December 10th, Braveheart Day!

Texas weather is unseasonably cold. But, that didn’t stop the team, leaders, and volunteers. The first group arrived around 5:15am (25 degrees). The crowd reached over 200 and included a special March of Dimes contingent. They marched with Texas pride to the existing house and rallied around the Wall Homes team. Hoorah! This was the official kick-off to our Braveheart/Demolition day. Special guests – Championship Bull Riding, complete with an amazing group of horses were filmed racing in the field across from the home and then circled the home in front of our crowds. One horse in particular, had the honor of starting the demolition by pulling the chimney off the roof. Roar! At 3:00 p.m. today, the demolition team was on standby with heavy bulldozing equipment… ready to do some demolition! At 3:45 p.m. the house was leveled.

My personal thanks again, to Wall homes and Extreme Makeover: Home edition for allowing me to be apart of this amazing project! Also, Today's demo. images were made possible huge in part to the nice Ft. Worth fire fighters who were on set. They let me climb on top of the truck to be able to get a better view of the house being leveled. Especially thanks to Les for freezing while he kept me from falling off the top of the truck. Please continue to check the official site for this project at http://www.extreme.wall.com/ and to see all the amazing people who help make all of this possible.

Day 2 on set of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was great!

Today was the last we will see of the house the Augustins once called home. It will be demolished tomorrow, I was able to get in today and take the final interior shots of the badly damaged home due to the flood waters, that is before Wall homes begins rebuilding the beautiful new home and this family's new life. What an amazing thing to be apart of!

We also got word as we were leaving the filming today that one of the images I was able to capture of the family yesterday would be on Chanel 8 news. They showed the image 3 times during the story at 5:00. I was so excited!

In addition, today was a very exciting day for me personally as my daughter River-Beth was one of the four children chosen to have a part in the "Ty opening" for this show to air on March 1st. She was chosen by Ty to be the birthday girl for a staged party which included Ty attending her party! What are the chances of that happening in real life? It was a big day for her that is for sure! You can watch a little clip of the video I recorded behind the scene and view images of my kids having their little moment of fame meeting Ty. I want to say a thank you to Ella Bell- Arlington for providing the adorable outfit Riverbeth wore in the filming today, as well as to Arlington Camera for providing me with an amazing lens to use for the week in shooting the still photography for the show. Tomorrow we will be on set at 6:45am, the Brave heart walk scheduled for 7:45am.

Please continue to check back to see the daily updates.

Day 1 on set of Extreme Makeover: Home edition is completed!

The Family
The Augustin family from Keller, TX is an amazing family. Their world was first shaken after their son, now age 4, was born ten weeks prematurely. Amber Augustin, a professional photographer, knew after those anguishing weeks in the NICU, her family would never be the same. They had a new purpose… a new goal.
The Augustins are a proud “March of Dimes” family dedicated to the survival of premature babies. Because some premature babies don’t survive, Amber created a foundation called “Tiny Works of Heart”. She takes pictures of families and their fragile babies. For many families these pictures are treasured memories of their babies who had very brief lives. The photos, often as many as 1,200 per family, are all free. Amber will not accept money for her mission.
With full support from her family, Amber began working to give families something they were unaware they might miss. Her husband, Peter, knew the first time he saw Amber in the NICU passionately photographing the babies, he needed to make Amber’s newly found mission a priority. He bought her a new camera and converted the garage into a photography studio.
The family’s world was shaken again on Father’s day last year, when their home was overrun with flood waters. The Augustins were notified that the home, uninhabitable, would need to be raised over a foot in order to meet code. Monetarily, it was simply impossible for them. Their first home, one they remodeled over a twelve year period and welcomed their three children into, sits vacant.
Another Hero in the Home Peter Augustin is a project leader for Habitat for Humanity. He won an award last year, the same year he lost his home, for his role in the charitable organization. He zealously built a home for someone else, while his family was homeless. Very few people knew his secret.
Tiny Works of Heart “My work is hard and emotional. But, it’s not about me. It’s about them – the families and the babies.” – Amber Augustin
Learn more about the Augustin family throughout the week, as their new home is being built!

My thanks to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Wall homes for allowing me to be apart of such an amazing project!

Major Images is honored to be part of the next Extreme Makeover: Home Edition project

We are so excited to have been chosen as the still photographer for the next Extreme Makeover : Home edition -Texas. We will be sharing details of the project soon, please continue to check back to see images from each day on set of this amazing project! Thanks to Wall homes for allowing us to share in this journey with you!

2008 Santa Charity Event

It is such a long journey for Santa, coming all the way from the North Pole to join us in the studio for this special Santa charity event. We have had so much fun with him being here with us! We have photographed lots of babies that came to visit him for the very first time, for some this was the second year to see him and they were much more aware that he looks nothing like mommy or daddy! No matter the age there is something magical about this time with Santa, He spends the whole Christmas season traveling from place to place raising money to help a Wish with Wings, a non-profit organization that grants the Wishes of Texas children with life-threatening diseases. Major Images is donating 25.00 to a wish with wings for every portrait package ordered for this event, To all of you who came, Thank you for helping raise money for this great cause! We will be having other Charity portrait events throughout the year to continue to help in making our community a better place to live and improving the lives of us all as we give to others. Please visit http://www.awishwithwings.org/ for more information regarding this great organization. Thanks again and may all your Christmas wishes come true! If you missed out on this event please be sure you are on our email contact list that way you won't miss out on anything else! If you would still like to give to this cause and experience a truly magical Santa, please visit him at The Lincoln- square santa land, where he will be. But, only till Christmas eve.

HALLOWEEN PORTRAIT CHARITY EVENT

WE ARE SO EXCITED IT'S HALLOWEEN! THERE IS SOMETHING SO FUN ABOUT THE CHANGE OF WEATHER, THE BEAUTIFUL FALL COLORS AND THOSE SWEET BABIES IN THEIR COSTUMES! WE HAVE BEEN HARD AT WORK GETTING READY AND HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEN SET DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR OUR FAVORITE LITTLE CLIENTS IN THOSE FUN LITTLE COSTUMES. STOP BY THE STUDIO FROM 2-6 ON OCTOBER 30 AND WE WILL PHOTOGRAPH YOUR LITTLE GHOST OR GOBLIN FOR A SWEET LITTLE PRICE, 22 BUCKS GETS YOU A SESSION AND A 5X7. WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE CRAFT AND BOO BAGS FOR THE FIRST 50 KIDS! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YA!!! CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW AND READ ALL ABOUT OUR HALLOWEEN PORTRAIT CHARITY EVENT!!!

Major Images Models...

"Let's Play" campaign coming soon... Each month we choose one image that best fits Major Images style of photography, I have to just love it... That image becomes the face of our studio for the month and is seen on the back cover of a local magazine, as well as other places. We are looking every month for a new child the be the "IT" image. We will be having a casting call for the new year of ads soon and if you think your little guy or girl has what it takes. Please call the studio for our "Let's Play" campaign ... Here are a few of the covers from this year, Thanks to all of our models and please visit us at Holiday Magic gift market November 14-16 to see our "IN THE PRESS" display of our models. If you have been to us this year for pictures, We want to say thanks... Please stop by our booth and check out all the fun and exciting prints we have designed this year as well as some new product coming to you for next year...We also have a little Thank you gift we would like you to have so be sure and say Hi! Thanks for another great year!!!

Handsome Hunter....

Hunter had his first Cotillion on Saturday and like most boys his age he rarely dresses up. He's a very casual kid! There is something to be said about the seeing your son all dressed up. I couldn't believe how handsome he was in his suit and tie. I kept saying to him, "You are gorgeous," in a cool, guy kind of way. Poor kid I made him be ready two hours early so we could come to the studio to take pictures before the dance. As a photographer mom very few things make me as happy as having new images of my kids growing up. Hunter made his momma really happy, and his pictures turned out so well that he is the Major Images model for our October ad in living magazine. He is so sweet and handsome I just had to share some of his images. Thanks Hunter!

Sweet baby Jackson

Here is sweet baby Jackson! He was the best newborn I have had in a long time. No poop, pee, or feedings, not even a single spit up! He slept through the entire session! Jackson gets Newborn of the year award! He is such a beautiful baby boy! Congrats to all his family!

New images of me for the about us page on the website

In working on these images of myself today, I have decided that the expressions I do to get the expressions from my clients (smiles and laughs)during a shoot is causing me to need a little bit of botox. Holy cow! Why do we have to get lines on our face? I decided It was time for a new image of me for my website, that's what these are, I think. The one I have now looks so serious and I was about 10lbs skinnier then. I lost 20lbs last year after running my booty off literally, I ran with my friend Alicia like 3- 5 miles, 4 to 5 times a week and dieted for months, I was doing so good! I am not sure what happened, as soon as I was feeling back in shape, I stopped everything! Dang, if I didn't go right back to my bag of donut holes which I adore, and stopped running! Good news is that I have gotten back on track and have done without my bag of donut holes for 8 whole days... Alicia and I are back to working out 5 days a week and have been for going on 3 weeks. Hopefully, I will lose the 10 lbs. by Halloween. Anyway, after seeing the serious side of me for a year now, I thought it was time for a change and so here are some images of me being silly. Back to the botox... I am honestly afraid of needles, I don't know if I could do it or not. I am only 34, but I am serious about not liking the lines! I relise that I do squint through the camera for hours each day which is what is causing them, I just know it! That and I talk with expression! Botox should just be a tax right off or covered by insurance for photographers, you know, like how people get coverage for carpal tunnel or other job related injuries, mine is just lines! Ha Ha....

Our 2008 Day on the farm session

I have been so excited to get these posted for Cindy and her friends! Your kids are precious and were so much fun! My favorite sessions usually involve babies and kids. They are just so unexpected and they find there own expressions and movements with such confidence. This is my new favorite hot spot! I love it. I know upon arrival every single client is saying to themselves, "Why?" It's not pretty or even the slightest bit attractive, but that is my style. I am an expert at mixing yucky and pretty. I love putting people who are dressed cool in an environment that to anyone else would never work and make it awesome, artistic art. This style comes from my photography background in my very first downtown studio. That's when I had to work with pure "Yuck," and make it work. Thanks Kendal and Walker for looking so cool for our 2008 Day on the farm session.

Sometimes as a photographer you really have to use your skills...

Today as I began photographing this adorable little family, Townes their precious two year old son was having no part of this cool, urban session. I mean he had no idea this would result in some awesome images of him with his mom and dad. He's two...

Sometimes as a photographer you really have to use skills way beyond a camera and an assistant. You have to use your college psychology, parenting skills and plain boy (tomboy in my case) instinct. Thank goodness I have two boys... I actually poured water on my head to get him into the idea of thinking about the fun and forgetting he was sitting still long enough for me to capture amazing images of him and his family. I thought I had used waterproof mascara and yeah, I didn't. I looked like I had a scary clown doing my makeup job by the end of this session. Black eye, wet hair and sweaty! Guess what? I truly loved every minute of it! It is such a challenge and yet so rewarding to be able to develop a concept with the client, which is usually accomplished through the consultation. Our goal is always a "believable, life stage portrait" of each family. After the session I return to the studio and get to see exactly what was captured and that's when I see the intial concept come to be. That's when it's really Wow for me! This was one of those Ah ha! sessions! Thanks, guys you were awesome!!!

Who says you can't be a star athlete and gorgeous!

Tobi is absolutely both, an awesome volleyball player for Arlington High school and gorgeous! I had so much fun with her and her pals, also v-ball players for AHS. I am excited for you to see the rest of your session, this is one of my favorite images from the day.

One more for Paige...

I was so excited at how this image turned out that I had to share one more with Paige, I am totally impressed with your blog by the way. I love the cool, modern feel to this image. Paige, you did perfect on the clothes. This is a great example of what we like to see. No matchy, matchy clothes! What a cute family image! So Believable and cool!

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