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!!!!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
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?
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 10, 2008
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.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
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.
Monday, December 8, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
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!
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