Some out-takes and behind-the-sceney type stuff

Along with all the serious work-getting-done, there were definitely some fun little moments inbetween... outtakes, tickling, and making one's self the center of attention. Oh and tackling people, let's not leave that out! Here's a little of that...

Grace snatched a camera while I was working on photographing the older boys, and decided to take pictures of ME!





She also jumped in when I was working on Faith and Hope's shots for their bedroom wall, silly little goose.



More wacky hijinx with Grace, she makes everyone feel like acting silly:







Even ME...



Here's Grace's shot of Karen:



A little bit of the family's Marine showing off his feather boa skills...



Jacob telling Grace...something... something that she was not amused about!



Me giving a little love to the sweet babies, Mercy and Jeremiah.





Some of our local news guys... we made friends even though they're Canon shooters ; )







Lastly, the chow wagon. We missed out on lunch, and found one lonely piece of cold pizza (hence my and Karen's decision to move on down the road to Saltgrass after the shoot ended).

As Seen on TV! Here's my stuff in the Extreme Home...

In case you weren't on a major lookout for my pictures displayed throughout the home (in between nose-blows and tissue-reloads, I was scoping the place for the pictures)... here's a quick summary.

The crew allowed me to go back into the home post-reveal and get some shots for my blog. I was on a serious time crunch (they gave me 20 minutes to do the whole house) but thankful for the opportunity to run through while the camera crews were taking a break!

I'd like to send a shout out, once more, to Pounds Labs... they donated all of these prints! They also printed them with lightning speed, didn't gripe when I was being very "Are they done yet? Are they done yet? Are they done yet?", and drove halfway to Houston because overnighting the prints wouldn't have been fast enough. John Trentacosta was lovely to work with, and Pounds has a really open heart when it comes to contributing to worthy causes.

The upstairs hallway, with a huge family portrait:




Hope and Faith's room... where my work definitely got the most exposure! They plastered an entire wall with the girls' "photobooth" pictures. Karen and I just made them look at one another. The acting goofy and friendly came naturally to them : )

There are also the cute shots of the girls making a heart with their hands; this image was printed several times and hung on both sides of the room. To round it out, the designers placed pics of both girls and of Mom & Dad in the room as well.














Justin & Paul's room was made to feel like the inside of a treehouse, complete with bunk beds and a desk that seems to be mounted on a pulley! I'm hoping they got a chance to visit the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse at Disneyworld. The designers placed the boys' portraits on the wall, a pic of Mom and Dad on the wall, and a nice pic of Mom on their desk.




Mikala's relaxing retreat/spa room (complete with massage table-- she wants to become a massage therapist!), with a great print of Mikala on the bedside shelf:




Chris's amazing music room/bedroom/happy place contained a handsomely framed portrait on the desk.




Cody, Mike, and Jose's shared space (these three don't live at home full-time since they're in college/military) was reeeeeally neat. It was a cool lounge-like hangout, and had pictures of the guys (and a few others) on the bookshelf.




The therapy room was WOW! The muralist really knocked himself/herself out on this space. It was done up to look like a boardwalk carnival atmosphere, with a working Ferris wheel to store toys and supplies. On one wall, there is a gigantic pair of photobooth strips. While shooting the family's portraits, we also had each person do a few goofy faces to incorporate into this little project.






Larry & Melissa's room was a beautifully calm space decorated in beachy aqua, brown, and white. Sepia-toned portraits were used in their room to work with the color scheme and enhance the vintage feel. The designers placed individual portraits on the bedside tables (check out the cool coral lamps!).


Throughout the rest of the master suite were candid portraits of Larry & Melissa together, as well as pictures of the family-- the whole family together, and various prints of individual family members. In the giant walk-in closet, there was a picture of Faith and Hope's cute little hands-making-a-heart again.














In the adorable ducky-themed nursery, there were framed prints of Mom and Dad snuggling the little ones : )




A shelf in the great room housed more family candids:






Last but not least... here's a series of silhouettes that I helped prepare for. It's hanging in the long hallway downstairs, and each family member's name and a short descriptor is written below their silhouette. I didn't make this art, but I participated by taking profile shots of each family member so that the artist would have shapes to work from in creating the grouping. He/she did a beautiful job! It's a wonderful way to incorporate the uniqueness of each family member into one eye-catching piece of art. My favorite caption was Faith's... "Chicken Whisperer".

Some cool stuff they didn't show on TV... Kimbra Studios Jewelry

When I was in the house taking pics of the family, I noticed that I had a Kimbra Studios brochure stuck in my camera bag. I pulled it out and handed it to my liaison, asking if she thought they might like to see about getting some gifts made for the family. She was oo'ing and aww'ing over all the cute stuff in the brochure, so I contacted the company and they were happy to donate some products to the family.

Kimbra Studios makes really cool, modern, beautiful photo jewelry pieces (and belt buckles, and ornaments, and other fabulous little things). They're all sterling silver, waterproof, really wearable pieces. I have a personal piece-- a ring that I wear on a regular basis-- with a picture of the first flowers my husband ever sent me. It sure beats having dead flowers hanging around the house, and it's really interesting... people will ask me about my ring and I can tell them about my flowers!

They happily worked turbo-speed to get the pieces done, and overnighted to me in time for the reveal. They included several pieces; two charm bracelets, a couple of pendants on chains, and a really neat light sconce with the family's group photo on it!

I was running on very little sleep and even less time that week, so I didn't have time to set the pieces up for super-snazzy product-photography type shots, so what you get is my not-so-fancy window sill and table : )

Thanks SO MUCH, Kimbra Studios for your hard work! I am sure that the family treasures their gifts.

The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Experience!

Following is a quick little "jot down your thoughts" I did after shooting for the family. I couldn't share it before the show aired, but I guess now I can : ) I'll post more with pics and details in a while, but for now, here goes!

Wow, that experience was absolutely nothing like I expected, but was definitely very interesting and fulfilling...lol. This was not a situation where there was time for introductions and details, it was shoot-now-shoot-fast as Tim Gunn would say, MAKE IT WORK (we were kind of-- understandably-- second fiddle to the video crews who were interviewing the family members).

That being said, our design liaison was very sweet and accommodating, and everyone there seemed to really be happy to be doing their jobs.

I did have a Ty sighting when we were walking to the "ice house" (neighbor's house where they keep the family unless they are needed for filming). He was in a crazy hurry because they are also filming a build in another state and he had to finish up here and fly there... but was sweet and waved when i involuntary blurted out "oh hey it's Ty!"

I was disappointed in the weather, because I couldn't really do the types of portraits I usually do (it was way too cold and windy to shoot successfully outdoors, especially with the littler kids). We made a makeshift studio out of the neighbor lady's kitchen, and did mostly headshots. I guess they don't usually work with families this large, because we had a super duper short timeframe to get all those pictures in (thank the good Lord above for my assistant Karen!). By the time we got to the large outdoor family picture, most of the kids' fuses had completely run out, and it was SO WINDY!!!!! We got a few, though. Hopefully one will turn out. Pics of 15 people in heavy coats are always fantazzy.

This family is so very loving. Exactly what you would hope for after reading about them... even after being woken up before dawn and carted around in a bunch of uncertain "wait and see" circumstances, they were all very loving toward one another, well-behaved, and good-natured. Little Grace was the biggest ham of them all, cute as can be, and following me around like a shadow. I let her "shoot" with a camera on which i had a huge lens, and she thought she was hot stuff... quite the little gigglebox. she loved Karen too-- whoever had a camera was her BFF.

Jeremiah and Mercy are the two youngest and are very high-level special needs. After we were done shooting for the show, I asked the parents if there were any other pics they'd like... so we did a Mercy and Jeremiah shoot, because they don't really have any pictures of those two. Jeremiah can only see bright light, and he loved being up under the warm softbox because it was so bright and warm. His mom tickled his feet, and he was laughing so happily. Mercy has a very rare condition that causes some physical abnormalities, but has the most beautiful blue eyes and long lashes (and the cutest sassy barbie ponytail you ever saw). it was definitely a new experience working with a blind child and a deaf child at the same time. You have to move around AND make noises... I'm happy to have worked with the kids at Texas Children's and Memorial Hermann, I wasn't freaked out by the trach or anything.

I took Melissa and Larry outdoors for a quick shoot of the two of them together (much easier to get the grownups to agree to something like this than the kids). it was touching to see how very clear it is that these two sweet gentle people love one another dearly. I asked them to look at one another, and they immediately kissed and nuzzled like when I shoot engagement portraits. Quite heartwarming : )


The strangest part of the experience was to have the staff and media photographers taking pictures of us while we were taking pictures. I stopped shooting when we were outdoors to play with the kids a little (who can resist?) and it was click click click all around me. Weird! Luckily they were not doing that when i was shooting indoors.


That show really takes over the whole neighborhood, WOW!


I need a nap. Karen and I did not pass go, did not collect $200, we went directly to the Kemah Boardwalk and had a nice late lunch at Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Here's another little journal entry from the end of the build process, when I had gone back to drop some things off and gotten to look at the interior of the home:

There are no people living in the house yet. Today they had volunteers in cleaning it up and stuff. It was ready for reveal yesterday, but there was a lot of punch-list type work that needed to be done (edges of doors that needed to be painted and the like). There were probably 100 muddy people in that place yesterday, so mopping was a high priority. They had plastic over the stairs, but they probably still had to be repainted because there was so much mud. you had to put on scrub-booties when you entered the house (there was a volunteer whose job it was to put booties on everyone) when you went in but that didn't keep all the mud out.

It is really, really just awe-inspiring that any team of people did all this in a week. In freezing and rain. Eating in tents when they can. Sleeping in trailers (very cramped and messy trailers for the most part. Ty's is a little more fabulous). It is sooo not glam...lol. My design assistant that i've been talking to all week called to let me know I could go into the house and take pics, but said, "Oh and I won't be there, I have to go return everything we didn't use". Can you imagine? aaaack.

When I was leaving the house, the camera crew was coming in to shoot their final footage, so I was glad they gave me that little window of time to be a free-range photographer ; )

One of the designers came by as I was leaving (she had been down the street eating in the tent) and asked if I got everything I needed, and told me thank you about 90 meeeelion times. She also mentioned that I was very easy to work with, and they appreciated that very much.

Then I got in the car and listened to some KSBJ and cried because it is so overwhelming that so many hundreds of people can come together in crappy weather and cramped circumstances and just work together LITERALLY 24-7 to do something for one family. It's inspiring that that ONE family has done so much for so many children... and they will continue to. It was an overwhelming "my cup runneth over and my heart is full" moment.

Watch for our work on TV!

Come Monday, Monkey Tree will officially be "AS SEEN ON TV!"

Back in January I posted about being asked to photograph the family for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Kemah. Karen and I headed out there on a super cold, super-windy day and did what we could in a very sweet neighbor's tiny kitchen for individual, small group, and other family portraits. The show's design team had some specific requests and we were more than happy to work with them! I wish sooooo much that we would have had the opportunity to shoot in natural light outdoors, but alas, you do what you have to do when you're on an intensely abbreviated scheduly, people are crazy-excited, and about to be whisked away to Disney World... we were also very second-fiddle tot he camera crew, who was also working with a very tight timeframe to get all their interviews done.

Pounds Labs and Kimbra Studios were absolutely wonderful-- working as quickly as they could (on crazy short notice) and donating their goods and services all for the Beach family. Once the show has aired, I'll be able to show you just what went down : )

BE SURE TO WATCH! The episode will air on ABC, Easter Sunday, 7-9 pm Central. It's a two-hour special, presumably due to the size of the family and the size of the home (and number of rooms needed to accommodate such a large family).

I was able to go back on-set once the home had been all finished... all I can say is WOW! The design team really outdid themselves on this one. I was taken aback to see that my artwork is indeed the central focus of one room, and a big component of a couple of others! The thought of having my images shown on national tv is kind of making me a little queasy, but in a good-excited kind of way.

To answer your questions:

a) No, I did not get to meet Ty. I did see him, though, and he was working really hard.

b) No, I didn't meet Jessica Alba (she was the guest-helper on this episode). I did see the top of her head as I was taking a quick tour of the finished home. She was hard at work, too!

c) No, you will not see ME on tv (God-willing, anyway! It was so rainy, I looked like a drowned rat every time I went on-set). The grand majority of my work took place where it always does, at home in front of my computer, on the phone, and in my car. Karen and I went out to the site to shoot with the family, but the rest of my site-visits were to deliver the hundreds of prints the designers ordered, and drop off the gifts from Kimbra Studios. I was definitely more of a behind-the-scenes volunteer.

d) No, I was not paid for any of my work (Pounds Labs and Kimbra Studios also worked on a strictly volunteer/donation basis). This was strictly donation/volunteer.

Last but not least, despite all of their good fortune and blessing that came with being chosen as a recipient family for this home... the Beach Family is still in need of your thoughts and prayers. Their youngest daughter passed away a couple of weeks ago, just shy of her second birthday.

Brenna's Baby Portraits

Brenna is four months old and full of wide-eyed, belly-laughing joy! Her Mommy and Daddy brought her to the studio for some baby portraits, and she was mostly in good spirits and very cooperative... it didn't hurt that Brenna seems to think her Daddy is super-funny. I did manage to get one super-fusspot pic of her; even the easy perfect babies have their moments in a new place, being asked to look perfect for a whole hour. I have a feeling it'll make you smile a little. You might feel bad about, but go ahead and laugh. She was fine within about 2 milliseconds ; ) If the fusspot picture bothers you, surely the teacup picture will bring you back to a happy place.

Mommy brought along some pearls, cute hats, and a great embroidered blanket to incorporate into Brenna's images. I was excited to get to use my pretty new pink and green knit hat... The hats and pearls were so classic looking that I decided to play around a little with some hand-coloring on a few of the images (toward the end of the blog) to give them a vintage feel.

Brenna's parents did a fantastic job of entertaining her while I shot. Be sure to let them know how adorable their little princess is! Leave a comment : )

Monkey Tree is coming... to College Station!

HOWDY! If you'd like a daytime session in Bryan/College Station on April 6 or 7, please contact me for details. I'll be in the area for business Tuesday evening, and would love to work in a couple of portrait sessions. Brides, boudoir, babies, moms-to-be, family, pets... if you're reading my blog, you know what I do : ) kasey@monkey-tree.com, or visit the website and fill out the contact sheet.

Portrait sessions are $250-$350, and will need to take place in-home or on location.



I love any chance I get to post this pic of my ring and my late father's ring... WHOOP!