Sidney, VCU graduate and metalworker extraordinaire, asked to collaborate on a little jewelry advertising so I said…”heck yah!”. I don’t get to do as much studio work these days with the amount of weddings and portraits so it was an absolute pleasure to rig up the lights and simply create. Say hello to Sid when you see her (she’s peering over her glasses at you in the last image.) Enjoy!

The last few days of the build were hectic, but mercifully warmer. The chaos of building now switched to the interior of the house and to the finishing touches. I spent a deal of time maneuvering through teams of contractors as they rushed to finish the house before the family returned and the big reveal. “Move That Bus!!” signs started to pop up in the crowd of onlookers and regional media began arriving. As before, the images of the on-air talent and of the finished house can’t be published until air time, but there were so many little details that I’m happy to share.

I want to give another big thank you to all of the contractors, the crew from Lock and Key productions, and the thousands of volunteers who showed up to work, clean up, and just cheer on with excitement.

A special thanks to Ken Broadwater Homes for making me a part of their family for the week (and for the RV space for catching up on sleep) as well as the folks at The Mad Hatter in Farmville, VA. Without Wes and Helena Edwards putting my name out there, I never would have been a part of such a wonderful experience.

Enjoy the images…

I’ve had many folks messaging us over the past two weeks saying…”hey…where’s there rest of my house???”.

Well, we’ve wrapped up editing of the entire shoot but we’re just waiting on final approval from the network and production staff on the images. To not spoil the fun for viewers, more consideration has to be paid to what images are posted after a certain point in the construction of the house.

I promise that as soon as we get word, we’ll get ‘em up online.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support (and awesome comments!)

So, here’s where it gets tricky. They daytime is windy and around 39 degrees. The nighttime is windier and about 20. I’m going to have to learn to use my camera with my teeth and take the pictures with my nose, as my fingers will have long since fallen off before we get done this week. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the workers who are on shift for 12-13 hours and sometimes until 2am to get this project done.

It is unbelievable the amount of activity that is occurring at every moment. I overhear tales from contractors that are using upwards of 500% additional workforce to complete their task on time. And remember, all of the hours and materials are donated. Businesses are literally putting their livelihoods on hold to make this happen. There are also many volunteers who show up just to clean up, serve food, transport people or just observe the madness. Today, the kids from Fuqua School showed up to donate time and smiles, as well as many folks from the town. You may catch a glimpse of a certain red-suited and bearded fellow that stopped by. I suppose he needs to see where the toys will need to be delivered this year for this family.

The production company from Lock and Key is amazing, too. They are kind, talented, and above all, very good at what they do. I’ve been on a number of sets and this crew just clicks. I can understand now how they’re able to accomplish this 25 times a year.

The next series of photos takes you through what is essentially an 18 hour period from 7am on Wednesday morning until 2pm-ish today. Yesterday started with demolishing the old structure and the beginning of construction. It snowed through most of the morning which made for great photography, but wasn’t pleasant as the ground turned to muck. If I don’t clean my shoes I’m going to be bring a large amount of Farmville back to Richmond each day.

I’m on a self-imposed break to see my family and post these. The experience is so great that I have to force myself to leave the build site. Enjoy the images and a big “Hey!” to my new friends Leigh and Matt from ABC 13 in Lynchburg, VA. They’ve been very welcome comic relief during the days and evenings on the build site.