It was truly a pleasure to watch Tricia, William, and their three lovely daughters receive their new home built by ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - and such a beautiful home, too! Here's an excellent walkthrough: Some of you have reached out to say that you're disappointed to have missed the show (or you were watching the Grammys ;) Fear not, you can watch it in its entirety at abc.com - here's a direct link to the full episode. If you haven't seen it, you should. It really is quite beautiful. For those who did watch, here are photographs of the family and some more behind-the-scenes images from working on the set (this time around it was only super cold & rainy, unlike last time when it was crazy freezing cold & rainy ;) So, without further ado, I present The Creasey Family...

I just LOVE Tricia's laugh here :) :) :)

A big thank you to our very own Kaitlin Rogers who headed down with me for the day of the shoot & got some really cute images of how I was shooting the so-so-adorable girls:

After the shoot, we stepped through the images to make selections for the various rooms in the house...

Then, met with more of the design team and the awesome design producers to get everything sorted out and edited - I uploaded several batches of images to Buckeye Color Lab so that they could turn them around immediately (and go on to donate all those prints). A few days later, I got some hilarious shots of Jewel and Ty blow-torching wood to create the gorgeous rustic frames that they used to showcase the photographs - was a really cute skit with the fire getting out of control and the fire marshall stepping in to save the day (but, alas, it didn't make it through final edits :)

Volunteers were backing and framing pieces up until the very last minute in "Art World".

Then it was on to hanging the pieces and getting all the furniture moved in fast!

The lovely finished rooms (ahhhh) .... and the super friendly Tracy & Alex in designer heaven: *Paris*.

Out to greet the cheering crowd, the media - and, of course, the family returning to their brand new home...

Love the extreme "home is done" huddle...

(from both angles)

Finally ... such genuine joy as the family pulls up in their limo. You can see the full episode for the rest of the story! :) Whew.

(And they do this every week, people.)

~~~~~~ ...oh, and gotta love the credits...

The Olympics are officially underway, and it got me to thinking of how much Olympian photography I've had the honor of capturing lately :) I started last year with Cullen Jones, a two-time national swimming champion and a world record holder - and now an Olympian, securing his spot with his 100-meter performance in the Olympic Swim Trials. Here's the cover shoot and some of the editorial from our session last year - Cullen was so into the shoot, which made for some fantastic editorial:

And just recently, I photographed Shalane Flanagan - another American Record Holder going for the gold in Beijing! She secured her spot in the 2008 Summer Olympic Trials held in Eugene, Oregon. She competed in both the 5K and the 10K, and she won the 10K final in a time of 31:34.81, locking in her a spot on Team USA for 2008 Olympic Games. Like most world-class athletes, Shalane is a very mental competitor, and it was pretty interesting to hear her discuss specific visualization techniques in regards to racing...

You think you go through sneakers???

Of course, there was my shoot a few years ago with Olympic Medal-Winner Joan Nesbit and also last month's shoot of Tucker Dupree, also in Beijing. And there was also the fun family session with Baby Jack. His proud papa is Steve Wojociechowski, a Court Coach for the Team USA basketball team. I'm also looking forward to my upcoming shoot with his much-loved boss at the Olympics (and at home), Coach K. Will definitely be excited to watch all the action and root on these great athletes, especially - GO GO GO!

So, what defines a world changer? I'm sure it's different for everyone. For me, it's a person who is actively trying to make a substantial difference or is changing the world for the better in ways that we have not seen before. These are people who, through their example, lifestyle, and achievements are helping to change cultural norms that used to define who could do what ... they personify the breaking of barriers. These individuals, quite simply, inspire. I'm honored to meet these people, to photograph them and to watch them as they make ripples around history. Be sure to click next at the bottom of the page to see more profiles. (With some amazing shoots already booked for the future, I look forward to seeing this area expand over time.) --Tamara

Photographing Senator Barack Obama was a remarkable experience - Tamara wrote about her experience doing so in the June, 2008 issue of Rangefinder Magazine. On the world-changing scale, the Washington Post had this to say: A Run for the Ages? Scholars Say Obama's Campaign Is History in Motion Already, the adjective "historic" seems permanently attached to news media descriptions of Barack Obama's emergence as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. News anchors and pundits deploy the term with abandon, but what do actual historians think? "I think this will be in a class by itself," said John Hope Franklin, who at 93 is the dean of the American historians who think and write about race. Obama's campaign "is the most radical, far-reaching, significant [undertaking] by any individual or group in our history," he said. "This strikes at the very heart of national ideology on race and the political patterns of this country's history." Barack Obama's quest has not gone unnoticed. Many speak to his ability to transcend parties, to heal a nation, with no concern for the historical impacts of his race. Attracting thousands at town hall meetings, rallies, and a myriad of events, a record 75,000 individuals came out to see him speak in Portland, Oregon in May of 2008. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President Kennedy, endorsed Senator Obama by stating, " I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president - not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."