Remember our dear, sweet never-hurt-a-fly Ramsey who watched over us in a not-creepy-at-all way when we slept?
He was a beloved member of the household and even inspired Burger to do some yoga.
We’ll miss Ramsey.
Yes, it felt a bit like that other little tragedy from years ago, but this time John didn’t sketch the scene. Ramsey actually didn’t fall because of anyone — he somehow popped off the kitchen wall where he’d been temporarily hanging as part of a book vignette over the fireplace. No one was in the room to catch him. It’s sad to think he died alone. John’s a little bummed, too. He was a good little ram, and we loved sleeping under his all-knowing gaze.
We’d been three weeks into photo-shoot madness and doing surprisingly well. A house full of cameras, crew, equipment, secret projects and extra furniture is like trying to slither through lasers — awkward and lurchy. So it wasn’t too shocking that on our second-to-last day of shooting (today is the final book shoot day after three full weeks!) Ramsey became our first casualty. Poor guy. What non-creepy ceramic animal will watch over our bed now? We’ll see who catches our eye next. For now there’s a hole in our hearts (and on the wall) where Ramsey hung.
Speaking of wrapping up the book shoots (can you believe our last book process post was three weeks ago?), we wanted to share some photos and a peek at what the past 21 insanely exhausting, exhilarating days looked like. We turned a pile of paper into a real book that now needs layout, design and to be sent off to the printer. It’ll be available for preorder this summer and out in the fall. We’re equal parts thrilled and terrified.
This blog is mostly about what’s happening at our house — projects, broken ceramics and photography chaos — so we wanted to share the latest in both ram-related injuries and book progress. Over the shoot we snapped over 2,000 photos, from which roughly 200 will make the final cut. We shot lots of angles and variations; for every ten shots we typically kept one. Yesterday we even photographed three different cover concepts — all great — and we’re eager to see which one gets chosen.
We’d love to share everything right now, but we have to hold back until the book launch this fall. For now, here’s as much as we can reveal about life during these three weeks: the playroom got painted about nine times. Not kidding.
Different parts of the playroom received different colors to spotlight specific shots and vignettes, so the book wouldn’t be dominated by the same tones. Because the playroom was in constant flux, the items that normally live there migrated to the sunroom, guest room, our bedroom and the dining room — total chaos. After a few repaints we were tired… but by the eighth and ninth coats it felt routine. Last night we even stenciled a wall for a special shot coming this afternoon.
There was gluing, taping, spray-painting, dyeing, stenciling, staining and lots of other DIY work. We protected our hands during process shots so we wouldn’t look — as Clara says — “messy, messy, Mommy!” Hence my dark nail polish to hide the grime and John’s Dexter-like rubber gloves.
Clara loved checking everything out, often greeting the crew with squeals of “Hi Kip! Hi Kip!” She quickly learned everyone’s names and even identified cars pulling into the driveway. She handled the change remarkably well, and we’re grateful to John’s parents for stepping in when things got hectic. The whole experience didn’t derail her — if anything, she’ll miss the daily company when it’s over.
To shoot process photos, larger setups were laid on the floor and shot from a distance using a seamless background so the shots looked simple and uncluttered. Many final images were styled “in situation” around the house to give them context — on tables, near windows, on walls or outside — though furniture arrangements and colors may look unfamiliar since so much changed during the shoot. Overhead reflectors kept lighting consistent; I liked to pretend they were sails and we were on a tropical boat. Clara daydreams about fish, so I’m clearly in good company.
Burger took all the activity in stride, even perching on disembodied Karl like a champ. He’s in the book — what’s a YHL book without some Burger shots?
About a week and a half into shooting it hit us: the house hadn’t looked this crazy since moving day. Our guest bed appeared in the living room and traveled around the house for different shots. The bed actually emphasized how big the room is — it’s practically a gym.
That guest bed later sat against the back of the fireplace, blocking traffic, but the finished shot from that setup became one of our favorites. Other borrowed furniture — like a rectangular dining table and a standard-sized sofa — helped create different scenes and also highlighted how massive our sectional Karl really is.
To the crew who became like family over the past month: thank you. And to you, readers, thanks for bearing with us while we juggled the book shoot, a kitchen redo, a household bug that tore through the house, and Portland prep. Your patience meant a lot. Also: dark chocolate — thank you. When you don’t drink coffee, you seek caffeine wherever you can.
Have you broken anything lately or turned your house upside down? Ever spent a month with a group of strangers and ended up knowing their favorite music, food or movies? It’s wild how much has happened since Christmas. Is anyone else surprised it’s mid-February?
Psst — we’ve shared other book-related posts over the last year in previous updates.