Maserati MC-12

This past Monday I found out that Maserati North America was sponsoring a car show in my home town and they were exhibiting their race car (the MC-12) at the Blackhawk Museum, a regular client of mine. Long story short, the car would be in the Museum Friday at 10 am through Saturday at 4 pm. The Museum was holding a party that Friday night so the car would only be accessible to shoot after that party. Wanting to get the MC-12 in my portfolio, I waited until 11 pm on Friday to call my contact & friend at the Museum before he let me know when we could move the car into place and start setting up for the shoot. We got the car in the studio part of the Museum around 1 am and I shot until 8 in the morning; surviving on Red Bull's, a Safeway pre-made sanwich and a lot of determination. Looking back, I'm glad I did it. And I'd do it again and again and again if such opportunities came at me.

The image above is the money shot I got that night. I'm also fond of the rear end:



And for the gear heads out there, a short video of the car roaring like a beast:

"Hello Gorgeous"

London based production company Gorgeous Enterprises has been a favorite production house of mine for a few years since I stumbled upon their unique, cat-based website. While some might not like the cat thing (and if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, check them out here), I'll tell you this: I first stumbled across their site in '02-'03 and almost immediately forwarded the address to all my friends. Fast forward to '08 and a few days ago, I remembered the site when chatting with my rep about commercials. Searching for "Cat" and "Commercials" didn't yield any results (put Cat's in your keywords, Gorgeous!) but I eventually found it. I've frequented many websites for still and motion advertisements but the cats...I remembered the cats. There's nothing else like it on the web and it's actually pretty funny, especially their contact page.

Either way, winning awards left and right, the production company and its directors/writers are some of the most creative and talented people in advertising. From clients such as Aristoc to Vodaphone, the Gorgeous website is certainly worth checking out as it allows you to view it's directors work.

And if you're wondering what these guys can accomplish, here's Peter Thwaites' award winning Vodaphone ad from a couple years ago: