Maserati Merak SS shoot

Maserati Merak was born back in the late 60′s and was designed alongside the Bora, this week AmbientLife car photographer Tim Wallace had the opportunity to spend a little time with the modified SS version that first was produced in 1975 as the 220bhp option. This particular car had been in a full restoration programme for over 12 months to bring it back to life for a client in Hong Kong where the model is still very popular today with car enthusiasts and collectors alike.

The Merak was introduced as a low cost alternative to Maserati’s supercar, the Bora. Maserati’s goal was to basque on the limelight of the Bora by sharing some of the sheet metal. The French company Citroen was a majority stakeholder at this time and another goal was to utilize the V6 engine that had been developed for use on the Citroen SM.

From the doors forward, the Merak and Bora are virtually identical. The rest of the car is an entirely different story. The first iteration of the Merak can be distinguished by the Citroen style interior. Although not what you would typically find in an Italian car, this rather awkward interior is rather cool. The minor gauges (temp, oil) are very hard to read and rather useless,s and there is an over abundance of warning (idiot) lights. Around 1975 the interior dash was redesigned but still used way too much plastic. Finally in 1977 when the Bora went out of the production, the Merak all of the sudden became Maserati’s only sportscar and it received a significant interior upgrade. Also the car was rebadged as Merak SS. These cars shared
many of the interior components of the Bora, but not the seats nor the hydraulically operated pedals. The SS engine was first introduced during 1975, although the cars did not have the SS designation.

If you would like to learn more about lighting and how Tim works to achieve his photography then please join us online at Kelby Training where you can review and enjoy all of our online video classes, each of which is around a 1 hour in duration.

Kelby Training with Tim Wallace Checkout our online classes here at Kelby Training

500px Best Automotive Car photographers

500px this week launched a news page regarding the craft of car photography and named in their view the Worlds top ten car photographers to follow. We are very pleased indeed and somewhat humbled to have been placed at the top of that list.

500Px wrote: “Inspired by the Follow Friday hashtag movement on twitter we started a new feature on our blog. With Follow Friday posts you can discover new, popular and up-and-coming photographers from 500px to follow and add to friends. Today we are focusing on Automotive photographers”

500px – The World Best Car Photographers Check out the pages live here

Why not come and join us on 500px

Filming in the US with Tim Wallace and Kelby Training

This week Tim and the crew started shooting a series of new training video’s in the US for Kelby Training. The crew are out in Washington and Florida for just over two weeks and its an exciting programme schedule with 3 brand new classes being completed to compliment the 4 that AmbientLife and Tim already have available with Kelby Training as well as two new in-depth face to face interviews with Tim talking through his life and what inspires him as well as a separate master class on business and how to redefine your view of your industry and your position within it.

Tim - “It’s been a really manic first week out here in the US and currently we are shooting down in Florida with pretty long days to make sure we try to stay on our production schedule, that said its been absolutely fantastic and it’s always a real pleasure to work with the crews from Kelby with some days on set and location where we do really enjoy ourselves and have a damn good laugh even though we are working flat out, true professionalism and a great team I think. I have been working with Kelby for abut 2 years now and this new series of classes were pretty much born from the successes of the first 4 that we recored. The CEO of Kelby Training, Scott Kelby, asked me a few months back to come up with a series of additional classes that would complement what we already had out there with Kelby. During this visit into the US we are recording 3 classes, Lighting a Car with just one light!, squarely aimed at those who may only have 1 speed light. We also have done a class on shooting Motorbikes, this was a really big shoot with lots of Pro lighting gear not to mention a one off customised Harley Davidson from New York and a whole heap of scaffolding! Lastly we looked at shooting Car Interiors, and this was a personal class with Scott himself, again using Pro lighting equipment and looking at just what you can achieve in camera. We have also been filming some interviews, business and personal which have had a great reception so far from those that were on set and in the control room on the days of filming so I personally am hoping that these really inspire people.
It’s been a great first week and I guess we are well on our way to completing the filming on time so thats good news indeed and even before we are ‘all set’, we have already had talking with Kelby and another series of additional classes has already been planned for 2014.”

While Tim is in the US he is also filming several interviews and appearances from Kelby’s ‘The Grid’ to other spots that will appear over the next few months. Below is a recording of his recent appearance on ‘The Grid’ earlier this week in the US were he talks in general about his work but also discusses the benefits to finding your ‘niche’ within your photography commercially.

Morgan – Gotham City…

The Morgan Motor Company is quite possibly England’s last great independent Motor Manufacturer.

We were approached several years ago by Morgan to shoot several of their superb models for new brochure designs, including the Aero 8, SuperSport and the prototype EvaGT.

Ambient Life photographer Tim Wallace spent time working with Morgan to produce the work for mainly for use within their brochures and web presence however some of the work is planned to be used in the main Morgan area at the various international Motor Shows such as the recent Geneva show. It is at this time that manufacturers traditionally launch new models and demonstrate their prototypes for the future.

Aston Martin 2 Litre Sports for the Aston 100 Year Book Project

Aston Martin over the years have created and crafted some of the Worlds most recognisable and iconic cars and this year the company celebrate 100 years in the industry. As part of this celebration commercial car photographer Tim Wallace has been commissioned by our client Aston to produce a major book looking through the 100 years to celebrate all the models in the Aston range from the very first model that David Brown created to the latest super cars from the Aston stable such as the DBS and new Vanquish. This week Tim spent time shooting with the iconic 2 Litre Sports created way back in the 40s for the book that is anticipated for release later this year Worldwide.

The luxury brand marked the official anniversary of its founding 100 years ago with a ceremony in Chelsea’s Henniker Mews – the original home of the company that went on to become Aston Martin, founded on 15 January 1913. Aston Martin CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez – “I am proud to be celebrating 100 years of heritage and the best of British craftsmanship.”
“Aston Martin is known around the world for our leading design combined with advanced technology. Ours is the coolest luxury car brand on the planet and I am looking forward to our second century of building the world’s most desirable sports cars.”

Tim – “Being asked to create all the photography for the 100 years Aston centenary book is indeed a great honour and its a project that we have been working on for just over 7 months now. The book will primarily be a ‘coffee table’ style book of great photography looking at each of the models through the history of Aston Martin design and endeavour to create cars that instil both passion and soul. Its a massive project and currently we are approximately 70% of the way through the project and now concentrating on the lesser known cars that are quite rare to find these days in the same condition as the day that they drove out of the factory gates. For me personally it’s a joy to shoot these cars and we have been working with Aston in the UK and Europe for just over 5 years now so I am very familiar with both the company and the vehicles themselves which is a major benefit to the project for me personally. We are having monthly design meetings for the project and we anticipate that the book will launch in quarter 3 of this year globally, I can’t wait to see all that hard work come together in what I hope will be a book that young and old will enjoy a like.”

FOCUS on Imaging UK with AmbientLife

FOCUS ON IMAGING is Europe’s biggest annual imaging show, covering all aspects of photography from image capture through to output and beyond. Aimed mainly at the professional image maker and processor, as well as buyers of image making equipment and materials, the top manufacturers from around the World display their latest equipment and developments and this year UK commercial car photographer Tim Wallace has work on display from 3 of the very best, Nikon UK, Profoto Sweden and Epson UK at the show.

Tim -”It’s always great to have our work displayed at an event of this scale and notoriety, over recent years we have seen an increased interest in the work and photography that we create for our European and US based clients from the manufacturers and suppliers themselves which I personally feel is a real credit to the AmbientLife and the people that we work with each year that help us do what we do best, ‘inspire’ through quality photography. In the first few months of 2013 we have been working with Profoto in Sweden to record 4 distinct videos that talk about our work and our approach and are due to be launched globally on April 1st this year. We have also been working with Nikon UK to supply inspirational car photography that they have used across differing marketing campaigns such as the recent Nikon FX brochures released early 2013 and work that is due to be launched in the coming month through the Nikon PRO magazine. We have also had a long standing relationship with Epson UK and as we have done previously at UK and International events with them, we are once again supplying work that they are displaying in their event area as well as using this for large format test print samples to demonstrate their excellence within the professional printing industry. Its a great honour to work with these companies and not only support their drive within the industry but also the industry as a whole.”

Some of our work at the 2013 Epson event within Focus

Nikon FX publication work

Profoto Sweden

Location scouting in Switzerland

This week saw the team in the beautiful mountains and valleys of Switzerland as we worked too seek out fresh new locations within this dramatic landscape. Unlike some car photographers who find themselves based largely in studios for their shoots AmbientLife photographer Tim Wallace has always worked hard to try and stay in the ‘environment’ believing that this is truly where a car belongs rather than in a clinical white box.

Tim – “A lot of commercial work these days can find itself heavily in debt to CGI and composite work and techniques. With a ever changing industry and client demands to seek out ever more inspirational imagery for their campaigns its a tough role these days at times however I do still strongly believe that nothing can quite match the ‘real world’ and as such we invest time on a regular basis to seek out new locations, wether that be for a stills shoot itself or to capture an area for later ‘composite’ work where logistically its not possible to get a client vehicle in that chosen scene. I think its important to shoot as close as possible to the actual scene and get the very best from it that you can, I read recently that all car photographers are basically frustrated landscape photographers…lol, not sure about that but I guess I do both in many ways as I shoot some of the Worlds most intoxicating landscapes from San Francisco to The Alps of Switzerland, the only difference is that I will include a car in that scene and use it to build what I hope will be a image that sell the emotion of the car I am working with and the dream so to speak of its ownership, its really a case of creating an image that the viewer looks at and says, ‘wow I want to be in that car right there’, that’s what a good emotional commercial image has the power to do. The Alps and valleys of Switzerland are among one of my favourite places to shoot not least simply due to the sheer scale of the landscapes there, truly breath taking on many occasions and this week we have been looking at different new area’s to work in from Les Diablerets to Montreux in the south. I look forward to returning there in a few months again when the whole landscape will change again as we see spring make an appearance.”

Jaguar E Type – Quintessentially British

The Jaguar E-type is quintessentially the British classic sports coupe and needs no introduction. Wickedly fast, seductively beautiful, and technically advanced for it’s time, the E-type is acknowledged as probably the Greatest Classic British sports car. Born out of Jaguar’s highly successful factory racing campaigns of the 1950′s, the E-Type was an instant classic and quickly gained a reputation of being a blindingly fast sports car wrapped in a deliciously sexy body. With a 3.8 liter double overhead cam race engine matched to a very advanced lightweight monocoque and tube-frame body and a sophisticated independent rear suspension, the E-type is known to many and loved by all. This week commercial car photographer Tim Wallace spent some time shooting and driving this British Classic and recording his thoughts on this icon photographically.

The E-type ancestry represents the convergence of three highly successful development lines. On one side, the XK120, XK140 and XK150 sports cars had been delivering cheap, high performance driving to the common man for the previous decade. On the other, the Jaguar C and D-type’s were world class race cars competing and winning at the highest levels. Finally, the success of the Jaguar MkII saloons provided Jaguar with the financial stability to make a gamble and launch such a risky project. It is testimony to the brilliant marketeering of William Lyons that he was able to combine the best of the D-types racing design and performance with the XK’s simplicity and accessibility to successfully mass-market a high performance sports car of the caliber of the E-type.
Back in 1950, Jaguar engineers combined the drivetrain from an XK120 with a space frame chassis and a beautiful aluminium aircraft inspired aerodynamic body. With some aggressive tuning, the resulting car won the 24 hour of Le Man race in it’s first year, linking Jaguar with the legendary Bently racecars of the decades before. Within the next year, the XK120C had been fitted with the first disk brakes and the C-type was the dominant car on the race circuits of 1953. However, the sun was soon to set on the C-type as the more advanced Ferrari and Mercedes 300 SLs appeared on the scene.

1954 saw the arrival of the D-type, Jaguar’s first all-out racecar. The D-type chassis was a lightweight alloy monocoque with a low profile dry-sump high-compression XK engine. It was again victorious at Le Mans in 1955, after which the factory Jaguar race efforts were scaled back and finally closed down after the 1956 season. However, private race teams such as the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse, continued to successfully campaign the D-type for several more years. The peak of the D-type’s career came in 1957 when it took the first four places at Le Mans. During this brief beautiful period, the Jaguar D-type was the dominant sports car for it’s time.

The Mercedes 600

The Mercedes 600 is a true icon from the 60′s and apart from the Pope and governments, famous owners of the 600, and in the case of this model, have included celebrities such as Coco Chanel with Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay buying Coco Chanel’s old car. Hugh Hefner, Aristotle Onassis, Jack Nicholson, and Elvis Presley were also all owners of the 600 with notable dictators that have also had a love affair with this car including Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Leonid Brezhnev, and Kim Jong-Il, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos had four 600s including a Landaulet, a 1981 bulletproof and a six-door version. The Mercedes 600 has also featured in the James Bond films, most notably as transport of the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds are Forever. This week car photographer Tim Wallace shot such a noted example of the 600 for one of our International clients.

Mercedes-Benz introduced the 600 at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt in 1964. Powered by a 250 horsepower alloy 6.3-liter V8 engine, the 600 accelerates more like a sports car than a traditional limousine. A comprehensive hydraulic and pneumatic system powers an adjustable self-leveling suspension, assists the four-wheel disc brakes, powers the windows, maneuvers the seats, and aids in the opening of the doors and the trunk lid.

The 600 was available in a number of possible coachwork choices, and numerous options, resulting in each being essentially a custom built car. There were two wheelbase options, a four-door and six-door variant and numerous seating arrangements to select from.

In September of 1965, a four-door Pullman landaulet (partial convertible) was built for Pope Paul VI. It has an individual seat on a raised platform allowing for a flat floor, a raised roof, and extended rear doors. This vehicle was used by the Vatican for two decades and served three popes, returning home to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in 1985.

Jaguar at the NEC Classic Car Show

This week saw one of our clients, Jaguar Classic Parts, unveil their stand at the Classic Car Show held at the NEC in Birmingham. The show is a prestigious affair with many of the top names in the industry attending. This year Jaguar JCP’s area was designed around the photographic work that Ambient Life photographer Tim Wallace captured recently for our client Jaguar at the Gaydon Test track in England. The work received very positive feedback at the show from both the attending public and other companies displaying there and marks the first phase of the work being used to help promote the JCP brand further within the UK and Europe. A magazine advertising campaign is set to launch in early 2014.