paris

Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience

adventure, photography, , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the last few years, I’ve had the great fortune of traveling around the world documenting the story behind the Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience. We’ve cruised through Rome, Paris, Dubai, Ras al Khaimah and Edinburgh. How did I land such an awesome gig? It was all thanks to a kind introduction via my friend Zantelle at Lamborghini. I’m always grateful to have great clients who share the love…

Needless to say, we’ve created great chaos with our fleet of colourful and noisy Lambo’s. Streets come to a standstill. Fellow motorists stop to pull out their mobiles. It’s all a dream for boys who love their toys. Yet not everyone has been impressed with our presence. It’s funny how the various law enforcement officers react differently. Cruising through Rome, the police were snapping away while we looped around Piazza Venezia Roma… me doing my standard bag of tricks, crawling in and around the convertible Huracan to capture some great car to car shots. But in Scotland, we were pulled aside. “Excuse me sir, why are you not wearing your seatbelt?”. I was ready to wax lyrical why but didn’t even get the chance. In it’s place, a stern lecture about road safety, responsibility and ‘what would happen if’s….’

Little did he know that I do this for a living and have been in way scarier situations than bumper to bumper traffic cruising towards Edinburgh Castle. I was nearly issued a fine and knew better than to argue. A sincere apology did the trick and besides, even my five year old son reminds me about being strapped in before driving.

The tour has been great. 4am wake up calls to catch the sunrise up Jebel Jais. Timing traffic lights to get a clear view of Pont d’Iena for the iconic Eiffel Tour backdrop. Ducking hoards of scooters and navigating crazy narrow roads in Rome. Then there was the lead car being driven by the throttle heavy hotel manager and me, with a 23 year old Lambo pro driver, briefed to stay within inches of his back bumper.

I love this shit. The mesmerised eyes on the street, the sound of the Aventador’s V12 engine, the long list of happy hotel guests who get to experience how it feels to own a Lamborghini and a bag of iconic visuals to boot. Returning all the metal in one piece and the cool memories to return home with are the icing on the cake.

Wk.

Lambo’s in Paris

adventure, photography, , , , , , , , ,

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts flew me to Paris at the back end of last year to create a story around their customer driving experience. Hard to say no to a gig in Paris! It really is an amazing city. Shooting the new Lamborghini Huracan with pro drivers, a stunning hotel and an open brief made for a pretty cool assignment.

We were blessed with perfect weather and a hotel with a real history behind it, especially around the 2nd world war when some pretty important players lodged there. With the hotel’s rich history in mind, we parked two spanking new Huracan’s at the entrance. Old v new. White v colour. Italy v France. It really didn’t matter how it was interpreted. The shots all looked wonderful.

When we hit the streets, the local crowd went wild. Granted the boys were revving the engines whenever they could. The echo was crazy too… through tunnels and bouncing off buildings. We couldn’t have gone unnoticed if we’d tried!

What I love about projects like these is shooting in a new place. Fresh ideas. Fresh spaces. You don’t even have the option to press repeat. I spent a day walking around downtown Paris, spotting sites, backdrops, colour and iconic landmarks. Paris has so much to offer. We tried driving shots around the Arc the Triomph but it proved just too chaotic and has some pretty strict traffic rules.

I think the icing on the cake must have been shooing at Place de Costa Rica. I found it during my recce and it just seemed to scream Paris. A friendly Parisian on a bike couldn’t have cycled into the shot at a better time…

Wk.