NIKKI

Few random outtakes from our photoshoot in Vegas last friday.

This was one of those things that was sort of tricky to put together but gratifying to get done.



We needed some shots for a few 0484-related things we're working on in-house. So we hit up Nikki, who we'd shot a few months ago, and got her on-board. But she happens to work crazy hours at the most preeminent pool in Vegas, and we only had one free day in our schedule so we had to make sure everything lined up.



Secondly, we planned on trying to lock in a location before our trip but we never had the time to make all the calls and arrangements. So, Thursday afternoon we still technically had no place to shoot.



We made a short list of about 5 pools in Vegas that we thought had the look we wanted. The plan was to hit each one and hope that at least one of them would have a manger who we could convince.



We were down at the Miracle Mile Shops and decided to walk next door to Planet Hollywood Towers first. Ten minutes later we managed to get permission from the pool manager to shoot the next morning - no permits, no insurance, no fees.



Showed up Friday morning, and everything went smoothly (besides the fact that it was a million degrees outside). The shoot turned out really well - we got all the images we needed and then some.



Thanks to our new best friend Kevin from PH Towers and next time you're in Vegas, go see our girl Nikki at Tao Beach.

MAGIC

Few flicks from last week.



Walked through MAGIC/Project for 3 days along with the crew from Iron Horse.







Lounge area at MAGIC. These beanbags were pretty comfortable - I snapped this pic of Matt trading stocks and then I passed out for 15 minutes.







Random painting from Aria. I'm really starting to like this place - next time the South Point is sold out I'm going to convince Matt to stay here instead.





We stuck around for a couple extra days after the show and a few of our boys flew out for the weekend.



Went out to TPC Vegas on Saturday.



Everyone tried to give me a hard time because they claimed I played an awful back nine. Well, I actually did play an awful back nine, but to be fair, it was 105º outside.



"Yeah, I'm in room 2413 and I was wondering if it'd be possible for us to get a late checkout please?"

AWAY MESSAGE

0484 is temporarily out of the office this week (again).







Don't worry, we're still doing all the same things. Different hotel room - same story.



Still working weird hours, huddled together on a single tiny desk, living off caffeine and gummy bears. Still blogging (barely). Took a bunch of photos this week from MAGIC and elsewhere - I'll post them someday soon when I have time to write sarcastic captions for them all.

Photoshoot tomorrow (well actually today technically) - alarm rings in 3 hours. Goodnight & good morning from Vegas.

MIDWEST CHOPPERS

In Milwaukee we took a company field trip to the Harley-Davidson museum.

As you can probably guess, we don't ride motorcycles (our moms won't let us) but we still had a good time nonetheless. I actually had read about this place awhile back because Pentagram was hired to do the Architecture and Interiors. Of course, they did a really amazing job - those guys are legit and they don't ever really disappoint.


The first Harley

And even for non-motorcycle people, the story of the company is really intriguing. Basically a hundred years ago, these 4 kids started experimenting inside this tiny wooden shack trying to put an internal combustion engine onto a bicycle. And of course they went on to build one of the greatest truly American brands of all time.








They had a ton of historic art and memorabilia but this poster stood out to me. Today Michael Schwab is known for this vintage silhouette style and everyone tries to copy him - but this poster is actually pre-Schwab so this is really an example of where he originally lifted his whole aesthetic from. I'm not mad at him though - I think Schwab is one of the most gifted graphic artists alive today.


Pretty cool Evel Knievel temporary exhibit.

MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

Worked an interesting schedule this week.

Iron Horse Jeans had a tight deadline for us to shoot new product samples for their Spring '11 catalog - and a few dozen other projects we were working on with them. So, they flew back from China with the samples Sunday and then Matt and I worked a couple back-to-back 20 hour days earlier this week to get stuff done for them.



Along with the crew from Iron Horse we managed to get everything taken care of. It's always amazing what can be accomplished when you lock people in a room together and give them nothing more than a common goal, a bunch of snacks and a fridge full of caffeine. Honestly, I still think the all-nighters are sort of fun - we're still young, life's thankfully not that serious yet - there's a lot worse things than pulling really long hours once in a while.

SUMMER VACATION

Daily schedule from Wisconsin.


8AM. Ryan's iPhone alarm. Snooze til 10. Skip morning fishing session.

10 - 11. Eggo waffle. Steal wifi from neighbors. E-mails/work.


11 - 12:30PM. Wakeboarding.


12:30 - 2. Lunch.


2 - 5. Fishing, wakeboarding, napping on boat.



5 - 7:30. Work. E-mails. Phone calls.


7:30 - 10. Dinner/fun.




10PM - 4AM. Work. Mosquito bite treatment. Midnight snack.

WISC

Came out to Wisconsin for the week.



I guess the original plan was for a vacation but we have a few too many things to get done for that to happen. So, we've basically been splitting our time between working and taking the boat out on the lake. By almost completely eliminating sleep from our schedule we've still been managing to clock around 8 hours a day.



Bunch more trip photos coming soon - that is, of course, if the mosquitoes don't kill me first.

ABQ II / TAYLER MALSAM PHOTOSHOOT

Spent most of last week shooting photos and video of Nascar driver Tayler Malsam for Iron Horse Jeans.

This kid is living the life. First off, he's 21 years old. His best friend Andrew manages his website and works, lives and travels with him everywhere. They're both from Seattle but now live in North Carolina along with all the other Nascar drivers.



Every week, Braun Racing Team charters a private plane for Tayler, Andrew and their crew out to the race city on Thursday. Friday is practice and time trials. Saturday is race day then the charter back to NC. Other 4 days of the week are spent in the gym, in the garage and chilling out.



Anyway, Tayler and Andrew were both really cool. Had the chance to hang out with them for a couple days - work, gamble, chill. Definitely a good time. It's always interesting to me to get to know people who are actually living their dream. Matt, Ryan and I were pretty die-hard Nascar fans by the end of the week.


Abq mobile office


Mocha Mud Pie from Elephant Bar - best dessert ever?


This was my favorite trip photo


We need to write a book - Creative Golf Cart Uses for Professional Photoshoots



Budget was out of Range Rovers so we got this Kia Sedona minivan instead. Thank God we bought the supplemental rental insurance. First off, the white scratches that you can sort of see here on the bumper came from when Tayler wanted to get crazy one night and started treating our rentals like bumper cars. Then we stopped at Pei Wei on the way to the airport and someone keyed the van twice - yeah, I know I parked in the '10 Minute Only' spot - but I think we can all agree that vandalizing cars isn't really an appropriate parking enforcement penalty.