A Moment in Life: Chestnut Roaster Acura Commercial

A Moment in Life: Chestnut Roaster Acura Commercial

The Season of Reason Sales Event for Acura.   Normally a brand like Acura wouldn't promote sales and savings, because they are a luxury brand.  When do you see Rolex sales?  Never...  However, this set of 7 ads is impeccably done when mixed with a touch of dry humor.  The advertisements follow 7 different 'over indulgers' who bought ridiculous items for the holidays. 

This brief probably states that the brand needed to communicate smart, sophisticated sales while maintaining their luxury standing.  My favorite, the Chestnut Roaster...

 Chestnut Roaster Acura Commercial

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A Moment in Life: Spy Car Honda Commercial

A Moment in Life: Spy Car Honda Commercial

Here's one that was very unexpected: a regional Honda sales event commercial.  Who would have thought they would do such a good job blending humor and real, compelling product information.  This brief probably wanted to convey value and savings to a younger, hipper group of people.  If you're one of us- younger, hipper people (yeah, you count) you'll see what I mean.

Check out the series, there are a number of hilarious commercials for this sales event.

Spy Car Honda Commercial

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A Moment in Life: Sasquatch Hyundai Commercial

A Moment in Life: Sasquatch Hyundai Commercial

These may be the funniest ads that I've seen in a long time.  Produced for Hyundai Canada, they feature a Sasquatch on the set of this Hyundai ad, Country Drive.

Sasquatch Hyundai Commercial

There are a number of other hilarious extras, playing off the gag 'Sasquatch Behind The Scenes.'  He just likes people, okay?!

Sasquatch Hyundai Commercial

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A Moment in Life: Easy On The Eyes

A Moment in Life: Easy On The Eyes  -  Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Advertisement

As you all (might) know, I love advertising.  I love advertising, and I especially love creative advertising.  I spent a lot of my free time looking at new creative that surfaces, and keep collections of my favorite... don't judge me.

One of my favorite advertisers is Innocean, who advertises for Hyundai.  They have made major strides in the last few years.  The car has jumped from a low-end alternative brand to a competitive affordable luxury brand, taking a swipe at Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

Here is one of my favorite ads, for the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.  Probably based on a very simple brief: this car isn't ugly like all other hybrids.  It is very creatively executed.

 Easy on the eyes

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A Moment In The Life of the Jardin de Rodin's Odd Statues

A Moment In The Life of the Jardin de Rodin's Odd Statues.

There's a lot to say about Le Jardin de Rodin, and what I'm about to say is probably none of those things.  I visited the famous garden, rich with history and talent, at the very end of my stay in Paris.  A few days prior, I had spent hours picking through the Louvre's historical archives, finding out everything I could about each and every piece of art that I looked at.

My brain hurt.

So, when I came to the Rodin Gardens, I walked around shooting all the interesting works of art when I noticed a theme: there are a ton of odd statues of oddly positioned men in the gardens.  Rodin must have had a thing for humans, bent into strange shapes.  The thinker statue is an icon: almost everyone knows it and it's beautiful.  But when you think about it, a naked man hunched forward with his elbow on his knees isn't the first thing one would expect a sculptor to create.   Of course, the garden topiaries and flowers are art in and of themselves, so I took some shots of the floral beauty of the place.

Enjoy the odds statues interspersed in beautiful gardens...

Le Jardin de Rodin Flowers

Odd Man Statue in Le Jardin de Rodin.  Lifting weights, perhaps?

Odd Statue at Le Jardin de Rodin... annnnnnd BREAK!

Topiary at Le Jardin de Rodin

Finally, the famous Thinker Statue at Le Jardin de Rodin

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A Moment in Life at a Biarritz Nude Beach

A Moment in Life at a Biarritz Nude Beach.  French Nude Beaches are real.

The French Biarritz Nude Beaches sneak up on you.  I didn't mean to be creepy, but I was walking around with my huge Canon 40D and telephoto lens taking pictures at the beach and exploring during my last day in Biarritz when, all of a sudden, people were naked.

SO, I'm posting this blog with the understanding that most of my readers will now think less of men.  But hey, I can't argue with the overwhelming amount of traffic from the google search 'nude beach'.

I started out by ignoring the topless old women (and men... wow, were there a lot of naked men).  Eventually, however, I got tired of snapping photos of the ocean... photos of the rocks... photos of the waves... of the water... there were nudes all around me.

Tobias from Arrested Development would have had a heart attack.

I sat down in the sand to take a breather and my camera wandered towards a group of nudies.  I may have accidentally pulled the trigger, snapped the shutter, and captured a few on camera.  DON'T FREAK OUT; no adult content here, I both blurred and 'black lined' the lady bits.  But, this gives you an idea of what was out there.  Old (though relatively fit) nude women in the foreground and younger (less fit and completely nude) women in the background.

I know what you're thinking: it's too bad I didn't take any of the naked men.

Biarritz French Nude Beach Water

Biarritz French Nude Beach Waves

Biarritz French Nude Beach Nude Woman.  Here they are, blurred for your safety.  Thank you for your cooperation, ladies.

Steps and Building on the way back from the Biarritz Nude Beach.  Beautiful.

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Spring Break at The Bahia Hotel in Cabo

A Moment in Life in Cabo.

I went to Cabo with my girlfriend, the lovely MacKenzie Rae Campbell, and a few of my fraternity brothers.  They piled 5 people into a 2-person room so two people had to sleep on the floor (on our generously lent cushions).  MacKenzie and I stayed comfortably in our cabana at the Bahia Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Right when we landed in the tiny Cabo airport (and after having waited about an hour for MacKenzie's delayed plane to deboard), we were picked up by our 'cabo' driver who showed up in what looked like a people-carrying 18-wheeler.  We stuffed 10 people in the car and headed to the Mexican Costco.  The prices were astronomical listed in pesos.  $150 for a bundle of bananas, $5,000 for a low-end point and shoot camera... you get the idea.  It was shocking at first, and people spoke very little english but we eventually found what we needed: a dozen handles of Oso Negro (cheap unfiltered vodka), a half dozen 24-packs of corona, some champagne, orange juice, bagels, and some chex mix.  We didn't get donuts.

After our 1.5 hour shopping spree in Costco, our cab driver was still in the parking lot with all of our stuff (phew).  We weren't exactly 'on top of it' on this trip, but the workers at the Costco in Mexico were strangely helpful.  They followed us to the van and helped unload all of our supplies into our truck; our truck looked like we were a food packaging and shipping company, because we barely had room to breathe with all the alcohol and food in the van.

We made it to the Bahia hotel, and settled into our room and what would be our routine for the next 5 days.  Wake up, eat a bagel, lay by the pool hungover, go across the street to Sharky's (a delicious Mexican restaurant across the street from our hotel with delicious and cheap tacos), go to the beach and drink/jet ski/boat/swim/get stung by jellyfish, come back to the hotel to take a nap, eat dinner, and go out to Nowhere Bar, Squid Roe and Pink Kitty.  We repeated this a few times before we headed back to the airport.

It was a great trip.

Costco Camera Prices in PESOS

The Pool at the Bahia Hotel in Cabo

A Cold and Confused MacKenzie Rae Campbell trying to stay warm in the bed at Bahia Hotel in Cabo

MacKenzie Rae Campbell by the 'yeti' candles at the Bahia Hotel Cabo

The 'Back Balcony' View from our Bahia Hotel Room Cabo

Nighttime View of the City from our Balcony at the Bahia Hotel Cabo

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Father-Son Bonding Trip to Big Sur

A Moment in The Life of a Father And Son on their trip to Big Sur.

I'm back in town for the weekend, and I may have re-torn my labrum surfing yesterday.  I'll probably be out of commission for a few months and might need surgery, so I needed to find something to do other than surfing (this is much harder than you might imagine for those of us that use it as an instrument for relaxation, exertion, and entertainment).  My dad is taking the same digital photography class taught by Dorian Hanner that I took over summer, and he has an assignment to take landscapes.  I decided to accompany him to Big Sur to shoot some, but  I didn't have my camera so I used my iPhone 4S to shoot these.

We drove out along the windy coast road in his blue BMW 135i with my camera out the window, starring intently in search of the best locations to shoot.  We stopped at some of the turn offs without speaking, as if we knew where to get the best photos instinctively.  We hardly had time to talk because we were so concentrated on getting the best shots from similar vantage points as all the tourists in the area; how could we make our photos unique amidst thousands of similar photos taken at the same place everyday?

Well, I can't speak for my dad (teaching an old guy to take photos is no piece of cake), but I think my photos came out pretty well considering they were taken on my phone.

Drop a comment and let me know what you think.

Beautiful Landscape in Big Sur

Garrapata Beach in Big Sur with some good waves for surfing

Beautiful teal water by Bixby Bridge in Big Sur with a cool rock tunnel

The Man himself attempting to take landscapes

A big rock next to the waves at Garrapata in Big Sur

Surf at Garrapata in Big Sur

Interesting chromatic aberrations from my iPhone at Garrapata in Big Sur

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