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BBOMG7 is in the books!

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BBOMG7 is in the books!

What a ride!  So I'm back in New York and what a week we had in Oshawa.  I want to thank everyone that attended BBOMG7 this year, especially; Hylton Jorssen, Scott English and Mike Judge.  You guys made this weekend so unbelieveably memorable and I can't wait to hang with you guys again next year, on my turf for once!

The best news about the weekend for me was how receptive everyone was to the BBOMG6HC Photo Book.  The smiles on everyone's faces were absolutely priceless and worth not only the trip to Ontario, but also all the work I put into the project.

Best of all the Signature Edition Book that I brought with me to the Camaro SIX unveiling in Detroit, that eventually wound up in the hands of a few Camaro Celebrities in the Volt Lounge at the Ren Center including Scott Settlemire, Al Oppenheiser and Mike Judge, also got autographed by everyone at BBOMG7 before going on to the auction block.  That particular book went to a good home in Belinda Ellis, and the Big Brother's Big Sisters charity received a wonderful donation for it.   

When the raffle portion of BBOMG7's Banquet began I was so incredibly happy to see the posters that I printed up and donated went to two of my favorite Upstate C5 guys, Joe Higgins and Josh Amodio.  Of course the best thing a photographer can hope to hear is that they'll be hung up with pride, and they indeed will be,  both at Joe's house and Josh's Speed Shop "New Age Hotrods" (Cough...Cough... Plug).  

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful BBOMG and for making me so unbelievably proud to be a part of this wonderful Camaro Community.  I'm incredibly thankful to have been able to not only attend BBOMG7, but to be able to shake the hands of the people of Oshawa who craft these wonderful pieces of automotive art, and spend the event with my favorite folks in this community all in the name of helping kids who are in need.

Shout outs to: Hylton Jorssen, Scott English, Mike Judge, Chris Frezza, Jason Port, Belinda Ellis, Joe and Jess Higgins, Josh Amodio and Kari, Mike Calapai, Joey T, Peter Caliendo, TJ, Raul, Tino, Josephine, Tino Jr, Mel, Jaison, Gary N, Jimmy, Karen Thompson, Brian Decker, Lisa Peregoy, Monica Noble, Debbie and Jean, Spike and Karen, Rick, April, Vince and Heather, both Dans from PA, Lady G, Angelina, Derek, and Cage, Jason, Amy and Trent, Andrew, Jen Tough and of course the little future Z/28 owner Callum.

 

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Shout out!

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Shout out!

Special thanks to my good friends, Chris Frezza and Jason Debbler of "The Camaro Show" podcast for the shout out about BBOMG6 Hard Cover Photo Book.  

For those of you who aren't familiar with "The Camaro Show" Podcast, or Chris and Jason, they are two of my favorite people in the Camaro Community (...probably closer to being two of my favorite people in the world to be honest).  They are two of the most amazing, dedicated, hard working guys I've ever met, and they are devoted to all things Camaro (so we get along well).  Chris and Jason originally started CamaroZ28.com and the forum there, and years ago 16-year old Brandon was an avid reader/forum-goer while building his first Camaro.  Since then, they have evolved with the Camaro and today I'm happy to call them two of my friends, so their support and kind words mean the world to me.  Thanks for spreading the word boys!

Podcast below!

http://camaroshow.com/camaro-show-16-order-your-2016-camaro-now/

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BBOMG6 HARD COVER LAUNCH!

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BBOMG6 HARD COVER LAUNCH!

This week marked the official launch of Pre-Orders for the BBOMG6 (Builders Buyers Official Meet and Greet 6)  Hard Cover Photo Book.  A truly exciting time for me personally, as it's so refreshing to actually know that everyone that I spent last year's event with, will finally get something tangible from the time together, and all the hard work I put in will be well worth it, once I see everyone's smiles again.  

The whole process was a bit of an undertaking, the planning that goes into just packing equipment for shooting multiple days in unpredictable situations, while managing space in a sports car that you're road tripping in is a complicated process.  Lens choices as well as efficient lighting and support equipment was another hugely important decision as well.  Both were important to maximize the opportunities that would be given to me behind the camera.

As with any shoot, challenges always come up.  The most common one throughout the event was undertaking shooting more advanced lighting shots  with such a short time to plan and adjust in between events and locations that were unfamiliar places.  This meant running in without an idea of layout or obstructions and attempting to adapt and adjust the photo ideas and lighting setups in your head to each situation.  The whole process has been so much fun and considering challenges like time and the restraints of organizing 100 people in the same spot, things can get complicated and I think for the most part the production of the harder shots came out amazing. 

The one issue I ran into is that I have the most complicated schedule known to man.  This time last year, I returned home in New York from Oshawa, and ran straight into both the peak of wedding season and the start of hockey season (ton of big news trades and the final year at Nassau Coliseum for the team) at the same time.  Therefore the post production work of the book took a lot longer than I wanted.  Unlike a lot of photographers today, my personal standards are tremendously higher than the large majority of the photographers out there, and therefore every photo was analyzed for print usage, this varies quite a bit from analyzing shots for web usage and wire service work.  Each photo was cleaned up, adjusted and color corrected, before I even started working on the layout of the book itself.

After that the hardest task was balancing the book that most everyone had a part in it.  Sadly everyone from the event didn't make it into the book with such limited time and space but I think I caught the large majority of everyone and enough people to actually show the story of what BBOMG actually is...and more importantly I think I did a good job of showing the people and the car community itself.  

Outside of that, it's been incredibly entertaining to launch everything, although it's been quite a challenge for the time restraints (for those that don't know, I've handled every part of the launch personally).   Luckily today, I've become kind of a modern renaissance man and I'm not only familiar, but well versed with every  bit of the marketing, e-commerce, web design, printing, proofing, social media work, even building a large scale email blast, and webstore.  So it's been quite funny when my friends have asked "what have you been up to?", or said something like "Oh you're not shooting today? What are you doing sitting on a computer?" and I just smile and say "oh you know...".  It's just really enlightening, how creative one can be in their spare time, if you have an idea in your head, a bit of drive and a lot of Starbucks.

Anyways, I personally hope everyone enjoys their books, when they get them.  It's seriously going to be so amazing to see everyone again and to show them that their modelling work was worth it.  Everyone better start editing their resumes to add "model" to their previous occupations!  

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SIX6sixVIsix6SIX

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SIX6sixVIsix6SIX

I'm finally back home in New York after 30-something hours of driving throughout one of the coolest weekends of my life.

After all of my years on this planet, somethings have never changed. My heart has ALWAYS gravitated towards adventure, towards excitement, towards art and towards speed. That has culminated to today, being the proud owner of two V8 Chevrolet Camaros. My heart has always known what it wants, and Camaro has always been the car that spoke to me. It's the vehicle for adventure, for excitement, for 1G cornering and 0-60mph V8 roars that do something to your soul that can't be put in words.

I spent this weekend roadtripping to Detroit, Michigan during one of the most toughest and stressful months of my life, and my gosh the open road is a fickle thing. Sitting at the helm of a 2010 Camaro SS and driving up I80, it became evident that I'm not in control of much, but I am in control of my happiness.

That became evident the moment I stepped into the Renaissance Center and saw all of my friends from across the country and Canada. Folks just like myself, good people, enthusiasts, engineers, from New York, Ontario, Texas, Georgia, Chicago, California, North and South Dakota, Ohio and of course Michigan. The entire journey to Detroit was just as much about rebirth for a car I love as it was about heritage and the promise of a new generation. The event itself was an appreciation of all of the hard work to make future folks like myself feel that same love and appreciation for a piece of automotive art. It was a celebration of SIX Generations of Camaros and as my friend Al Openheiser (chief engineer for Team Camaro) later told us six years of hard work to build a lighter, faster, stronger and more efficient Camaro. (Yes as soon as they rolled out the 5th Generation Camaro in 2009 they started working on the sixth gen up to today...and the work has only begun.)

From getting to race around Belle Isle's road course, getting to see every monumental Camaro that was ever created, getting a hot lap in a Z28 with the head instructor for Ron Fellow's Spring Mountain Racing School, all the way to getting to see the beginning of what can only be expected will be a another legendary Sixth Generation Camaro... the highlight of the weekend was in fact the people. Seeing folks like Scott Settlemire, Mike Judge, Al Openhieser, Chris Frezza, Chris Debler, Jason Port, Tom Peters, Todd Christensen, and all of my friends from the various BBOMG events from across the US and Canada, the people and the community make the event. Their/our love for the community make the event so much more enjoyable. So thank you to Chevrolet for putting on an amazing, once in a lifetime event and thank you to all of my friends for making that event that much more fun and enjoyable.

Below are my photos from the trip.

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Brandon Titus Kentucky?

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Brandon Titus Kentucky?

For the first time in my life, I've been granted the supreme luxury of doing some serious traveling. As a young person who's rebuilt his life, it's always been the same situation as every other living soul on this planet...it's always either not enough time, or not enough money. Luckily 2015 has been a change of pace, and I've gotten to visit the people and places I've wanted to see for quite some time.

Recently, I've had the amusing job of answering the common question from everyone who asked where I was... "why the hell did you goto Kentucky?".

Well my apologies to the people of Kentucky, unfortunately most of the New Yorker's I spoke with aren't even aware of where Kentucky is located...but they sure know your Basketball team!

So yeah, Kentucky is the home of the Corvette, a piece of art near and dear to my heart. Produced in Bowling Green, Kentucky since 1981, the Corvette is America's elite sports car for a reason... It's fast, it's methodical, it's efficient, it's imposing and it is absolutely gorgeous. As an engineering enthusiast, it's facility is state of the art and the technology in the newest C7 is derived from the most winning sports cars in Team Corvette.

Most folks would goto Hawaii or Florida for a vacation but I am not most people. In two years when I'm back in a position to buy yet another GM product I'll have my eyes on a Z06 for sure.

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