Ferrari Legends Project

It would be an understatement to say that 2020 has been a challenging year for most if not all of us but like any business I have been constantly striving to push forward and get our work out there, maintain our current clients as well as bring new ones onboard. I believe that delivering the best work possible that I can on each and every project keeps us valid and in demand with clients and I guess in many ways that has shown this year thankfully.

My business of AmbientLife has been established for 14 years now and 2019 was our biggest and most successful year to date as we continued to grow and work with new clients. Over the last 6 months we have seen our work load impacted not so much by clients cancelling work but more relating to studios being temporarily closed or projects being put back due to delays along the chain in vehicle builds or testing etc.

We have been busy and a lot of my recent work over the last few months has been logistics and large vehicle related for clients such as Terberg, Dennis Eagle and Forst. This is work that I really enjoy and its something that I believe give our clients real value for their marketing and advertising needs.

Our car industry work in 2020 has seen a decline from what we had experienced previously when we were shooting multiple brochure assignments for McLaren for instance in 2019 however I was approached a few months ago to take on a commission to shoot a very special collection of cars that make up some of the most iconic Ferrari models to leave the designers drawing board in Italy from the infamous Ferrari 250 GT Lusso of 1962 through to the more recent LaFerrari.

A few weeks ago I was in studio working on that project to capture and document that special collection. The shoot took place over a one week period at a UK studio and the material will be used to produce a website and book about the collection.

Capturing Legends

"It was a cold autumn morning when I arrived at the studio and as I started cabling out ready for lighting I considered the task ahead as we awaited the arrival of some of the most well-known and beautiful cars that Ferrari ever created.

Over the course of that week we got to know each curve and body angle of these iconic cars and crafted our lighting to capture their essence. I always have believed that it is easy to photograph a car to show what it looks like, however the real skill and challenge is to photograph it to show you how it makes you feel in your soul when you look at it.

We had our challenges to face as you do on any shoot of this nature but as the main lights were switched off and we started to sculpt the lighting around the first vehicle it was hard not to notice the hairs on the back of your neck stand up in anticipation of what was ahead in the coming week. For me there are many types of cars, all evoking different emotions within us, some are simply beautiful in their form, others are aggressive in their styling, and some are simply timeless and are still as stunning today as the day that they were first drawn by their designer."

Tim Wallace 

Ferrari Model Background Information

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

Type GT/L

Produced in 1962 the 250 GT Lusso was designed by the Turinese coachbuilder Pininfarina, and bodied by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Regarded by many as one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever made it attracted notable personalities of that time, such as Steve McQueen.

Ferrari 288 GTO

Type F114

Produced from 1984 to 1987 in Ferrari's Maranello factory. Designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for Omologata. The GTO was based on the rear mid-engine, 308 GTB 2.9 L V8. The "288" refers to the GTO's 2.8 litre

Ferrari LaFerrari

Project name F150

LaFerrari means "The Ferrari" in Italian and some other Romance languages, in the sense that it is the "definitive" Ferrari. Nine conceptual design studies were considered for the VI 2 hybrid flagship in 2011, reduced to five in April 2011(three by Ferrari Centro Stile and two by Pininfarina)

Ferrari Enzo

Type F140

Named after the company's founder, Enzo Ferrari and developed in 2002 using Formula One technology. The Enzo was designed by Ken Okuyama, the then Pininfarina head of design, and initially announced at the 2002 Paris Motor Show with a limited production run of 399 units

Ferrari F40

Type F120

Engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 to 1992, officially the F40 was built to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary, but in reality it was an Italian two-fingered salute to the Porsche 959

Ferrari F50

Type F130

Manufactured in Maranello, Italy with inspiration from 1990 Ferrari 641 as driven by Alain Prost. Powered by a 4.7 L naturally aspirated Tipo F130B 60-valve VI 2 engine The car's design is an evolution of the 1989 Ferrari Mythos concept car

Behind the scenes with photographer Tim Wallace

"Over the years I have spent a lot of time in studio shooting transport related work for our clients and that can be pretty varied, quite literally. We have photographed most things I think from full size oil tankers through to woodchippers.

Working as a commercial photographer who specialises in transport-based work it’s the norm and I enjoy each and every commission or project that I am involved in. Some can be very challenging and each have their own unique set of problems that you work through to get the finished end result for your client that the project deserves. It is easy I think for a lot of people to believe that shooting McLaren for instance would be 'easy', how can you go wrong with beautiful cars in-front of your lens, the reality however is that sometimes the most challenging lighting to work through is that of sports cars with all their body cuts and differing materials from highly polished paintwork through to dark carbon fibre. I think for me its these challenges that make what I do so addictive, you really need to have a passion for working with light and a drive to push yourself ever forward to get the very best results that you can."

? Copyright Declaration 

All images shown on this site are protected by International Copyright Law and by the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All images, text and ideas are the 'intellectual property' of Tim Wallace?