If you’ve been following UMG on Facebook (or staying up with the JDM Chicago media crew, you’d know that after such an awesome time at Wekfest Chicago last year, we collectively decided to head out west to San Francisco, where Wekfest called home.

Months and weeks before our trip, we jam packed our weekend with shoots. Knowing full well that we’d be greeted by freezing temperatures and snow when we got home, I don’t think any of us thought twice about enjoying the sun and the cars that came with it – including a pair of drop dead gorgeous NSXs (check out the video HERE).

JDM Chicago “Bay Area NSXs” Feature – check out the full photo gallery and video HERE

Knowing that we had the opportunity to meet up at the Fatlace Paddock to shoot Pandora One was incredible. The car itself was beyond amazing and the Paddock was littered with cars that you’d love to have in your garage. Cars and shooting aside, it was great to catch up with the Fatlace family that I haven’t seen in a couple years and meet new faces.

After wrapping up some very exciting shooting at the Paddock (stay tuned for this), we got an invite to head over to eGarage to hang out with the guys and see the shop. Talk about a day in automotive heaven! It was amazing to see the ’27 Unfvckwithable in person along with some of their equally as drool-worthy rides. Thanks to Nic for having us!

Before we knew it, Wekfest SF was upon us. We packed up our Nissan Versa media car and headed towards Fort Mason bright and early so we could catch the roll-ins. It was amazing to see how many people brought very SERIOUS photo and video equipment to the show – they weren’t messing around one bit. But after looking around at all the quality builds (and thousands of people) packed into a scenic venue, the baller equipment was hard to fault. While we made our rounds through both buildings, we ran into Danh from Mayday Garage and John from 1013MM Photography – some of the best in the game. Good running into you guys again!

After hours of shooting, we bid Wekfest a memorable goodbye and crossed our fingers that they would once again come back to Chicago. Thanks to everyone the JDM Chicago crew met out west – including the CarsxHype crew, Anton from AN Films, Marvin King, Elissa Alva and the Canibeat crew.

It was also a great opportunity to see how our Equilibrium USG bags would do on our trip. From carry on to camera duty, the bags came with us everywhere we went through San Francisco – whatever the configuration (and skyn), the bag was everything we needed and then some. Thanks to the EQ family for letting us rep Chicago in style!

As predicted, our return home to the Windy City was met with a bit of resistance – not from airline delays or weather problems, but solely because we weren’t ready to leave after having such an awesome media weekend on the West coast. As we touched down in Chicago, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll all be back very soon.

Lately I’ve been running into a lot of inspiring work (and people) that make me want to shoot something outside of client work and make a statement. This video by Sebas and Clim (music by Aimar Molero) is another one of those works that really got me thinking, despite it being a 40 second video. I think more than just being a well-executed, simplistic video spot, it really hits home some points that when followed make not only a great story, but a great brand.

Truth be told, there are tons of people out there that can dream and create work in this age, but I think what separates good brands from great ones are people who can also love, respect, wait, trust, pledge, share and enjoy that work with others. Just something to think about.

The other day the Equilibrium team took a trip down to the studio to snap photos of the entire product line for the website re-launch next month. It seemed to be a running theme that we all couldn’t sleep much the night before for one reason or another, so after a quick pitstop at Starbucks to get some caffeine running through our veins, we headed down and started setting up.

It’s pretty cool having a Canon master tech amongst the EQ team – so While Ethan from Light n Motion and I were shooting throughout the night, Michio gave our gear a factory fresh, thorough cleaning. For anyone looking to get their gear refreshed in Chicago, I highly recommend getting in touch with Michio for a cleaning. You can hit him up HERE if you’re interested. I learned a ton while he was working over my lenses and 5DII/7D – thanks again, man!

Anyway, if you’ve been keeping up with our Facebook posts, you’d know the shoot went on LATE and things got pretty interesting past midnight, haha. Despite the 3am delirium, the shots turned out amazing and it was a great opportunity for Ethan to get to play with the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro for the first time. It was also my first time seeing the ABR800 in action. For anyone on the fence about it, this shoot turned me into a full-fledged believer.

By the end of the shoot (and although we were all drained), it was nice to chill for a second with our second round of coffees and talk about where else the brand was headed in 2012 and what we needed to wrap up before Q1 comes to a close. The year is still early, but there’s a ton left to bring you guys the rest of the year, so be sure to stay up with the EQ team! I’ll leave you with this Instagr.am compilation from Elisha of AppleAvocado and the rest of the behind the scenes snaps: