Six months ago I was lucky enough to present a number of magazine concept ideas to the publishing company I work for. One of these ideas was taken to the development stage and evolved into one of the most exciting launches of the year. The result, GP International, is a magazine for Formula One fans who really know their onions. 

Although I'm busy editing my photography magazine, Digital SLR, I was lucky enough to lend my photography skills to the launch issue by snapping a particularly tricky subject – a gold-plated exhaust that was not only on an F1 car driven by Jacques Villeneuve, but also costs more than my car...and my wife's car, put together!

Now, the challenge was to shoot this highly-polished bit of kit without including my reflection in the metal... no one wants to see my ugly mug. The solution was to use a light tent that virtually encompassed the exhaust and also defused the light from two Elinchrom studioflash heads. The light tent worked a treat, providing a pure white backdrop to really let gold lines of the exhaust pop! 

Here's how the final images looked on the pages.
PS: One lucky reader will win the exhaust, so take a look at the website - www.gpinternational.com