Caterpillar CS56B Vibratory Soil Compactor
Here’s the story behind a cool light painting of a Caterpillar CS56B Vibratory Soil Compactor! I found this guy sitting right next to a Caterpillar 336F Excavator that I also light painted earlier that night. You can find that light painting’s story and images at this link. Both rigs are owned and operated by Veit & Company, Inc. out of Rogers, Minnesota.
Here’s what the Caterpillar CS56B Vibratory Soil Compactor looked like before I got started on light painting it.
I was up on Lake Superior that day to create senior portraits for a client of ours. On my way back to my hotel in Beaver Bay, I found these two pieces of heavy construction equipment resting right by the side of Highway 61. Tired or not, I had to light paint them!
I checked into my room at our favorite Lake Superior hotel, Cove Point Lodge (the pretty location where we created our beautiful 2023 Santa’s North Pole Lodge scene). Then, I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed south on 61 toward Split Rock Lighthouse State Park to get set up. It had been lightly raining off and on that afternoon and evening, so it was a muddy mess! Thankfully, I could drive right up next to both machines.
The ground was fairly level too, so it wasn’t a risky situation for me, just a messy one! All of my gear that touched the ground, my tripod, light stand, and iPad stand, all got a shower that night once I got back to my room! And the Honda, once I got back home.
Light Painting in the Mud
Yes, it was a sloppy mess, but this CAT C856B was too cool not to light paint it. Besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It’s good to challenge yourself once in a while!
Once I had everything ready, I got to work. I light painted the Caterpillar 336F Excavator first. Once that was all done, I moved a few feet to my left and set up for the steamroller. It was very dark out, so I had to use the Honda Odyssey’s headlights to see, and focus, on each construction vehicle.
Other than that, and the mud, it wasn’t too bad working solo on a light painting. With my iPad stand by my side, I could fire the camera with the iPad and then light paint away. It did help that it was pitch black outside, other than an occasional passing car on the highway, I had total darkness to create with.
For a little artistic license, I added the Aurora Borealis to finish off the artwork. The backstory about the Northern Lights photograph is that I captured that Aurora Borealis image just a few miles from this very location back in March. I think that it was very fitting that it be used here, don’t you think?
light painting of a Caterpillar CS56B Vibratory Soil Compactor
There’s More Where This Came From!
If you like this, please check out our dedicated light painting website at MichaelAndersonLightPainting.com. There are lots of other cool light paintings of other construction equipment, police cars and fire trucks, cool aircraft, restaurants, and other goodies, lots of Corvettes, and many, many other really cool cars, trucks, and motorcycles of all types!
Caterpillar CS56B – The Movie
I’ve created a short video on our YouTube Channel with some of the images that went into creating this light painted photograph of this steamroller. Please check it out. Please consider subscribing to our channel to see new light painting videos, and other subjects, when we post them. Thank you, and have a great day! – M&J