An Eight-Vehicle Light Painting Project
Today, we have the story about a beautiful eight-vehicle light painting project that also features the client’s home as the backdrop (light painted of course). This was a fun, but very challenging project to set up, and also to photograph. With that many vehicles in the light painting, plus the house, I had my hands full!
Here’s the set up for this undertaking. You can see the Camera, a Canon R5, with the image it took displayed on my iPad Pro’s screen.
When I arrived, Dave and his friend, Shane Hanson, had all eight vehicles in place in the driveway. However, when I took a closer look, some of them were positioned too close together for me to light paint them. I couldn’t even squeeze in between, not even sideways, they were that close together. I’m not sure how Dave could even get out of them once they were in place! The last thing I wanted was to scratch one of them trying to squeeze by. So he carefully moved a couple of them just enough so that I could pull it off.
Here’s my iPad Pro’s screen of the whole setup.
Mother Nature Decides to Make a Statement
The weather that evening was nice and warm. However, Mother Nature decided to stir things up. Quite literally! All night long we experienced wind gusts over 35 mph! At times I had to pause the light painting just to let things calm down a bit to avoid any minor movement of the cars, and possibly even the camera. Not only that, but the wind was whipping up tons of leaves and dust on the vehicles. We had to pause multiple times to clean off each one of them.
I managed one pretty decent photo of their American Flag, not blowing wildly in the wind, and I used that image in the light painting. Tree limbs were also blowing all over the place as well. It made capturing the sunset without showing all that movement pretty tough! Because of the strong wind, the sky was changing very rapidly as the sunset, and clearing skies approached. I kept taking sky photos every few seconds in hopes of capturing a cool one. Mission accomplished!
Here’s the front view of the 8 vehicles. You can see our Honda Odyssey and the camera setup in the distance.
That’s a Doozie!
All told, we took 624 images that night, with about 90 of those trying to capture the very rapidly changing sky at sunset. I used 198 of those images to create the final one-of-a-kind light-painted artwork. The final Photoshop file has over 250 layers! That’s by far the biggest light painting project, file size, that I’ve created to date.
“Home, Is Where You Park ‘Em”
In 1984, Dave, and his wife Debbie, moved into their beautiful home. At the time, it featured a 3-car garage. In 1996, Dave added a two-car (plus a little more). Then, two lifts were added in 2001. By now we’re pretty sure you’ve figured out that Dave is somewhat of a “Motorhead”. That’s probably even a bit of an understatement at that!
Dave’s love for cars began at age 16 when he got his driver’s license and his nice neighbor gave him a 55 Ford. Dave loved to take his ’55 to the Sun Drive-Inn in Northeast Minneapolis. As a kid, Dave dreamed of owning a vehicle like some of those he saw at the Sun Drive-Inn. Well, that most certainly came to fruition!
This is what the camera saw. It’s the setup photo for a light painting project that includes Dave and Debbie’s home as well as 8 pretty cool vehicles! The featured vehicles include three Motorcycles: “KEEPIN”, a 1995 Custom Harley-Davidson Road King, “FLOWIN”, a custom 2005 Speedway Chopper, and “FLAMIN”, a 2022 CVO Harley-Davidson. The other five vehicles are: “POISIN”, a ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe, “TOOLIN”, a Marina Blue 1967 Chevelle, “GLOWIN”, a 2023 Corvette Stingray Coupe 3LT, “KICKIN”, a 2024 Chevy Blazer AWD, and, last, but not least, there’s “HAULIN”, a 2023 Chevy Tahoe 4WD RST.
At its peak, Dave had 12 cars and 6 motorcycles. Yep, he’s a Motorhead!
Now, in 2024, Dave has “downsized” to just 5 cars and 3 bikes. And, the bikes and three of the cars aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill vehicles. They’re freakin’ sweet! All eight, and Dave and Debbie’s beautiful home, would be the subjects of this amazing eight-vehicle light painting project.
We’ll talk about, and show a close-up of each vehicle, going from left to right, starting with the front row of 3 amazing motorcycles. And then we’re off to the back row (also from left to right), featuring 5 more vehicles. However, each of those guys has 4 wheels.
“KEEPIN”, the 1995 Custom Harley-Davidson Road King
This is “KEEPIN”, a 1995 Custom Harley-Davidson Road King.
The first motorcycle in the eight-vehicle light painting is this stunning, Magic Blue Pearl Harley. This 1995 Custom Harley-Davidson Road King looks pretty darn hot! Dave purchased this beauty in 2001. Some of its “upgrades” include ported heads, an S&S Carburetor, an EV 46 cam, and a Screamin’ Eagle Module. It has 85.6 horsepower and 90 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheel.
In 2011, Dave got the bug to add a sidecar to this bike. He selected Motorvation to build a Spyder Model Side Car for his beloved 95 Harley. Afterward, he had all three wheels replaced with Ridewright Fat Spoke Wheels.
“FLOWIN”, a Custom 2005 Speedway Chopper
“FLOWIN” is a custom 2005 Speedway Chopper and one of the coolest bikes I’ve ever seen!
This Bryant Red 2005 Speedway Chopper, complete with custom graphics, is a high-end build. The frame is a Speedway Chopper single-side swing arm with an integrated oil tank. The suspension is an Air Lift air bag over an adjustable dampener with SmartAir automatic ride height control.
Engine-wise, Dave’s bike has an Ultima 120 CI, with 130 horsepower and 130 ft-lbs of torque. It also has an S&S Carburetor and Speedway Chopper’s stainless steel exhaust. The tranny is an Accessories Unlimted 6-speed. The wheels are Weld Racing with Metzeler Tires with inboard transmission brakes from Speedway Choppers on the rear.
“FLAMIN”, a 2022 CVO Harley-Davidson
“FLAMIN” is a beautiful 2022 CVO Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
The last of the three motorcycles in this eight-vehicle light painting project is this stunning 2022 CVO Harley-Davidson Trike. This isn’t just any Harley, it’s a Limited Edition of just 1500. And this pretty cruiser is painted in Dante’s Red Fade. The bike is set up with all the right accessories to not only look awesome but ride great too!
The powerplant is a twin-cooled 117 CI, with 107 horsepower and 125 ft-lbs of torque. It is one sweet ride!
“POISIN”, the ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe
This is “POISIN”, a stunning ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe that won “Best of Show” at the 2024 Motorhead Madness in Duluth this past spring.
From left to right in the back row, the first car we’re going to talk about in this eight-vehicle light painting is the ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe. This is the car that brought Dave and I together for this project. It won “Best of Show” at this year’s Motorhead Madness Car Show in Duluth, Minnesota back in March.
As the “Best of Show” winner, I presented Dave with a gift certificate that he could use toward a light painting project. Rather than light painting just the ’34 Ford, Dave had other ideas. BIG ideas!
This car is quite literally a “Show Stopper”! When I saw it for the first time I couldn’t believe it. It’s almost as nice underneath the car as it is on the surface. I would love to light-paint it all by itself someday!
Here are just a few of the many things that make this ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe so amazing:
- Tierra Bright Metallic Paint
- Corvette fuel-injected 383 CI Stoker Motor
- 4L6O Automatic Transmission
- Most of the car is built with one-off custom parts
- The body is a one-off hand-laid fiberglass
- Awarded “Street Rod Grand Champion” at the 2023 Street Machine Nationals
- Awarded “Best of Show” at the 2024 Motorhead Madness in Duluth, Minnesota
“TOOLIN”, a Marina Blue 1967 Chevelle
“TOOLIN” is a stunning Marina Blue 1967 Chevelle and one sweet ride for sure!
This Marina Blue 67 Chevelle with an SS 396/4-Speed was built with extreme attention to detail, and its full restoration was completed in 2011. The engine, transmission, and rear end are all original. So are the water pump, alternator, distributor, and exhaust manifolds. Even the spare tire is the original one that came from Chevrolet!
This 1967 Chevelle has received numerous awards over the years. In 2012, it was awarded a Concours Gold Certificate at the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in Chicago, Illinois.
“GLOWIN”, a 2023 Corvette Stingray Coupe 3LT
Meet “GLOWIN”, a 2023 Corvette Stingray Coupe 3LT. One totally hot car for sure!
After completing his duties with the Navy, Dave purchased a ’69 Corvette in 1973. Corvettes have always been his dream cars and he’s owned and raced many of them over the years. And Debbie has raced them too! This sleek C8 is one of his all-time favorites.
This beautiful 2023 Corvette Stingray Coupe 3LT is finished with Silver Flare Metallic Paint and features a 6.2-liter engine with an 8-speed Dual-Clutch Transmission. 2023 was the first year of the Adrenaline Red Dripped Interior and it looks pretty amazing!
Dave was happy with the stock performance numbers, so he ordered all of the options to improve the car’s looks. And he succeeded!
“KICKIN”, a 2024 Chevy Blazer AWD
This is “KICKIN”, a 2024 Chevy Blazer AWD.
Dave and Debbie’s everyday ride is a 2024 Chevy Blazer AWD. The 2.0 Liter, 9-speed automatic looks very sharp with its Radiant Red Tintcoat Paint.
It’s at this point you probably have noticed something that each of these vehicles has in common. Each vehicle’s license plate is six letters long, and each ends with the letters, “IN”. Dave started that tradition back in 1993 with a new Corvette whose plates, like the 67 Chevelle’s, also read “TOOLIN” – as in “Tooling down the road!”
“HAULIN”, a 2023 Chevy Tahoe 4WD RST
This is the dude that hauls everything around! Properly named “HAULIN”. She’s a 2023 Chevy Tahoe 4WD RST, and gets the job done in style!
With a 6.2 liter engine and 10-speed automatic transmission, the 2023 Chevy Tahoe 4WD RST is the muscle that transports these cars and motorcycles to car shows in their enclosed trailer. Like all of his other vehicles, this one has several custom add-ons and tweaks to make it just a little bit different from everyone else.
The Movie
Dave’s slogan for this project is “Home, Is Where You Park ‘Em!”
As always, I’ve created a “Build Video” that contains all of the images that I used to create this unique light painting. All 198 of them! It also shows the whole project coming together, one layer at a time in post-production. It’s a wee bit longer than most of my Build Videos, but it also has eight vehicles AND an entire home in it! Please check it out at the link below on our YouTube channel.
Also, if you like what you see here, head on over to our dedicated light painting website at Michael Anderson Light Painting.com to see lots of other amazing one-of-a-kind projects that we’ve created.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our post and have a great day. M&J