Light Painting at Horsepower Farm

Now, for something more than a bit out-of-the-ordinary. I recently traveled to Alabama for a pretty amazing light painting project at Horsepower Farm. And, as our story’s title implies, there’s some serious “real” horsepower on display in this beautiful light-painted artwork!

Not only do we have two amazing Corvettes, both a 1967 C2, and a 2023 C8, but there’s a pair of beautiful racehorses in this light painting project too!

The setup shot, prior to light painting everything in the scene. There's two Corvettes, a '67 and a 2023, as well as two racehorses in front of the client's beautiful home.

This is the setup photo with Boujee and Rookie added. The two Corvettes, are a ’67 C2, and a 2023 C8.

I had the pleasure of creating this unique project for my friend Jim. I met him last year at “Corvettes in Paradise” at the Lake of the Ozarks Corvette Club’s show in Missouri. His sleek 1967 C2 Corvette Roadster Convertible won a “Photographer’s Choice Award” from us. I just love that car!

This project was originally scheduled for our light painting trip to Florida back in February, but unseasonably cold weather made it impossible at that time. April’s weather was much more cooperative, so we scheduled it for the days following the LOCC Show. Unfortunately, Joannie was not able to make this trip, hopefully, she can see Jim’s place at some time in the future.

Light Painting a 1967 C2 Corvette Roadster Convertible L79

Since we’re talking about light painting at Horsepower Farm, this Lynndale Blue, 1967 C2 Corvette has 350 horsepower under its hood!

Light painted photograph of a 1967 C2 Corvette Roadster Convertible L79.

This is the light-painted close-up photograph of Jim’s 1967 C2 Corvette Roadster Convertible L79.

This stunning Corvette won “Best of Show” at the 2021 Judging Field at Corvettes at Carlisle, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Here are some of the other key features and details of this ’67:

C2 Design: The C2 Corvette is known for its sleek, long hood and short deck design, The 1967 model was the last year of the C2 Corvette generation.
L79 Engine and the Four-Speed Manual Transmission: The L79 327ci V8 engine makes for a powerful and enjoyable driver-focused ride.
Roadster/Convertible: The convertible body style enhances the classic Corvette charm.

Light Painting a 2023 C8 Corvette 70th Anniversary Edition Z51

The second Corvette in this Horsepower Farm light-painted photograph is a stunning 2023 C8 Corvette 70th Anniversary Edition Z51. This White Pearl Metallic bad boy has 495 horses under its hood!

Light painted photograph of a 2023 Z51 Corvette.

Here’s the close-up light-painted photograph of Jim’s cool 2023 C8 Corvette Z51.

Jim’s C8 Corvette features unique exterior and interior details, including special colors, striping, anniversary badges, and cool wheel designs. The Z51 package enhanced performance package has features like larger brake rotors and calipers.

The “Real” Horsepower at Horsepower Farm

Jim’s talented daughter, Madison, cares for the horses and the other animals at Horsepower Farm. Not only that, but she trains and races these two horses as well!

Pictured below is “Rookie”. Rookie is a 12-year-old Quarter Horse trained in women’s barrel racing! Madison and Rookie have placed in the Amateur Pro Association (APA) barrel horse races!

Here’s Jim and “Rookie”, a beautiful 12-year-old Quarter Horse.

And below we have “Boujee”.

Boujee, an eight-year-old Quarter Horse at Horsepower Farm in Alabama.

Here’s Madison, with Boujee, a beautiful eight-year-old Quarter Horse.

Boujee is an 8-year-old Quarter Horse who’s also competed, and placed, in women’s barrel racing with Madison at the reins! I had the opportunity to take a selfie with Boujee. While Boujee wasn’t too thrilled with my flash equipment going off during his photo session, he was very friendly with me for his selfie!

Selfie of Michael Anderson with a racehorse named Boujee.

Here’s my selfie with Boujee. He wasn’t too excited about having his portrait taken during the session, but a selfie was just fine!

Light Painting Racehorses with Corvettes – Safety First!

To keep the horses safe (and quite frankly, us, and the Corvettes too!), I framed the overall image with Jim and Madison’s beautiful home as the backdrop. Once that was exactly where we wanted it, the camera position was locked in. We wouldn’t touch the camera again for several hours.

Then, I set up my portable studio lighting for Rookie and Boujee’s portraits that you saw above. Madison brought them, one at a time, to be photographed. All of us were unsure as to how these two might react to strobes going off, so we left the cars well out of the scene. Rookie didn’t care about the strobes going off, he pretty much just wanted to eat the lawn!

Boujee wasn’t thrilled with having his portrait taken, although he also enjoyed the taste of the lawn! Thankfully, Madison was a very calming voice to both horses, and we got their portraits done before the sun had set. I did have to reposition both horses a little bit in the final artwork, but that was not difficult to do in post-production.

The setup shot, prior to light painting everything, of two Corvettes in front of the client's beautiful home.

The setup shot of the two Corvettes, a ’67 and 2023, in front of Jim and Madison’s beautiful home.

Boujee and Rookie went to bed, and Jim and I started to position the Corvettes for the light painting, leaving enough room in the center of the image for the “real” horsepower at Horsepower Farm! As you can see, the final results are just beautiful!

A stunning light painted photograph of two racehorses and a pair of Corvettes (a 1967 C2 and a 2023 C8).

Here’s the completed artwork! Madison’s racehorses, “Rookie” and “Boujee”, and Jim’s hot Corvettes, a 1967 C2, and a 2023 C8.

More To Come!

While this project, like all of our light painting projects, is truly one-of-a-kind. In this case, that doesn’t mean it’s the only one we might be creating for Jim! He has “a few” potential projects in the pipeline. Not to mention that he has a towing business (A-1 Towing and Recovery), and those big wreckers make for amazing light painting subjects!

The other vehicles that Jim is restoring are a 1969 Corvette and a 1970 Corvette. He also has two 1957 Chevy’s! One is a 210, and the other is a 150 Black Widow Edition! He also has a 1955 T-Bird Convertible, a 1931 Model A Pickup, a 1932 Ford Coupe, and a few more projects waiting for future builds. Most of them will be done in a few weeks, right Jim?! 😉