Light Painting Nine Muscle Cars
Joannie and I are pleased to share an amazing light painting project of nine muscle cars! This cool project was created on a chilly Friday evening in early June for Chris and Karen at their home in northern Minnesota.
I met Chris and Karen at Motorhead Madness in Duluth, Minnesota, way back in 2019. They had some of their cars on display at that show, including the Ford Candy Apple Red 1968 GT 390 Mustang.
That Mustang caught my eye because it was sitting right across the aisle from my light painting display. It also strongly resembled the ’67 Ford Mustang that I had recently light painted at Gregg’s Garage Vintage Restored Gas Station in Carver, Minnesota. And I had that cool artwork in my Light Painting Photography booth (about 20 feet away from their Mustang)!
I dug through my iPhone photo archives and discovered the image of the 1968 GT 390 Ford Mustang that was sitting right across the aisle from my light painting booth at Motorhead Madness in 2019! What I didn’t know was that the ’69 Chevelle Super Sport and the ’70 Plymouth Cuda were at that show too!
Fast Forward to Today
Well, it took a few years, but Chris was able to finish all of his restorations. And, this year at Motorhead Madness, he informed me that it was time to move forward with a cool light painting featuring all of his amazing hard work!
We texted each other several times in the days leading up to the light painting. We discussed the location and looked at the weather forecast. At that point, I had no idea which of Chris’ amazing cars were going to be in the image. That’s when I found out that Chris would like to have multiple cars in the image as well as several vintage gas pumps. In all, there would be nine muscle cars in their stunning one-of-a-kind artwork! This was going to be so cool!
Light Painting On The Road
Two nights before this project, Joannie and I light-painted an amazing 2018 ZL1 1LE Camaro in Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton, Minnesota.
Please click on this link to see that amazing project!
And on the night before this one, our subjects were a 1915 Ford Model T and a 2008 Ford Shelby Mustang in Superior, Wisconsin!
The link to view that pretty light painting can be found here.
Still to come is a 3-vehicle light painting in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, that we created the night after this one! And, on night five of our trip, we created two light paintings (in off and on rain) of a beautiful 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner right on the shores of Lake Superior in Washburn, Wisconsin!
Here’s what the screen looked like from the camera position.
Muscle Cars on BendPak Lifts
To keep the light painting from getting too wide, we decided to keep two of the muscle cars in the garage. To keep them visible, Chris left them on their BendPak lifts. That also allowed us to light paint all of the goodies in Chris’s garage workshop, too!
So, from left to right, we have…
Light Painting a 2018 Camaro 2SS
Here we’ve got the 2018 Camaro resting on a BendPak Lift.
Sitting on the BendPak Lift on the left is a black 2018 Camaro 2SS that has a 6.2-liter, 445 horsepower motor. This muscle car is the only one of these fine automobiles that Chris purchased brand new. It is all-stock with an 8-speed automatic.
Light Painting a 2009 Challenger R/T
The 2009 Challenger RT sitting on a BendPak Lift.
The 2009 Challenger R/T is on the BendPak Lift on the far right. It has a 5.7 Hemi that puts out 385 horsepower. This beauty also has a 6-speed Tremec transmission and was purchased locally.
Getting In On The Ground Level
Now, it’s time to showcase the seven muscle cars on the ground level! So, from left to right, we’ve got…
Light Painting a 1976 Camaro
The close-up of the Chevrolet Blue 1976 Camaro’s light painting.
This hot 1976 Camaro belongs to Chris’s brother, Brian, and it’s a beauty! The paint was done by Ray Maruska and is stock Chevrolet Blue. Jason Line helped with the engine and tranny. It has 435 horsepower with the stock automatic transmission. The complete restoration was done by Chris.
Light Painting a 1967 RS/SS Camaro
Here’s the Ermine White 1967 SS RS Camaro, up close.
Once again, Chris did the full restoration on this (numbers-matching) 1967 RS/SS Camaro. He had Casey Lindgren do the paint job, and it’s done in beautiful Ermine White. This muscle car has a Chevrolet 396 “Line Performance” engine with 350 horsepower!
Light Painting the 1969 Chevelle Super Sport
The 1969 Chevelle Super Sport is one sweet ride!
The 1969 Chevelle Super Sport is black with baby-blue stripes. The paint job was done by Curt Mottonen way back in 1985! In 2010, Lyn’s Auto Body repainted the car, and it’s beautiful! A true, 396 4-speed, 600 horsepower “Line Performance” beast! This was a salvage car, with the 1st restoration done by Chris.
Light Painting a 1969 Mustang GT RestoMod
A light painted close up photograph of the 1969 Mustang GT RestoMod.
This eye-catching Mustang features a Hot Hues Green Pearl paint job done by Ray Maruska. This was a Drag car (Stock Eliminator) and is powered by a 428 SCJ 585 HP (Line Performance) engine. The complete restoration was done by Chris (motor, transmission, running gear, and suspension).
Light Painting the 1968 GT 390 Mustang
This is the car that started it all (for me)! This Ford Candy Apple Red 1968 GT 390 Mustang was the reason I got to meet Chris and Karen back in 2019 at Motorhead Madness in Duluth!
This pretty 1968 Ford GT 390 Mustang, in stock Ford Candy Apple Red (Auto Kraft Restoration), has a 390-410 HP (Line Performance) engine. This was a salvage car and is all date-coded correct.
Light Painting the 1970 Plymouth Cuda
Here’s the light painted close-up of the “Plum Crazy Pearl Purple” ’70 Cuda!
The Plum Crazy Pearl Purple (Ray Maruska) paint on this Cuda is pretty cool! The engine is a 707 HP Hellcat – 6.2 Liter (New Crate Motor). This RestoMod was also a salvage car. It’s got a Silver Sport Transmission with a Riley Motorsports Suspension and a custom interior.
Light Painting the 1998 Trans Am
The Trans Am’s close-up, without the dew!
Last, but not least, we’ve got a red-hot Trans Am! This black beauty belongs to their son Ryan and was painted by Lyn’s Auto Body. It has a 450 HP (Line Performance) LS engine with a new Tremec 6-speed transmission.
Nobody Said This Was Going To Be Easy
Even though it was early June, we were in northern Minnesota, and, as it can be way up north, it was chilly that night. We had several blankets along with us, and Joannie and Karen were not afraid to use them! Thankfully, the rain that bothered us the night before in Superior was gone.
Here’s the final set-up shot. All we needed was for it to get dark out so the light painting could begin.
What did happen was that we hit the dew point with about 4 cars to go. Not exactly a good thing when you’re light painting cars with beautiful paint jobs! Besides the fact that there are nine muscle cars in the image, working to minimize the dew on the last few cars added a lot of post-production time. The final image turned out amazing, so all of that extra time (and wiping off the cars a bazillion times) was well worth it!
The Sky’s the Limit!
The last thing I needed to work on was the sky. The wildfires from nearby Canada were dishing out smoky skies that night. So, rather than have a boring, dull, hazy sky, I mentioned to Chris that night that I would like to replace it with something with more impact. He was on board with that idea.
As the post-production was coming to a close, I did a few mock-ups of the light painting with other skies. Chris, Karen, Joannie, and I ultimately decided on using the Aurora Borealis. After all, this project was created up north, so why not?
Nine great muscle cars at Chris and Karen’s amazing garage!
The northern lights image that I used was one that I captured on the magical night of May 10th, 2024. That was the night that the Aurora could be seen in all 50 states! This stunning image was taken near our home in nearby Blaine, Minnesota, of all places! I can only imagine what the Aurora Borealis looked like that night up where Chris and Karen live!
Nine Muscle Cars – The Movie
As always, we’ve created a Build Video that features the images that we used to create Chris and Karen’s amazing light-painted artwork. Then, you’ll see the entire image come to life, one tiny piece at a time.
All told, we took 356 images that night, and nearly 200 of them were used to create their beautiful light painting. The link to view the Build Video is at the link below on our YouTube channel.
Thank you, Chris and Karen, for the opportunity to create this beautiful project for you! Your amazing muscle cars, your adorable grandkids, all of the family and neighbors that dropped by to watch, and your friendship and hospitality are something that we’ll always cherish. Thank you!
Oh Yeah, There’s One More Thing
We saved the light painting of the gas pumps and the garage structure until the end of the evening (which was probably actually the next morning). While I was making passes on the gas pumps with my LED lights, I came up with the idea of possibly doing a second light painting version with the garage doors closed.
It would mean losing the two cars on the lifts and the interior details, but why not give it a try? So, after working on it after the main light painting was complete, I came up with this!
Here’s a version of the light painting with the garage doors closed. It’s very difficult to select the one I like best. On one hand, I’m not thrilled with losing the 2018 Camaro 2SS and the 2009 Challenger RT. On the other hand, I love this version too!
There’s More, Lots More!
If you think this light painting project is pretty cool, please check out our dedicated light painting website at MichaelAndersonLightPainting.com. There are many, many beautiful light-painted projects, including:
- Cool light paintings of construction equipment.
- Light painted police cars and fire trucks.
- Light paintings of aircraft, restaurants, and other unique items.
- Lots of light painted Corvettes!
- Lots of light painting projects that feature cool cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
- There’s even an entire page of unique, one-of-a-kind light paintings created at weddings!
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our post. We hope that you enjoyed it! – M&J