Light Painting a Shelby Mustang and a Model T
We’ve got another amazing light painting photography story to share with you, this time it’s a Shelby Mustang and a Model T! Specifically, a 2008 Ford Shelby Mustang and a 1915 Ford Model T!
Kim’s Model T and Judy’s Shelby Mustang are all set up and waiting for it to get dark enough to light paint them.
We created this pretty image for Judy, and her very good friend, Kim, on our recent week-long light painting trip to northern Minnesota and Wisconsin!
Light Painting On The Road
The evening before this project, Joannie and I light-painted an amazing 2018 ZL1 1LE Camaro in Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton, Minnesota. On this night, we were in Superior, Wisconsin, to light paint these two beauties right by the shipyards!
Then, the next night, we traveled up to Meadowlands, Minnesota, for a nine-car light painting project! With all 9 being muscle cars! The following night, we headed to Ladysmith, Wisconsin, to create an amazing 3-vehicle light-painted photograph of three very unique vehicles!
Then, we concluded the trip with two light paintings of a beautiful 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner right on the shores of Lake Superior in Washburn, Wisconsin!
A Wonderful Surprise!
Joannie and I met up with Judy and Kim in downtown Superior. Then we followed them to the location that they wanted to use. It was lightly sprinkling as we drove there. When we arrived, I found out that Judy’s 2008 Ford Shelby Mustang wasn’t going to be the only vehicle in this light painting project. Upon our arrival, Judy asked me if it would be okay to have Kim’s 1915 Model T Ford in the image. That was a no-brainer!
Between that surprise cool add-on and the location, I was pretty sure that this light painting was going to be a home run! We just needed it not to be raining!
The rain got a bit heavier, so we headed over to the nearby Earth Rider Brewery. There, we could chat while enjoying a beverage indoors and out of the rain. Meanwhile, Kim stopped by the security offices of the site to make sure we could be there late into the evening. He got the go-ahead and joined us at Earth Rider. We had a nice visit and set 7:30 as the time to return that night.
When Joannie and I returned to our hotel room at The Inn on Lake Superior, it was raining again. Judy sent me a text: “Have you looked at the radar?” I replied with a screenshot of the weather forecast that showed that it wasn’t even supposed to be raining at all! Then I sent her the photo below of the rainbow that we were enjoying from the balcony of our hotel room! I suggested that they arrive with their cars a half hour later than originally planned. I was just hoping the rain would be done by then.
While this pretty rainbow was very enjoyable, the fact that it was only a couple of hours before Judy and Kim’s light painting was to begin made us just a little bit nervous!
Rain, Rain Go Away!
It was 8 pm when Joannie and I arrived to set up our gear. It wasn’t raining, but it sure looked like it could at any time. A short time later, there was Judy in her beautiful Shelby Mustang, followed by Kim in his cool Ford Model T. We positioned them just the way we wanted and waited for it to get dark.
As you can see in the photo below of Joannie sitting in the Model T, it was a bit on the chilly side! We had several blankets in our vehicle, so Judy, Kim, and Joannie donned them while I ran around with the lights. We worked as quickly as we could, just in case it started to rain again. Which it did just as we were finishing up!
Here’s Joannie trying out the seats in the Model T Ford. She’s also enjoying the chilly weather (not really)!
Location, Location, Location
Judy wanted to use this particular location for a variety of great reasons. The place has special memories for her. Her father, Gunnar, laid the train tracks at the elevator when he worked for the Lake Superior Terminal Transfer Railway. They operated about 2 dozen miles of trackage all within the City of Superior, Wisconsin. This was from the 1880s to the 1980s. The rails in the photograph symbolize what her dad did as part of the section crew.
The bridge, known as the High Bridge, or formally as the John A. Blatnik Bridge, will soon be getting replaced and updated in basically the same location. The day the current bridge opened in 1961, her dad drove them back and forth over it many times that day.
The grain elevator, which years ago was the Farmers Union, claimed to be the world’s tallest at that time.
The parking lot where we created the light painting was where Kim was living in his grain truck when she met him at nearby Johnny’s, which is now Izzy’s BBQ Lounge & Grill.
Here’s the view from the Camera. The image that our Canon R5 captured is shown on the screen of our iPad Pro.
The Blatnik Bridge carries Interstate 535 and U.S. Highway 53 across St. Louis Bay and connects Duluth, Minnesota, to Superior, Wisconsin. It is scheduled to be replaced soon due to its age and the need for improved infrastructure. So now was the time for Judy’s project.
Motorhead Madness in Duluth, Minnesota
I met both Judy and Kim at Motorhead Madness in Duluth, Minnesota, back in March. They each had their wonderful cars on display there. We struck up a great conversation, and I so asked Judy if I could light-paint her Shelby Mustang sometime because I hadn’t ever light-painted one before. She liked the idea!
A few weeks after the show, I contacted her about scheduling her project during this multi-light painting trip up north. The date worked for her. Since that time, she has generously been helping us make connections with other Shelby Mustang enthusiasts. We’re very grateful for her assistance!
Light Painting the 1915 Ford Model T
Now holding the record for the oldest vehicle that we’ve ever light-painted (the previous record holder was a 1930 Packard 734 Boattail Speedster), Kim’s 1915 Ford Model T is a real treasure! It starts right up, using a crank, and looks great too! I especially love the “2 candle-power” (literally) marker lights!
With all of its cool little details, “Lizzie” was one fun car to light paint! Both Joannie and I enjoyed photographing this vintage automobile! Joannie also loved how comfortable the seats were, too!
“Lizzie’s” Story
Kim’s 1915 Model T was made in early October 1915. Lizzie is powered by a 177 cubic inch engine that turns out a whopping 20 horsepower. He says that’s 20 Clydesdales, not Shetland ponies!
Kim purchased it from a friend who has lots of cars. He had bought it many years ago (freshly restored), but had never driven it. Kim told him that if he ever wanted to sell it that I would be interested. When his friend sold the building it was stored in, he had more cars than space, so he offered to sell Kim the car!
Lizzie had a few problems, like needing to rebuild the carburetor and cleaning out the fuel system, but nothing like some other Model Ts that Kim has owned. Think about that for a second. He’s owned many! He tells me that each Ford Model T has a different personality.
The close-up view of Kim’s 1915 Ford Model T.
Magneto Headlights
Kim got the Magneto headlights working. He says that they are a different animal. The more RPM you have, the brighter the lights. They take a special light bulb to handle the various voltages (from 4 -50 volts). When you are in low gear, the lights get bright, but when you shift to high and the RPM drops, the lights get dim. Crazy!
I didn’t know this until a week after the project, but Kim needed a light bulb for the light painting. So he contacted Lang’s Old Car Parts. The guy he talked to told him they were out of the Magneto bulbs and asked if he would like to try out a new LED bulb at no charge to test to see if it would work in a Model T that doesn’t have a generator. Kim told him that he would be happy to be his guinea pig!
Kim installed them according to the directions and promptly had problems. They took so much power that the engine started running rough, and they also got very hot. He went to the local Auto Value store and found a Sylvania 1004 bulb that uses the same socket. He bought a pair of them, and they seem to be working well.
Now, Kim can light the coal oil lanterns and taillight, fire up Lizzie, and go for a night cruise!
This 1915 Ford Model T Gets Around!
Kim and Lizzie have driven to Iola and a family reunion in Fargo. This summer, they are planning a Horseless Carriage tour in the Superior, Wisconsin area. He’s looking forward to seeing how it will do on a 100-mile day of touring!
Light Painting the 2008 Ford Shelby Mustang
Here’s what Judy’s Shelby Mustang looked like prior to light painting it.
Let’s talk, Shelby, shall we?
Judy purchased this beautiful car in the summer of 2024 from Downforce Motorsports in Minocqua, WI. The gentleman there was selling it for a lady whose husband had passed away. Judy has kept in touch with her and has told her that if she ever gets up to Superior, she can take the car for a spin. She’s happy the car got to go to a good home.
Kim and Judy first went to Downforce to check out the car and took it for a spin. Judy ended up putting a down payment on it and picked it up on their way to Iola. There, it was part of the Great Lakes Region Team Shelby display. From Iola, they drove to Fargo, North Dakota, for a family reunion and were in a car show in West Fargo.
Last year, at the Team Shelby Event in LaCrosse, Aaron Shelby, one one Carrol’s grandsons, signed Judy’s dash. Later that afternoon, Kim was driving and Judy put down the visor on the passenger side when they were driving west into the sun. Lo and behold, there was Carroll Shelby’s signature on the mirror cover!
Here’s Aaron Shelby, signing Judy’s dash at a Team Shelby event in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Here’s Carrol Shelby’s autograph on Judy’s visor, with Aaron’s below!
The next day, they were at a car show at the local Ford dealer. One of the board members of Team Shelby is an expert on Shelby GTs, so Judy asked him if Carroll had signed all the Shelbys. He said no, but Carroll was probably on the production floor the day her’s went through, and had signed all the cars that day. Somebody overheard their conversation and offered Judy $3,000 for the visor! Needless to say, she didn’t take his offer.
The Stats on a 2008 Ford Shelby Mustang
Here’s a close-up of the Ford Shelby’s light painting.
Judy’s is a Vista Blue 2008 Shelby GT. It has an automatic transmission and currently has 19,842 miles on it.
The 2008 Shelby GT production totaled 2,214.
Blue Coupes: 1,121 (973 manual and 148 automatic) Judy’s is one of the 148.
Grabber Orange Coupes: 215 (211 manual and 4 automatic).
Black Coupes 61: (47 manual, 14 automatic).
Blue Convertibles: 778 (583 manual, 195 automatic).
Grabber Orange Convertibles: none.
Black Convertibles: 39 (28 manual, 11 automatic).
The finished one-of-a-kind artwork! This is another pretty light painting, for sure!
The Movie
As always, we’ve got a short “Build Video” on our YouTube channel. It contains all of the images that we used to create Kim and Judy’s one-of-a-kind light-painted photograph. Then, you’ll see the image come to life, one layer at a time, using Photoshop and other programs. The link is below.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this story, this is just the second of six light paintings we created in one week! I can’t wait to get started on the next one that has 9 muscle cars in it! We’ll certainly be sharing it once it is completed. The others will follow.
If you love what you see here, we have an entire Light Painting website that can be found at www.MichaelAndersonLightPainting.com. Please check it out!
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our story! – M&J