Rewind: Bay Window Photoshoot

Here's another from the archive. Such cool pictures deserve to be seen again, we hope you agree. From the moment I first saw this Bay Window I knew we should so something cool with it. So, after July’s Heretics meet (this is an old article, you haven't missed anything) we waited for the sun to set and did just that. We are super lucky to be visited by hundreds of cool Volkswagen vehicles every month. Each one is special for different reasons. This bus belonged to Heritage Parts Centre regular, and local restoration specialist Karl from Wolfsburg Wizards.  A 1969 model, it was imported from Texas and parades its years of patina like medals on the metalwork. Dropped on a set of detailed Beetle steels, there’s nothing fancy about it, but it just looked really cool!

Nothing is forever

Inside the patina continued to the original and well used Wesfalia interior. Karl went on to sell this van, but at the time he was pretty smitten and thought it could be a keeper. Over to the photographs. We once again enlisted the talents of Nick Williams from NWVT. He has done a few shoots with us having been behind the lens for our Golfs in the Forest feature, and also a Beetle night shoot in our warehouse, too.

Local Hero.

I’d spotted a local building with a red wooden clad wall, and the plan was to take the van and park it up in front with the colour of the wall complimenting the subtle red detail of the steel wheels. However, the initial shots took place in front of our warehouse doors, as a Police car was parked in our way at the chosen location...

Snapper vs. searchlight part 1.

We spent an hour or so dodging the movement sensor for the floodlights at Heritage HQ and waiting for the sky to get dark enough for Nick to work his light painting magic. For those unaware – these shots were achieved with a long exposure, and Nick lighting up individual sections of the vehicle. He then cleverly blends it all together on his laptop, and hey presto! Being patient was hard, it had already been a long day, but it was worth it! An alley, a stones throw away tempted us to try something a little different and treated us to a third backdrop for our evening of extra curricular activity.

Snapper vs. Searchlight part 2.

With time ticking on we took our chances again with the ‘first choice’ and were pleased to see the local constabulary had moved on. Another security light tested us here too. Leaving us twiddling our thumbs for five minutes at a time, and eating into our evening. Sadly we only managed a single shot, but it worked as I had hoped. More time and a switch for the searchlight could have returned a hand full of further snaps. Sadly this building has now been pulled down, so we'll never know! Big thanks to Karl @Wolfsburg Wizards for the kind loan of his bus for the night, and to Nick for the shots. We’re always on the lookout for interesting vehicles to work with. If you have something cool to share with us, please get in touch! Andy