Through The Lens : No Groups Just Friends : Eric Arnold Photography Ep32

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:33.680
Music.

00:00:33.527 --> 00:00:41.507
About this class-leading VW magazine. All right, welcome back to Dub Life Diaries.

00:00:41.727 --> 00:00:45.947
Today's guest is a guy that absolutely keeps the Volkswagen scene alive,

00:00:46.207 --> 00:00:50.907
not just through cars, but through the stories that he tells and the images that he captures.

00:00:51.747 --> 00:00:56.247
Eric Arnold has been rolling in his 77 Westphalia since 2003,

00:00:56.827 --> 00:01:00.107
and that bus isn't just a bus. It's a freaking legend.

00:01:00.447 --> 00:01:04.587
It's been featured in magazines all over the world. It's stacked up nearly 70

00:01:04.587 --> 00:01:09.287
show awards, probably has more road trip stories than a lot of us have memories.

00:01:09.727 --> 00:01:13.167
Eric's not just driving though. He's actually documenting the scene as well.

00:01:13.307 --> 00:01:16.627
He's been photographing Volkswagens professionally for over a decade.

00:01:16.887 --> 00:01:21.387
And listen to this. To date, he's had over 300 features published.

00:01:21.767 --> 00:01:22.647
I'm going to say that again.

00:01:23.567 --> 00:01:29.067
300 features published. Wow. That's amazing. Including 75 covers.

00:01:29.627 --> 00:01:34.787
Dang, 75 covers. He's also the editor of the Vintage Voice, which is the official

00:01:34.787 --> 00:01:37.627
magazine of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:01:38.027 --> 00:01:44.047
He's based out of Vegas, travels all over the Southwest, and has a very unique role in the culture.

00:01:44.227 --> 00:01:47.227
He's not in a club. He's not tied to any one crew. He's neutral.

00:01:47.367 --> 00:01:48.547
He's friendly with everybody.

00:01:48.747 --> 00:01:53.587
And that's probably exactly why people trust him to tell the real story of the scene.

00:01:54.287 --> 00:02:00.147
Let's go We're talking buses, dubs, photography VW shows, road trips And the

00:02:00.147 --> 00:02:06.567
heart and soul of this culture Eric Arnold, welcome to Dub Life Diaries Thank

00:02:06.567 --> 00:02:07.867
you very much, how'd you do this?

00:02:08.487 --> 00:02:13.007
Awesome, man, yes, thank you so much for your time I do appreciate it Before

00:02:13.007 --> 00:02:16.367
we get going today, I want to give a shout out To my buddy Paul K,

00:02:16.567 --> 00:02:21.527
Volksmania Magazine You guys should be seeing issue number 23 Hitting the shelves

00:02:21.527 --> 00:02:26.607
right now I know there was some delays in the delivery, and I know the East

00:02:26.607 --> 00:02:31.047
Coast and the hurricane and all that stuff played into it. But either way, shout out to those guys.

00:02:31.367 --> 00:02:35.907
And then also, shout out to you guys, to Vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:02:35.907 --> 00:02:37.627
I want to say what's up to Jay Brand.

00:02:37.887 --> 00:02:41.327
You guys are awesome. Jay put me on in the very beginning when I started this

00:02:41.327 --> 00:02:47.347
podcast and shared this podcast with the crew, the Volkswagen Club of America crew.

00:02:47.547 --> 00:02:50.747
So, Jay, thank you. And what's up, man? What's up? Hope all is well.

00:02:50.747 --> 00:02:53.607
Okay that's all i got man back

00:02:53.607 --> 00:02:56.527
to you back to you so if i were to see you

00:02:56.527 --> 00:02:59.607
at a vw show how would you introduce yourself to

00:02:59.607 --> 00:03:05.727
me well generally when i'm at a show i'm working and i'm working hard so if

00:03:05.727 --> 00:03:10.167
i'm introducing myself to somebody it's probably because i like their car enough

00:03:10.167 --> 00:03:17.367
to like want to feature it or something okay so i'm i'm pretty straightforward so i'm like.

00:03:18.247 --> 00:03:25.247
I'm eric from whatever magazine i'm working for at the time and information about your car,

00:03:26.019 --> 00:03:30.479
But 95% of the time, people know who I am already. Yeah, yeah.

00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:31.919
I bet you that happens too.

00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:41.059
For me, it's like when I'm walking around the show, I have a HobbyW t-shirt on or something.

00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:43.319
So people know that's Eric from HobbyW.

00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:48.079
So people know when I'm around typically.

00:03:48.679 --> 00:03:54.339
Yeah, roger that. When somebody says Volkswagen culture, because that word,

00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:56.799
we hear it a lot. it, it comes, it comes quite often.

00:03:56.839 --> 00:04:00.619
What comes to mind for you when somebody talks about the Volkswagen culture?

00:04:00.739 --> 00:04:04.159
Volkswagen culture really is community for the most part.

00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:07.939
The people in Volkswagen culture just is what ties it together.

00:04:08.219 --> 00:04:12.879
It's, it's, the cars are the people to me. So without the people,

00:04:13.059 --> 00:04:16.179
it's nothing. So it's, it's really the people more than the cars. Yeah.

00:04:16.539 --> 00:04:20.099
I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna lean in and agree with that. The people make the culture,

00:04:20.099 --> 00:04:23.239
but but it's definitely there right there's

00:04:23.239 --> 00:04:26.019
like a there's something there that it's like a

00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:28.959
commonality or it's something that we all that we

00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.039
all share yeah cars brought us together

00:04:32.039 --> 00:04:34.999
right but it's the people that hold it together

00:04:34.999 --> 00:04:38.539
so i had the time in the hot rod community too

00:04:38.539 --> 00:04:41.659
because like i'll bring my bus to hot

00:04:41.659 --> 00:04:44.579
rod shows all the time here in las vegas and you

00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:47.239
know the people are great but it's not the same you know

00:04:47.239 --> 00:04:50.119
it's it's not the same community of people

00:04:50.119 --> 00:04:53.539
like you meet awesome hot rod people too but

00:04:53.539 --> 00:04:57.259
you can tell the computer the community is just not the same as the Volkswagen

00:04:57.259 --> 00:05:01.179
community yeah we we thought we touch on that you know other folks that have

00:05:01.179 --> 00:05:04.799
been on the show they they touch on the same thing there's just something on

00:05:04.799 --> 00:05:09.999
almost unexplainable about our culture our community in the Volkswagen community

00:05:09.999 --> 00:05:12.359
it's it's unless you're in it you can.

00:05:14.380 --> 00:05:17.540
It's really tough to understand because like some other guests have said in

00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:20.200
the past, you know, like the Camaros and the Mustangs and the,

00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:24.180
you know, they all have groups and whatnot. And those cars have been around for a long time too.

00:05:24.960 --> 00:05:29.020
But the people ain't the same when you show up and they're all congregated than

00:05:29.020 --> 00:05:31.920
the Volkswagen people are. So that's pretty cool.

00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:36.520
Yeah, that's basically it to me. Tell me what the difference is.

00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:41.720
What's life like behind the lens versus behind the wheel? It's totally different

00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:47.520
when you're working like as a photographer and you're at an event than when

00:05:47.520 --> 00:05:49.920
you're just at an event as a car owner.

00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:54.900
So for me, when I'm 99% of the time I'm at an event, I'm working.

00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:58.020
So like there's, I have a job to do. Right.

00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:04.400
You know, I relate to that big time because down here in Central Florida,

00:06:04.760 --> 00:06:08.480
you know, I've done a few VW shows and they're getting some traction.

00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.100
Yeah, it's a lot. so like i

00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:15.260
know i need to get photos of

00:06:15.260 --> 00:06:18.260
all these different types of cars i need to get photos of people

00:06:18.260 --> 00:06:21.600
i need to get photos of trophies i need to get wide shots

00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.560
i need to get detail shots i need to get this this and

00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.680
this and this and this like i need i need

00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.820
to hit all my points i have to do this all during the day i

00:06:30.820 --> 00:06:33.660
have 10 minutes to eat and i have five minutes

00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:36.440
to sit down but when you're at a show to be at

00:06:36.440 --> 00:06:39.340
a show like as a car

00:06:39.340 --> 00:06:42.180
owner or a spectator is completely different when i put

00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:45.840
on a couple shows now right as a spectator you know what it feels like to be

00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:50.500
there but when you're when you're in any type of a role that's work related

00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:55.540
and you're working the event it almost goes by in such a blink it's still enjoyable

00:06:55.540 --> 00:06:59.660
and you still love all the cars and but it's because it's work it's like.

00:07:00.255 --> 00:07:03.355
You know, I, I don't even have time to like shake a hand or,

00:07:03.515 --> 00:07:06.535
you know, I, it's, it's this fire to this fire to this fire to,

00:07:07.035 --> 00:07:09.095
because that's that, that, that, that show day.

00:07:09.535 --> 00:07:14.635
Right. Uh, so yeah. So I, I, I resonate with that feeling of it's different

00:07:14.635 --> 00:07:15.735
when you're there for work.

00:07:15.855 --> 00:07:19.895
Yeah. It's a completely different mindset than when you're just there as a car

00:07:19.895 --> 00:07:23.555
owner and you're there to hang out and nothing to worry about,

00:07:23.875 --> 00:07:25.955
you know, nothing to get done. No, no job to do.

00:07:26.195 --> 00:07:29.015
That's a good feeling once you're there and your car is set

00:07:29.015 --> 00:07:31.855
up and you're just there to hang out that's awesome but when

00:07:31.855 --> 00:07:35.895
you're there to work completely different so do you remember the exact moment

00:07:35.895 --> 00:07:40.695
when you fell in love with volkswagons i don't know about the exact moment but

00:07:40.695 --> 00:07:47.615
i know that when i first got into it was like i was working way back when and

00:07:47.615 --> 00:07:51.175
whenever and my buddy kendall,

00:07:52.175 --> 00:07:57.055
he was thinking about buying a bus right so we started looking at him together

00:07:57.055 --> 00:08:01.755
and he's like i want to get one of these camper buses just drive around in and

00:08:01.755 --> 00:08:04.835
do like camping on the weekends and stuff so we started looking at him together

00:08:04.835 --> 00:08:09.855
and he ended up getting like a 77 camper bus a green one.

00:08:11.195 --> 00:08:15.095
And so he like he would bring it to work and we would just like hang out and

00:08:15.095 --> 00:08:19.695
whatever and like he went out of town for a couple weeks and he let me borrow

00:08:19.695 --> 00:08:22.035
it to drive around because I didn't have a car at the time.

00:08:22.375 --> 00:08:25.455
And I drove it around for those couple of weeks. I'm like, this is pretty cool.

00:08:25.875 --> 00:08:29.895
Many years later down the line, I'm like, I had a job where I could save up

00:08:29.895 --> 00:08:33.235
some money. I'm like, I think I'm going to maybe get one of those buses.

00:08:34.086 --> 00:08:39.766
So I could do that kind of stuff. And I finally saved up the money and started shopping around.

00:08:39.966 --> 00:08:43.726
And then I found one of my own. So that's just basically where I started.

00:08:44.426 --> 00:08:48.866
Quite literally, you found one of your own. Same color, same year, right?

00:08:49.066 --> 00:08:52.726
Same year, same color, yeah. Yeah. The reason why the year sticks out is because

00:08:52.726 --> 00:08:55.006
it's the year I was born. So, you know. Oh, cool.

00:08:55.386 --> 00:08:58.066
Yeah, as soon as I see it, I'm like, oh, cool. Yeah, that's my year.

00:08:58.146 --> 00:09:00.486
That's my year. You made this bus.

00:09:00.666 --> 00:09:04.346
It was your daily driver for a long time, wasn't it? Yeah, for about 12 years,

00:09:04.606 --> 00:09:09.486
I daily drove my 77 Westphalia bus in Las Vegas, where it's,

00:09:09.546 --> 00:09:11.386
you know, in the South Park.

00:09:11.746 --> 00:09:15.006
Yeah, that's what I was going to touch on. So I live in Florida,

00:09:15.426 --> 00:09:18.626
you know, and it's almost so hot here in the summer that, you know,

00:09:18.686 --> 00:09:20.886
driving these cars, it's not really enjoyable.

00:09:21.166 --> 00:09:24.046
It's hot, dude, like really hot. And I know you can relate to that.

00:09:24.286 --> 00:09:27.566
So that's what I was going to say was like, you know, what was it like making

00:09:27.566 --> 00:09:31.366
that your daily driver in the heat of the desert?

00:09:32.186 --> 00:09:36.446
Well, my alternative previously was my bicycle, right?

00:09:38.526 --> 00:09:42.946
Better on a bike. At least you avoid the sunburn and the bus.

00:09:43.566 --> 00:09:45.986
So it was still a step up from that.

00:09:46.666 --> 00:09:54.526
Right. I'm driving around in a toaster, basically, 115 degrees every day. Yeah, yeah. Wow.

00:09:54.886 --> 00:09:59.086
It was a lot, but it was still all right. Vegas in the late 80s versus now,

00:09:59.306 --> 00:10:02.226
how has the car culture kind of shifted?

00:10:02.386 --> 00:10:07.046
What's the scene from the 80s versus now? Well, I didn't really get into the

00:10:07.046 --> 00:10:10.126
Volkswagen scene until late, right?

00:10:10.326 --> 00:10:12.926
So I didn't have my bus until 2003.

00:10:13.486 --> 00:10:16.046
Okay. So I can't really speak to it until then.

00:10:17.306 --> 00:10:21.866
But from then until now, it probably hasn't changed a whole lot.

00:10:21.866 --> 00:10:24.946
Like there's still there's several like

00:10:24.946 --> 00:10:27.986
volkswagen clubs in town i said there's probably like

00:10:27.986 --> 00:10:31.966
five or six different volkswagen clubs in town and

00:10:31.966 --> 00:10:34.986
back then there was probably like two or three they don't

00:10:34.986 --> 00:10:37.806
really do things together and they didn't then and they don't now

00:10:37.806 --> 00:10:42.046
is it because of the population you know dense population where they're they

00:10:42.046 --> 00:10:47.686
can have successful events in small small areas well when there's when there's

00:10:47.686 --> 00:10:53.346
a big event everybody comes okay cool okay yeah Or like when there's a meetup

00:10:53.346 --> 00:10:55.246
at like the Volkswagen dealership,

00:10:55.506 --> 00:11:01.046
like a few from each club will go if whoever's available at the time. Right.

00:11:02.046 --> 00:11:05.306
But like nobody does anything in the summer because it's too hot.

00:11:06.089 --> 00:11:11.289
But like in the winter, like we have like big events in like October and everybody

00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:13.049
goes because that's our big event.

00:11:14.469 --> 00:11:18.349
But, you know, if, as far as like just hanging out, you know,

00:11:18.449 --> 00:11:24.889
if one club does their own event, like the other clubs don't go because they're not invited. Gotcha.

00:11:25.449 --> 00:11:28.469
You know, there's, there's divides who can fix that. I don't know.

00:11:29.209 --> 00:11:32.149
Yeah. I don't know if it can be fixed really.

00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:37.249
Right. I don't think somebody could, but I don't know. maybe one day.

00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:42.049
Yeah. I think that in, in the, in the big grand scheme of things,

00:11:42.069 --> 00:11:45.849
if there's a large, you know, kind of event, I think that the community itself

00:11:45.849 --> 00:11:47.929
can, can cluster up and can come together.

00:11:48.249 --> 00:11:50.989
But I've also felt that same thing where there's like, you know,

00:11:51.049 --> 00:11:53.829
there's clicks, there's, there's small clicks.

00:11:54.029 --> 00:11:57.989
And, and, you know, I think that's almost to be expected out of such a large

00:11:57.989 --> 00:12:01.089
culture, such a large community for, for that to be.

00:12:01.209 --> 00:12:04.189
But I want to touch on on the Westie for for

00:12:04.189 --> 00:12:06.869
just a little bit like tell us about it like what makes it

00:12:06.869 --> 00:12:09.809
so special you said nearly 70 awards featured in

00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:12.589
five different magazines all over the world like I want

00:12:12.589 --> 00:12:15.529
the listeners to hear about this bill all right my bus

00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:18.409
is about as original as

00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:24.029
it can be I bought my bus in 2003 in Flagstaff

00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:27.049
Arizona basically in the middle of the night so

00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:33.089
it was pitch dark in this guy's backyard and i bought it off an ad on the samba

00:12:33.089 --> 00:12:37.169
and back then you could buy buses like super cheap because nobody wanted bay

00:12:37.169 --> 00:12:41.929
window buses right remember it was back in 2003 like i went down like it was

00:12:41.929 --> 00:12:45.589
super late when we got there it was dark i knew nothing about,

00:12:46.089 --> 00:12:50.089
buses i didn't know what i was looking at really so we're out there with flashlights

00:12:50.089 --> 00:12:54.449
trying to look at it and all this stuff so i bought it and drove it home with

00:12:54.449 --> 00:12:59.029
my kids in the back cool yeah it was I probably shouldn't have done it, but I did.

00:13:00.789 --> 00:13:04.169
Fast forward, right. So now my bus, I have...

00:13:04.676 --> 00:13:08.916
Fixed it up as much as I can. It's a 77 West Valley.

00:13:09.116 --> 00:13:13.776
The paint is probably like 60% original still.

00:13:14.176 --> 00:13:15.956
The interior is all original.

00:13:16.576 --> 00:13:22.676
The cabinetry inside is probably the most original yet unique that you've seen.

00:13:23.156 --> 00:13:28.096
And is that an Arizona bus? Is that where it's been the whole time since it

00:13:28.096 --> 00:13:30.976
was new? As far as I can tell. I'm the third owner.

00:13:31.456 --> 00:13:40.276
Okay. The bus was imported originally into Jacksonville, but where it went as

00:13:40.276 --> 00:13:41.996
far as the dealer, I don't know.

00:13:42.436 --> 00:13:47.716
Well, typically when you hear about all originals like this that are 50 years

00:13:47.716 --> 00:13:53.036
old, you hear about them coming from some area of the country that doesn't have a lot of humidity.

00:13:53.036 --> 00:13:58.316
So there wasn't really ability to deteriorate the cabinet wood or deteriorate

00:13:58.316 --> 00:14:00.396
the metal and start rusting.

00:14:00.396 --> 00:14:03.556
Yeah it has very little rust

00:14:03.556 --> 00:14:06.956
on it yeah that's super awesome right so

00:14:06.956 --> 00:14:10.116
the the cabinet wood like the veneer was peeling up

00:14:10.116 --> 00:14:13.196
so that's that's what's different about mine so

00:14:13.196 --> 00:14:19.336
i took all the veneer off of mine and then i like sanded the wood underneath

00:14:19.336 --> 00:14:24.696
it and then sealed it so all my cabinetry is lighter than it's supposed to be

00:14:24.696 --> 00:14:30.676
okay so it has a completely different look it's all original but it has a different

00:14:30.676 --> 00:14:32.496
look than your standard Westie.

00:14:32.656 --> 00:14:36.116
That wood they used back then when you peeled that, you know,

00:14:36.196 --> 00:14:39.896
that facing or whatever off, was it, is it like a particle board,

00:14:40.016 --> 00:14:42.696
like glued together stuff or is it like real wood?

00:14:43.036 --> 00:14:46.256
It's five layer plywood. Okay. Yeah.

00:14:46.816 --> 00:14:53.356
Yeah. So when I took that veneer off, I just sanded down that first layer and

00:14:53.356 --> 00:14:55.616
then I stained it and sealed it.

00:14:55.956 --> 00:15:01.156
Perfect. Yeah, and it's been great ever since It's probably eye-catching too.

00:15:01.841 --> 00:15:07.021
It's, it's very nice actually. So when you open that sliding door and you see

00:15:07.021 --> 00:15:08.641
that woman, it just really pops.

00:15:09.261 --> 00:15:12.601
So after so many awards, I mean, do you, is this something that you,

00:15:12.641 --> 00:15:15.441
are you just expecting to win now? Do you even keep count anymore?

00:15:15.701 --> 00:15:19.381
You know, I only keep count because my friends have told me that when I get

00:15:19.381 --> 00:15:21.701
to 77 awards, I have to stop.

00:15:24.241 --> 00:15:27.401
They're like, yeah, save some for the rest of the guys out here,

00:15:27.601 --> 00:15:28.901
you know? Pretty much. Yeah.

00:15:29.821 --> 00:15:32.861
That's awesome. You've been featured in a bunch of different magazines.

00:15:33.141 --> 00:15:36.721
Did any of the features stand out, you know, one more than others?

00:15:36.961 --> 00:15:38.041
That's kind of hard to say.

00:15:38.401 --> 00:15:43.161
It's been in Hot VW's magazine, Volks World magazine in the UK,

00:15:43.641 --> 00:15:46.601
Combi magazine in France. It was on the cover of that magazine.

00:15:46.921 --> 00:15:49.781
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial magazine in the UK.

00:15:50.261 --> 00:15:54.541
A magazine called Combi, which doesn't exist anymore. That was actually part

00:15:54.541 --> 00:15:57.541
of the Volksmania lineage way back in the day.

00:15:58.461 --> 00:16:02.361
Those five. If any of them stand out, I don't know. I guess you would say Hot

00:16:02.361 --> 00:16:06.541
VWs, but I really like the Volksworld feature.

00:16:06.821 --> 00:16:12.361
The layout was super nice. Any wild stories of something happening around your bus at a show?

00:16:12.681 --> 00:16:16.081
If you ask my friends, the best story ever was

00:16:16.081 --> 00:16:22.801
at Buses by the Bridge several years ago when this overly inebriated man from

00:16:22.801 --> 00:16:28.061
Texas at about 3 o'clock in the morning decided he couldn't find the port-a-potty

00:16:28.061 --> 00:16:33.061
and relieved himself on my bumper oh what yeah,

00:16:34.161 --> 00:16:39.781
yikes right did you wake up to this or oh we were still awake so.

00:16:41.241 --> 00:16:47.221
Yeah we were awake and saw it happen so did he think he was in the toilet or

00:16:47.221 --> 00:16:51.801
something or yeah yeah he was just standing there and we heard it happening

00:16:51.801 --> 00:16:57.461
so i had a kid when he was five he He woke up one night, thought he was going to the bathroom,

00:16:57.941 --> 00:17:01.181
five, maybe six, thought he was going to the bathroom and he would just pee him right in my closet.

00:17:02.599 --> 00:17:08.799
But for a six-year-old, that's expected, not for an adult. Yeah, this guy was in his 40s.

00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:14.459
That's wild. Probably too much of a people today. Well, that's a wild story.

00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.959
Yeah, I was a little less than happy.

00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:23.379
We'll just put it at that. After all the years on the bus, what made you jump

00:17:23.379 --> 00:17:27.099
into the cabriolet world after being a bus guy for so long?

00:17:27.199 --> 00:17:31.539
I got my 89 cabriolet about a year and a half ago now.

00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:34.459
Something like that we decided i wanted something a little bit

00:17:34.459 --> 00:17:38.379
different just you know las

00:17:38.379 --> 00:17:41.339
vegas is a very fair weather place for the most part except

00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:44.359
when it's too hot i don't know maybe it's my midlife crisis

00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:47.339
car i don't know but yeah just

00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:50.299
something different to drive around and like we have

00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:53.659
a fun water-cooled scene here like there's

00:17:53.659 --> 00:17:56.379
some water-cooled clubs around and you know it's just fun to hang

00:17:56.379 --> 00:17:59.179
out with those guys too for a change and yeah

00:17:59.179 --> 00:18:02.159
i was going to ask you about that the if if the cabra

00:18:02.159 --> 00:18:05.299
cabra lake community feels different than

00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:08.339
you know the air cool bus crowd oh yeah like those

00:18:08.339 --> 00:18:12.159
guys have their own like style and

00:18:12.159 --> 00:18:17.239
like their own hangouts and stuff like when i rolled up to like the euro days

00:18:17.239 --> 00:18:22.019
like meet up for the first time in the cabrio like you should have seen their

00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:26.079
faces when they saw who was driving that thing because they know me from the

00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:31.259
bus right they're like oh my god that's eric and he's diving water-cooled volks by hand.

00:18:32.439 --> 00:18:37.099
Yeah it was pretty fun but yeah it's it's a really fun car to drive yeah the

00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:40.719
water-cooled scene here is uh quite different than the air-cooled scene,

00:18:41.433 --> 00:18:47.033
And they do like a ton of mods to their cars and like everything is like a millimeter

00:18:47.033 --> 00:18:52.273
off the ground. And they have all these effects and like all the sporty wheels.

00:18:52.593 --> 00:18:56.053
And yeah, it's a lot of fun to hang out with those guys.

00:18:56.513 --> 00:19:01.953
I bet. That sounds like it. And I see, you know, even the air-cooled guys,

00:19:02.113 --> 00:19:05.233
you know, venturing over to, you know, getting some water-cooled stuff,

00:19:05.393 --> 00:19:07.893
some old Golfs and some GTIs. VTIs.

00:19:08.013 --> 00:19:12.513
And, you know, I had a, I had a Jetta back in the day. You know,

00:19:12.573 --> 00:19:14.553
I thought that was a cool car in the late nineties.

00:19:14.713 --> 00:19:17.753
Actually, I think it was 96 was the first year of that new body style.

00:19:18.313 --> 00:19:22.833
Maybe it was 97 back then. I don't quite remember, but I had one and yeah,

00:19:22.913 --> 00:19:25.633
man, Volkswagen does a good job on the water cooled side too.

00:19:25.913 --> 00:19:29.933
So I think some of the older cars, you know, they're becoming, they're becoming cool.

00:19:30.073 --> 00:19:33.693
They're becoming collectors, you know, items nowadays. So it's kind of fun.

00:19:33.693 --> 00:19:37.453
And I want to touch on your process for work.

00:19:38.293 --> 00:19:42.993
When you're shooting cars, you tend to think this about a lot of photographers,

00:19:43.193 --> 00:19:49.313
especially ones that are very keen or have a niche like you do with cars or

00:19:49.313 --> 00:19:50.633
Volkswagen specifically.

00:19:51.013 --> 00:19:55.953
But what are you looking for? What are you looking at when you look through the lens?

00:19:56.093 --> 00:19:58.653
Are you looking for the background? Are you looking for the cars?

00:19:58.653 --> 00:20:01.913
There are a certain angle. Like, I mean, gosh, I'm not a photographer,

00:20:01.913 --> 00:20:06.493
but I just always kind of wonder, like, what does an artist see when they're

00:20:06.493 --> 00:20:07.473
looking through the lens?

00:20:07.693 --> 00:20:11.153
There's a lot that goes into like a photo shoot, right?

00:20:11.333 --> 00:20:16.753
Like if I'm arranging a photo shoot, like I have, I'm traveling next week to

00:20:16.753 --> 00:20:22.353
a Volkswagen event and I'm trying to set up like four or five photo shoots before I get there.

00:20:23.273 --> 00:20:27.193
So I have a list of cars that I'm doing. Yeah.

00:20:27.534 --> 00:20:32.514
And, like, I know I need to get four or five locations set first for these cars.

00:20:32.694 --> 00:20:38.714
So I need to match up this car with this location. So I need the right location for this car.

00:20:38.874 --> 00:20:41.874
So the location needs to fit the vibe of the car.

00:20:42.314 --> 00:20:46.894
So that's step one. And once we get there, like, if I'm doing a magazine shoot,

00:20:47.074 --> 00:20:48.594
there's things that you have to do.

00:20:48.714 --> 00:20:55.154
So you need the right angles for the magazine. You need all the three quarters

00:20:55.154 --> 00:20:58.774
all around the car, front, back, side, side.

00:20:59.154 --> 00:21:02.974
You need all the details. You need all the wheels.

00:21:03.394 --> 00:21:06.674
You need, like, there's a list, like a mental list that you go through.

00:21:07.334 --> 00:21:13.834
But then you need to use your own vision and say, okay, I need to do my own style, right?

00:21:14.494 --> 00:21:17.334
So what's my vision of this car?

00:21:17.334 --> 00:21:21.794
And that's when you use your own style and you say,

00:21:22.034 --> 00:21:27.094
I'm going to set this up or I'm going to set that up based on what I see for

00:21:27.094 --> 00:21:31.674
this particular car and no two cars are the same even though it might be a stock

00:21:31.674 --> 00:21:35.594
67 bug whatever red color, right?

00:21:35.774 --> 00:21:41.134
Even though this red bug I'm shooting now and I'm going to shoot this red bug

00:21:41.134 --> 00:21:43.874
later it's still going to be different. Right.

00:21:44.294 --> 00:21:47.494
We all know even though they're the same color All these cars,

00:21:47.714 --> 00:21:50.014
you know, they're like hanging out with different people.

00:21:50.154 --> 00:21:52.974
You know, they're completely their own thing. So, yes.

00:21:53.454 --> 00:21:58.274
Yeah, it's going to be a different vibe. So, I got to feel that car out and

00:21:58.274 --> 00:22:00.394
shoot it the way that that car makes sense.

00:22:00.774 --> 00:22:04.294
How do you do that? How do you catch that vibe? Do you sit in it?

00:22:04.434 --> 00:22:05.814
Do you immerse yourself?

00:22:05.974 --> 00:22:09.074
Do you look at pictures of it and try to feel the vibe? Do you have to drive

00:22:09.074 --> 00:22:10.634
it? How does that happen for you?

00:22:11.074 --> 00:22:14.114
No, never drive somebody else's car, unless they ask you to.

00:22:15.498 --> 00:22:20.718
Good rule. Good rule. Yeah. I only sit in the car when I'm photographing it

00:22:20.718 --> 00:22:29.018
to get the interior shots. It's mostly talking to the owner and looking at the car.

00:22:29.518 --> 00:22:34.538
Sure. Okay. And sometimes the location plays into it, too, because it's how

00:22:34.538 --> 00:22:36.078
the car plays off the location.

00:22:36.958 --> 00:22:43.898
And a lot of times the time of day will play into it too because the lighting and the location,

00:22:44.578 --> 00:22:49.318
can affect how the car looks so there's a lot of fact you went to the photo

00:22:49.318 --> 00:22:53.778
shoot and i can appreciate that because as you're saying that i'm thinking you

00:22:53.778 --> 00:22:57.798
know myself i'm not a professional photographer by any any stretch of any imagination

00:22:57.798 --> 00:23:02.178
but i had a 58 beetle a couple years back in st St.

00:23:02.238 --> 00:23:06.258
Petersburg, Florida is known for their large murals that are all over the city.

00:23:06.498 --> 00:23:12.758
You know, there's 80 of them. I mean, you know, there's a lot of them and some of them are huge.

00:23:13.218 --> 00:23:17.278
But that car in bright yellow, you know, looked great in front of murals.

00:23:17.438 --> 00:23:21.238
It had a great stance. And I take my thing or my wife's car and Ghia back to

00:23:21.238 --> 00:23:25.538
those same murals, same time of day, same blue sky or same overcast or same.

00:23:25.818 --> 00:23:28.498
And they just don't cut it. They just don't do the same thing.

00:23:28.498 --> 00:23:35.578
So I can kind of sense that some cars look good and some backgrounds and some cars don't, right?

00:23:35.958 --> 00:23:40.578
Yeah, it depends on the car. Yeah, yeah. I feel that.

00:23:40.898 --> 00:23:46.838
So you're friends with, seems like everybody, but you're not in any type of Volkswagen club.

00:23:47.278 --> 00:23:53.038
Do you think that's played into helping your career as a freelance photographer?

00:23:53.278 --> 00:23:57.638
That's hard to say, right? You never know. But yeah, I'm not in a club.

00:23:58.498 --> 00:24:02.078
I try to stay just friendly with everybody right neutral

00:24:02.078 --> 00:24:05.298
so i i make

00:24:05.298 --> 00:24:09.338
that choice to not be in a club i've

00:24:09.338 --> 00:24:13.958
been asked if i want to be in a couple different clubs and i've just said you

00:24:13.958 --> 00:24:22.338
know i'd rather just be like a tertiary like side person to everybody so why

00:24:22.338 --> 00:24:27.198
not just be friendly with every single person that I can be.

00:24:27.358 --> 00:24:28.898
I don't need to be in a club.

00:24:29.658 --> 00:24:33.858
I can just go from this group to this group and just say, hey, what's going on?

00:24:33.978 --> 00:24:41.398
And just hang out with everybody. I think that being in a club could potentially turn off somebody.

00:24:41.558 --> 00:24:44.518
So why take the chance? That's kind of how I see it.

00:24:44.738 --> 00:24:49.478
Well, it kind of shows even more character than not because...

00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:55.100
As a professional, you can't choose a side, right?

00:24:55.360 --> 00:24:58.960
It's like, in a weird way, it's like saying the customer is always right.

00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:04.480
There has to be a level of professionalism if that's your career, right?

00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.760
So you don't want there to be a side. You don't want to tell people you're,

00:25:07.780 --> 00:25:11.520
you know, a certain fan of a certain team because then they might have a reason

00:25:11.520 --> 00:25:13.960
to say, oh, screw that guy then, right?

00:25:14.860 --> 00:25:18.300
And I also don't want to be accused of playing favorites to anybody.

00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:23.300
Yeah, man. No, I appreciate that. neutral person. As an editor,

00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:28.840
obviously Vintage Voice, we all know it well. We all get it. I get my copy of it.

00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:36.160
What makes a story worth publishing as an editor? What are you looking for in a story?

00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:41.060
For Vintage Voice, we just look for anything that's interesting content,

00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:48.200
like anything that the club members would find interesting as something to read.

00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:52.160
The Vintage Volkswagen club of america is

00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:55.240
not the biggest club in the world but we

00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.000
do have a pretty strong membership how many members are there

00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:04.880
there's a ton of free members and there's a pretty strong number of what we

00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:09.540
call pro members yeah and the problem are the people that get the printed magazine

00:26:09.540 --> 00:26:17.500
free members get get the magazine like in a digital form so i actually i'm happy to be a pro member,

00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:20.800
and I think everybody should, is to support you guys.

00:26:21.260 --> 00:26:26.260
And that's what I love about it is it's treated more like a donation than it is a sale.

00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:31.920
You know, and if I ever see that invoice come across, I don't even think twice. I just pay it.

00:26:32.297 --> 00:26:35.737
Because I just feel like that's how it should be in support in this community.

00:26:36.057 --> 00:26:39.437
Right. I think we do like 500 printed copies.

00:26:39.657 --> 00:26:44.857
So there's somewhere around four or 500 pro members and there's thousands and

00:26:44.857 --> 00:26:46.077
thousands of free members.

00:26:46.297 --> 00:26:50.217
So that's awesome, man. It really is. And it's great. I love it.

00:26:50.337 --> 00:26:53.077
I love the stories. I love the pictures.

00:26:53.537 --> 00:26:56.877
I love the, it's kind of like a hardback, you know, folder. It feels like it's,

00:26:56.897 --> 00:26:58.897
it's, it's, it's nice and heavy.

00:26:58.897 --> 00:27:01.697
Yeah it's it's heavy cardstock it's like

00:27:01.697 --> 00:27:04.457
yeah yeah it

00:27:04.457 --> 00:27:09.157
is and we're always looking for people to contribute to vintage voice because

00:27:09.157 --> 00:27:16.017
the people that do it are all volunteers nobody gets paid not not me like i've

00:27:16.017 --> 00:27:21.997
been doing it for eight years now and i haven't got paid a penny so So,

00:27:22.177 --> 00:27:28.297
but like Heinz, our historian and like Jake Raby and like Bill Unger and like

00:27:28.297 --> 00:27:29.757
Mike Epstein, who has been doing,

00:27:29.997 --> 00:27:32.357
was doing it forever and just passed away recently.

00:27:32.737 --> 00:27:38.197
But nobody made up any like working on Vintage Voice. Like everybody's a volunteer.

00:27:38.717 --> 00:27:43.877
But like if you go to a show or want to send in photos and like a quick story

00:27:43.877 --> 00:27:47.257
about the show or something, we'd be happy to publish it in Vintage Voice.

00:27:47.677 --> 00:27:49.417
There you go. There you have it, guys.

00:27:50.117 --> 00:27:51.777
Get your, get your shows out there.

00:27:52.817 --> 00:27:58.177
So I want to ask you about this feeling because my personality type doesn't

00:27:58.177 --> 00:28:00.037
let me feel this way, but I always,

00:28:00.297 --> 00:28:05.317
you know, somebody in your position, I would always like to ask this for larger

00:28:05.317 --> 00:28:11.497
influence style people of the scene or certain cars, like very famous cars in the scene.

00:28:11.657 --> 00:28:15.757
You ever get starstruck seeing any of these, these folks in our,

00:28:15.857 --> 00:28:18.817
in our culture today? Nope. Nope.

00:28:19.897 --> 00:28:22.657
Me either. I see people I'm like

00:28:22.657 --> 00:28:25.677
oh you know even you know big time celebrities I've

00:28:25.677 --> 00:28:28.697
met in my life I feel the same way I'm like man they're just people

00:28:28.697 --> 00:28:31.777
man it ain't no big deal and I think that's just how I've

00:28:31.777 --> 00:28:35.277
been just another guy just another lady it's

00:28:35.277 --> 00:28:38.497
just I've I've met so many people

00:28:38.497 --> 00:28:41.517
I've photographed so many cars I've met

00:28:41.517 --> 00:28:44.477
so many builders like we're all

00:28:44.477 --> 00:28:48.037
just people like we're all just doing our thing and

00:28:48.037 --> 00:28:52.097
I'm happy to meet you and I we're

00:28:52.097 --> 00:28:54.777
all happy to meet each other and we're all just out here

00:28:54.777 --> 00:29:00.837
like enjoying our Volkswagens and let's just keep doing it yes let's keep doing

00:29:00.837 --> 00:29:06.617
it now you spent a lot of time in Cali you know obviously a lot of time in Arizona

00:29:06.617 --> 00:29:14.477
as well is there a difference in Arizona dub scene and Cali dub scene sure of course there is I,

00:29:15.130 --> 00:29:18.370
Arizona Volkswagen scene is awesome

00:29:18.370 --> 00:29:27.890
for one, but it's crazy hot in Arizona from like May until October.

00:29:28.370 --> 00:29:32.510
So there's not much to do unless it's like six o'clock in the morning.

00:29:34.570 --> 00:29:41.110
Too hot. So it shuts down for like six, seven months out of the year in California.

00:29:41.430 --> 00:29:44.910
I feel like that should be Florida, right? But like we all, you know,

00:29:44.930 --> 00:29:47.490
it's so hot year round down here. We all are just like, man,

00:29:47.550 --> 00:29:49.230
let's just grin it, bear it and go.

00:29:49.590 --> 00:29:53.670
But then we go, you know, we go to anything past February ish.

00:29:54.030 --> 00:29:58.010
You know, the whole, the whole show is complaining how hot it is or whatever.

00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:02.790
So I totally feel that. Yeah. But in Arizona, you just can't.

00:30:02.810 --> 00:30:08.490
But in California, like especially Southern California, you just go like there's

00:30:08.490 --> 00:30:10.750
something to do almost every weekend.

00:30:10.750 --> 00:30:14.190
There's shows upon shows upon

00:30:14.190 --> 00:30:17.390
meets upon like hangouts there's

00:30:17.390 --> 00:30:20.450
something to do all the time there's always

00:30:20.450 --> 00:30:23.290
something on the calendar that that's why

00:30:23.290 --> 00:30:26.970
like la and san diego

00:30:26.970 --> 00:30:29.690
and like southern cal southern california as a

00:30:29.690 --> 00:30:32.890
whole was always seen as the the mecca of

00:30:32.890 --> 00:30:36.190
volkswagons like there's a reason for it yeah right

00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:39.010
major major culture coming out

00:30:39.010 --> 00:30:42.190
of there i've had a couple guys from california on

00:30:42.190 --> 00:30:45.090
definitely a different more of

00:30:45.090 --> 00:30:47.930
a together scene it feels like to me than it

00:30:47.930 --> 00:30:55.550
is the cliquish type but lots of mixed mixed cars air-cooled water-cooled culture

00:30:55.550 --> 00:31:01.370
yeah and just per capita there's so many books back in there yes yes that's

00:31:01.370 --> 00:31:06.190
got many people there in general and there's a ton of Volkswagen's zones.

00:31:07.070 --> 00:31:13.470
Yeah. Any road trip breakdowns? Any oh crap moments? Anything worthy of sharing?

00:31:14.150 --> 00:31:17.390
You know, as much time as I spend on the road, I've been pretty lucky.

00:31:17.610 --> 00:31:26.070
But yeah, I've had a few. My last one was probably coming back from a campout I did with a,

00:31:26.527 --> 00:31:30.607
One of the local clubs here, the Against the Rest Volkswagen Club,

00:31:30.747 --> 00:31:33.307
down at Temple Bar, which is on Lake Mead.

00:31:33.887 --> 00:31:39.767
I was coming back from that, and my fuel injection dual relay went out.

00:31:39.867 --> 00:31:45.227
So that means my whole fuel system went out, and I had to get towed back from that, unfortunately.

00:31:45.627 --> 00:31:49.507
So I AAA'd back from that one. Thankfully, that wasn't too far.

00:31:49.687 --> 00:31:53.387
It was only like an hour away, so that wasn't terrible. In the bus?

00:31:53.847 --> 00:31:57.687
In the bus, yeah. It was a camp out, so of course I took the bus. Yep, yep, yep.

00:31:58.087 --> 00:32:04.367
Other than that, I was driving the bus up to the Utah BW Classic one year.

00:32:05.067 --> 00:32:10.207
And I had just done an oil change the day before. I think I was in a hurry.

00:32:10.707 --> 00:32:13.647
And I think I overfilled the oil by a quart.

00:32:14.487 --> 00:32:19.307
So I was a third of the way there. And oil started spewing everywhere all over

00:32:19.307 --> 00:32:21.207
the engine. I'm like, what did I do?

00:32:21.267 --> 00:32:23.547
What did I do? It's smoking everywhere.

00:32:24.487 --> 00:32:28.127
And i went back there and i was like trying to clean up all the oil and i finally

00:32:28.127 --> 00:32:33.447
figured out what i did so i just like drained a little bit of the oil out and i was fine after that so.

00:32:34.507 --> 00:32:37.447
Like super catastrophic what do you think younger

00:32:37.447 --> 00:32:40.827
generations are bringing to the vw culture today

00:32:40.827 --> 00:32:43.627
you probably can see it

00:32:43.627 --> 00:32:46.467
a lot because you're out in the public eye a lot

00:32:46.467 --> 00:32:49.287
yeah and you know air mighty magazine just did

00:32:49.287 --> 00:32:53.067
an issue that featured a whole bunch of younger

00:32:53.067 --> 00:32:56.607
builders which was really cool and like

00:32:56.607 --> 00:33:00.027
in that issue i had a feature of this builder named

00:33:00.027 --> 00:33:03.407
brighton from up in salt lake city he's

00:33:03.407 --> 00:33:06.567
23 and he built a

00:33:06.567 --> 00:33:09.927
54 oval like in

00:33:09.927 --> 00:33:13.507
his own shop right and he built it himself yeah

00:33:13.507 --> 00:33:16.947
so he's like this up and coming young builder

00:33:16.947 --> 00:33:20.307
that's trying to open his own restoration business

00:33:20.307 --> 00:33:23.567
awesome and he did this like amazing

00:33:23.567 --> 00:33:27.027
build of the strato silver oval window

00:33:27.027 --> 00:33:32.487
and like that's the kind of stuff that we need right yeah yeah yeah absolutely

00:33:32.487 --> 00:33:37.787
i'd love to meet him like to have him on the podcast man you gotta love number

00:33:37.787 --> 00:33:42.387
one the entrepreneurial spirit especially coming out of a 23 year old and And

00:33:42.387 --> 00:33:44.787
then also somebody else that would pick that, you know,

00:33:44.847 --> 00:33:50.067
to do instead of all the other things, you know, that are out there and somewhat

00:33:50.067 --> 00:33:51.907
attractive to a 23 year old.

00:33:52.087 --> 00:33:56.047
Very cool. Very cool to hear that. Good stuff. Yeah. And up at the Utah Classic.

00:33:56.247 --> 00:34:02.387
They give out like a special award to someone like 25 or younger that brings a car to a show.

00:34:02.567 --> 00:34:09.027
It's like best young build, right? Someone that builds a car with their own like faculties.

00:34:09.747 --> 00:34:13.207
So like stuff like that. that's the kind of stuff that we need to see in the

00:34:13.207 --> 00:34:18.447
scene. I think like something specifically geared towards younger people to

00:34:18.447 --> 00:34:20.727
give them a spark to keep going.

00:34:21.504 --> 00:34:26.164
I like it. And I, I agree too. And I love when I see that, you know,

00:34:26.344 --> 00:34:29.444
I've had a couple other folks that have been on that, you know,

00:34:29.524 --> 00:34:32.264
say things like, I don't even want to win awards, you know, anymore.

00:34:32.424 --> 00:34:35.324
We want the, the new guys coming in, you know, we want them to be,

00:34:35.444 --> 00:34:39.064
you know, winning these shows and because that's what kept us all coming back,

00:34:39.244 --> 00:34:43.004
you know, all through the nineties and, and, and, and so on.

00:34:43.144 --> 00:34:47.144
But, uh, yeah, good stuff. How about a favorite event?

00:34:48.004 --> 00:34:51.904
Maybe I won't even use the word favorite. What's an event that stands out to

00:34:51.904 --> 00:34:53.944
you that you really never miss?

00:34:54.104 --> 00:34:56.704
The number one event is busted by the bridge. That's the only answer.

00:34:57.284 --> 00:35:03.324
Yeah, I hear that. I hear that. And I see it, you know, and it makes me want to go for sure.

00:35:03.564 --> 00:35:05.744
If anything, just to hang out with everybody.

00:35:06.124 --> 00:35:10.364
How cool. What an event. We had a couple of guys from our area that had gone

00:35:10.364 --> 00:35:12.064
up last year and documented it,

00:35:12.304 --> 00:35:15.264
you know, shot some video and stuff and just looked epic

00:35:15.264 --> 00:35:18.404
man it really did what's so awesome about

00:35:18.404 --> 00:35:21.424
it well for me the number one thing about it it's where i can see

00:35:21.424 --> 00:35:28.824
the most amount of my friends all in the same place at the same time okay because

00:35:28.824 --> 00:35:33.884
everybody comes to that event it doesn't matter where they live or how long

00:35:33.884 --> 00:35:39.604
it takes them to get there they get there like the first year i went there was maybe 100,

00:35:40.364 --> 00:35:42.264
and now it's five, six hundred.

00:35:43.046 --> 00:35:46.526
So you can take that however you want. That's just insane. Now,

00:35:46.666 --> 00:35:50.566
have you heard of and have you seen Bug Jam down here in Date City?

00:35:51.026 --> 00:35:53.946
I've heard of it, of course, and I've seen the photos of it.

00:35:55.546 --> 00:36:02.526
We had 800 cars last year. This year, this podcast is actually sponsoring a

00:36:02.526 --> 00:36:05.746
stereo contest that they're going to have at Bug Jam.

00:36:05.966 --> 00:36:10.646
Yeah, man, that's a cool show, too, down here. But I don't want to take any

00:36:10.646 --> 00:36:12.826
thunder away from Buses by the Bridge.

00:36:13.046 --> 00:36:18.526
I hear that that's, you know, the Mecca, the top dog. So I'd love to get out there at some point.

00:36:19.126 --> 00:36:26.146
Outside of cars, how has VW culture shaped who you are? That's an interesting question.

00:36:27.646 --> 00:36:35.326
It's like being involved in Volkswagens, right, has made, I would say,

00:36:35.446 --> 00:36:38.966
made me like open up more as a person.

00:36:38.966 --> 00:36:42.206
Like i've always been like a super quiet like

00:36:42.206 --> 00:36:46.086
reserved kind of person but being around

00:36:46.086 --> 00:36:49.726
more of the community and being

00:36:49.726 --> 00:36:53.306
more being a photographer in the community has

00:36:53.306 --> 00:37:00.346
i wouldn't say force but forced me to speak to more people so now i'm like they

00:37:00.346 --> 00:37:04.586
say all the time with these cars you can't be somebody that doesn't like attention

00:37:04.586 --> 00:37:08.886
uh and driving these cars because you're going to get attention at every red

00:37:08.886 --> 00:37:13.046
light every time you park it somewhere and get out and sit by your car.

00:37:13.526 --> 00:37:16.626
But yeah, it's the same thing with the people, right? They're like,

00:37:17.286 --> 00:37:21.126
what's up, man? What's going on? You can't hide, but yeah.

00:37:21.426 --> 00:37:25.486
It's just naturally you speak to more people than you normally would just as

00:37:25.486 --> 00:37:27.086
a regular person, right?

00:37:27.926 --> 00:37:32.846
And especially with the photography things i'm like i have to speak to more

00:37:32.846 --> 00:37:38.206
people just it's part of the the job so i've become a much more open person

00:37:38.206 --> 00:37:42.886
than i used to be so that's a good thing thank you classic volkswagens for.

00:37:43.986 --> 00:37:52.586
For making me more outwardly if you had to define the soul of vw in one word

00:37:52.586 --> 00:37:56.066
what would that be No, community Community,

00:37:56.866 --> 00:37:58.226
good answer Community,

00:37:59.080 --> 00:38:02.640
Looking back now over your life, your career, where you're at,

00:38:02.780 --> 00:38:08.740
what do you think your younger self in Iowa would say to the self now if he

00:38:08.740 --> 00:38:13.040
had a chance to say something about your life? Get ready. It's going to be interesting.

00:38:14.760 --> 00:38:19.820
Get ready. Ready to rock. Yeah. Okay, man. I got some rapid fire questions.

00:38:20.020 --> 00:38:23.960
These are questions that demand somewhat of a quick response. You ready?

00:38:24.420 --> 00:38:29.000
I'm ready. All right. Forever Car, your Westie or the Cabriolet?

00:38:29.080 --> 00:38:32.920
Oh yeah all right

00:38:32.920 --> 00:38:36.200
favorite lens for shooting cars my 24

00:38:36.200 --> 00:38:39.160
to 72.8 at all

00:38:39.160 --> 00:38:48.120
that sounded like japanese to me that's that's my everyday walking around lens

00:38:48.120 --> 00:38:54.540
i'll get the most done with the most range without changing lenses so dream

00:38:54.540 --> 00:38:58.580
vw that you you don't own that you don't,

00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:04.600
A late bay double cab with a type four fuel injected engine.

00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:08.900
Wow. You had that one ready to rock. That's a cool. It's on the list.

00:39:09.500 --> 00:39:13.600
One day. That's a cool truck. I like that. That sounds pretty cool.

00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:15.800
Air cooled or water cooled? Air cooled.

00:39:16.260 --> 00:39:23.220
Air cooled. Most photogenic VW color. Anything that's not black or white, velvet green.

00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:28.120
My yellow car i have to tell you my 58 my

00:39:28.120 --> 00:39:31.320
yellow beetle that thing just looked great pictures man didn't

00:39:31.320 --> 00:39:34.120
really matter it made whatever background cool when

00:39:34.120 --> 00:39:37.800
you put it up against something with a cool background like a mural that

00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:41.580
car just was just like electrified yeah yellow

00:39:41.580 --> 00:39:44.740
is good as long as it's in the sun oh good call

00:39:44.740 --> 00:39:47.820
yeah okay if you weren't shooting cars

00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:50.900
what would you be shoot neon signs i have

00:39:50.900 --> 00:39:56.160
a thing for neon signs yeah that's interesting let's hear about that elaborate

00:39:56.160 --> 00:40:01.220
a little bit i live in las vegas so there's a lot of neon signs right okay yeah

00:40:01.220 --> 00:40:07.480
i like i liked going around to like old older like cities on or towns on like

00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:09.780
route 66 and taking pictures of old signs.

00:40:10.576 --> 00:40:14.616
That's just one of the things I do. No, that's actually really, really cool.

00:40:14.776 --> 00:40:18.596
Some of the coolest artwork that you see on the walls of, you know,

00:40:18.696 --> 00:40:23.316
the most elite things out there, you know, artwork, meaning are pictures of

00:40:23.316 --> 00:40:25.936
road signs that are just, you know, the drop Arizona.

00:40:25.936 --> 00:40:30.236
And it's this, you know, crazy cliff wall or yeah, just, yeah, man. Cool.

00:40:30.416 --> 00:40:34.596
I vibe with that. Yeah. VW food at the events.

00:40:35.056 --> 00:40:38.216
Do you fancy any? Like if there's food trucks around.

00:40:38.716 --> 00:40:40.696
Yeah. Yeah. I'm probably going to go tacos.

00:40:41.256 --> 00:40:46.376
Tacos, yeah. Me too. And when I just had my event, that's what I did.

00:40:46.576 --> 00:40:52.536
We had somebody, one of the vendors that come was like South African vibe food.

00:40:52.956 --> 00:40:56.676
And there was the South African tacos that me and my wife got that were,

00:40:56.796 --> 00:40:58.716
they were so good, man. I'm a taco guy.

00:40:59.356 --> 00:41:03.136
I'll be trying that. Best city in the country for photography.

00:41:03.836 --> 00:41:05.436
Whatever city I'm in at the time.

00:41:06.736 --> 00:41:12.776
Great answer. Great answer. I can make anything work. Yeah, I like that.

00:41:13.256 --> 00:41:19.236
All right. One word to describe VW people. Family. Family. Awesome.

00:41:19.836 --> 00:41:28.236
Awesome. Yeah. What would be if somebody was maybe interested in a life of photography,

00:41:28.236 --> 00:41:31.936
maybe even photography for classic Volkswagens?

00:41:31.936 --> 00:41:37.116
What would you tell somebody that maybe just finishing college or just finishing,

00:41:37.116 --> 00:41:40.336
you know, trade school to become a photographer or whatever?

00:41:40.336 --> 00:41:45.016
What would you tell somebody that might want to get into the scene now and be

00:41:45.016 --> 00:41:49.076
a photographer and be successful at it on classic Volkswagens like you?

00:41:49.396 --> 00:41:51.876
Well, step on is to practice, right?

00:41:52.456 --> 00:41:57.216
Get out there and start shooting. It doesn't matter what camera you have,

00:41:57.396 --> 00:42:00.956
what your gear is. Just get out there and start.

00:42:01.745 --> 00:42:04.665
Like, you're not going to get any better if you don't practice.

00:42:04.905 --> 00:42:09.105
So get out there, go to every show, talk to everybody there,

00:42:09.165 --> 00:42:12.065
and just start taking photos.

00:42:12.805 --> 00:42:16.765
That's it. And where can people find you if they want to see your work?

00:42:16.865 --> 00:42:21.465
I know the bulk of our community knows exactly who you are and where to find

00:42:21.465 --> 00:42:25.565
you, but you may inspire somebody by this episode. So where can they come and

00:42:25.565 --> 00:42:27.265
see your work? Where can they find you online?

00:42:28.285 --> 00:42:33.225
All right. I am pretty easy to find. I have a website. It's ericarnoldphotography.com.

00:42:33.545 --> 00:42:38.265
I have a Facebook page, facebook.com slash ericarnoldphotography.

00:42:38.805 --> 00:42:41.825
On Instagram, I am ericarnoldphoto.

00:42:42.605 --> 00:42:46.005
And I am even on x at ericarnoldphoto.

00:42:46.885 --> 00:42:52.305
Excellent. That's where they can find you. And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:42:52.565 --> 00:42:56.345
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:42:56.345 --> 00:43:00.225
the people in the dub that drive their dreams. If you loved today's episode,

00:43:00.465 --> 00:43:04.545
don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button so you never miss an adventure.

00:43:04.845 --> 00:43:09.485
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dove life? Awesome.

00:43:09.805 --> 00:43:14.845
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:43:14.845 --> 00:43:16.585
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:43:16.985 --> 00:43:22.385
Dove Life Diaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:43:22.385 --> 00:43:27.125
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you. This is Joe Person.

00:43:27.305 --> 00:43:30.145
I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride.

00:43:30.480 --> 00:44:27.233
Music.