2008 Calendar Plan

[paparazzi]

Hi All,

I'm the photographer that put together the 2007 Vintage Vans calendar. And I need your help to organise some photo shoots, so I can get new pics to go in next year's calendar.

But first, a brief self introduction: I am a freelance writer/photographer based in Perth. My wife and I have written about 5 magazine articles on different WA vintage vans, and have a few more in the pipeline at present. We don't have a van (vintage or otherwise) but enjoy cruisin' around in our HG Monaro.

Your feedback on the 2007 calandar was helpful and will be taken into account when I prepare the 2008 calendar later this year.

But this is where I need you help: I want to take photos of some east coast vintage vans for the 2008 calendar, and potentially to write up as stories for magazines. I will be visiting NSW or Victoria in April/May/June to do some travel articles, and would like to catch up with some vintage vanners while I'm there.

Any suggestions for when/where I could do that? I am fairly flexible on time/location within the months of April-June and preferably in NSW/Vic. I would like to have about half a dozen vintage vans pulled by classic cars - could be on a group run/safari or could just be in a town which happens to have a lot of vintage vans.

Any thoughts on a suitable time and location?

I am also hoping to visit Coledale in October. That will be too late for the 2008 calendar - but will give me a head start on 2009!

Thanks, Papa Razzi

[belinda]

Whenever we take our vans anywhere much of the interest/excitement from the public is along the lines of "we honeymooned in one of these" and "look! ours had a stove/ice box/curtains like that".

To address that interest, why not have some smaller pictures inset with the big pictures?
- interior/exterior detail shots
- old photos. I'm sure there are still Ektachrome slides around of my parent's honeymoon in 1957, and other site members no doubt have something similar. You could also try council archives or image banks, or Picture Australia - I sub-edited a cycle tourism book for the NRMA last year and councils were really happy to contribute.
- memorabilia. Site members have accumulated a lot of it.
- old caravan advertisements

Keith Winser books like "On the Trail" or fifties postcards/tourist pamphlets might have some ideas for getting the right "look".

The NRMA is about to launch a new caravan and RV mag and might be a market for your work.

If you include the Propert from the National Museum they might be interested in selling the calendar in their shop. The van is certainly a big part of their merchandising.

[humpty2]

May 19/20 @ Lake Munmorah.................easily be about 15 to 20 vintage vans with their respective classic haulers.

Some very good backgrounds available too!!

[paparazzi]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick replies to my question.

Belinda: I'm not sure if you saw the 2007 calendar, but it did have inset pictures alongside the main pics - with (1) other vans for some months, and (2) details/interior/memorabilia of the featured van in other months. Overall reaction from the forum was to stick with the second approach next time round. That fits your suggestion nicely.

I hadn't thought of using old pics of the vans alongside the modern pics that I take. Interesting idea. I'll give it some thought, but my initial reaction is simple - I like it! Old ads, postcards, etc are possibly more of a problem since they raise copyright questions (which I would rather keep well away from).

And I also like the idea of including museums. There is a vintage van on display at Fremantle Motor Museum, just near my home. So I was thinking of including that in the 2008 calendar (if they agree). Then maybe the Canberra one on 2009.

Humpty2: Thanks. I had read the thread on Lake Munmorah, but couldn't figure out from all the postings whether it was definitely on - or just an idea. If it's on, that would be an ideal opportunity for me to get lots of calendar pics.

Regards, Papa Razzi

[Deleted]

Hi Papa
When i first read that you needed photos of east coast vans no later than April /may or June this year I went searching for Mark T's original request for orders for the 2007 calander. He made it very clear that we had little time to get our orders in and we done just that.

I cant seem to find the thread anywhere but i thought he posted that request much later than June?? I might be wrong and someone will no doubt steer me onto his original postings .

I have found the favourable feedback thread comments from around mid November and cant help but feel that even if the calanders where not available until december they will still be very popular as Christmas presents etc.
What a pity you have to have things finalised 6 months prior to the New year.
The ideal place to capture the shots of east coast vans that would be most appealing for the 2008 calander would be at Coledale NSW in mid October..
I urge you to reconsider your deadline as there will be a much wider diversity of vans and tow cars from all over NSW, QLD and Victoria ( The entire East Coast of Australia) at Coledale then there will be at the "Sydney/ Woolongong/ Newcastle-Local" Munmorah Vintage Van get together which is definitely on the weekend after mothers day in May at Koala Park Lake Munmorah NSW.

Please consider

Reddo

[cobber]

G'day Papa,

First..thanks for the 2007 Calendar, she's a bottler.

I won't repeat my comments as posted in the "feedback" on the 2007 calendar but I am pleased all feedback has been taken into account.

You say you want half a dozen vintage vans...don't limit yourself to a half dozen and I reckon you could get enough photos for calendars up to 2010 and beyond, no worries

If the Lake Munmorah May 19/20 time frame suits you for the 2008 calendar.. set the date and I expect more vintage vanners will make the effort to be there.
You will be able to get plenty of vans in a variety of background settings there....Munmorah's the go I reckon.

Reddo mate...I can't speak for Papa but, I would like to see this calendar printed in a run of more than 100.....1000's maybe.
If samples can be run off early in the year maybe more outlets for their sale can be found....how about it Papa?

Cobber.

[paparazzi]

Hi Reddo & Cobber,

Thanks for sending in your thoughts on this. Much appreciated.

Cobber: Yes, the 2007 calendar was a very hurried job with limited timing. It was a bit of a stress for everyone - but showed that there is a real interest within the forum in having calendars.

But including Coledale pics for 2008 would be impossible - it took about 6 weeks to design, photoshop and print the last calendar. And I will be away for most of October, so I probably wouldn't get them completed until the new year! Sorry about that.

Cobber: Yes, I would love to see a print run of thousands too. That would benefit everyone - better quality calendars at a better price and some profit to benefit both the forum and the photographer! So this year I am planning to do the little experiment of trying to sell a handful of calendars through my local car museums and car bookshops. Not much profit in that, but it will show whether there is indeed a bigger market out there for calendars like this. And doing that experiment means that I will need to have the calendars available slightly earlier than the previous ones.

And yes, I am planning to have 12 vans featured in the calendar - the "half a dozen" I mentioned was only part of what I needed altogether.

Thanks, Papa Razzi

[belinda]

While you're over this side of the world check out some of the merchandise the National Museum has produced featuring their pink Propert - wrapping paper, gift tags, big cards, fridge magnets (these look nice stuck to a gal water tank), gold and silver charms. It all sells like hot cakes.

There is certainly a market out there for retro images, and wrapping paper doesn't "date" the way excess calendars do.

[paparazzi]

Belinda,

Wow, you would make a great sales & marketing manager! Yes, I will give some serious thought to those ideas.

Thanks, Papa Razzi