Fields & Fenders | Issue 04
Welcome to the June edition of Fields & Fenders!
As the summer sun hits its stride, we are turning our focus to a very special milestone this month. June brings us Father’s Day, and we want to take a moment to honor all the incredible vehicle-enthusiast dads in our community. Whether he is the one who taught you how to turn a wrench, spent long weekends restoring an old pickup, or instilled that lifelong passion for the steady hum of a classic tractor engine, a dad's influence is woven deep into our heritage. To celebrate these incredible men and help you find the perfect gift for the vintage enthusiast in your life, we are offering 15% off site-wide (excludes magazine subscriptions) all month long! Just use the code FATHERSDAY15 at checkout to claim your savings.
Behind every great vintage truck, tractor, car, or train, there is almost always a family story. This month, we want to spotlight those connections. Did you grow up working side-by-side with your dad in the garage? Is there a special vehicle that brings back memories of family road trips or long days in the field? We want to hear your favorite father-son or father-daughter vehicle-related stories! Please share your memories with us by emailing them directly to brad@ertelpublishing.com, or by dropping them into the comments box in our "Your Voice" survey below. Let's celebrate the mentorship, the shared grease, and the enduring legacy of the dads who kept our worlds moving forward.
— The Fields & Fenders Team
The Magazine Brief: Hybrid Edition!
Our readers love a good technical deep dive. This month, we are merging The Magazine Brief with From the Archives to bring you two early "how-to" articles from our deep catalog. It’s a testament to the enduring nature of old iron—and a nostalgic look at how our storytelling has grown over the years!
⚙️ Antique Power Archive: Air Compressors
Way back in AP 8-6, we broke down why a shop air compressor is an absolute toolbox essential. The print edition is a sold-out classic, but you can dive into the history today:
🛠️ Vintage Truck Archive: Tackling Basic Rust
From the early days of This Old Truck (Vol. 3, No. 1), we unearthed an excellent primer on Basic Rust—describing, understanding, and dealing with rusted metals.
Sneak Peek: Our July/August Editions
Get ready—the July/August issues are headed to the press, and they are spectacular! Not only are we officially debuting the gorgeous, unified new cover design we discussed in our May newsletter, but both issues are absolutely packed with history you won't want to miss.
We are thrilled to share that Al Rogers’ renowned photography will grace the covers of both titles. Look out for Bill Koski’s rare 1949 Chamberlain Type 40KA tractor and Mike Klatt’s rugged 1940 Dodge VC-11 military truck. They'll be landing in your mailbox soon!
Is your subscription up to date? Don't miss an issue—renew today! Call the fine folks in our Circulation Department at 888-760-8108. Outside the U.S. call 937-610-0229
The Contributor’s Corner
The Shutterbug Speaks
By VT/AP Editor Brad Bowling
The first rule of photography for Vintage Truck and Antique Power magazines is: All vehicle “beauty shots” must be taken with soft lighting.
What do I mean by that? The beauty shot is the overall image of a truck or tractor—usually taken from a front 3/4 angle—that will be spread across two pages at the start of the article to catch the reader’s eye. I avoid harsh, direct sunlight for such images if at all possible because such lighting casts shadows, dulls colors, and sometimes removes details such as body lines, sheetmetal curves, and small features like bolt heads. Soft light, on the other hand, happens at times that there is a cloud bank between the sun and my subject.
If I’m dealing with a cloudless day, I must soften the light in other ways. Starting my photo shoot the instant the sun comes up or working those last 20 minutes of the day (as the sun weakens in intensity) have produced some great images for me in the last 40 years. I can use buildings, other structures, or nearby mountains to block the sunlight, but nothing beats a puffy white cloud for the best quality of light.
Take a look at this extremely rare 1956 Volvo Krabat tractor I photographed back in March for the (upcoming) January/February 2027 issue of Antique Power. I was using a farm location in Indiana to stage and shoot seven different tractor features over a two-day period. If the lighting is perfect, a complete photo shoot (comprising several beauty shot poses, engine shots, details, and owner pictures) can be accomplished in 2 hours. Not only did the weather forecast call for a cloudless day in Indiana; it would also be windy and cold! Knowing I had a tight schedule ahead of me, I started the morning—in the dark at 30 degrees Fahrenheit—with the Volvo, knowing that I could use some of the buildings on the farm property to block the sun for an hour or two. (The light-color gravel provided great “bounce” to push light up into the bottom of the tractor.)
Moving quickly with an enthusiastic group of owners and helpers, I finished the Volvo shoot in an hour and managed to sneak in another tractor before the light became too bright to continue. Afternoon provided some surprise clouds, and, of course, I managed to get good light at the end of the very long day. Two days, seven tractors, and nearly 2,200 digital images later, I was off to my next assignment somewhere in the Midwest.
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