Hey friend! Welcome to Penny the Photo Bus and thanks for stopping by today. It’s me, Sandi… aka Penny’s driver. I wanted to share a little more about my Penny the Photo Bus and how we ended up with the cutest VW photo bus around the Tampa Bay area (in my humble opinion!). This journey started way back in high school, when I bought my very first car. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy the story of how Penny the Photo Bus came to be, and why we love our sweet VW Photo Bus so much!! Enjoy….

Penny the Photo Bus

If you have been around here for any length of time, you may have already heard about Penny the Photo Bus. In fact, Penny has been featured on my Sandi Michelle Photography instagram feed several times over the past couple of years, as well as on the website: https://www.sandimichelle.com. Penny was a long time coming into fruition, and I am so glad that she is finally here. BUT… in case you have no clue of what I am talking about, let me tell you a little more about Penny.

Penny was born in 1970, in Germany, and eventually made her way over to the United States. Then, in December of 2021, my family and I met her and we fell in love!!! I mean, who doesn’t love a VW bus?

Now let me pause here for a bit and give just a little more context as to why I love Penny so much. I’ll back up to when I was in high school. I had a love for VW’s even back then. I always wanted a VW Bug, so I got myself a job (at Winn-Dixie… I’ll never forget those polyester blue uniforms!) and started saving up some money. When I was an 11th grader, I saved up exactly $1600.00, and I bought my very first car… an adorable bright red VW Super Beetle. She was my dream car. She was such a beauty, complete with a custom spray painted license plate that had my name written just below a pair of heart shaped sunglasses! (Nice!).

My Dream Car In High School

My little red Super Beetle had heat and an AM radio. That’s it! Really… what was the point of either of these features… especially the “heat” feature, because I lived in Florida!! But, looking back now, it was such a great thing that perms were the style back then. With the Florida humidity and having no a/c in my car, big and frizzy was my go to hair style every day anyway, so it all worked out.

Fast forward several decades and, you guessed it, my daughter’s first car was the cutest light blue VW Beetle. She was also a little obsessed with VW Bugs, like her mama was. However, hers had a/c so she made out much better than I did. My daughter named her bug, Betty, and it fit her perfectly!

Meet Betty the Beetle

Now, back to Penny. After I started my photography business in 2017, is it any wonder that I eventually wanted a Photo Bus for that business? I missed having an old VW… and then combine an old VW with my photography biz and we had the perfect addition to my photo business.

Penny has already brought so much joy to people since coming into our family. I even surprised some of my high school seniors with Penny at an event this past year. It was so much fun and they absolutely loved getting to take photos with Penny.

A Surprise Visit from Penny The Photo Bus

Not only does Penny love serving high school seniors around the Tampa Bay area, but these days, you can also find her bringing lots of joy and capturing memories at weddings, bridal & baby showers, birthday parties, and even family photoshoots.

She has had a bit of a GLOW UP too, over the past year and now Penny houses a high-tech Photo Booth inside of her. (But that blog is coming up very soon, so stay tuned…).

A Sneak Peek Of What Penny Has Been Up To

Penny currently resides in Land O Lakes, Fl. and is living her very best life now. She is enjoying getting to meet people in her home town, and around the Tampa Bay Area. Penny is currently available as a Photo Booth or a Photo Prop for weddings, celebrations, parties and events. Thanks for hanging around to read all about how Penny came to be! We are thankful for each and every client that trusts us with their events, and especially with their memories. We hope to meet you soon!!

If you have an upcoming wedding or celebration and are interested in talking about Penny coming to celebrate with you, reach out to us by clicking here. We would love to celebrate with you. See you soon…