how was your day?

so i haven't been posting as often as i think about posting. my life is a bit busy right now, as i've been saying previously. and it will continue to be so for at least the next month.

today, i intended to get to a car show before a baseball game. i didn't quite get out of the house as early as i had thought i would, but i did manage to make it to original mike's for about 20 minutes before i had to scram.

got there almost an hour after it started. probably a good three-fourths of the cars had their hoods up, but it was a decent turn out, at least compared to the last few times i'd been there. i didn't have time to find owners and look longingly at their pretty beasts until they got the clue, so i shot about a dozen others that were ready to go.

this one had the door open, but i haven't seen one of these before, and it didn't bother me as much as an open hood would have. not sure if that's the owner there. i think he threw something into the car, but people throw flyers and stuff into cars all the time. he wouldn't get out of the shot no matter how much i stared, so there he is.

and of course, as soon as i called it a day, packed up and about to close the trunk of my car, in drives an oh so bitchin old mercury, clean, low, pinstriped...perfect. pulled into a parking space, sat for a minute, then backed up and left. why, oh why...followed it down the street a ways until i had to turn left, and he turned right...

tails, you win!

usually, i hate when cars park nose in, but particularly with these i give an exception — exceptions for exceptional cars. i just love the back end of some of these cadillacs. all pointy angles. did this guy add the funky tail lights from a ’59? i'm not finding another ’61 like this online.

this was from original mike's on sunday. apparently the couple that run the show had a medical emergency, so there was no raffle/prizes. and being still so cold after the rain the day before, a lot of cars didn't stick around long. gotta dangle that carrot of a prize to keep them there.

was told that there are 360° of television screens inside, so you can watch everything from the bar or whatever. well, i don't drink, and i've usually eaten before this show, so i'll take your word for it.

ain't she sweet?

didn't feel like getting up today. knew i had to go to work for a few hours, and was really dragging my ass around the house...perfectly happy to stay home. also knew there were two car shows today that i hadn't been to in a while, and there was a 70% chance of rain throughout the day.

finally decided to skip the first show, expecting half of those cars would end up over here at the original mike's show in santa ana. i arrived about half an hour before the scheduled start time, and pretty much knew it was going to be a short show. i did see a few cars drive in or by, then turn back around after seeing the turnout vs the darkening sky.

i decided if i was going to get anything, i might as well get out there before they all left. i shot several angles of this little '54 nash, and then a few of duke's ’50 olds 88 back there before the rain got started — about 15 minutes at most. i didn't want to risk messing up my remaining working camera, so packed it up pretty quick.

surprisingly, quite a few of the owners stayed, either waiting it out in the car, especially the ones with convertibles (quickly cranking the roof up), or having lunch in the restaurant. heard a few owners muttering they were glad they drove the rain car instead of one of their other cars. must be rough to have to decide which car to drive today, huh?

the lady who owns this car was one of those that stayed, wasn't worried about a little water. she related a story of someone who had taken a picture of her car up at the citadel once, with water on the ground, and a ray of sun hitting it just so. also told me it looks good in black and white. well, thanks for the info, but i'll do it my way, and i'll be just as happy as can be.

back that ass up

so i felt like crap today. went to work anyway. tons of work to do, as always. nice place to be, always busy. but at the end of the day, after driving for an hour, just didn't feel like going to a show.

so when i'm in that mood, what better to do than pick a nice car to work on and get focused. zoning out, or should i say zoning in?

this 1964 cadillac coupe deluxe was at original mikes on a very hot day at the end of may. this was a very long car, and i wished the owner hadn't backed it into the corner like this, but the front end was interesting too.

i sometimes wonder if i should 'fix' the blemishes on cars, like the chips in the paint—perfectly capable of doing so—but then that would take a little of it's personality away. at this size, you mostly don't notice them anyway, but i can see them quite well at full size, and on this one, i can spot them on screen too. can you?

so i didn't stay very long, as it was so hot out, felt like i was wearing a couple of sponges on my chest. at least the fire boys were just across the street, and at the show, should i or anyone have passed out from heat exhaustion.

rolling amethyst

i finally got the front of this car.

first saw it at pal joey's show at the santa elks club in march. i shot the back end while my husband did the other side – kind of like a car sandwich. he still wasn't satisfied with his shots, so i continued on to other cars. by the time i came back around for my shot, the owner was in the car and driving away.

and that always has been the case ever since, until last weekend at original mike's. i got there early. the owner was polishing and polishing this 1940 ford coupe. he was still polishing it when i took this shot, but you can't see him from this angle. he stopped long enough to take my card that had the back end shot on it and pocket it.

anyway, its a nice, shiny car. keep polishing...