what's up?

why did i come back?

better half and i have recently returned from a three-week road trip. he kept telling me this is what retirement is like—doing whatever we want to do, going wherever we want to go at the drop of a hat—no asking permission ahead of time if it would be ok. so, yes, he convinced me long ago, but i just can’t pull the trigger on that yet.

we drove north up california, to san simeon and lake tahoe. across nevada, utah, wyoming. we experienced cooler temps, light rain, foreboding clouds and even snow flurries in the mountains.

we were thwarted by tornadoes, golf ball size hail, and severe thunderstorms, and had to cancel the planned drive further east, and turned south in laramie, wyoming.

so, we missed an opportunity to see an uncle on the east coast. we then had hoped to stop and see some relatives in colorado, but their age, injuries, and an upcoming surgery caused them to decide they weren’t up to a visit.

we diverted south to amarillo, texas, as my better half had a craving to stop at the big texan restaurant for a big steak. no, he didn’t participate in their seventy-two ounce steak meal challenge. also fortunately, amarillo was just west of a big storm.

it was fairly uneventful, and a whole lot warmer crossing new mexico, arizona, then back to cali, ending in san diego. over one-thousand six-hundred miles and we came home.

we spent a lot of time entertaining my better half’s love of airplanes; it’s only fair, when he puts up with my love of old cars. we hit up air and space museums in every state, and i think we saw at least six b-29 bombers in various locations, which are kinda cool.

maybe i’ll add a tab to my website for some vacation pics and more blather on our various stops. maybe i’ll just post a few on my flickr page.

absolutely would do a road trip again. probably will do another train trip or combination next vacation. we probably wouldn’t go so late in the year, but any earlier, we would have gotten blocked by snow in the mountain passes. it’s a beautiful country, if you just stop to notice.

so, today, was my first day back at work, where to no surprise, one-hundred and thirty-seven emails, a bunch of new assignments, and a ninety-minute required training to look forward to for the next few weeks were waiting. i’m not shocked. it’s always this way. work my butt off before i go, then more work waiting when i return.

my coworkers are great, took over some of my workload, but they are pretty busy themselves.

i’m more surprised that i remembered my passwords.

hopefully, i’ll find some time to get back to my car pics. we went to a couple of shows before we left, and have several coming up we hope to attend.

saw this chevy at the chino corn feed run show from april. the skies had been gloomy most of the day, with rain falling on and off. spotted the los angeles bombs cars at the far end of the street as we quickly walked to find lunch and shelter from a two-hour downpour. we stopped to take some shots after the rain had stopped, on our way back.

the image was a bit darker because of the light from the clouds, so i did brighten it up a little here. the car was darker, even with a temporary peek of blue sky that opened above this scene.

we were mostly tired and wet; headed back to the car at the far end of main drag. more rain was coming, and fortunately didn’t start again until we were safely in our car and on our way home.

save it for a rainy day

better half and i drove out early yesterday to chino, to hit up the chino cornfed run. though no rain was forecasted on the weather app, there were definitely storm clouds overhead on the way out there. driving off the two-forty-one onto the ninety-one freeways, we can see a bright gap in the clouds above where we were heading, kind of like the day we got married. figured that boded well for our day.

weather app finally did start showing rain expected at noon, then revised to eleven.

well, we arrived about six-thirty a.m., and it seemed as if it had just finished raining, clouds still pretty ominous above. love clouds—they emote so well in a picture.

this chevy was one of the first ones we walked up to. beads of water still on the trunk, expecting it to rain any minute, we figured we better shoot as many as we could.

the owner peddled up on a bike to ask where he could see the pictures of his car. handed him a card, told him i’d post it. so here it is, stephen. thanks for the follow.

better half took off to the other side of the road. i made it to the first distant community center building on the right, when the next bit of rain started. didn’t last too long, but i wasn’t willing to get my camera gear too wet. can’t afford to replace it due to a good soaking. a little bit is doable, but nah, didn’t want it soaking into the lens gears, etc. hung out under the arched walkway for ten minutes or so, and headed back out.

happened again off and on throughout the day. after ten, rain was expected for a couple of hours. sitting on some steps under a roofed building, we packed up our gear, and decided to head to a restaurant four blocks away, to have lunch and wait it out a bit. it really started raining and we were mostly soaked by the time we arrived. had to back track a bit, when we realized it was on the other side of a busy street, and then to find the door locked, entrance on the other side. the owner or a waiter luckily opened the door for us, and seated us where our bags wouldn’t get in the way.

happily enjoyed sitting under the overhead heaters for an hour and change, warming up and drying off. we finished eating, and noticed people were starting to line up waiting for seating, so decided we shouldn’t keep hanging out. still raining quite good outside, we put on our jackets, pulled up our hoods, and rolled out. headed back four blocks to where we had been sitting, to find several other people on our steps, so we went up past them to an opposite wall. they left shortly after, so we sat back down and waited another thirty minutes or so for the rain to stop.

saw chevy owner later in the day, with a group of friends, telling them that i had taken pics of his car. i hope he likes these.

make a choice

asked my boss about going to a conference, if there was any budget for training. yes, he said to pick one and get him an estimate for travel, etc.

so, i need to decide on new orleans, orlando, boston or los angeles. here's the thing: the useful one is in new orleans, and i really have no interest in going there, so i'll wait until next year and hope they move it somewhere else. the other one i want to go to ends on the same day as the uptown whittier car show. sort of rather go to that.

i could skip the last day, and fly home the night before. i'll have to think about it.

this car was the last one i shot at the chino show. owner said i'd need to see it in the sun to really appreciate the paint job. the roof has some faint airbrushing going on.

i can see it. true, it would be more vibrant in the sun, but it may also be more glare-filled, because of the glitterizing in the paint.

still, pretty cool car. lots of engraved chrome.

club guys were friendly too.

sunday sunday sunday

spent the day at home, watching my mother-in-law, whilst the better half ran to the market(s), and playing with pictures. ordered some more business cards for my non-business...one hundred new ones...collect the set.

here's a motorcycle for a change. it was highly detailed, with etched chrome all over, airbrushed and pinstriped, custom leather-worked seat. well worth a look.

cornfeed run

early light makes getting out of bed in the dark worth the trip. out to chino, for the cornfeed run. heard they had maxed out at eight hundred cars, and were turning them away. saw quite a few random, beautiful cars parked on the residential streets because of that.

better than last year, when it was overcast and started to sprinkle.

when the sun gets going, you really just have to get in front of a car and start shooting, or it's gone. this will do.

i think i was there for about four and a half hours, before i started to overheat, and felt the need to chug a bottle of water and get something to eat.

really only went around to all the route of cars and parking lots once this time. the light changed, and it wasn't fun anymore.

pretty sure i'm going to need to get a new ball head for my tripod pretty soon. i've pretty much worn it out, and it's a bit on the loose side. so, one camera repair, one new ball head—time to dip into the rainy day money, i guess.

hangry

still sifting through old pics. recently got the call for entries for the fair, and can't decide what to enter.

this one's nice, it seems to pop enough, but i don't know that it's in my top ten. that's the other thing--if i enter as many as i usually do, i end up with several being selected for showing. then after, if they don't sell, i'm stuck with them.

this is fine, as i really like what i shoot, and enter; the problem lies in the lack of enough wall space to display them all. and also the money spent framing that could have been used elsewhere.

maybe i should post them for sale. i'll think about it. they're just taking up space in storage otherwise.

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i've had such a rough week at work. the pace has been brutal, and in spite of more outside help coming, we're being warned that the workload probably won't let up anytime soon.

on the up side, it sounds like i may be adding company portrait photographer to my resume, with them reviewing my wishlist of camera gear, to see what kind of budget they really want to throw at the project. as long as i just pretend the ceo is an old chevy, i should be ok.

i also received a bonus, so to celebrate that this week is almost over, i'm sitting in a restaurant, treating myself to a nice piece of steak, a rare treat. too bad i'm by myself, except for the happy hour patrons, who aren't far enough into their cups to be loud and rude yet.

so close...

dear gary,

i haven't seen you since last year. i was out in chino this morning, in what turned out to be a wasted trip. i thought of you for some reason.

different cities, different car shows, different people get associated.

though i only know you by acquaintance, and you always saying hello, at least to me, (not so much to my better half whom you had never met, but gave a huge stink eye to last year), and dropping a joke once in a while, you are the one that comes to mind when i pass through riverside or chino.

i haven't been out toward your part of town much this past year. i haven't been out much at all. life gets in the way, and all else falls to the wayside.

i was not far from the main drag where the corn feed run will be soon enough. wondering if you are well, and if you will bring the ford or the chevy out this year. the last couple of times it has been the ford, which is nice, but much too perfect and electric green.

hoping the chevy is up and running. maybe you finally sold it. i much prefer a chevy anytime. here's an impala, that was just down the street from your car. nice, no?

it was threatening to rain that day, same as today—maybe it is always cloudy in chino? and probably reminded me of last year's show.

i briefly thought of taking the fifteen minute drive out to belatedly shoot some pictures at the pomona swapmeet. had my bag and tripod with me, in case there was time after my appointment. when that went south, i looked toward the sky and seeing the airplanes, heading toward lax, flying so low they might as well have landed on the freeway, i took that as a sign of impending rain, and headed home.

only rained for about an hour here in whittier, so i don't know how it went out there, but of course, i now regret not going. well, maybe next month—oh wait, shit—i'll be on an airplane then. fine. june fourth.

looking at my calendar, i see i still have time off from work scheduled, ending the first week of april. so if i travel anywhere, i'd be coming home the day of the corn feed run. what to do, what to do. already going to miss the chicano park show because of another trip.

well, things are spinning every which way around me at work and at home, so until we meet again, take care old man.

kathy

and the skies opened

1929 ford

yo, gary! here's your car!

i met gary several years ago, when i was first out shooting cars. he had a bel air back then. i think he said he still has it, but now i only see him once a year, maybe, and at the last couple shows, he's been putting around in this emerald ford. it's a jewel. but it ain't a chevy.

took a few shots of it here, at the chino corn feed run, not long before the rain started. ya, gary, i think someone up there was targeting your car.

the other shots were so similar to what i shot at another show, that you might think i masked it out and dropped it on this street.

i like the distortion of this shot; the car just seems more threatened by whatever that wormhole in the clouds might be.

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one more day in sd. classes all day today, followed by a few hours at petco park. my friend was unable to join me, but i have no problem watching baseball in a stadium on my own. i like to sit way up at the top, as close to behind home plate as possible. just more fun up there, and climbing all those stairs is just good for buns and thighs, right?

spur of the moment

1958 chevy impala

it was going to rain today, so slept in. thought i'd just be sitting around the house today.

when it still wasn't raining at eight-thirty, asked my better half if he wanted to just drive over to legg lake, to see if any cars were there for the boulevardos show. thought it was close enough to home, if there was nothing or if it started raining, we could just go to the mall, or turn around.

better half said they wouldn't be there, since they were going to cruise in from los angeles. he kinda wanted to drive out there and watch, but mostly he just wanted to hang out with me, and i wanted to take pictures.

drove past the lake, and saw no show cars there. got on the freeway, and i said, what the hell, let's just drive out to chino and see if anyone showed up for that show. flyers said rain or shine. we were already half way there anyway.

racing the clouds, and it was slightly sprinkling, we went anyway. even thought about just driving out to cucamonga, checking into a hotel, buying a change of clothes, and kicking back in a jacuzzi. well, they didn't have any of those rooms available, so we skipped that idea. better half was on call for work anyway.

took a different route to the chino show than i usually take, and ended up at the end of the town, near the railroad tracks.

figured, we could just make a quick walk through, if the rain started, we could dash under a roof, or cover the camera with a plastic bag until we could find somewhere to pack everything back in the camera bag.

i'd been before, and it's usually very hot, and very busy and crowded. lots of cars, up and down the streets, on the lawn in front of city hall, and through side lots. cars can cruise along the street route.

well, the rain did scare a lot of cars away. but there were still a lot of cars i like to shoot anyway. better half didn't seem to see anything he wanted to shoot, until we came to a mostly empty lot, with some of the veteranos cars in it. he took some pictures, and set up a time lapse, to catch the movement of the clouds. actually, turned out really interesting, and he's having fun editing it. maybe he'll post it for a change.

while he shot that video, i quickly went and walked the rest of the show.

found this impala near the city hall. thought it looked pretty awesome with the clouds overhead. turned around pretty quickly, to head back to fetch my better half. the rain was coming. this car and the one on far side of it drove away soon after.

made it back to my car, just as sprinkles started to fall...

rub it, rub it

gratuitous post here. of all the cars that reine has, this one isn't my favorite.

it's hard to get over your first love, but i go ahead and shoot all his new babes when i see them. he is keeping them on the other side of the 605 this year, so i don't get to see them or him very often.

silly rule, but whatever works for him. can't wait to see the flavor of the month if he shows up at the uptown show this august, breaking his own rule.

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now i get to do some work for work, when i would rather be out at a car show, under this perfect overcast for pictures. :(