siblings

these two could be brother and sister, so different, yet so similar. i suppose the truck would be big bro, watching over his little sister. and she's so hot. party in the front, no junk in the trunk...ehh, no trunk. lol.

i know i talked to the owner of the hot rod at this show; gave him my card and he commented that he had the same last name. i think he was one of the vendors, so probably the truck belongs to the company or partner. too much of a coincidence otherwise.

of course, i wished the hood was down, but couldn't resist the hot rod, so what the hell.

anniversary post

greetings. anyone miss me this past week? all i can say as to why i haven't been able to post, in no particular order: overtime, rain, family.

take this ford, for instance. i managed to get the hell out of the office last tuesday, on an evening when it was actually not raining. sky was clear, wasn't too cold, yet there just weren't all that many cars out at the show. true, clouds were rumored to be heading this way, but not yet. gets kinda disappointing when i find the time, and not much is there.

i hadn't seen this particular car since 2009. it did make it on my blog early on last year. i was especially happy to have found it again, as i had only taken a couple of shots of it from way down low.

anyway, i'd only taken a couple images of this one and also a sweet chevy nomad, in all of 10 minutes, when i get a call from work, saying please come back and tweak some files. so i pack it up and work 2 or 3 more hours...they're all starting to blur together.

otherwise, family was in town, and had to get all the time i could with them. ended up squeezing in a lunch hour, and a late dinner the night before they left. oh well.

i've realized it was exactly one year ago today that i began this blog. i'd like to thank everyone for putting up with me at the car shows, whatever mood i'm in, and letting me take pictures of your cars. at least most of you. thanks for visiting my blog, no matter how much i ramble, digress, or blather on about nothing. the pictures are the main thing, and they make me happy. i can only hope you're liking them too, or i'm really just talking to myself here.

flame thrower

only a few more weeks until the season when there is literally at least one car show a day. car gluttony. car-razy. car happy = carappy? whatever.

i think it's been hinted to throttle back on how many shows i hit up. shall we just say my better half is very patient with me, and i should probably throw more time his way. but, hey, he does work a lot of overtime, so what else am i going to do? i really hate going to the gym, and at least this gets me out and about, hauling around a tripod.

speaking of upcoming shows, this flamed beauty, and it's hot rod companion (can't really see the flames on it from this side) were at the foothill ranch show last june. was a bit overcast, and not as broiling hot as it got later in the summer there. i can't be sure, but i think this chevy has also been over at fuddrucker's once in a while, and i think it might even belong to the pinstriper guy who comes out once a month there in the summer. i'm sure someone out there will let me know ifn i'm misguided...you always do.

four eyes

this one is pretty cool. i first saw it in march of last year in lakewood. then i didn't see it again for a long time.

for the past few weeks, he's been going to the broiler in downey. just been waiting to get another chance for a front view.

finally got one i like here. while the fins and paint job are appealing, the front chrome is kinda making me happy in this picture.

feeling blue

on an ordinary wednesday, i'd be heading over to the broiler. but nooooo, it's still raining here. not this instant, but soon enough i know it ain't worth the drive over there.

oh well, i'll just play with my cars now.

i think this is a ‘34 ford, but i'm not betting on it. i've seen it several times before, but never really liked the shots i was getting. while it's still wedged between other cars, i got most of it before the sun sunk too low and cast a shadow across it.

if an engine has to be displayed, this is better than having the hood open and messing up the lines. and i'll squint my eyes and imagine that the blue flames are real and pretend that it's going real fast. :)

flames burn, but it's still dark

ok, this post is a gimme. the owner wanted to see it. only shot i have of it.

they had it parked in the dark, under a broken or burned-out light. this shot is getting hit from behind and from the headlights of an oncoming car.

there is an interesting little scene airbrushed on both sides, if i remember correctly, of a little cabin or house, with two or three old chevys (?) parked out front. again, it was too dark to take a close up shot of that to show you here, and a bit out of focus.

newport news

can't let my better half get all the glory on his page. here's one of my shots of a sultan's car.

hadn't seen this one since last march in lakewood. back when i was just getting started and took the majority of shots from low angles, as shown here. i think it needed to be redone at a higher angle, to get a better view of the flames on the car.

still very clean, and the paint really reflects the lights from various sources in interesting patterns. glad i got the opportunity to shoot it at a different time of day.

continental succulence

also from the big boy's in orange, this juicy lincoln was in the bigger lot. not really sure if it was part of the show, or just a spectator's vehicle, i couldn't not take a shot of it [sorry about the double negative]. i do that a lot...take pictures of cars owned by people who have come to check out the other cars, but not to participate in the competition. if it's in a public place, it's good enough for me. some of them are quite nice.

very nice paint job, airbrushing and pinstriping, in your face, and yet somehow subdued. the owner was nearby with a group of guys. watched me closely, asked what i was doing and for whom. i handed out my card to all of them before they headed off to grab some food at one of the restaurants.

gypsy rose

i attended the duke's show & shine over at bob's in downey this past weekend. incredible congregation of car clubs, lots of representation from each. really for me, it was chevy overload...it was a plethora, yes a plethora of chevys of many years, mainly 1939s–1950s, with some odd years and some impalas thrown in, and this one opened its petals to me.

so many to choose from, so many similar cars all jammed into the entire parking lot. i even had to park a few blocks away, since there was no parking nearby. i didn't know where to start, or what to shoot, much less, i'd been away from shooting for a couple of weeks and was a little out of sorts, so i did my usual. i started by walking around the entire show, seeing what's there. then sat down and took out my cameras. then went back through and just picked random cars—they were all so delicious, but so crowded together, as well as being overrun with people, i could only really do a few.

by the time i got there, they were already doing raffles and giving out trophies. really big, tall trophies. i saw many cars stuffed full of plaques and trophies from prior shows. these guys really know how to do a show right.

anyway, i am rambling. this car has a remarkable paint job. lots of detail. real crowd stopper. parked right up by the trophy table. perhaps you know it? according to my flickr friend, kid deuce, it's known as the gypsy rose. he was there the same day, but i don't know if at the same time. i've never met him, so if i walked past without saying hello, i'm really sorry i didn't recognize you without your western attire. :) he's posted lots of shots from that afternoon, so check them out.

also, thanks to jae bueno for posting the notice about the show, or i would have missed it. he takes really good shots of cars as well, and again, if he was there, i did not recognize him, or i would have thanked him in person. waiting to see what pictures he got of the show.