winning

went to the uptown show today. three times. at 6am-ish, 10am-ish, and 2pm-ish. as i said, it's up the street. got so damn hot as the morning went on, just had to stop and go home to sit in front of the fan for a while. not so bad in the shade, but i still felt icky after a while each time. too hot.

anyway, the so cal tribe guys seem to always be the first ones there, and get their choice of spots. so the group parked it over by that smelly cigar bar. but it did stay pretty shady most of the day for them. reine even brought his bitchin' cadillac, which i have not seen in months—thanks dude. i'll post one soon.

their website says this buick belongs to one of their newest members. my mom had a riviera when i was a kid, and i learned to drive in it. not this model year, but close enough, and definitely not this cool.

end of the day, after the awards had been given out, i walked back past the cars and they were gathering for a group picture under their banner. the owner was there holding a trophy, so i assume he won something for this baby. congrats, guys.

bottle rockets

as long as we're talking '59s and back ends, why not one of these. love'em. those red tail lights remind me of the water rockets my little bro and i would shoot off when we were kids. but on a cadillac, they're just double double awesome. and fins...

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anyone know if the viejitos are doing their monthly show off brookhurst anymore? thinking of stopping by. i could actually hit up 4 shows tomorrow, if i was feeling ambitious, but it's more likely just going to be two. and i'm running out of space on my hard drive. time to burn off past years' images to make some room.

pale whale

it's a big one all right. these old cadillacs are pretty and curvy and big.

finally made it to a regular show, an old standby, my comfort zone. had to go to long beach anyway, and bob's isn't that far from there. hey to angel, who always seems to be there, and doesn't hesitate to come over and say hi when i'm there, as well as the brothers with the old chevy. and then there's richard...who can bite it.

i haven't been in a few weeks, and now that it's warmer and the sun is up later, i am kinda disappointed that there weren't more cars. i think the mercifuls club has adopted this show, as the majority of the cars seem to have their plaque in the window.

the lot just used to overflow with cars, all the way to the back lot. now they've just been all clustered up in the front lot. maybe i just didn't stay late enough. i would have preferred to catch the sunset, but i also needed to eat dinner and have time to play with a picture.

i even decided to leave, thought of going to the show over at the spires, and threw my stuff into the trunk. then got a phone call from my better half. while sitting in the car, an old beautiful original chevy pulled into the space next to me. i was going to get my camera out again after i got off the phone, but he moved it to another spot, and so i didn't.

recovered yet?

  

originally took this picture a couple of years ago. hell of a hot day. somewhere in lakewood. says on the window real small that it belongs to the sultans of long beach club, and also that it's "in recovery." not sure if that's referring to the car or the owner.

been to a couple of shows, briefly, this week. another weekend balancing family time and baseball games. hoping to squeeze in a car show or two, on the way to the field. hoping to see some different stuff. hoping to get some good, fresh pictures to play with.

saw several really nice chevy bel airs driving the opposite direction today. seeing old cars always turns my head, and makes me want to make a quick u-turn or shout "where are you going?" followed by a quick thought of whether my camera is in the car...

hell on wheels

i'm in the mood for a cadillac. ya, a big, elegant tank of a car. so many to choose from... 

take this one. don't think you'd miss seeing this baby driving down the street. it's a bit over the top. don't think i'd have the nerve to cover the classic lines in this loud paint job, but i'm sure the owner doesn't mind the attention. he's screaming for it.

i'm guessing it bounces too. been a while since this show, but i wanna say the owner was here with some of his other homies with similar rides, though the other flamed one is much more subdued, all black, with much tamer airbrushed flames, just here and there.

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hoping the rain holds off until later in the week. i gotta kill several hours after work on wednesday, before heading over to LAX to pick up my better half. hoping to hang out at the broiler. hoping there will be more there than the last time i briefly stopped, and didn't bother to get out of my car a couple of weeks ago. i gave that night a pass, since it had rained earlier, and it was cold and windy. otherwise, guess i'll find me a movie theater and wait for his call.

great white

i've carried my cameras with me for the last couple of days. even drove to a show yesterday, got there early. sat in the lot for half an hour. only a couple of cars drove in, and i'd shot them several times previously. waited a bit more, then headed home without even getting out of the car. ya, maybe i should have waited longer. maybe i'll go back when the warmer weather and later sunsets are here.

then today, after sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours at work, i just didn't feel like going to either show on my way home. i think i'm just ready for the weekend off.

another practice baseball game tomorrow, and yup, already checked, a couple of car shows available to see in riverside, should i be in the area late enough.

this cadillac i see a lot. often at the broiler. i found a night shot of it in my favorite spot looking up at the neon. maybe i'll post it some other day. this shot was over at the summer show that happens in cypress, from last year. looks really clean at this size, but when i zoom in, i see the pitted paint, probably from being hit by dirt and rocks on the freeway, and the blemishes in the trim.

still really like this angle, but perhaps i'm stuck in a rut. i'll have to put up some other view next time.

caddies & coffee

there always seems to be groups of cadillacs here at bob's. a couple of new ones have started coming around, though i'm pretty sure i've seen them somewhere before. lovely pointy fins and nice tail lights, even with their imperfections. and if one happens to park here, in one of my favorite parking spaces, i can't help but take a shot.

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anyone going to the new weekly show over at the great park farmer's market in irvine on sunday? i've never even bothered to go there, but i think the show just started up last week. wondering what i might find there.

of course, after a week of perfect summer weather in january, there's a 20% chance of rain. well, it did get cloudy on wednesday...i'm starting to think my better half is causing the exceptions to the perfect weather – he went with me to the broiler on wednesday, and says he'll go with me on sunday. kinda sucks, because i hardly ever get him to a show anymore, and the weather keeps the cars away. 

i think a former co-worker has a stand in the market, so i guess i can at least say hi.

merry effn xmas

as promised, i stopped at the broiler this past wednesday. hadn't been there in a month, haven't really been to any shows much. i think my shy side is getting the best of me. gonna forget how to shoot pictures if i don't go out and practice.

anyway, it was already dark when i got there to deliver angel's print. actually, he was right behind me on firestone, but he pulled around the front lot, i went out around back. saw him park his car, then lost track of him when i pulled my camera out of the trunk. figured he went inside for dinner. didn't feel like chasing him down, so i spent my time taking some pictures.

i was experimenting with my camera settings; i don't know how well i like them. too many long exposures, so i was just fooling around. at one point, i swear one of my contacts from flickr was standing by watching, but he never said anything, and since i wasn't sure, neither did i. thought i saw another one through the window of the restaurant, but again, not positive. hard to tell from the little pics people use in their profile.

anyway, i spent a bit of time taking shots of some of the mercifuls' cars. i was back behind this one down low. one of the members stopped to get something from the trunk of a car nearby. i guess it's a little odd when no one is expected behind the cars, so he looked to see what i was doing. don't worry, not touching your cars, just making them mine, in a way.

as always, i like the fins on these. but in this shot, i liked the fat boy sign, as well as the the lights on the drive up parking roof, and how they reflect on the paint and chrome. and for whatever reason, the way i seem to catch the reddish cast in the sky when its dark at the broiler. left it full frame, cuz i didn't want to crop any of it out.

gonna be spending tomorrow in the kitchen, baking stuff for xmas, so i'm pretty sure i won't be posting again beforehand, so have a good one, whatever you do.

oh, and angel liked his print. hope he takes a picture of it after he gets it framed...i wanna see.

hope you got a good one

i only went to a few shows at ruby's over the season, for whatever reason. several times i went and saw this cadillac parked out on cadillac row, always with several others of similar year—not sure if it was a club, or just guys that knew each other. and each time there was another photographer guy that had obviously been asked or hired to shoot pics of the cars. each time, i'd stay out of his way, and just keep walking, and other times got the chin nod. guess i get to be a familiar sight after a few shows.

so, i was surprised to find the cars here on the last night of the year, the photog no where in sight. this was toward the end of the evening, so people had moved more towards the front of the show. i can't quite remember if the owner was nearby this time around...it was a busy night; owners of these types of cars are usually hovering in the vicinity to be sure nothing happens to their babies.

well, i suppose i'll never see the shots the other guy took, but here's mine.

trick or treat?

another from the halloween show. an old fav, this one. his parking spot really sucked. too many cars, too many people. there was a car parked in the aisle in front of this one, with very little room for people to pass by, or for me to set up my tripod. thank goodness for a wide angle lens.