paranoia will destroy ya

story time, boys and girls.

the other night, i went to the broiler. really hadn't planned on it, but my better half wanted to go, so off we went. was pleasantly surprised to find a fair number of cars, especially after my last couple of trips there. so we did a walk-through to see what was there worth shooting, and sat down to get the cameras ready.

probably spent an hour shooting various cars, my hubbie being mr. marketeer and showing off past images on his ipad in between his shots. i did my thing while he did his. several cars from the sultans car club showed up; a couple of them i've shot at other places in the past. some of the cadillac guys also showed, as well as this hot rod. there were a couple of really beautiful 1957 pontiac star chiefs in the lot, one you can see pieces of here.

anyway, to get to the point of the missing piece above, it was my last shot of the night. ready to go, but waiting on my hubbie to get done taking a shot of the pontiac (that's his tripod off to the left). i'd seen this particular unnamed car elsewhere and even taken some shots of it's pinstriped details. it is really a well done pinstripe job, and the car is not bad either, but i digress.

i was just finishing the long exposure for this shot, when this guy, whom i'll refer to as "richard" here, walks up between the cars (in my shot, i'll add), and gets in my face and says in a not so friendly tone, "you taking a picture of my car? what do you do with the pictures?" dude is practically looming, all puffed up like a bullfrog. my hubbie hears/sees this guy talking and walks on over...

"richard" proceeds to insist, loudly, that he doesn't want any photos taken of his car, and that i not post any pictures of it. he'd be happier if i deleted them, but doesn't wait/ask for me to do so. at this point, i'm wondering what he intends to do. if he plans on grabbing my camera, my hubbie will make him very sorry about his choice, but he backs off a bit instead.

he blathers on about how thieves will see the license plate, look it up on the internet, and get his address, then come and steal his car. claimed three of his buddies' cars had been stolen, and apparently, they'd decided this must be how it was done. seems like too much effort and intelligence for the average car thief to me.

of course, i'm sure that happens, but to get on with the counterpoint to this lame excuse for a non-picture. not getting into a pissing match with an <insert obvious expletive here>, we countered with the fact that he'd made the point of driving from his home, or wherever the car is stashed, through the city, to this show, for the sole purpose of people seeing and admiring it. pointed out that it was in a public place, albeit a restaurant lot which happened to be hosting this car show, with many people taking pictures of all the cars on the lot. he didn't hassle any of them.

i can only assume he zeroed in on me, because i had a tripod. probably thought i was with a magazine and was going to publish it without getting a model release or something. i did tell him, it was for fun, and that i post stuff i like on my website. told him, had he wanted, i could have removed the plate or blanked it out, but he insisted it not be posted.

he actually had the balls to tell us we should always ask first before taking pictures, because most people would not want their cars posted anywhere the bad guys could see the plates, and thereby steal the cars. pull your head out, "richard." seriously.

didn't matter that anyone could have followed him at any point on his route to the show, and copied the plate down, or just do what someone did to my ex's truck...followed him home, then do the thievery while the owner slept. if he's so worried about it, just stay home in your garage, and keep it all to your little bitty self. no one would ever know...

anyway, didn't want to argue with him, he's not worth it, and since i respect his request (or anyone else's, for that matter) to not post a picture of his car, here's a picture of all the other stuff that was in the shot. too bad really, because it was a decent shot of this "richard's" car. big mistake, richard. big.

kma

fordy fordy

hi. my name is kathy.

<good evening kathy>

i have an addiction. to classic cars, or is it to photography? whatever it is, it's consuming my evenings. and i'm enjoying every minute of it. i don't know if there's a cure. i think i need to seek a balance though. i don't know if it's the taking or the processing i like more. either way, i can get so focused, it's easy to shut out everything else, tune out...is that zen? or just bliss?

still, i need to step away from the computer sometimes. i need to get out and get some exercise before i conform to this chair. taking pictures and hauling a tripod only helps so much. i need to paint a room in my house. i need to...i need...to do so many other things. it's just that most things are not as fun.

a few more months for this web site and then i have to decide whether to continue sharing or horde them for myself. should i have kept this old ford hidden away? it's one of my earlier shots. it's not perfect. a lot is hidden. but it's still an old car and it's still beautiful in it's own way. i'm sure the owner would agree.

thank you.

skelly bu

had such a busy morning, that i couldn't get out to two shows i wanted to get back to; did drive past one at original mike's in santa ana, but they'd already done the raffle and prizes, so everyone was bugging out an hour early. didn't bother to stop.

so i thought i'd try a new show today. went out to diamond bar or was it really walnut, at a show at yet another bob's big boy. have they cornered the market on shows? they're trying anyway. i've been to some that have so few cars, that they eventually stopped the show. this one, as told to me (was that you howard?), has only recently started.

taking his word for it, one can only hope more people will hear about it, as there wasn't much there. i'll give them a break — it's technically still a holiday weekend.

and was i seeing things, or did i see redd's ubiquitous plymouth here as well as at original mike's earlier, or is there an evil twin plymouth out there?

the air is fine

ruby's always has a good selection of cars to dazzle car enthusiasts. too bad it only runs in the spring/summer/fall.

i'm not sure if i like them better in full sunlight or with sunset or nighttime reflections. nighttime shots are more difficult to get, with the long exposures and people always walking around, more often, even through the shots. i can wait for them to move out of the way or stare them down. somewhere in between, i usually can catch what i want.

how could you leave this behind?

so check out so cal tribe member's cars: reine's 1960 cadillac coupe de ville; danny's 1959 chevy impala; and ron's 1963 chevy suburban. was this back before they started their club? i dunno. they usually are together whenever i see them.

this shot from the broiler, in july. the back end is just delicious. below is a shot from a long time ago...actually the first time i ever visited the broiler...but with the tire thinga-ma-bobber on the back, and i don't know why i never posted it before now:

while the wheel thingy is designed to blend into the lines of the car, and is all chromed out, as well as serving to hide an ugly spare tire, it just kills the curves of the trunk. i vote for leaving it off, it's more pleasing to my eyes. but then, it isn't my car, so do what you want. lol.

<begin rant>

i stopped by the broiler tonight. second time in three weeks. big disappointment in turnout. two weeks ago i didn't even bother to get out of the car; today, i figured since i drove all the way out there, i might as well take a few shots, since i was in no hurry. only a handful of cars, and one that i really wanted drove off just before i got back over to it. high fives to the diehards that were there. thanks for saving me from another fruitless drive.

one of the owners said it's too cold. well, what a bunch of wusses. put on a coat why don't you? at least it wasn't raining. sure i know tomorrow is turkey day, but that was no excuse for the other week. and it doesn't only happen at bob's now; just about any evening show, except the one in garden grove is pretty sparse. didn't seem to bother you all last winter. 

i think i'm just torqued up because the holidays are coming and they are my least favorite time of year, with forced good will and smiles, and i hate going shopping.

so i'm mostly going to have to hit the weekend shows during the day or sift through my hundreds of pictures i've taken this past year. could be worse.

<end rant>

have a happy thanksgiving anyway. lol.

would smell as sweet?

this old ford gets around. i've seen it at a few shows in various places. the aged finish and pitted hood ornament and grill make it more interesting when i process it.

the name on the door proclaims it to be of penrose machine shop out of compton, ca, but i can't find it on google. and i can't believe there isn't another picture of it out there either.

is this penrose an "impossible object" popularized in the '50s by the mathematician roger penrose, who describes such objects as "impossibility in its purest form?" [no, i'm not a geek...found it on wikipedia] how can it be explained otherwise?

addendum: (thanks denny) There was indeed a 'Pensose Machine' in Compton, CA. He was a dealer for small industrial engines and parts, such as Wisconsin, Continental, Kohler etc. I sold him product in the 60s thru mid-70s. Another 'Penrose' was" Dick", who was at one time working for Continental Motors, before I was, and he was 'Sherm" (I presume Sherman) Penrose's son. Sherm had a small engine and lawn equipment distributorship in Long Beach in the 60s. I believe 'Penrose Machine went 'unde'r in the early 80s with different ownership. The Ford in your picture was most likely sponsored by Penrose-Compton.

three amigos

back to cadillac row at the ruby's show in whittier. always at the back corner, i suppose because they're such big cars. these guys always park in bunches, but here in typical guy fashion, every other space, just like in a movie theatre.

i've shot this front caddy before, but didn't really like the result here. always figure if i take a car i like enough times, eventually i get something better. just gotta catch it with the perfect light, angle, location, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

------

speaking of location, while i was out this wet, rainy weekend, i kept driving by a nice '48 chevy in my hood, just parked out on the curb. finally went out when the rain took a break, camera and tripod at the ready.

the car was just lovely, with fallen leaves all around it, ivy behind, rain puddled and reflecting the car in the misty light. i parked across the street, and just sat there. couldn't work up the nerve to get out and run across the street. best shot would have been from the street side, but then i would have been road kill if i took too long. other side wasn't as interesting, and since i'm not sure where the owner lives or who he was, just started imagining being chased down the street with a baseball bat, and so i drove away. was gone this morning...why didn't i follow my own advice and take it when i see it?

rust bucket

i met up with my dad at fuddrucker's the other night. he was curious about how i shoot cars. he's seen me shooting old planes up at the chino air museum, so it really wasn't going to be much different.

guess he'd driven by the last couple of weeks expecting me to be at the show, but the first one i'd already left, the next week, i'd skipped it. so we walked around and looked at cars, i took shots of cars i wouldn't typically shoot. i took shots that he didn't think were worth taking. like this car for instance. he wondered why i'd bother to shoot this old rust bucket.

first i'd never seen one of these before. second, they make really cool pictures. all the details really like to pop. driver was as interesting looking as the car, but i didn't get a shot of him.

anyway, spent time with my dad, had dinner, then went home. was a good evening.

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.

century prime

i made my first visit to the monthly show over behind the honda center, at the bob's big boy in orange last sunday. didn't seem to be too much else going on elsewhere on sunday. i missed several shows on saturday that i have been meaning to get back to and always having something else on my calendar to keep me from them. ah well, maybe next month...

maybe i was a little early, even though i got there an hour after start time, but there didn't seem to be too many cars. there were a few in a small lot on one side of the building, then a few rows of scattered cars on the other side, though there were a few other rows taped off but empty, so i suppose more show up later or whatever.

i have a few shots that i will post at some point from this show. i'll start with this one, since the owner seemed to be very interested in what i was doing, especially after showing him my book of prints. he was hesitant at first to close the hood on his baby, but i guess i proved it might be interesting to let me have a go. he kept an eye on me, of course, but no worries, i didn't get near enough to damage the goods.

it was pretty clean, and had he not closed the hood, i would have been satisfied with my shots of the dashboard. i usually like the tail end on the older chevys but this model year doesn't really do it for me—almost too plain—so i passed on that.

the frame on the back plate proclaimed him to be a vietnam vet...so is my dad...so thanks to both of them for their service, belatedly.