grape jelly

posting this one for my coworker, mario. after several months of walking by my cubicle, he finally figured out that i took the car pictures hanging on my wall. who knew he was a classic car freak too? well, he certainly didn't suspect the same of me. he knows cars; i just take pictures of them. my way of unwinding after work. says he wants me to take pictures of his car when he has it fixed up. we'll see...

anyway, i believe he said his favorite color was purple, so this one is only appropriate. some of these cars get stripped down to the point that they're so plain, they seem generic. this one caught my eye because of the color, and then i noticed the subtle pinstripe on the hood. the bumper and the chrome stuff on the side do set this one apart from the plain jane customs i've often seen.

just noticed that i have more than 200 posts since i started this blog last march. whew!

keep on truckin’

so when i got to chubby's early last friday, this truck was one of the bunch of cars already there. guess he really wanted to pick a good spot. yet another of the latin gents squad, he was waiting for his buds to show up.

i took a bunch of shots, different angles. shocker here...it has hydraulics, and of course he angled it up on one side, so i took some more. unfortunately, shooting from the other side wasn't so interesting, so they all pretty much look like this, except for a couple from the front.

anyway, i liked this one best out of all of them. he moved the truck later, and perhaps it would have been a better spot, but i didn't take anymore of it...my memory card was getting full, and there were other cars to take. another time, another shot.

“streetrod”

this owner was getting ready to leave. i had been taking pics of the car next to his. he had his hood up, so i wasn't going to shoot his car anyway. i asked him if i was seeing flames on his paint job, and he said yup, they're ghosted on there. not the typical airbrush in a barely lighter color ghost, but more of a they're the same color as the paint, only they're a slightly raised surface. really hard to see, especially with all the clouds reflecting on the hood. they're behind the vent(?) on the hood and on the fender above the tire, but you probably can't see them at this size.

anyway, he was nice enough to wait while i took a few pics of his car, so here ya go, and thanks.

verde

just now realized this is the third green car in a row. oh well. they match my eyes, if you need a reason. i dunno. maybe it just gets more difficult to pick what to post...i've found so many spectacular cars the last few shows. i'm on chevy overload again. it's only january...i'm gonna run out of room on my hard drive before the year is over if i don't watch it.

found this one at angelo's on thursday. this belongs to one of the latin gents car club members...maybe one of those guys on the left there. they're very nice guys, love their cars. i've seen them here and there before, and they said the same about me.

all the awesome chevy's i've seen at chubby's the last couple of weeks are theirs too. damn, you guys, they're beautiful cars. anyway, they flipped when i showed them my pictures, and seemed interested in me shooting some pics of them and their cars at chubby's on friday. i don't do a lot of pics with owners in there with their cars, but i was willing to try it again.

i got there too early for most of them on friday, and the majority of them were driving in as i was driving out...maybe next week...i'm feeling kinda ill right now, and think i'll go lay down.

lucy in the sky

this is the other car that was at chubby's diner that was being photographed opposite this one. both were pretty wonderful. guessing they're part of the same car club. i am really curious what the other photographer got with his shots. also guessing they look nothing like mine.

off to bed...i've worked all day...hit a car show...gone to disneyland...stick a fork in me, i'm done.

scuse me while i whip this out

i'll be out and about tomorrow, so here's another merc for tonight. found it at marina del rey last sunday. very extraordinarily nice, but left before i could get a few more shots of it. well, i did get a few more, but meant to get an additional couple from behind. wait, i did get a couple, but not enough. i'll shut up in a couple...

a big one

just feel like posting a big image tonight. nothing particular spectacular about this car, except to the owner. he was there with his small son, probably for the first time at this show. both this father/son combo and the duo at fuddrucker's vaguely remind me of my ex and my son, when he was little. why do they have to grow up so fast? i'm rambling...and bordering on sentimentality, which is wells up once in a while. i'll get over it soon enough.

i've never seen them or this type of car before. he was nice enough to wait for me to finish my shots before he took off, so thank you, kind sir. i let him look at my prints while i did, so he wouldn't notice how long my shots were taking.

i think a shot from the back end would have been much more distinctive, as far as defining this type of car from any other, with the way the roof cuts in, but i didn't like the images as much. wasn't the best angle/location/lighting from back there. probably because of the curb, and having to stand in the dirt ditch, but i like this one anyway.

____

kinda wish i was at the broiler tonight...there's still time to get out there, it's relatively warm out, but i haven't eaten and i'm kinda tired. definitely will be there next week, at least for an hour or two.

thinking of maybe going back to angelo's tomorrow night, though i've been kind of disappointed by the turnout the last couple of times. at least it's close enough to disneyland, i can always go get that dinner i missed out on last friday. :)

sublime

this car was awesome. i watched it drive into the lot, and then head straight to the back corner in the darkness, up against the fence, in front of others of the group. that would have been the shot i wanted, but it was one of the bad boy's cars, and i wasn't about to go into the dim light with a small crowd of guys and my camera gear. i was resigned to not get the shot.

it was like a ghost in the shadows.

later on, i noticed it had been moved under this light on the other side of the lot. positioned in an angle formation with another car, which i'll post another day. turned out there was another photographer there, i guess it was a "photo shoot." not sure what kind of camera...canon or nikon, i'm sure...but he was using a flash up top, and shooting all around, both cars as a set, the details, etc. almost expected him to toss the camera aside and say "i'm spent." i heard one of the owners asking about getting it all on a disc. i hope he was getting a fair price for his work.

anyway, i digress. the two cars are practically perfect. i noticed a minor blem on this one, but maybe it was a trick of the light. there was just a hint of pinstripes here and there, not overdone, very nice and simple. just not the best location and lighting. have to make do – i shoot'em as i find them.

i don't like when people walk into my shots, and i try very hard not to get into other's. at some point the photographer noticed me standing there, at which time i told him i was waiting my turn. he kept doing his thing, he was working it. i can wait, not in a hurry. i suppose he stopped either because he was done, or so i could take some shots, and he walked away.

i took a few of each, before the organizers came over to judge the cars for the raffle or contest or whatever they do. had to wait for them to get out of the way. took a couple more pics before one of the judges mentioned that he'd talked to me earlier in the year. chatted a bit, wanted to know which car i like best at the show. i showed him my prints.

next time i look up, the photographer was back, but this time with the owner of this car. he was decked out in some nice duds. time for pictures of him and his car. that was it for me.

i had to get to my car before i started to laugh at something that occured to me at that moment, and didn't want them to think i was laughing at them. i can't share my thoughts on what was making me laugh here; i'll get in trouble, but damn it was funny.

happy happy joy joy

View fullsize

i'm going to go ahead and post another tonight, since i'm not sure i'll have time tomorrow.

i had to go to LAX today. and as you can probably guess, any time i'm out of my usual haunts, i try and find a new car show to check out. more bang for my buck, as long as i'm in the area or something.

anyhew, it was early on a sunday, so there was a million dollar breakfast show up in marina del ray. never been there before; i'm usually sleeping in on sundays, so i don't hit a lot of the real early shows as it is. not sure if this was an average turn out, but there were less than a dozen classic and muscle cars at the time i was there. from an old bentley to a more modern mustang. small selection, but at least there was variety. it was kinda overcast, so maybe more people didn't want to come on down.

whooped out my camera gear and started taking some shots. i've been to early shows on saturdays on occasion, and know that the cars come and go, as people finish up their coffee or whatever.

i believe the guy that runs the show (he gave me his card, but it's out in my car still) came over to ask if i was with any magazines, etc. being the social retard that i am, i really didn't say a lot, except that i was doing it as a hobby, blah blah. didn't even mention my blog at the time. errrr.

anyway, i have several decent shots of some of the cars, that i will share sooner or later. starting with this studebaker, since the owner and his buddy were the first to come over and talk a little with me. i even showed them my book of prints, which always makes me seem more competent, even when i'm having a socializing brain fart. scuse my french. lol. it's late.

funny thing about these studebakers, they look so happy from this angle, even like it's smiling. the color of the car adds to it's playfulness. but if you shoot from a bit higher angle, it looks more weasley, with bulging eyes. and the other shot i have of this one reminds me of the irvine auto center otter mascot. don't ask why, it just does.

and i did go back over to the guy that gave me his card, and handed him one of mine...but i still didn't say very much to him...sorry about that.

time for bed now. nighty night, bunny wab-bit.

howdy neighbor

a few weeks ago, while whining about all the rain, i mentioned an old chevy that i see in my neighborhood. usually see it parked out on a curb, or a block ahead, driving away. i'd never gotten up the nerve to get out of the car and just take a shot of it in the street. apart from possibly getting run over, i was not sure if the owner might be a bit persnickety about some stranger taking pics of his car, à la "richard".

well, to my wandering eye appears, at the first show i hit for the year at fuddrucker's, that self same chevy, i've come to know so well. i finished shooting the car i was busy with, and headed straight over. the owner got out, with his small son. i, against my usual nature, said, "i love your car, i see it all the time," which i guess pretty quickly makes a guy all warm and fuzzy with pride. chatted him up for a little while, shook hands with his son. apparently, it was the first time he'd stopped by the show. told him my story about always driving past his car, etc. he says i'm welcome to take a picture of it anytime. so maybe i will shoot it in it's natural habitat sometime.

anyway, i took a picture of it where he parked it. not the best spot, but the car is still very nice. guess i should ask if he plans to finish painting the back end, or if he's going to leave it that way. the show wasn't as full as it usually gets when it's a bit warmer, so i hope he'll stop by again.

before they left, his son ran over and handed me his dad's business card...so anthony, i hope you like this, and say hi to your son.