can, can

so another busy week at work. quick overnight in san fran for a business meeting. kinda fun going to the other offices once in a while, but two within a couple of weeks of each other is a rare treat. but the travel and long hours do keep me away from shows and posting, so that part is sucking a bit. shout out to my coworker adrian in the sf office, proud new dad of a sweet baby boy.

here's another from last weekend's show in riverside. the owner was kind enough to close the trunk for me. he said photographers are always shooting those tail lights. i guess i agree —here's another one from the broiler in downey.

he wanted to point out that this was a rare 4-speed model, but said you can only really tell from the dials and stuff on the inside, which i didn't take the time to shoot. i did kinda do a commando run through this show as it was (not that kind of commando). if i remember the story of how he got the car, i believe he said he was the second owner of the car, and obviously the original owner had taken good care of it. but now i can't remember the specifics of the who and the how he got it; gotta take more notes or post these sooner/quicker.

no, the owner wasn't wolfman jack jr there on the left...and i could've removed that drink in photoshop, but i kinda like the random junk people leave around. it's not a perfect world, though some of the cars get pretty near perfect.

she's a beauty

i got up late this morning. had a hard time getting motivated. i had to be in riverside by 1 for a baseball game, and intended to stop off here at the 3rd annual phil braybrook memorial car show a bit earlier than i did. i only managed to fit in a quick half-hour run through the front of the show. shame, because i did see a number of additional cars i would have loved to shoot. my bad.

anyway, found this fairlane up in a corner of one of the lots. a guy who pretended to be the owner (hi gary)(don't be a poser)had recently commented on another car on this blog, and recognized me from a previous show i suppose. i am surprised, as i've only stopped at maybe three shows in riverside, assuming that's where i met him before. anyway, he must have read about my preference for hoods down, because he instantly asked if i wanted it closed...lol. i only shot from the back, so it wasn't necessary. i don't remember seeing this car previously, so gary, you naughty boy, just you wait til i post your own car. to the real owner: thanks for bringing it out today. it's lovely.

coulda had a v8

so it rained last night, but was mostly sunny today. i hadn't taken my camera with me to work, since it had rained, so i decided to go straight home. seems that if i don't stop at a car show on the way, once i get into the house, i just don't want to go back out.

by the time i got home, it was vacillating between sunny/warm and overcast/cold/windy. finally decided to skip bob's broiler yet again. almost feel like it's been forever since i went. already know i can't make it there next week either. eventually, eventually.

i figure there's ruby's on friday, and according to my mother-in-law, there's a 'vintage auto show' in uptown whittier on saturday. works for my weekend schedule anyway.

so tonight, i got off my ass and went for a 2 mile walk at least. i sit too much at work and my legs are killing me, so it felt good to get out. my better half has been working too many late nights, and he's already in bed...

__________

so i saw this grape at ruby's a couple of weeks ago. i'm not quite sure what this is, aside from a v8. guessing its a ford. i've seen it on other people's flickr pages, but they don't have it identified either.

i must admit, it did stand out in the crowd.

mercules

ok, this one is definitely a mercury. says so on the back bumper.

i'd been at the fuddrucker's show for maybe about 10 minutes. there were plenty of cars – an additional row had been made available. problem for me was that, either i'd already shot the car before, a good number of them were muscle cars (yawn) and/or the hood was up. i try to at least shoot one car, to make it worth the stop at the show.

i'd settled on an old ford, and rattled off several sets of shots. wandered around again, nothing interesting. i approached a very rusty 1928 ford of some sort. mostly original rickety bits. i was going to shoot it, when the owner popped up and opened the engine compartment to show it off to some other dude. oh well.

so i proceeded to my car, capped the lenses, packed it up, and got into the drivers seat. i sat for several minutes, checking phone messages, email, etc., all the while keeping an eye on what was driving in. more muscle cars. (yawn), newer corvette. (eh), chevys i'd already shot.

i was about to leave, when this baby drives in. always happens...just when you're about to leave, a good one shows.

since i'd been watched packing it up by some guy in a van nearby, i decided to move my car to another lot, and pretended to leave. i didn't feel like hauling all my bag and stuff out, so i just grabbed my wide angle set up, and the tripod. i felt a bit nekked without the whole bag of fun, but it was much quicker.

walked back to the lot, hoping he'd been forced to park on an edge because of all the muscle cars. happily, it was parked along the curb on the edge, so i had a bit more access. of course, because it was so different, it had attracted a crowd. i had to wait a bit for people to move, and then just ended up shooting anyway. the sun was getting ready to set, and it was casting long shadows, so that limited what angle i could shoot from as well.

different days, draw different crowds. sometimes the regulars are friendly, sometimes indifferent, and other times, they might as well be on the rag. grumpy old men. young teenage posers. frumpy women. overdone girls. lol. just kidding. but not really. can never tell if people will be polite or not. and this particular show, they seemed to be a bit more pushy, and in the way. haven't really had a day that their cumulative attitudes turned me off from a show yet, but one or two, almost.

i'

hot lead

so this is not a merc, as i originally thought, but a ford (thanks for the correction gary!). i do have a hard time with id when there's nothing but the bumper and wheels to go by. i'll get the next fer sure merc up tomorrow or the next day.

as i said previously, i keep seeing flame-painted low slung cars. seems to be all the rage, or cliché, but at least there are lots of variations in how they can be presented.

mercury rising

i've seen more than a few flamey mercurys (mercuries?) lately. why is that? i suppose because they're awesome that way.

it was hot and extremely windy when i took this shot a few weeks ago in riverside. it was the glitter painted flames that stopped me first, and that it had a hood ornament – bonus. almost gave up trying to get a shot of it, there were too many people around.

i am at the point where, i figure, screw the people milling about if they're not in focus, just get the car. otherwise, the best cars just can't be captured. i hate the ones that i let get away in the past because people wouldn't move. fortunately, the majority of the time, if you whip out a tripod, people will move, same way i try to stay out of someone else's shots. i have some patience, and i can wait.

anyway, i think i'll hit you all up with a short series of mercs. why the hell not. i keep seeing them, so why shouldn't you?

m

had enough of the showlows cars? ok, this is the last one of the bunch i have. did i miss any ronnie? such a nice collection. a nice bunch of guys.

wish there were more sunsets like the one there was this night. such pretty colors and i don't use that word too often. and i liked how it reflected on the cars, especially the lighter colored ones.

just realized i've posted over 250 cars up here...whew! time flies when you're having fun. :)

PNS car

i'm feeling fiesty tonight...quick post and then to bedski...

this is a mid-life crisis in action. i'm thinking it belonged to the doctor guy in scrubs with too many gold chains around his neck. but that's just me making up a story. fun to imagine.

this cars says, "i gots too much money and i'm insecure and/or compensating" or "i gots too much money and i'm full of myself." or i could be nice and think, "i've worked hard and can afford it, so why not treat myself?" nahh, too few of those guys driving this type of car.

anyway, it wasn't really in the show, just outside of the designated area. to the effect of "look at me, look at me," it did make me stop and shoot it. but only because i've never seen one before and it got me thinking wtf?

i think its a new-fangled corvette, though there is absolutely no insignia on it, except for the checkered flags on the center of the wheels. maybe its just a fiberglass body on an old vw bug chassis, a kit car...lol.

hey doc, if it is yours, i don't mean nuthin about you in particular, just what goes through a girl's head when you see this kind of thing. i'm not going to judge the guy by his car... good luck to you.

double whammy day

this one is the second post for the day. posting tomorrow's picture early, since it's my own personal double whammy...mother's day and my birthday. no big, but i know i'll be out and about, and most likely won't post by the evening.

i've never seen one of these. and no, it "ain't pink," it's more of a salmon color, but the hot sun really warmed it up. i don't know why this was off by itself on a side street, near the bus stops. seems a shame; it really was a beautiful car. great for me, as i could shoot from any angle, though out here at the back, i was in the path of the cars cruising by.

kudos to the dude in the muscle car brilliant enough to really rev his engine while stopped in front of that police station behind the bus stop...the show people made him leave. better them than mr. CHiPs, i suppose.

keep on...

yay for ruby's in whittier. first night of the season was as busy as i'd ever heard it was. saw wonderful cars driving away...though i don't think they were turning them away. designated spaces were full, so there were several parked in the middle of the aisle and on the ends of the islands. i think a handfull parked in the next row over; 24 hour fitness probably doesn't appreciate that.

i had to go home first to get out of my work clothes and get my camera gear. threw it all in the trunk and started driving. i was probably about 5 blocks from the show when i realized my tripod was still at home, and had to turn around and go all the way back. it usually stays in the trunk, but i've used it so much the past year, the legs had become too loose—actually starting to slowly slip down as i used it. i'd taken it into the house so my better half could adjust it. he'd tightened it up the week before, then had to do an unexpected business trip to san fran. one of the legs was so tight, i couldn't do the low down shots.

he'd had to use some special wrench and it was too tight for me to fix. had to wait for him to get home and do it. blah blah blah, anyway, i'd forgotten to get it from the corner of the room where he'd left it.

like i said, i was not disappointed in the turn out. just a little bummed about there being so many people, and of course getting there late, more open hoods.

i've seen this truck several times in various places. never very satisfied with the shot or location. here it was again. earlier i'd walked by it, as it was too crowded with people and the car next to it. but  when i went by this time, the car next to it had gone, so i had more room to play with.

sun was starting to set, cars were getting that glow. really the picture i got from the camera was pretty good on it's own, but i did  tweak it slightly to play up the details. i like it anyway.