triplets

so in case anyone noticed i haven't been around much lately, i haven't been. spent the better part of the last month working a bunch of overtime on deadlines, then i had to go to vegas this past week on business. honest. not fibbing. i don't gamble, smoke, or drink (what do i do...), so really, if i didn't have to be there, i wouldn't be.

anyway, one of my flickr contacts (shout out to darkhorse68), lives somewhere out there in that desert oasis, and is always posting the coolest pics of cars from this show. so i managed to squeeze in a labor day show on the way up to vegas, and then this one on the way home. fortunately, for both shows, it was early morning, the sky was overcast, with thundershowers likely, so it was perfect weather-wise, and with a giant natural light box above, killing off real harsh shadows. the bummer was that the possibility of rain probably scared off a bunch of cars too.

in spite of the weather, this parking lot got very full, so i can only imagine a typical day. i arrived just as they were doing the pledge of allegiance, which i did not realize until i saw that everyone was standing and looking back somewhere behind me. apparently i had parked in a section of the lot that typically lines up the corvettes, and a nice gentleman directed me to more appropriate parking.

after re-parking and pulling out my cameras, i bee-lined to a couple of old chevy bel airs, afraid they'd leave before the rain started. not a problem. took a bunch of shots of those, then spotted this trio in the aforementioned corvette lot.

i wandered over there and started shooting. being that there were three cobras, but four or five guys sitting behind them, i'd have to say the owners had been joined by a couple of their buddies. they mostly ignored me, and/but watched closely while they chatted. finally one of them came over to check out my tripod when i started to set it up low to the ground. he was intrigued and had never seen one quite like it, then went and sat back down with his buds.

at some point, after shooting several views of each car, another one of them walked over to see what i was doing. i asked if he wanted to look at my book of prints while i continued to shoot pics. should have done that sooner, because then all of them came around and looked at the book pretty quickly...and that would have got them out of the earlier shots. i'll have to remember that next time there's a bunch sitting there staring back at the camera.

anyway, they chatted a bit, and i thanked them for letting me shoot their cars, and went off to take more shots. not thinking, i had forgotten to hand them my card, in case they were curious about what shots i got, i wandered back over to them before i left. they were the only bunch that took the time to chat a bit and see my book at either show i went to, so that's that. maybe i'll post pics of the other two. i'll see if i get an email from them before i bother, if i don't post them anyway at some later date.

only bummed i didn't get to meet darkhorse while i was there, but then, i didn't warn him either. maybe next year...

cardinal

a quick search on the web finds this car, or one amazingly similar, parked down in balboa park in san diego. it is also on a cars for sale site. is it the self-same car? i don't know. it didn't have a sign on it.

i found it up in the "look at me" row, up front of ruby's. once in a while they are actually worth a bother. this one is almost too perfect to be driven much. i should have peeked at the mileage.

sunderbird

found this tbird at the end of the row, edge of the show at ruby's last friday. was waiting for the sun to drop lower and had gone round to shoot the back end, hoping to catch the sky changing. instead i was still being blinded by the giant orange fireball in the sky, so was being forced to shoot real low.

the owners happened to be back there. they were curious about what i was doing. i handed them my book to look at while i stalled for time. at some point, some guy comes over and asks what they were doing with some other guy's car?

turns out there are apparently two almost identical tbirds, and that they also live quite close to each other. this owner pointed out his custom plate to the guy. i would have also pointed out the dent over the light.

or we could make up a story about how it got the dent, and the other car is the evil twin...or i could have just taken out the dent, but then how would you know which is which?

anyway, they asked me to take a few up front, so i did. hard to decide between this shot and another that had more of a light flare from the sun on the hood. finally picked this one because it showed more of the length of the car, and i liked seeing the hubcaps.

plain jane

these panel trucks always just seem so plain, especially when painted all one color. but i really liked this one parked in the corner at the broiler, at the end of a row of chevys.

i think this bunch were actually together. maybe not a club, but definitely seemed to know each other really well.

i'm not sure if it was the owner, but some dude was just sitting in the passenger side. when he realized i was setting up to take a shot, he kinda scrunched down in the seat. eh, fixed that by going to a low angle instead, when one of his buds decided to go up to his window for a chat.

i figure if you see me setting up a tripod and don't skeedaddle out of your car, you want a portrait taken. usually a glare on the window or the shadows of the interior will hide their identity. i can choose to pull you out of the dark or not, sometimes out of the glare, but the car is the star, and you're just collateral damage if you just sit there.

charge it

i'll throw this one in, though it's not my typical, and it's not my fav. and i won't even mention what the paint color reminds me of, you can form your own opinion.

but sometimes, i feel that maybe i'm in a rut, or just getting jaded, so i thought maybe once in a while i'll shoot something different. different is usually a landscape or flowers, but they don't really fit in here, so here's the something different for my virtual parking garage.

there were a few other chargers on the other side of the street, but i didn't like the way the light was hitting them, and a couple had the hoods up, so no go on those.

i think it was the length of the front end on this and the reflection of the trees and sky that made me pick this particular something else. i know it isn't starsky and hutch's ride, but definitely getting into that time period.

imp

i stopped by the broiler the other day. was a bit more lively than on recent visits, yet still pallid compared to last summer.

as always, i find more interesting cars hiding in the back for whatever reason. this impala was one of those. on first look, it was an eye catcher, with it's shiny paint, glitter and all. but on closer inspection, there are a few imperfections on the pinstriping/airbrushing, but maybe it was just because i was getting up close and personal with the thing. still, it's a pretty thing just the same.

so round, so firm, so…

here's a nice bomb, hiding in plain sight. under cover of the overhang, i had to tweak it a bit to get it out of the dark—my camera exposed for the sky more than the car. someday i'll have to figure out how to use the camera properly.

my better half has tried many times to explain all the buttons and what nots on the camera…his is even worse. he'll sit with the knowledge that one of these days, i'll give in and ask for this information, and pay attention, the same way i did when i asked him to show me how he was doing his pictures. he loves to tell that story, and it gets more “interesting” with each telling, as do most of his stories about me.

anyway, i like these old chevys, with all their curves and chrome. i like the front of it too, even if the hood ornament is so very simple, err, elegant, err, modernistic...; i'll have to post the pictures someday.

put it where the sun does shine

first car show in over a week. bob's big boy was busier than it has been and the weather was perfect; not too hot, with a cool breeze. i got there a bit later than usual, as i stopped at home first and got my cameras. i've been stuck to my office chair too much lately, and it was good to get out. but of course, now it's late and i gotta get to bed.

i love when the guys park over here. pretty easy to frame up something interesting with the front of the broiler behind it. sun beginning to head south, so it really bounced the light around on this chrome back end. nice old caddie, no stuffed animals necessary...j/k.

chatted with several guys there. one guy said he'd seen me a couple of weeks ago at the show in cypress. had to think about the last time i'd been there...didn't stay long...was very hot that day. he'd wanted to tell me about a new show starting up on sunday mornings at woodruff & carson, but probably not this holiday weekend. guess i'll have to check it out. that and the donut derelicts in huntington beach, since the girl who x-rayed my teeth the other day said her dad shows his cars there, and he lives nearby. just kinda early for me to get there most weekends...just want to sleep in, ya know?

green with envy

oooohhhhh. this was one spectacular car. really incredible flame job and chromeography. yet another in the land of unwelcome customs and low riders lot at the whittier uptown show. my only question in all the attention to detail, is why they used such a jolly green giant green on the wheels, rather than something from the same range as the hood flames? kinda throws me off a bit.

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question for you: what do you consider a professional photographer? i often get asked if i'm a professional, and am always at a loss as to how to answer. i look at them, they look at me. they blink, look quizzically. "do you work for a magazine?" blink. blink.

i wonder why they bother to ask, most never look like the type that would buy a print, much less pay “professional” rates. i assume they want something for free, to use for their charity, whatever. if i state a price, i sometimes hear that mr. xyz only charges $X. well, then, go buy his/her pictures, it don't bother me none. i don't have the time or interest to peddle my wares or harass the owners.

i think the basic definition, is that if you can sell a print, you're a professional. then, ya, i guess i am, in some fashion. on the other hand, i do this more as a hobby, to do my own thing after a long day at work, without other people telling me what to do. 

i'm a professional graphic designer, since that's what i've got a diploma in and how i make my bread and butter, one who farts around with cameras after work, then tweaks the images on a computer—still in designer mode. so anyway, ya i'm a professional.

back in college i collaborated on a gallery show with a painter. i showed my black and white photography, he put up his paintings. i had cemetery images, close up detail stuff, abstract negative space, etc. the one comment left in my guest book that stuck out in my mind, was that "...the work looked like it was done by a graphic designer." i was never sure if that was meant in a good way or a bad way. i developed the stuff the same as a "photographer," so what is the difference? was it the way i cropped the images? the presentation? was it a snobby photography student? i don't remember. i didn't know anyone well at the school, and it wasn't advertised as photography done by a design major, so how would they even know?

anyway, back to my point; everyone with a camera these days can call themselves a professional photographer. but the old rule still applies: garbage in, garbage out. i think people can judge for themselves. i usually just answer to the blinkers, "no," and they go away to stuff more of their flyers into people's cars.

to hell and back

i took my mom to a car show a few weeks ago. with all the beautiful shiny cars all around, she asked why i bothered to shoot stuff like this. if you can have steak every day, every once in a while, you still just want a hamburger.

can't tell me this doesn't have some character, can you? it doesn't look totally, naturally weathered; they're probably working on it at a very early stage, but still shows a life lived. that these old cars are still around in whatever condition is a statement in itself. it may be a POS, but it's still an interesting one to look at.

ya, i cropped it...had the damn hood open. :)