shooting star

catch a comet by the tail, but not in this case. i liked the front end better.

rare day at a car show lately. family and work priorities finally gave me a brief break. this show in paramount has started up again for the spring/summer season. never are too many cars here, and the cliquish (as i was told by an unnamed acquaintance) group are always bunched up in front of the main circle of cars, in front of the trophy table. kind of like the oscars, they vote each other the awards every week, even if one of them doesn't bring their car or arrives late...or so i was told.

rumble

the thing i really like about being at a car show—apart from the taking of the pictures—is not even having to look around to know when these beasts are rolling in.

i can be low to the ground, focusing the camera, blocking the shot, and i can hear the low rumbling, like those dinosaurs in jurassic park, of the old cars blocks away. i don't even have to turn around, to know by the rumble if my next picture is driving up.

there's a big difference in the deep, low growl of old chevys, from the high pitched whine of the rodents running in the engines of say, a civic, driving down the street—eeeeeeeeeee—you know what i mean.

those lovely clouds...oh these are the kind of days i wait for all year.

full monte

another car that i usually pass by, but i liked the reflection on the hood too much. frankly, i don't get the tiny wheels they put on these cars. i suppose it has something to do with the hydraulics and bounceability. otherwise, this one was rather plain compared to others i've seen all tatted up, relatively.

bird's eye

quick post again. tired. too many late nights starts to catch up eventually.

here's another from sunday's fuddruckers show in lakewood. don't believe the owner ever was around. maybe he/she/they were inside overdosing on burgers and fries.

not completely happy with tbirds, but slim pickens' at this show. and it was so nice and shiny.

easter egg

my better half had to work all weekend. he's still there now. happy easter. pfft.

vacuumed the house, stopped by my parents' house to say howdy, then thought i'd get off my butt and get back in the saddle. surprisingly, i saw there were several shows listed for today, and thought i'd see what might show up on a holiday. i figured anyone with kids wouldn't be able to get away...kind of a requirement to be there. i expected to find old guys, single guys, and couples with no kids.

i skipped a show near my mom's, since it was about time for it to be over, and the good ones don't hang around for the end. instead, i drove up to the show at fuddrucker's in lakewood. i've seen it on the list for a while, and figured without going to one of the big parks and bothering picnicing car clubs, it was the best bet to see a few cars.

there were actually more than i expected, but not as many as there must usually show up. and in spite of not getting out to the shows much, my shyness was not allowed to reclaim me – almost as soon as i arrived an old navy guy came over and started chatting me up as i started to shoot this old ford.

wasn't his, but someone else he was hanging with. said he had one, but either a year earlier or a year later, and not at the show. told a long story about how much it costs to get these cars up to par and the hunt for parts. he'd had his ford at some shop that kept putting him off, asking for more money for this and that, and after it got to $27,000 and no actual work being completed on his car, he pulled it from that shop and shipped it out to arizona, where they were progressing nicely for much less. said he was going to sue the original shop...oh yeah i listen to these stories, and if i post the picture soon enough, i remember more details than i should. i blame you guys that want to tell me all this stuff...and this wasn't even his car. it's all right. he was entertaining, the sun wasn't going down, and it gave time for more cars to show up.

anyway, he knew all about this car, and several other old cars that pulled in. he walked me around this one pointing out parts and asking me to guess how much it was for a replacement part. he said the owner claims to have never washed this car, and only wipes it down to clean it. all i wanted to know is why they painted this such a shiny black, then airbrushed some funky looking flames there on the running boards, which just look like fallen leaves from this angle.

oh ya, i'm doing a trial thing for ordering prints. click on that button down at the bottom on the right. haven't posted many, and if you're interested and don't see yours there, shoot me an email, and i'll upload it for ordering. figured it would be easier, since my better half says i'm kinda scary at car shows...i'd prefer focused...and usually when someone does ask what sizes/what prices, i can't remember them off the top of my head. so give it a peek anyway.

green with envy

been a busy month, and it don't look like it's going to let up for a while. ain't complaining, except for not being able to get out and shoot fresh images, and less time to play with the ones i have.

isn't this one a beauty? look at that paint job. says in the back window it belongs to the autoholics club. from that night some unrecalled magazine was doing a shoot. wonder if this one made it in? no doubt.

payback isn't always a bitch

one of the first cars i decided to shoot at this show, and oh how i wished the photo album was off the hood. the owner did finally come over and offer to move it, but i was already done with his car, starting to overheat and running short of time. chatted a bit, showed him my book.

he said he'd helped the original owner paint this car, i think back in the '70s. turns out he'd inherited it from him a couple of years ago. if i remember what he told me, i think he's still tweaking the engine, but it looked nice, glittering in the sun. glitter and pinstripes. not a bad way to say thanks for your help.

cruisin baby

this lovely was out in riverside in february. back end sports a latin magic plate logo. a few guys from this club took time to chat with me. possibly the owner of this car talked a little about photography and shooting this car. no doubt it gets shot a lot.

they did give me a copy of that flyer that's messing up a perfectly fine image in the window there. i'd planned to go, but then the weekend of the featured show, i was out of town. sorry, it's baseball season for my kid, so my priorities are bit skewed now. not making it to as many shows as i'd like, nor posting as much as i'm used to. it happens.

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what is it about the dbags that drive those lame hybrid cars 50 mph on the freeway? do they think they're saving the environment by going waaaay too slow? maybe their electronic squirrel engines just can't go that fast. but why is it, that they always choose to drive slower than molasses in front of me? and what the hell are they doing anywhere else, but the slow lane?

crop it like it's hot

the full shot of this car was ok. but i think i like it cropped in like this. really it is the fins that make these cars anyway. and the contrast of colors wasn't bad either.

oh, and that's a shadow of a wagon wheel on the side. sun was starting to go down already.

this was from one of the shows on dave's cruise nights list. it's a little hit or miss in the winter i guess. there were only 3 or 4 cars when i got there, but was told that a couple had just left. well, that makes it better, i guess? anyway, i chatted with a guy with an old truck for a while, hoping more would drive in, but no luck in that department. he did mention another show the following week, which i did have the chance to get to, and saw him there, with his little dog too (he wasn't on a bike with a basket). that show rocked about a hundred cars, so thanks for that dude.

meant to get to one or two shows this weekend, to which i'd been given flyers, but other things came up, and couldn't make it. oh well. summer shows are almost here, so i'm sure i'll run into those guys again. raining here now, so i could post more pictures, or i could go clean my house...hmmm. nah, i gotta get some things done. i'll be good, just this one time...

everything's eventual

ah yes. eventually, i'll think of an appropriate (or inappropriate) title for this post. inevitably, i need to get some sleep. someday, i'll finally sort through my to do list at home. soon, i'll order the blinds for my windows...the list goes on and on. things that always get put off. i suppose in the end, it will all catch up with me.

for now, i'm still choosing to distract myself with my pictures. but today, i think i've had enough of sitting: driving to work for 50 minutes; in front of a computer for 8 hours at work, driving home for another 50 minutes; eating dinner and chatting with my better half for another hour before he has to go back to the office for the evening...then sitting a bit longer to play with my pictures. enough already. i'm off to bounce on my trampoline, and then finally a chance to lay down for a few hours before starting all over again.

the clock is ticking. i doubt any of us will look as good as this car when we reach the same age.