walk this way...

the continuing saga at work of too much overtime, and not enough sleep. today, i'd intended to go to the broiler. left work a half hour later than normal—told them i just was done for the day, i am fried—and headed out.

what a difference thirty minutes makes in the traffic. i was screwed, mainly because someone had decided to occupy the same lane as another car on the freeway in santa ana, so went surface streets. normally it takes about forty-five minutes to get home; took two hours, and after sitting all day, followed by a long ride home, i just couldn't bear to drag my butt to the show. telling myself i'll go to ruby's on friday. most of the work will be done by then, so shouldn't be a problem leaving on time toward the end of the week. and the tradeshow will be over by mid next week, so i can get back to posting more regularly too.

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here's a beauty from the SFV show. there was a plethora (a plethora?) of cars, and many clubs were represented. i've loved these candy colored lifestyle club low riders since i first saw a bunch at the uptown whittier show a couple of years ago. hoping they'll show up again next month.

they had a bunch of their cars parked under the shade of the solar panels. kinda mutes the colors, but not by much. saa-weeeet. and i'm an id...forgot to note what kind of car this is...lincoln? chevy? buick? whatever.

only got a few other cars—which i'll get to eventually—because of the heat, but i hella wish i'd stayed and got so many more. next time...

so special

argued with myself too long this morning: didn't want to get out of bed, but i wanted to go to this car show out in san fernando. i was awake at 7:30ish. i could have been there when they opened at 10, before it would get insanely hot, take my pictures and be out of there before noon.

but no. i hesitated, then my mother-in-law made breakfast. then kinda did nothing but fart around with my ipad. but the thought of the car show kept itching the back of mind, and eventually told my better half that i was going to go.

now his new computer had a melt down the day before: one of the drives crapped out and he spent all saturday loading up windows again. he needed to continue loading software, but he also didn't want me to be out there alone for whatever reason. so if i was going, so was he, and so was his nephew, who is visiting for a few weeks and is bored of sitting around the house with gramma.

anyhew, by the time we got out there, it was noon, and it was HOT. there was a breeze, but mostly no shade at high noon. efff. and it was a gloriously big, busy show. low riders. bombs. bikes. booths. music. danny trejo. didn't realize how big the show was, until we were getting ready to leave and realized there was a whole other field full of cars we didn't even get to see.

as i said it was hot, so we got to work right away. figured i'd save the low riders for last, since they were mostly in the shade of some overhanging parking structure or solar paneled thing. it was at the high school, so we headed out to what i suppose is a football or track field. lots of cars and people. i was looking for the bombs. found this car club, with a bunch of chevys, which make me happy and started shooting. the people in the tent next to this one didn't say anything, just watched, though i guess it was the owner, took the entry sign out of the window of this car – thanks for that.

not sure if they were associated with the people in the tent at the other end of the row of cars, who did ask the usual question: you with a magazine? i did show them my pictures and gave them a couple of cards, so maybe the owner will see his car here.

an excellent show, even if it was so hot. i think if i go again, i'll have to wear a hat and some lighter clothing. maybe leave the nephew at home...he tolerates heat even less than i do.

hell week

i am glad the week is over. hope the next one isn't so busy. i'm so tired.

started off last friday driving a big ass diesel moving truck. moving the last bits of my life's debris outta my house. you know it's a weird thing to be in a house still full of furniture from your past life, but your personal debris is out. almost like the house is somehow deflated and sad. still my house, but now my son lives there. while he goes to law school.

figured i'd save on paying a mortgage and his rent by moving him in there for a few years. and hey, a unique idea: i'll move in full-time with my better half. married almost five years now, might as well see how much of me he can take. lol.

was fun driving the big ass truck on the freeway. pretty much had to just go for it, once i decided not to stay on surface streets. really hated that this truck had the steering wheel that was more horizontal than vertical, like a car. didn't like feeling like i was driving on the disneyland teacups at 70 mph.

the rest of the week was spent doing several 11 and 12 hour days at work for some annual tradeshow coming up in another week. interesting to see how many people wait until the last minute to decide they need brochures and datasheets.

oh, and then following one of said long days, went to the oc fair for several more hours to listen to the judges walk around and expound on their reasoning behind how they picked images they liked. almost like being back in college, listening to the professors babble on about technique and vision and bullshit.

the group i was in never did get around to where my images were, but i gathered enough to know that someone of them thought enough of one of my pictures that they gave it a ribbon. kind of an atta boy. close but no cigar. my better half likes to break down the odds of entering and even getting stuff selected for display, and so on, so it's ok.

someone even filled out an interest in purchase card. ya, he's interested in the picture, but doesn't really want to pay that much. he also wants me to shoot his car. told him we'll be at the show in uptown whittier next month, so maybe we'll see him there.

anyway, i've been bleeding out money this month, so it's looking like vacation won't be anywhere exotic this year. and that's still several months away. i so need one too. maybe we can sneak away for a long weekend, but we're both so busy, i doubt that will happen either.

looking at the list of car shows, thinking about going to some show in san fernando tomorrow. might as well go to magic mountain as long as i'm up there. i do have other stuff i gotta do, so maybe i'll just end up squeezing in lakewood in the evening instead.

ugh.

sky's the limit

tony, tony, tony...look what i had to shoot because you weren't there. well, some other time.

anyway, i went to the show at spires, then over to the broiler. it does feel good to be up and about after sitting all day. of course, both shows had more cars driving in at the same time i've packed up to leave. but i had to get home, so i'll take the sweet bits that were there.

didn't realize it's gotten so late, so i best be off. probably won't post again for a few days...gotta do some packing to get the last boxes out of the house.

zoot suiter

quick post. this one belongs to angel's friend. said he's new in town, or else it was that'd he'd just moved back after many years...can't quite recall. always love the cars with hood ornaments, even when they're quite simple like this one. the car is quite nice too.

killing time

i had gone to ruby's this evening, expecting to take some pictures of a certain betatted aquaintance's car. well, he had said he hoped to see me there. i arrived a bit earlier than i'd told him, but had waited until a bit later than i said i'd be there at the latest.

well, to kill time, i did what i'd do anyway, and went up and down the three or so aisles of cars, shooting as i went. i suppose many people are still away on the theoretical holiday weekend, so a lot of the regulars were not there. i consoled myself with some cars like this buick. well, you know, when you gotta, you gotta. (da vida baby)

after making the full circuit, i hid in the shade for a bit, while my better half went off with my (our) macro lens to shoot hood ornaments. he always vows to keep the lens for himself when he reluctantly hands it back. i guess it takes really awesome pictures when slapped up front of his big ass camera.

when he returned, i went through the aisles one more time, looking for said betatted man and his car, but no luck. if was going to be there, it was going to be after i left. maybe he'll be at the broiler on wednesday...

uplifting

took this one back at the beginning of the year in el toro. not too many cars almost every time i'd stop. but i do try to at least take one, so my time has not been wasted.

the owner found me down here shooting the back end of the car. well, it is the more interesting view on these. the hood had been open anyway. but he did go round and close it for me. i took a few different angles. better angles had extraneous cars and hoods in them, which i did not like so well. i liked the sky in this one, so it will do. i did particularly like one from the front, the reflection on the hood, but it is otherwise unremarkable, so i'll keep it tucked away for now.

considering going to disneyland to see the fireworks, but not feeling up to the crowds just now. i think i'll pack it in early and skip the celebrations. but you all have a good time, and be safe.

cool riv

yeah, i don't usually shoot many models older than the early '60s, but every once in a while, i yearn for something different. this one was quite lovely, in spite of it's simplicity.

so angel tells me the other day (that's his name, not one of the filmy wing-ed ones), that the lot at the broiler was actually very full, even all the way out in the back lot. oh, stick the knife in and twist...i couldn't go to the show that evening due to other commitments. i've been lamenting how empty it's been the last few months. and tomorrow is the 4th of july, so suckage, no one will be there.

skull obsession

quick stop at lakewood fuddruckers today. was quite hot, and i arrived later then i have in the past. lots of cars, but a lot of open hoods. so i focused on the few cars i really liked.

this was probably the most spectacular chevy i've seen in a while. there were little skulls on almost every little appendage hanging up off the car and everywhere on the dashboard.

anyway, i believe the owner of the car was standing off to the side, out of the shot, watching closely. but then, he also followed me over to watch me shoot an old '46 olds, where he did get in the shot. i suppose he was just someone curious as to what the hell i was doing, but too shy to ask the usual question about magazines. no, sir, i don't.

shady lady

haven't seen this truck since last year, when they used to have a show at chubby's in anaheim. i'd shot it on several visits there, and the last time i'd seen the owner he was interested in buying a print. but the day i showed up with an 8x10, he'd just put new wheels on it, and now it didn't match the picture, so he didn't want it. oh well, another for my book.

so here i saw it at angelos, another show i hadn't been to since last year. never well attended, at least the handful of times i'd stopped, i had hopes there would be more since the show further up the street has been cancelled. saw the truck, and a couple of other guys by it, but not the owner i remembered. wondered if he was inside having dinner, or if he'd sold the truck. the guys by the truck didn't say anything, and just sat talking to each other in spanish.

as i was finishing up with a few shots, the owner did emerge from the restaurant, and come over to say hello. yes, i remembered him and his truck. i always remember the car. mostly i remember the owners if they've taken the moment to say hello or make a comment.

i liked that the truck was parked here on the end of the row, actually not a real parking spot. i did not like that he parked here under a tree, when the shade sucks the intensity and richness of the color out of a car. but i shoot it as i find it, so fiddle dee dee.

and as far as yesterday's drama with my pictures, the problem was resolved. my favorite framer took care of it, whereby i dropped off the pictures at 6am. he had them redone by 10am. i dropped them off at the fairgrounds before 11am. i did mention the ambiguity in the wording of the rules to one of the judge types accepting entries at the tables. he said he thought they'd clarified it better, but apparently not enough. i gotta do something nice for my framer, who busted his ass to help me, though he reassured me that they would have been fine as they were.