dashed dream

quick post since its late. this one is from the viejitos oc show at the anaheim marketplace.

typical scenario, where the owner asks if i'm with a magazine. typical answer, no. can see the excitement fade from his eyes, for just a moment, but since he was still enthusiastic about his car, and i liked the way the trees were reflecting on the hood, and the minimal pinstriping, i went ahead and took a picture.

maybe he'll see it, assuming he didn't wash the card i gave him, like others i've heard about.

eagle has landed

all right, i'll show you this one. not because i am starting to love cars with their hoods open, but because it's just a spectacular car, and the owner is so very nice.

the finish on it is smooth as silk. the guy told my better half at a regular monthly viejitos show a few months earlier, that it was a family project and that all had taken turns sanding the surface so fine, using flour to show the high spots, before they got it all painted up. i've posted it before. i like my better half's versions:here and here

this was in what should have been a pretty good spot for a typical car, on an end spot, under a tree. but with the hood(s) up, with background foot traffic, it was just difficult to frame up a decent shot. from the other side, the doors were open, and there was a car next to it, and next to that, a pop up tent, that really kinda ruined it. took a couple of angles from this side, and i guess i like this one better.

and by this shot, he'd moved the car polish bottles and rags out of the frame. :)

ragtop

i shot this fury very early in the day. parked on one of the main paths of the park, i knew it would probably be surrounded by people later in the day.

the owner was still polishing it when i started to frame up the shot from the other side, but when some passerby asked him a question, he parked the rag on the roof, and went around to the other side.

so i moved to this corner and try to keep it low enough to not get so much extraneous crap in the shot. still managed to get the passerby, and the lovely rag the owner was using and dropped mid-wax-on – wax-off. mr. miyagi would be so proud.

he told me later, when i passed by with the rest of the crowds surrounding it, that it was mostly original. i thought it was pretty striking, at this location, with the paint combo, and the fact that there probably wasn't another one to found at the park that day.

aztechie

still a chevy, but one i don't normally post. i'll do something else next time. sheesh.

a ladder would have been good about now. your basic aztec and nekked girls scene.

i get misty

perfect weather for pictures early in the morning. fog and mist rolling off the water and through the park kept the harsh shadows away, but it sure did wonders for my hair. getting longer, and being baby fine, it just goes all limp, so i don't even bother to do much with it now. i'll chop it short eventually, but now is the time to see how long it will grow, which i suspect won't be much past my shoulder blades. at least i can tie it up now, when i get too warm and absolutely don't give a damn how i look, as long as i can get a good shot.

this chevy was parked with the bridge town oldies club, but i'm not particulary sure it belongs to them. not perfect, but slightly less chipped paint from this side, i think it was the color that stopped me for a shot.

my better half must have handed one of my cards to the owner, as he sent an email to me asking to see any pictures of it. i knew full well that i hadn't passed out any cards this early in the day. i forward those requests to him, and i know he sent off what he had taken.

well, i happened to have shot it too. always fun to compare our shots, but i don't think he posted his for all to see.

anyway, i see that i've posted a bunch of chevys. i think next time i'll post something else for a change. should really look back through the shows i went to last month when i couldn't post, and show them some love.

found it

i was back on the far side of the lighthouse in san pedro, taking pictures of a big cadillac and big truck, when a guy walks by and asks if i can take a picture of his car. expecting it somewhere nearby, i ask which one is it. 

he proceeds to tell me it's up by the entrance, with whatever car club, brown primer, black top. hmm. ya, i'll go look for it, i told him.

i vaguely remembered seeing his club's banner earlier when i'd walked through that section. so i headed over there, before i forgot about it. so easy to get distracted in the sea of cars by the sea.

i'm pretty sure this is the one. a work in progress. still nice in it's own way. booyah!

more than i could catch

finally made it over to the car show by the sea in san pedro. i've known about it for a couple of years, but have just never been able to get to it.

my better half had expected to be called in to work today, but volunteered to go along, since i was going to get there very early. i figured if he did get called, there were several other shows i'd been given flyers on i could hit closer to home.

but they never did call him, so we kept on shooting cars. and wow, we could not believe how many cars could be packed into the little park area. and better still, mostly the kind i really love—old chevy bombs, pontiacs, fords, cadillacs—you name it, it was probably there.

it is hosted each year by the legends car club. i'd been there previously for their xmas show, but hadn't stayed long. they were a extremely friendly and outgoing group of guys, and many came over to introduce themselves and make me welcome.

they stop letting cars in when they hit about six hundred, someone told me. i saw a lot of oldies driving down the street after they arrived late. i had to pass by many cars that i would have ordinarily gone ape shit over at a regular, local show, there were just so many and so little time.

very few people stopped to chat with me, and i'm finding out, that many prefer to seek out my better half. fine with me, he's much better spoken regarding the cameras, and more comfortable, in general, chatting people up. although, that does allow me to keep on being my shy old self. its only people that have never seen me before, who really come over and inquire. i don't mind one bit taking a break from shooting your car, to answer your question, if i can, or to hear your story about it. i am pretty socially retarded the first few times i talk to you, but keep trying, i'll get the hang of it eventually.

if i can remember your story, i'll write about it. if you see your car, and want to share, please do comment or send me an email and i'll add to my post.

this car belonged to one of the first guys that ventured over to speak with me for a few minutes. not exactly the first, but those guys didn't stay long enough to ask what i do with the pictures, and didn't get a card.

i don't remember having one of these in my files, and particularly not in green if i do. it caught my eye, and that was that. i wanna say this one is a member of the harbor knights car club, but i'm not sure.

beautiful cars, a great day, perfect weather and location. i'll definitely plan to be there next year.

i apologize to the other clubs that sent over flyers to me for their shows, that i couldn't get to today. some days, i just can't move fast enough.

destiny

this was the staging area for the whittier car show just before seven a.m. a seemingly endless line of cars down the main street, then other lines going down the cross streets, which you can't see from here. these guys should consider themselves lucky to have to wait it out here, in the shade. the side street guys were already getting hit by the sun.

so i took advantage of the captives and had my way with their cars at my leisure. still close together, but this time, nose to tail.

i don't remember seeing this one around before. i like these type trucks/vans/whatever you call them, with the big shiny sides; they reflect whatever is near them so well, when the light hits just right.

no parking

its late, and i've already had a long week at work, with more of the same next week. so i'll keep it short, with this long car.

i like how they post "no parking" signs up and down the street for a couple of days before the uptown show, then leave them up during the show, where everyone is obviously parked. i know, i know. the signs are for us ordinary people and our ordinary cars, but they still make me laugh to see the big fancy cars parked there in front of them anyway. don't know why. i'm just in a mood.

here's a new (to me, anyway) tribe car. they joked a bit with the owner and told him to make nice with me. i guess this is why.

the great and powerful

why i don't really like shooting in the middle of a hot summer day: harsh shadows, blown out detail, and it's frickin' hot. well, there were pockets of cool breezes, especially at the intersections, but there wasn't where this truck was parked.

simply liked the irridescent color on this. i like green. green and chrome. what i'd drive on a cruise out of the emerald city.

there was one of those children's push cars next to it all spiffed up in hot pink and pinstriped like the big kid's cars next to it. kinda bouncing pink on to the whitewall tire, but i like the contrast with the green. 

looks like someone slapped a giant post-it on the window. wonder what it would say?