sharper image

let me start this tale by mentioning how my mom sometimes comes to me with her point and shoot camera, asking me to fix whatever my dad had done to it. i've probably told this one before, but it's more relevant this time.

my dad used to buy a lot of cameras in japan, when he was in the military. mostly nikon. as a kid, i only really remember him using a camera when we'd drive out to d.c., to the washington monument or lincoln memorial. of course, he must have taken more, because we have a zillion boxes of those old slide carousels full of them.

my point is, he can talk camera talk with my better half, and understand what we're doing with our shots and tripods. but put the point and shoot in his hand, and he's lost. he fiddles with modern cameras and all the menus, and basically fucks it up.

mostly my mom just needs to know how to turn the flash back on. she just can't remember how. every time. she's kinda afraid of technology, so she just wants to be able to push a button and get a picture. doesn't everyone?

on with the story...

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we arrived at the show in southgate just about six am. beat the sunrise. beat most of the cars. they were just starting to let cars into the parking lot to stage them before the gates opened on the golf course.

we like to get the early light, as well as a reasonable parking space. finally decide to get out of the car and go shoot the sitting ducks in the parking lot.

oh, i'm finding some really nice cars, in good locations. light hitting them just right. having a fun time already. then they start letting cars onto the golf course about sevenish. we couldn't get in quite yet, so we both sat on a wall and shot them as they drove past us. fun.

got my better half to ask the ladies at the gate when or if we could get in to take pictures. they weren't quite sure about how that was going to work and kind of just let us come in with the cars. thanks for that.

better half hadn't eaten at home, so went off to get something to eat off the food trucks. i decided to start around the perimeter and was getting some really good shots, without lots of people in the way, sky overcast.

fifty cars later, on the other side of the show, i took a look at a car on the little screen zoomed in. looks blurry. i know i've mentioned that i'm not too keen on this lens, but it seems more blurry than usual. i slap on my older lens, and shoot a few. it was ok, but i couldn't push in close enough and put the other back on.

i spot my better half a couple rows away, and go ask him wtf? now i wished i'd gone to the smaller car show the day before...

my better half had said for a while that we should do a microadjustment on the camera for the lens to see if it would help. well, i had been reminding him about it for a couple of weeks, with the bigger shows coming up, and he finally did the night before. while he set up the resolution target, i made some basic settings changes for the tests. he got to work, i went to my computer to play with pictures.

later i asked him if he wanted to go uptown for dinner. then there was a thing going on at the lowdown in uptown. old cars, some sort of sale inside. a pinstriper.

he's talked about pinstripping his lens hood for some time now. after chatting with the guy, he thought it was time to try it. we went home, he grabbed his camera gear and headed back. it was late, so i stayed and took a shower, got ready for bed. put my camera away. charged batteries.

and that was it. i put my camera away. he hadn't made the final adjustment or programmed it in or whatever.

the thing of it was, he forgot too.

he remembered to tell me to put the settings back that i had made back to what i needed to shoot. which didn't include whatever menu he had been using.

turns out i had been shooting all morning with a -20 adjustment, when it should have been +5, or maybe higher, since i apparently i interrupted him in the middle the range test for dinner.

so what i'm saying, they look like i used some dreamy romance filter on them, a soft blur. so fuck. my better half took off quickly to the other side of the show after realizing what it was and fixing it, thinking he'd be safer there.

so ya, kinda sucked. i am my mom when the camera isn't acting right. he's the tech geek i go to to fix it.

the sun was winking in and out, alternating with the overcast. i had to go back around and reshoot all the cars i really liked. the light was different. there were more people around. so out of having about a couple hundred wonderful shots of cars, i end up with ninety-seven. and then whatever i shot with my other camera. happy hood ornaments and details.

but they are sharper. maybe after he finishes adjusting the camera, i may really start to like the damn lens.

so there you go. i should have just stayed in bed...same difference for my effort.

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shot this chevy over with the originals cars. one of the guys wanted to take a picture of me taking a picture, and asked first. cameras don't like me, but i said i guess so. i'd like to see it, but they always forget to forward it on.

i'm showing you mine; why don't you show me yours?

i was impressed by his young friend, i think he said he was third generation in a family of guys who work on and chop cars. owns his own chop shop, and apparently does excellent work. i guess most people don't believe he can be that good at his age, as he kept reiterating the quality of his work. i believed him. an artist is an artist, especially if you grow up around them. if he remembers to send me an email, i'll put the name of his business here.

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congrats if you made it through my blather.it's over now...go home...

’stang

i'll throw this one up here. something different. shot it because it wasn't surrounded yet. and maybe somebody out there likes them.

old geez

old car. i like these from the back end. and sometimes the big ass headlights.

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i may not have made it to a car show today, but i kinda have. at least a half dozen very nice cars have passed through the intersection so far. didn't see them uptown earlier, so i have no idea where they are going, but at least i get to see them for a moment.

olde wagon

so i skipped a small car show today. busy all week, and had things to do. like laundry. something to wear might come in handy sometime.

gotta get back out there, i don't have any stories to share that you'd care to hear. or maybe i'm just too tired to think right now.

planning to get up really early, before the butt crack of dawn and head to southgate tomorrow, for the azalea car show. always a good time. all the cars we like to shoot in one place. just need to be there before the sun comes up, and early sun, before the heat starts to evaporate the dew off the grass. then it's like a sauna.

haven't had time to work on my pictures all week, so i'll just pick a few to make up for it. how about i just post a few and just shut up?

dodge

so just running virus scans and doing copyright filing, looking through old pictures. i kinda like this one. not the whole car, which was kinda frankencar, just the front here.

blue

sitting here watching cars squealing through the intersection. supposed to come to a full and complete stop. unsurprisingingly, many slow just enough to see no one else is coming, then step on the gas and go.

my favorite spot, i can see old cars, like the sixties pontiac, that just drove by, my personal moving car show. nice tail lights. wow, he turned around and came back through. wonder if he's looking for parking uptown...

mostly i hear a lot of harleys zoom by. but i always look up, because old cars have loud engines too.

better half had to go in to work this evening. maybe i'll drive out and get him some dinner. but first, i'm hunting pontiacs...

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pretty impala from chicano park. was only parked here momentarily. he moved it further down the street into the crowd soon after i shot it.

church day

sunday, so why not post a car with a church. i like the car, but churches and me just don't get along.

last year's solitos show at foursquare in whittier. hot day, got there late. i've posted other cars from the show before, so i'm sure it's all been said already.

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hot today, and i'm tired. like i said, too much work and no play, is making me a dull boy. so to speak. i really need to get out of this house. didn't get a chance to get out town. not for lack of trying. my better half tried booking stuff at all our favorite places, but apparently, it's spring break, and everything is booked.

my bro was in town all week on business. he moved across country, so haven't seen him since thanksgiving. i got to see him for about half an hour yesterday, before i had to go in to the office to make a last minute fix for people waiting in an office on the east coast. told him we'd take him out to dinner after his meeting, just had to call. well, i guess he was too tired, and didn't even let me know he wouldn't be able to make it.

could have booked an overnight at local hotel, but it was too late, and i can just wait for some other time.

it's my other brother's birthday today. wonder if he's home, or flying to some exotic place. he's an airline pilot, so it's possible. i guess i'll send him a text message before i try calling.

on the fence

i'm inundated at work. i used to go home at the end of the day happy to have the bestest job. they treat me well, get me whatever i need. graphic designers have the bestest jobs. get to be creative all day.

but, too many weeks in a row, of too much to do and not enough time, juggling deadlines and reprioritizing constantly, and i'm quickly burning out. i get home and just want to sleep, but find it hard to stop my wheels spinning in my head.

still another month before i get a vacation. actually scheduled one mid-year, so i don't get forced to take time off at the end of the year again, for having too much vacation time saved up. that and mid-year anniversary trip.

so, i'm hoping my better half isn't working this weekend, so we can run away and hide in a hotel somewhere or other.

that or i need to buy a lottery ticket and win, before i start hating what i do. and i really like what i do. so that would suck.

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found this chevy early, before too many cars and people got in the way. i kind of like the fence and electrical tower behind it.

haven't decided if the paint makes or breaks the car. it is a little dinged up, so a crappy paint job isn't going to hurt it. maybe it's just primer, and they'll put something shiny over it later.

holy hell

i'd seen this truck several years before. didn't have as much fun with it then. mostly shot the details for the texture. such fun.

here, at the fourth annual whittier community church car show, the owner was standing nearby, and came over and told the story of how he aquired the truck, and the story behind it. the little bit i remember, it had been in a flood, i want to say in alhambra, or some other city that started with an a. was fully submerged for a long time, and abandoned out in a field.

he said he'd bought off a guy, who had been preparing to restore it, with a new paint job and all. thank goodness he got hold of it, and has kept it as original as he's been able. he's only replaced what needed to be fixed to get it running, and mostly with as close to original period parts he can find.

it has a spotlight that works, but so often people would turn it on and play with it at car shows, then leave it on and walk away, that he'd return at the end of the day to a dead battery. so he's left that disconnected.

the wood in the truck bed was rotted out, so he'd replaced it with wood from an old boat deck, and plugged the screw holes with more of the same.

he's worked on it with his son, and also, the cars on either side. very nice man, lots of stories. unfortunately, we still needed to get moving along before the threatening rain, and he needed to go walk around with his son.

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i dog-sat friday night, then took my car in to the dealer for some regular maintenance. tried to drop it off real early, taking the dog with me. had hoped to walk him home and wear him out, before the sun got too high.

the line was too long, and not moving, and besides, i had made an appointment for later, so i took the dog over to the park to run around a bit instead. he found a playground/four-square type ball, which he promptly started trying to get his mouth on, so he looked like he was playing soccer more than anything. it had too much air in it, but he did get his mouth on it for a short time. almost thought he'd got a tooth stuck, or that he wouldn't be able to let it go, but i somehow got it away from him, and he spent the rest of the time just kicking it around. very funny to watch.

then i left the dog at the house a little later, telling him i'd be back in a bit. heard him crying all the way out to my car. hate doing that. dropped the car off and got the courtesy car back home.

spent the day waiting for my kid to come home from san diego. i could tell the dog was anxious because his 'dad' hadn't been home yet, and here i was still hanging out and playing with him.

time came and went that my car should have been done. making an appointment at a dealer really doesn't mean diddly squat as far as priority. called and inquired. they called back and said in about half an hour, so i had them send the car to pick me up.

kid got home about that time, so the dog wasn't alone, but still cried when i left.

back at the dealer, they said it was almost done, was getting washed, so i went ahead and paid the bill. then waited. and waited. and waited. service guy came over and asked if it has been having any issues with idling and stalling. nope. i guess they had it in the wash and it had stalled out, and hadn't been able to get it going reliably again. closing time, but they promised they'd get it figured out, or get me a car to use. couldn't let me leave with a car that was stalling, wouldn't be safe.

so here i am at home all weekend with a brand new loaner car, and no where to go. was too late to go to the gents' show on saturday, and didn't get going for today's shows.

took my better half out for lunch. his favorite part was the back up camera that showed the picture on the center console. had me put the car in reverse while he stood behind the car [behind a block, with my foot on the brake, of course]. he danced around and moved his face right up to the lens on the camera. that was funny. almost thought he was going to recreate the scene from 40 year old virgin in the video store, but no...

then i've just otherwise been busy all afternoon. made banana bread. then made a bunch of meatballs. and just now finding time to think up what to write here. freaking time change, it's almost time for bed.

another busy week ahead. wondering about that work/life balance they like to banter about. too much work, not enough time. they should just hire somebody already, not just hand off easy jobs to a temp. so i've spent the last few weeks juggling a big workload, prioritizing, slipping quick jobs between bigger, complex work, and tending to the squeaky wheels.

i've put in extra hours, hoping that it would help meet some more critical deadlines, but really, unless i give them an extra week of time, it isn't making a difference, so i'm trying to not get so stressed over it now. driving the freeway is bad enough.

so, dropping off the new car tomorrow, unless they can't fix my car. then dog watching tuesday. probably not back home to play with pictures until wednesday...oh well. something's gotta give, and this is it.

Update on 2015-03-10 03:31 by kathy

turns out the technician had left a hose disconnected when he changed the air filter. no charge and i got to tool around in a new car for a day. i think i got the better end of this bargain.

beater

got out this weekend. thought we were racing the clock before the rain came. stupid weather app kept saying it was imminent. so we went to the closer show first at the community church.

that was busier than we expected. don't know why. it was sold out. but the promised rain did keep a lot of cars away. and mostly the cars we really wanted to shoot. so, after our fill of 1930s ford hot rods, we headed over to the swap meet.

unsuprisingly, parking was easy. clouds keep people away from swap meets. and it was still pretty early. turns out the car show was on the other side, so we had to walk through, get the bags searched.

was only about a dozen cars at the time. made the best of it, and shot some of them. some had their hoods up, some had too many people around them. chatted a bit with a couple of owners.

was fun, but then the getting up too early caught up with us, so we bailed.

liked this one, for all of it's wonderful messiness. maybe they'll leave it alone. i hope so. it's more fun like this.

didn't rain until last night. pfft.