good hunting

long drive home from vegas this morning. freaking cajon pass construction. nice to be back.

better half had been out and about this afternoon. he came home and told me about some old fleetline types driving around uptown, guessing they were heading over to the radisson. sounded sort of like pharaohs' cars, but he didn't catch the plaque. told him that they were either scoping out where to park for the show in the morning, or heading over to a certain house in that neighborhood.

toward sunset, i headed uptown with my camera bag, in hopes of finding one or two over by the cigar bar, or better, in the parking lot at the hotel. only saw a couple of old cars drive by, didn't park. went all the way down the street to the hotel, but didn't see anything. so, they must have been just passing through.

so i walked a block up and back down the less crowded street, and got some dinner, enjoying the air conditioner in the restaurant. just before i'd gone in, i spotted this chevy down on the corner. figured if it was still there when i was done, i'd shoot it.

sun went down before i got back out. got my better half to walk down to the restaurant, so he could walk me home, and/or watch my back while i shot the car. it was still there, but slightly more dark. he got there ten minutes later, and there was the car.

so, my search for the early birds wasn't a total loss. i think it turned out ok. quite a few cars drove through the exposures, so i took a lot of shots, and this is about the cleanest of the bunch. better half thinks i should have left some of the light streaks from passing cars in. i'll think about it.

vegas, baby

here i sit, all by my lonesome. meetings all week. missed pomona this morning.

spent a few hours walking around an automobile collection/display at the linq in las vegas. no tripod, and indoors, so curious if any of the shots came out ok. using a camera i hardly ever use, since i didn't want to haul the big bag out here. it can wait at home with my better half...next saturday is whittier uptown car show, at last! also supposed to go to a bridal shower that same morning, but we'll see...

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last post until i get back, since i had this picture ready to go. blvd bombs car show in los angeles, i think a couple of their cars. i liked the pop of that yellow car, and also that it was a fleetmaster--just love the lines on those and fleetlines. the church building behind somehow just helps the composition. i liked it, anyway.

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sun starting to set here, so over and out...night d.

baggage

i've been busy all day. walked uptown for an hour or so at lunch...shopping for a graduation gift. really difficult when you don't know what someone likes or needs, or what is appropriate for the occasion. me, i like toys—monsters, aliens, weird stuff. don't think that would work for this girl.

still need to pack my bag for the trip. haven't decided when to leave. so i've been sitting here playing with my pictures. was trying to find a specific car, a black bel air. looked through the last few years of pictures. i think i have it, but no doubt i've labeled it wrong. probably on a hard drive i don't have here, a backup drive at a different location. oh well. this merc will have to do.

chopped and differently stylized flames than i usually see on cars. it was sitting at the edge of the park, stopping traffic. even got a crazy guy from a passing bus to get out before his real stop, to come over and make loud exclamations. i think the general thinking was that he might have been on something, but maybe he's just overly enthusiastic.

kudos to the pinstriper/airbrusher. somebody named vandemon, at least that's how they signed the back end.

and check out al the louvres. that looks difficult to do, without effing it up. also had hubcaps with cadillac emblems on it, and a desoto grille. guy sitting next to it, who seemed to know the owner, said just because they were cool.

early bird gets the...

got to san fernando so early, that i parked on the curb near the entrance, and could have parked even closer, but held back a few car lengths. years' past there had been a line of cars down the street and around the corner. not entirely sure why it wasn't the case this time, but i needn't have worried--so many showed up later. must have been hungover, or, egads, they went to church?

i get to shows early, just for opportunities like these. no people in the shot, that glowing morning light, always chasing the light. gotta setup and shoot quickly, or you miss it. no gold reflectors needed. still, i got there too late for the transition from dark blue to purple to orange. oh well.

can't remember which club these two belong to...don't remember any club insignia, though they were later surrounded by a zillion pachuco club cars. i just know that i saw them across the field first thing, with that golden light, and went as quickly as i could to them.

loved the light hitting the hood ornament on the plymouth, and that it showed it's age, hadn't been replaced with a shiny new piece.

camera bags don't roll too good on grass. maybe they should make them with bigger wheels. that glow with fiber optic light. nah, wouldn't really blend into the background that way.

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crazy busy weekend/week ahead. day off on friday, mother-in-law's birthday; a graduation saturday, followed by a drive to vegas. a week there (any local shows besides cars and coffee?). car shows when i get back. thoughts: uptown whittier car show or bridal shower for future daughter-in-law??? hmmm hmmm hmmm.

gotta figure out how/when to take 100+ hours of vacation time before the end of the year. my mom just changed her mind and said she'd be willing to do a road trip. interesting. wait a few days...she'll change her mind.

glory days

i was shooting the woodie next to this impala, early in the day. the impala's owner was still polishing the car, so, when i turned to consider his car, i just walked by, and said i'd come back when he was done.

spent another hour or so, walking around the now crowded park, and had circled back toward the side closest to where i parked my car. i think i was shooting the back end of a '59 buick, when the guy found me, and smiling, said, "i'm done with the car."

i said i would, so i did soon enough. took a few angles; liked this one best. some other guy walked up and got in the passenger side...i hope he was friends with the owner.

another guy came over to ask if i'd shot his car, and pointed out into the fray, talking loudly, but i couldn't quite make out for sure which car he meant. the impala was parked near the stage, and the band was playing loudly. i didn't give him a card, so how would he see the picture anyway? i probably shot it, if the hood was down, and i liked the location. i think it was a packard he was talking about...i shot one...not sure if it was his.

sat down in the shade right in front of the group for a bit to watch old guys rocking. i think they said they were there every year. they played ok; and i took a few shots from where i sat. maybe i'll add a couple of them here.

time to get back to the office...

special

life is speeding up lately. yes, i know i missed the gatos show yesterday. rare day that my better half could get a few hours out of the house, and he wanted to go to the fair to see my pictures hanging on the wall. matter of priorities sometimes.

we had fun, almost like a date. spent a lot of time talking about nothing and everything. walked through the buildings of schlocky stuff for sale, looked at the crafts, watched the mariachi and pacific islanders dance shows. weather was mostly good, so we stayed later than we had intended. his mom was fine—he called her twice—and told him to stop worrying and enjoy the time out.

next, going to speed through the week at work, even when a work week feels like it drags on forever. next weekend, a college graduation to attend, followed by a drive out to vegas. whittier car show coming up when i get back, then something else i can't even remember right now, then pick up the pictures from the fair... blah blah blah. stop thinking about things, and just do them. life happens. just one big check list...

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went to the sultans show this morning. perfect weather for pictures, got my favorite parking space, very close by. got there about six-thirty, and there were some cars, stuff rolling in. watched yet another ballet of parking the cars. it's a sort of choreography between the club members on what cars should go where. some are more organized, with walkie talkies, others just yell across the field, over the revving engines.

park isn't huge, so these guys just yell. but they do pack them in well. the park was filled, except for fire lanes. i made the outer circuit to start with, to stay out of the way of the moving cars, and to keep them out of my shots.

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starting with this car. belongs to a retired gentleman, who i think said he'd owned it for thirty-eight years. i've seen it around before, shot it before, but had never talked to the owner. i liked the paint combination, and the back windows are kind of different. the hood had been up, so i had decided to just shoot the back end. he offered to close the hood, so i offered to take a picture or two. so here's a few shots for him.

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briefly considered going to mariachi plaza, and decided i didn't have the energy. looking forward to seeing everyone else's pictures of all the cars i wished i'd been there to shoot.

field of "dreams"

this stunning pontiac was parked on the baseball field. almost walked past the entrance to the field, since the majority of cars parked toward the front, where you could see them, were the big, loud, overdone newer type cars. i wanna say the guys with the teeny peenies, that need to compensate, but maybe they just really like those types of cars. not my cup of tea.

anyway, saw this on the same field out the corner of my eye. sitting next to an old chevy. that one is nice too. so i hiked across the infield, remembering when my kid played ball, and then it hit me. the sweet stench. a recently "fertilized" field on a hot, hot day. oh, how i felt sorry for these poor bastards, having to hang out on that field all day with their cars.

i suppose you eventually don't notice it, but later, when they get back in the car, what about the "dirt" on the bottom of the shoes? lots of air freshener will be needed.

as i was saying, really nice car. really nice owner. chatted a bit. happy, happy guy. i liked the pinstriping, and of course, the hood ornament.

butt, gumby

saw this car at bob's big boy in downey, back in 2011. saw it drive onto the back field here at san fernando, and headed over.

usually, it's nice to see another car reflected in the paint, kind of a two-fer-one deal. i knew that bright orange car was there, didn't think it would be too bad, since it's a complimentary color. but now, all i can see is the butt:

kinda ruins a good picture for me. but the butt makes me smile. maybe next time i'll catch the car in a field without such a close neighbor, or ask him to move it—something i don't typically do—shoot it where i find it.

anyway, the owner, let's call him noah, since his shirt was stitched with "noah" on it, was very nice. chatted a bit. i mentioned i'd seen the car before in downey, and he did remember being there. said he'd seen a picture of it on the computer...thought maybe it was one i took? possibly, but i'm sure than one person that's shot it before.

all by myself

i've been going to more shows lately. saving up lots of pictures for a rainy day, like a squirrel. just not burying them in the ground. good july; i have so many to choose from for posting, it's hard to pick. most times i have to narrow it down to three or four shots, and have my better half pick one.

speaking of my better half, he's alive and well, thank you. i get a lot of people asking where he is, when i'm at shows. he's very popular, apparently. he has been unable to make it to many shows lately, as his mother had gotten very sick not too long ago, and he's been taking care of her. splits caretaking with his sister, but weekends he's on his own, prime car show time.

his mom is doing much better, and i'm hoping he'll come out to the uptown show for a while on the fifteenth next month. just a short walk down the street, so he wouldn't be too far from home.

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my kid is sitting for the bar exam for the next three days. good luck, my boy!

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went out the blvd bombs show last saturday, at st. alphonsus catholic church. smallish show, but almost entirely old chevys, so hey, bliss. was hot, wished i'd gotten my butt moving earlier, but my better half delayed me >:)

the show was basically an intersection of a couple of streets in the church complex, as well as a small parking lot. just enough cars, that if it hadn't been so hot, i could have happily shot each and every one. was a good turnout, just the same.

i started in the little parking lot, working my way counterclockwise, seemingly a few cars from a few clubs: true memories, originals, pharaohs, and some low rider, jumpy car club, i can't remember, since i didn't shoot any of their cars.

after the pharaohs cars, there was this guy, sitting behind his car in the shade, by himself. don't think he was affiliated with any club. pretty car, so i chatted a little with the guy, and took a few shots. i was wearing an old uptown whittier show shirt, and he asked if it was a good show. told him it was, that it was only a few weeks away. he said he might check it out. hope he will. it's always a good time.

he was parked next to a post of the basketball court, so had to shoot around it. really did ruin a good angle, so didn't waste any memory card space on that side.

wondering if the little louvers on the hood are more decorative than functional for cooling the engine?

told him i'd post something, if i got a decent shot of it. this should do. might go back and push some yellow back into the picture; i think the turquoise is a little too blue, at least on this computer screen. what do you think?

memory lane

busy weekend. following a damn busy week at work. several twelve hour days. i'm way behind on playing with my pictures from recent shows. several people i talked to, so, as usual, i said i'd post their cars, so i'm behind on that. and i'm tired.

was out both days this weekend. i've had too much sun, and today, i'm really feeling it. and sore from pulling my bag and hauling my tripod around both days. standing up, squatting low, my legs are feeling it. it's a good sore. now i have another couple of very busy weeks, then a business trip to vegas. any car shows coming up, there?

went to oldies san fernando car show today. missed it last year...was sick as a dog at the time. i'd heard of a few other shows going on today, so had to pick one. knew it was going to be another hot day. can't stand the heat. can't wait for winter to come back.

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anyway, i'll start with this car from today in san fernando, since they sent a kid over to ask for my card. nice suburban. i've seen it before. caught here fairly early, sun still going up, making cars glow. this field was still pretty empty in the middle. cars were clustering along the fence, mostly by club. this one belongs to memory lane. memory lane was rather short this year...i vaguely remember a few more cars in previous years.