oh fordy! fordy!

been so busy at work, i mean crazy busy. the kinda busy that just makes you want to crawl in bed once you hit the door. truly not enough hours in a day, but i am happy to be up to here with work. keeps me from getting bored. anyway, it does keep me from playing with my pixels here.

i had to meet up with a couple in rialto this fine june gloomy morning at the run whatcha brung show. i actually arrived at 7am, when the cars were just showing up. don't know why i woke up so early, except that i get up before that ungodly hour all week, so it really wasn't that bad.

i'd never been to rialto, or obviouly that show, and wanted to be sure to figure out where to park. and well, i got to shoot the cars before too many people got in the way, and before the majority popped the hoods open. (ya gary, thanks for pointing out that yours was already open– lol.)(hey to your buddy that said i should stop hassling you...you should know that just makes me wanna continue...don't worry, i'll stop soon enough and go back to haranguing richard)

my take on the show: it was pretty good, not too big, only about 3 blocks long with an island down the middle. the overcast made for great lack of strong shadows – giant softbox for pictures, though it does kinda wash the colors out. and if anyone can get a sunburn between the hours of 7am and 10 am, that'd be me. i'd planned on hitting one or two other shows on the way back home, but my lightly toasted skin kinda made me skip them. didn't even stop at ontario mills – never shopped there either, just driven past.

i must say, security is very interested in anyone with a tripod and seemingly professional looking camera. i guess "professionals" need some type of permit if they intend to sell. well, i had to explain twice that it's just my hobby. they let me go on, but they still seemed kinda hesitant to believe me, and i wouldn't know how to prove otherwise if they insisted that i leave, apart from asking anyone whose car i shot if i was being one of those bad photogs. apparently, in past years, that type of pushy, "buy my pictures" photogs invaded, and they wanted to avoid that. that ain't me fer sure. so thanks to the security guys in the golf cart for being diligent in their duties, and to bev, who was also doing her job, and thanks for not making me leave. i do hope you inquired of the other couple with the tripod and the more "professional" brand camera with equal diligence.

a big camera does not always equal a pro, or even a good photographer. check the settings on most, and you'll find they never switch out of program or auto mode...that'll get them average images at best...just people with the buy the expensive camera and i'll get better pictures mentality. doesn't work if you don't know how to use it. <enter the obvious analogy here>

the owner of this car graciously closed the hood so i could take a few shots. said he'd put a small fortune into this old ford, and it shows. it totally stands out amongst the other cars, but he said it's just the color. no. nope. it is really different than the average car, and i am getting pretty jaded after chasing them down for the past year.

oh, and the couple i was meeting, finally rolled in after 9am. but all's well. i had plenty to keep me entertained before then. if only i can find the time to get them posted.

driving ms dsy

almost called this one up the tail pipe, but changed my mind since i wasn't close enough, and didn't want the owner to be razzed about the connotations. it's late and i don't feel like my usual smart ass self, or so my better half describes me.

anyway, on this overcast day in riverside, this sunny yellow chevy made me happy. love the back end of these babies. the fins make me happy, though on this model, they're a little stubby.

some dude asked if this was my car, i suppose because i was taking a picture of it. infrequent question, but my typical answer, "nope, but i wish."

mr. belvedere

this one had an interesting bumper. kinda chromey but also a little rust starting to pop through. not sure i like the matte finish paint. it kinda reminds me too much of primer, but to each his own.

the owner had been standing off to the side chatting with some other guy—the car is for sale—but kept an eye on me. before i was done he did comment that all photographers always shoot the front. well, ya, it's the most interesting part of this model. not much going on in the back.

winkin' blinkin' lincoln

so my friend reine has several cars, or so i've heard. i've seen this one a couple of times before, but have never shot it for whatever reason.

after meeting up with him inside the broiler, he'd asked if i could take pictures of this one. i took several, but there was a car next to it at the time, and the owner or someone was sitting on the bumper of his car, and didn't get the clue and move.

this is a later shot, after i'd already put my stuff away and was preparing to leave. my better half pointed out that the sun was beginning to go down, and to look how the light was hitting it. i noticed that the other car was gone...so out comes the camera stuff again.

i do think these sunset shots were much better, and this was my favorite one.

in remembrance

how the heck are you all this memorial day? don't forget those you loved who are no longer with us, and those who served our country and gave their lives so you can enjoy yours today. oh heck, thanks to all the veterans and enlisted too. hug them, while they're still here; time flies too fast as it is.

hey dad, both my bros, my sister-in-law, and to all my my relatives that have served in the navy – thanks for all you've done and still do.

____

this car i found in riverside. beautiful old buick. the lady that owned it said it had been her husband's pride and joy. it will be a year ago, july 4, that he passed. she said he hoped she would still take the car out to the shows. well, she does, and puts a big poster in his memory in the front window, but took it out for my shot. thank you.

its1956

yes, yes it is. 1956. says so on the plate.

this is gary's car. i've only met him a couple of times. he's a funny guy.

this shot was from the first time i ran into him, where he made some typical remark, when i was shooting the back end of his car and another bel air next to it (not shown, except for the reflection on gary's car) — can't remember the exact phrasing, but i'm sure you can guess how it went. everyone has to make those kind of comments to a girl on her knees shooting up at the tail lights i suppose.

he happened to have closed the hood for some other photographer, so i went around to the front for this shot, though the back end wasn't bad either. notice i didn't say his back end...

ran into him again last week, where he mislead me on the ownership of another car and knew about my predilection for closed hoods. they do look better closed, don't you think, gary?

can, can

so another busy week at work. quick overnight in san fran for a business meeting. kinda fun going to the other offices once in a while, but two within a couple of weeks of each other is a rare treat. but the travel and long hours do keep me away from shows and posting, so that part is sucking a bit. shout out to my coworker adrian in the sf office, proud new dad of a sweet baby boy.

here's another from last weekend's show in riverside. the owner was kind enough to close the trunk for me. he said photographers are always shooting those tail lights. i guess i agree —here's another one from the broiler in downey.

he wanted to point out that this was a rare 4-speed model, but said you can only really tell from the dials and stuff on the inside, which i didn't take the time to shoot. i did kinda do a commando run through this show as it was (not that kind of commando). if i remember the story of how he got the car, i believe he said he was the second owner of the car, and obviously the original owner had taken good care of it. but now i can't remember the specifics of the who and the how he got it; gotta take more notes or post these sooner/quicker.

no, the owner wasn't wolfman jack jr there on the left...and i could've removed that drink in photoshop, but i kinda like the random junk people leave around. it's not a perfect world, though some of the cars get pretty near perfect.

she's a beauty

i got up late this morning. had a hard time getting motivated. i had to be in riverside by 1 for a baseball game, and intended to stop off here at the 3rd annual phil braybrook memorial car show a bit earlier than i did. i only managed to fit in a quick half-hour run through the front of the show. shame, because i did see a number of additional cars i would have loved to shoot. my bad.

anyway, found this fairlane up in a corner of one of the lots. a guy who pretended to be the owner (hi gary)(don't be a poser)had recently commented on another car on this blog, and recognized me from a previous show i suppose. i am surprised, as i've only stopped at maybe three shows in riverside, assuming that's where i met him before. anyway, he must have read about my preference for hoods down, because he instantly asked if i wanted it closed...lol. i only shot from the back, so it wasn't necessary. i don't remember seeing this car previously, so gary, you naughty boy, just you wait til i post your own car. to the real owner: thanks for bringing it out today. it's lovely.

coulda had a v8

so it rained last night, but was mostly sunny today. i hadn't taken my camera with me to work, since it had rained, so i decided to go straight home. seems that if i don't stop at a car show on the way, once i get into the house, i just don't want to go back out.

by the time i got home, it was vacillating between sunny/warm and overcast/cold/windy. finally decided to skip bob's broiler yet again. almost feel like it's been forever since i went. already know i can't make it there next week either. eventually, eventually.

i figure there's ruby's on friday, and according to my mother-in-law, there's a 'vintage auto show' in uptown whittier on saturday. works for my weekend schedule anyway.

so tonight, i got off my ass and went for a 2 mile walk at least. i sit too much at work and my legs are killing me, so it felt good to get out. my better half has been working too many late nights, and he's already in bed...

__________

so i saw this grape at ruby's a couple of weeks ago. i'm not quite sure what this is, aside from a v8. guessing its a ford. i've seen it on other people's flickr pages, but they don't have it identified either.

i must admit, it did stand out in the crowd.

mercules

ok, this one is definitely a mercury. says so on the back bumper.

i'd been at the fuddrucker's show for maybe about 10 minutes. there were plenty of cars – an additional row had been made available. problem for me was that, either i'd already shot the car before, a good number of them were muscle cars (yawn) and/or the hood was up. i try to at least shoot one car, to make it worth the stop at the show.

i'd settled on an old ford, and rattled off several sets of shots. wandered around again, nothing interesting. i approached a very rusty 1928 ford of some sort. mostly original rickety bits. i was going to shoot it, when the owner popped up and opened the engine compartment to show it off to some other dude. oh well.

so i proceeded to my car, capped the lenses, packed it up, and got into the drivers seat. i sat for several minutes, checking phone messages, email, etc., all the while keeping an eye on what was driving in. more muscle cars. (yawn), newer corvette. (eh), chevys i'd already shot.

i was about to leave, when this baby drives in. always happens...just when you're about to leave, a good one shows.

since i'd been watched packing it up by some guy in a van nearby, i decided to move my car to another lot, and pretended to leave. i didn't feel like hauling all my bag and stuff out, so i just grabbed my wide angle set up, and the tripod. i felt a bit nekked without the whole bag of fun, but it was much quicker.

walked back to the lot, hoping he'd been forced to park on an edge because of all the muscle cars. happily, it was parked along the curb on the edge, so i had a bit more access. of course, because it was so different, it had attracted a crowd. i had to wait a bit for people to move, and then just ended up shooting anyway. the sun was getting ready to set, and it was casting long shadows, so that limited what angle i could shoot from as well.

different days, draw different crowds. sometimes the regulars are friendly, sometimes indifferent, and other times, they might as well be on the rag. grumpy old men. young teenage posers. frumpy women. overdone girls. lol. just kidding. but not really. can never tell if people will be polite or not. and this particular show, they seemed to be a bit more pushy, and in the way. haven't really had a day that their cumulative attitudes turned me off from a show yet, but one or two, almost.

i'