mach 1

ok, this isn't one i usually shoot. sometimes i see stuff that i know some of my flickr buds like, and i'll shoot it and post one once in a while. i like to think they do the same for me...mostly hood ornaments. i know i'm imagining it, but that's what i like to think.

so i'm throwing this one up for my flickr bud, stuart. he posts a lot of muscle cars, but i don't think i've seen him post a funky green one like this. for that matter, i can't say i've ever seen any mustang painted this color. so, vomit. i like this green, but i don't think it's great for this car. i don't know why.

full history

started my day by dropping my pictures off at the oc fairgrounds. fourth year in a row...will it be a fourth honorable mention? seem to be collecting those. it will make me laugh if i do. eh, good enough they will be on the wall.

then a quick run through the swap meet, and out to my condo to grab the mail, without disturbing my kid and his dog there. didn't feel like walking the dog.

randomly, it started to sprinkle. explains the humidity. almost felt like when i was a kid back east, just before the rain comes. almost, but not quite.

back home now. afternoon moving files on my computer, to make room for more. i can fill up a eight terabyte drive like nobody's business. they say all hard drives fail eventually, which means someday, everything i've ever shot will disappear at some point. sad thought. buy a print.

better half just now pointed out six or seven bad ass old chevys driving by the house. can't remember the club, but i've seen them all before. maybe i should take a walk up to the cigar bar with my camera...

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saw this mercury at the chicano park show. i think the simple blackness of the car balances out the busy and colorful mural behind it. i get that it's a historical mural, but do they have to jam the whole history into a freeway overpass?

kinda reminds me of the doodles my sister used to fill notebooks and her bedroom wall with. just not so bright.

hallelujah

made it out to only one real car show this past weekend, over at the foursquare church. not too far away; could have walked over there if i'd wanted, but at seven in the morning, it was already hot. i'd caught the end of this show last year, and liked what i saw, so thought i'd check it out from the beginning. 

there were only a couple of show cars in the lot when i arrived, plus the street of vendors setting up out front. so i walked over to the far corner and took a bunch of shots of that car.

as i mentioned a few posts ago, i'd been messing with settings on my camera the night before, and was giving it some testing. you can only tell so much by pixel peeping, so usually i don't bother looking at the back of the camera except when composing a shot. but since i'd messed with the focus of the lenses, i thought it best. basically, i started redoing the adjustment tests all over again, but this time on the subjects i shoot rather than a stupid paper target.

still not so sure i've got one of the lenses dialed in, but the one i used extensively for a couple of years, i think is pretty close. i shot the later in the morning shots with it, and i'm pretty happy with those.

this is one; saw several kustom oldies cars lined up at the front of the church. shot the obvious from the side, with the steepled church directly behind. nice, but safe and boring. i think this more angled shot gave a better sense of the car and still showed it with the church.

and did i mention it was hot? not as hot as h-e-double hockey sticks, but hot enough to melt ice cream. and me. i took several water breaks, dashing inside to cool off under the slowly turning ceiling fans. if i stood still long enough, i could cool down comfortably.

one time, i went in a different doorway, and found myself at the door of the church proper. strangely empty, i took the opportunity to get a shot. simple and unadorned, i suppose it allows worshippers to focus on what is really important to them, but i still wished there were stained glass windows to add a dash of color to the space. 

mayor of whittier

this car is whittier. i see it a lot, mostly parked down by the cigar bar. they call the owner the "mayor of whittier." i don't know the story, but he does seem to know everybody, at least everyone in car culture.

it's just a nice car. he tweaks it a little bit here and there. last time i talked to him, he said he wasn't planning on doing much more to it. takes a good man to know when to stop; enough is enough. seems to be a good point here.

chrome and paint

the show last night at lowdown in uptown was fun. it was well attended, and drew so many classic cars, that the cops wanted to shut it down a few times for having an unauthorized car show.

i got my better half and went down there just when it was technically starting at five. only a few people inside, so actually could check out the artwork. the last couple of shows, it's been so jammed with people, i couldn't really appreciate the show. better half tried shooting a picture of me by my pieces, but i hate being in front of a camera, and just feel like a dork, and can't crack a smile. and he does a three shot burst with his little camera...and i'm supposed to hold still for all three shots. nope. i'm not sure if he got any worth keeping. whatever.

myself, i'm a big, shy, introvert, and just get very uncomfortable in a big crowd like that. instead, i can get behind the camera, and take advantage of the party goers' cars. we walked back to the house and got my cameras and headed back over. i can focus on the cars, and ignore the pack of people staring at me, and whatever i'm doing. not being a big old bitch, just coping.

anyway, i think this car belongs to the shop owners, so i'll start with that. best angle i could get, without standing out in the street, which wasn't closed...because it wasn't a car show, remember? thanks for letting me participate, and sorry for pestering you, to the point of just walking some pictures into the store to get an answer. the fun part of taking the pictures, is sharing them, so thanks for the opportunity.

made in the shade

so i baked in the sun this morning at a car show. even got up early, but it was already blazing at seven-thirty in the morning. not sure about the pics. i was futzing with the micro adjustment on the camera last night, and not really sure i got it dialed in right. ended up trying to readjust it at the show, and must have just looked like an insane person shooting the same car for too long.

i guess there are enough that are ok, so i'll work on something later. right now, backing some stuff up onto a new hard drive. my computer is getting full, so i have to delete stuff off, which always makes me paranoid, and wishing for the old days of film.

forgot i had queued this truck up for a post the other day, and then got busy. got my pictures for the fair back, and they look pretty good. even have one of them in the art show tonight at the lowdown in uptown. i guess if someone wants to buy it, i can print another in time for the turn in deadline.

this truck, was at legg lake a few months ago. still trying to determine if i like the matte paint i keep seeing. does make pictures slightly easier, not having to deal with reflections, but red is also a hard color to work with.

i guess i'll go walk over to the show, see what's inside the store/art show. see if there are any cars, other than the store owner's chevy there yet. i'll go back out with my camera later. if it's like the last show, it turns into a mini car show, until the cops shut it down.

damnit

another from the viejitos/pistoleros show. had it queued up, and apparently forgot to post it here.

i liked this car. the paint was dark and shiny enough to gather the reflections and make you want to fall into it at the same time.

really wishing that modern truck wasn't back-assed up against it and into my picture. but that's they way i found it, so there you go.

suave46

spent a few hours in rialto today. figured a lot of people would be at ink n iron, so i'd go inland.

saw a lot of cars i've seen before. lots i didn't give a second thought about. had one guy offer to pay me to take a picture of his car, because he says no one ever takes a picture of it. when he pointed it out, i told him he'd have to close the hood, before i'd do it. he said he liked the hood up. i think he was kidding anyway.

this car, i've seen a few times. and i shoot it every year. the owner, sitting there, still as a statue through my set of shots, remembered me, and my better half from a previous year. my better half had taken his video tripod on a wheels out to this show the first time he tried it out, and must have chatted with this owner. 

that, and also that i didn't see any other tripods being used.

auto butchers

another from last weekend. there were a lot of really interesting cars, so deal with it.

these two are a little strange. works in progress. both are in the auto butchers car club.

i've run in to the owner of the orange '56 a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. said he'd recently had the chrome done; first time i saw it last year, at the usuals bbq, i guess the bumpers were a bit rusty.

purple car, i've never seen. not sure what that front grille is from—something being spliced and welded—but i'm almost imagining a couple of bolts on the sides and calling it frankenstein. maybe just frank.

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so, a few things happened today. had the day off as my memorial day, since i had to work on the actual holiday. you'd think, yay, three day weekend...get the hell out of town! right? right?

but no. family stuff going on, so not taking any long weekend trips for fun or vacation anytime soon, unless i go on my own. and just when work is telling me i have to take some time off...vacation balance is too high.

shit happens. we're dealing.

didn't go to any car shows today. could have. three or four, if i'd wanted. told myself, i'd get up real stupid early tomorrow, and drive out to one instead. hard drives are filling up anyway.

oh, bit of good news. found out i got five pictures in the oc fair. and realizing i should trust my first instinct when sifting through pictures. i usually pick too many, then ask my better half to help narrow down the selection.

he gives great critique, honest opinions. but there is always one or two i felt strongly about, that he wasn't quite sold on, that i enter anyway, and they've gotten in. same this year. he doesn't care, he's happy for me.

there was something else, but i can't remember what it was now. whatever.

rusty crusty

so we've been busy dealing with a family emergency since sunday. i've been working from home, and making daily visits to the hospital. not sure what will happen when they get out, and how we will work around that, but will worry about it, when we have to worry about it.

pretty tired, so i'm not going to write a lot tonight. i put a crap iphone shot of this car up on my instagram, and people seemed pretty interested in it, so put this one up tonight. i like this shot from my camera better.

not the first time i've posted it...put it up last year, but nobody really noticed. that was a bright, sunny, hot day versus this shot, early, overcast and cool.