in the still of the night

so i made a quick stop at the show over in garden grove for the first time since last year, probably. a lot of people had split off and started other shows because of some dispute with the organizer and the shops over at this show.

considering it was a holiday weekend and i had arrived later than usual, there were a fair number of cars compared to the last few times i can remember being there. no where near what it was when i had started going to this show. and quite a bit dark, without a lot of street light, depending on what part of the street i was at.

i intended to only be there a short time, so did a quick walk thru before bothering to pull my camera out. i was stopped on the way back by a couple of people whom i've met before, who said they'd seen me go by; sorry if i didn't see you on the way in—i was seeing without seeing—looking at the cars, lighting and locations, not the people. i didn't really mean to be rude, just trying to maximize my time and figure if there was anything i wanted to shoot. but i did see you on the way back up the street, so sorry about that first trip.

i only shot a couple of cars. this one and a mercury monterey. and people were walking up to the monterey while i was shooting, and stood there arguing over what year it was and talking car geek talk. they finally went around to the back of the car, but made me wonder if they were obtuse or purposely standing there.

anyway, this one might be with the latin gents, who had their cars parked nearby. many with hoods up, so, so sorry, no shots of them tonight. no one seemed to be really looking at this one, so i took this shot. thinking the other side would have been more interesting with the nearby shop's neon signs, but that side of the car was pretty dark, so this is the one.

hoping to hit three shows tomorrow, but my shoulder is hurting, so i don't know if i will be able to lift my bag. we'll see.

bloody mary

ok, so maybe too many warm, red cars lately, but i had this one ready to go, so deal with it. i'll post something from the other side of the color wheel tomorrow. maybe subconsciously i'm wishing for the warmer days, now that winter is moving in again? nah. i like it cooler, able to bundle up and keep warm. in the summer, once you're down to that last layer of clothing, you can't get any cooler even when you take it all off.

i like the car, but the color...red is a bitch to shoot sometimes. too saturated, loses a sense of detail. might also be because of the time of day and the position of the sun on this one. bright, tomato red, with pinstripe detailing.

front end was up against that truck practically, and not that interesting. i like the chrome contrast on the back, and even the tail lights on these, but haven't decided if the spare wheel attachment adds or subtracts from the look, but at least it's all matchy matchy.

hope you got a good one

i only went to a few shows at ruby's over the season, for whatever reason. several times i went and saw this cadillac parked out on cadillac row, always with several others of similar year—not sure if it was a club, or just guys that knew each other. and each time there was another photographer guy that had obviously been asked or hired to shoot pics of the cars. each time, i'd stay out of his way, and just keep walking, and other times got the chin nod. guess i get to be a familiar sight after a few shows.

so, i was surprised to find the cars here on the last night of the year, the photog no where in sight. this was toward the end of the evening, so people had moved more towards the front of the show. i can't quite remember if the owner was nearby this time around...it was a busy night; owners of these types of cars are usually hovering in the vicinity to be sure nothing happens to their babies.

well, i suppose i'll never see the shots the other guy took, but here's mine.

what happens in vegas...

geez i'm tired. wanted to post something though. this good enough?

i was taking a picture of another car when i heard this one pull up behind me. easy enough to just do a 180 and i'm set to take another picture, thank you very much.

angel baybee

so, did your mother ever insist that you write thank you notes when you receive something? ya, mine did.

and i almost always respond to an email quickly. someone took the time from their busy day to care enough to type out a few words, and should be answered back just the same.

well, i got an email not long ago. it was a very nice email, kind words on my photos and blog. i do remember reading it, but i was also sick at the time, and had put off answering at that moment. then life got busy again, and answering it went itching to the back of my mind – i still intended to write back.

so i found myself at the broiler, running into the owner of this car, whom i'd met a month earlier over at the deli show in paramount. here he was, asking if i'd gotten his email, the self-same email i'd neglected to answer in kind. fumbled with the excuse that perhaps it had gone to the junk mail.

no, i found it—a month back—but, yes, i do remember reading it.

i know i hadn't taken a shot of his car at the previous show. i know it was already late by the time i'd arrived and they were already giving out awards. i think, perhaps, that his car was up too close to the crowd for me to get a shot. i only took a few shots of cars on the fringes. then several people chose to chat about photography, and i lost the sunset and stopped taking pictures.

anyway, he was so very nice again at this show. happened to be parked in a convenient spot, with an empty space beside it, so i took this shot for him.

hope you like it, and i'm sorry i didn't answer your email promptly. shhhh. don't tell my mom.

sometimes, there are just too many people

i went to the last show of the year at ruby's yesterday. halloween show. didn't dress up this year, which disappointed reine, who asked where the leopard suit was. thanks dude. lol. she's locked in a box, and probably won't be let back out for a long time.

anyway, as i suspected, it was very busy, very packed with cars. so many that there were cars parked up the aisles. bummer for one lady, who i guess worked in one of the nearby stores, and had parked earlier within the boundaries of the show. she couldn't get her car out because of an old ford parked in the aisle behind her. she had to wait for more than an hour to go home from work; actually, she was still waiting when i left, so i assume she was there until after the raffle and trophies too. she even had them paging for the owner to move it, but i guess they were in ruby's and didn't hear the announcement.

i had stopped at the buena park elks club show right after work, which was disappointing, but that's a story for another post. so by the time i got to this show, the sun was already dropping. that makes for longer exposures. and there were so many people milling about.

i've been avoiding staying late at shows this year, just because i'm tired, but also because of the longer exposures. not saying the pictures can't turn out awesome, cause they do, but because people will walk right into the frame and just stand there. because i don't look like i'm doing anything while the camera does its thing.

well, anyway, this car was pristine. and that kind of car draws the people like a magnet. i'd tried taking some shots earlier, with the sun setting, and they're ok shots of the car, but the people are blurs walking around the car.

i came back to this one before i left, as it was getting closer to the time of the costume parade, and more people were herding toward the front of the show. still not perfect. i took a few points of view. he did close the hood, i have it in another shot, but it's pretty plain from the front view. right now, i kind of like this one. ask me again later, and i'll probably choose one of the other ones.

i do love the fins on these. that's why i have one on the front of my card.

fool injection

another day, another back end. wasn't feeling well this evening, so i skipped going to the broiler. just been flipping through old shots, deciding on stuff i will work on when the rain comes or when i can't decide which one i like. at least it will have been narrowed down a little. and it's just a collection of what i liked today, which doesn't mean i'll like it on a day that i don't know which one to work on.

this one was from a cars and coffee type show over by LAX early last january. had to drop my better half off for a business trip, so hey, find a car show as long as i'm up this early. it was parked next this woodie.

favorite combo: fins and clouds. kinda wish that woodie wasn't there.

his baby

ok, nuff showlows for the week? ronnie asked if i had one of his ride, so here it is. he's one of the few that actually comments on my blog. so thanks ronnie. hope you like this one.

oh, and here's a shot of the pinstripes on the back of the car.

apparently i missed a decent show and some of my favorite cars over at bob's this weekend. sorry, but my better half caught a cold, so he got my attention instead.

get it up

low rider types are also not my typical subjects. these two were just on my way out of the show, and there weren't too many people milling around, so  there you go.

i find them difficult to shoot, not this red one in particular, but others are. they like to lower them way down, then pop one or two wheels up so the angle gets all screwed, and/or they pop open the hood and trunk to show off the boom boxes and hydraulics.

i took a shot of the car behind this one. it was up on the far side, so it looks a bit funny. not sure if i'll post it. i haven't decided yet.

altarnative view

here's another showlows car from the dia de los muertos. one of two altars set up in the back of their trucks. interesting to look at and very colorful.

some work's been done to this truck since this shot. kinda wondering what's planned for it. it's all sanded down.