talk this way

these cars were one my original favorites when i started playing with cameras again. it's the fins. the curves. like a manta ray. i can appreciate a nice back end—can't you?

not quite sure, since one of the guys in this club didn't respond to my email yet, but i think this one might have won a first place trophy for most original. i suppose my reply to his inquiry is sitting pretty in his junk mail. someone go ask him if this is the one.

gotta go to dana point tomorrow for work stuff. any car shows going on down there? haven't really been to the beach in a few years. maybe i'll stop and fry on the sand.

oh, maybe i could go deep sea fishing. my better half has to work, and he wouldn't do that anyway. don't think i've been since my daughter was little and thought she was saving the anchovies by grabbing them out of the tank and throwing them back into the ocean. all i know is the sea lions next to the boat really enjoyed the free lunch.

Update on 2013-04-25 03:28 by kathy

i did get an email from the owner the other day. he said he did win first place. congrats!

so special

argued with myself too long this morning: didn't want to get out of bed, but i wanted to go to this car show out in san fernando. i was awake at 7:30ish. i could have been there when they opened at 10, before it would get insanely hot, take my pictures and be out of there before noon.

but no. i hesitated, then my mother-in-law made breakfast. then kinda did nothing but fart around with my ipad. but the thought of the car show kept itching the back of mind, and eventually told my better half that i was going to go.

now his new computer had a melt down the day before: one of the drives crapped out and he spent all saturday loading up windows again. he needed to continue loading software, but he also didn't want me to be out there alone for whatever reason. so if i was going, so was he, and so was his nephew, who is visiting for a few weeks and is bored of sitting around the house with gramma.

anyhew, by the time we got out there, it was noon, and it was HOT. there was a breeze, but mostly no shade at high noon. efff. and it was a gloriously big, busy show. low riders. bombs. bikes. booths. music. danny trejo. didn't realize how big the show was, until we were getting ready to leave and realized there was a whole other field full of cars we didn't even get to see.

as i said it was hot, so we got to work right away. figured i'd save the low riders for last, since they were mostly in the shade of some overhanging parking structure or solar paneled thing. it was at the high school, so we headed out to what i suppose is a football or track field. lots of cars and people. i was looking for the bombs. found this car club, with a bunch of chevys, which make me happy and started shooting. the people in the tent next to this one didn't say anything, just watched, though i guess it was the owner, took the entry sign out of the window of this car – thanks for that.

not sure if they were associated with the people in the tent at the other end of the row of cars, who did ask the usual question: you with a magazine? i did show them my pictures and gave them a couple of cards, so maybe the owner will see his car here.

an excellent show, even if it was so hot. i think if i go again, i'll have to wear a hat and some lighter clothing. maybe leave the nephew at home...he tolerates heat even less than i do.

zoot suiter

quick post. this one belongs to angel's friend. said he's new in town, or else it was that'd he'd just moved back after many years...can't quite recall. always love the cars with hood ornaments, even when they're quite simple like this one. the car is quite nice too.

uplifting

took this one back at the beginning of the year in el toro. not too many cars almost every time i'd stop. but i do try to at least take one, so my time has not been wasted.

the owner found me down here shooting the back end of the car. well, it is the more interesting view on these. the hood had been open anyway. but he did go round and close it for me. i took a few different angles. better angles had extraneous cars and hoods in them, which i did not like so well. i liked the sky in this one, so it will do. i did particularly like one from the front, the reflection on the hood, but it is otherwise unremarkable, so i'll keep it tucked away for now.

considering going to disneyland to see the fireworks, but not feeling up to the crowds just now. i think i'll pack it in early and skip the celebrations. but you all have a good time, and be safe.

skull obsession

quick stop at lakewood fuddruckers today. was quite hot, and i arrived later then i have in the past. lots of cars, but a lot of open hoods. so i focused on the few cars i really liked.

this was probably the most spectacular chevy i've seen in a while. there were little skulls on almost every little appendage hanging up off the car and everywhere on the dashboard.

anyway, i believe the owner of the car was standing off to the side, out of the shot, watching closely. but then, he also followed me over to watch me shoot an old '46 olds, where he did get in the shot. i suppose he was just someone curious as to what the hell i was doing, but too shy to ask the usual question about magazines. no, sir, i don't.

shady lady

haven't seen this truck since last year, when they used to have a show at chubby's in anaheim. i'd shot it on several visits there, and the last time i'd seen the owner he was interested in buying a print. but the day i showed up with an 8x10, he'd just put new wheels on it, and now it didn't match the picture, so he didn't want it. oh well, another for my book.

so here i saw it at angelos, another show i hadn't been to since last year. never well attended, at least the handful of times i'd stopped, i had hopes there would be more since the show further up the street has been cancelled. saw the truck, and a couple of other guys by it, but not the owner i remembered. wondered if he was inside having dinner, or if he'd sold the truck. the guys by the truck didn't say anything, and just sat talking to each other in spanish.

as i was finishing up with a few shots, the owner did emerge from the restaurant, and come over to say hello. yes, i remembered him and his truck. i always remember the car. mostly i remember the owners if they've taken the moment to say hello or make a comment.

i liked that the truck was parked here on the end of the row, actually not a real parking spot. i did not like that he parked here under a tree, when the shade sucks the intensity and richness of the color out of a car. but i shoot it as i find it, so fiddle dee dee.

and as far as yesterday's drama with my pictures, the problem was resolved. my favorite framer took care of it, whereby i dropped off the pictures at 6am. he had them redone by 10am. i dropped them off at the fairgrounds before 11am. i did mention the ambiguity in the wording of the rules to one of the judge types accepting entries at the tables. he said he thought they'd clarified it better, but apparently not enough. i gotta do something nice for my framer, who busted his ass to help me, though he reassured me that they would have been fine as they were.

i keep on truckin'

for someone that isn't that interested in trucks, here i am posting yet another. apparently, i like the '51 to '53s. but they're chevys, and they're curvy and chromed out, so that's probably what it is. and hey, it's got a hood ornament. :)

shit did i just use a smiley? not me at all. my better half is coming home tomorrow from boston...he's the bright, sparkly one; i'm just the dark, twisted one. he should be doing the smileys. i suppose i'll get back to normal soon. :) ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

she devil

so i'm just waiting on my better half. getting tired. same old story, and again, time for sleep. long day, long week. thinking i'll go to ruby's on friday. haven't been since the first day of the season.

i'm not much for trucks, but i still will occasionally take a shot. this one was not quite a candy cane, but it was pretty sweet. and the hood was closed, so bonus!

sunshine, on a cloudy day

been busy again at work. coworker on vacation, deadlines for tradeshows; i've done a bit of overtime. while i've been to a few shows the last couple of weeks, i've yet to really get a good look at them and decide which ones i want to work on. so, i've dug this one up from february, since i'd already started on it.

still without hot water, and also busy packing up my stuff into big plastic bins. who knew one could collect so much sentimental junk over so many years. trying to sift out the trash from the useless stuff, and still having a hard time throwing out perfectly good junk. there's a community garage sale coming up, but i hate doing those too. think i'll just put the good stuff out in the alley–there's lots of people that would love to have it, and they comb through the garbage several times a day. let them keep it or make it worth their while. i'm too tired to deal with it now.

dying wish

no, i'm not dying right now. i was at the fuddrucker's in el toro the other day, trying to take a few pictures of some really spectacular mercuries that had pulled into the lot. minding my own business, lost in my car zen. zoning out after a day of work.

an older couple came over to inquire about what i do with the pictures. told them i do it for myself, and post them on my blog. they walked away.

five minutes later, the lady came back over and asked if i'd take a picture of their car. said she had some dying relative she was going to be visiting, and wanted to show him/her the car. ok, i'll take her word for it. it was a really nice car anyway.

i wouldn't have shot it otherwise, because both the hood and trunk were up. i took several shots of it, but i think this one probably turned out best. sun was starting to go down, so the shots from the other side had too much of my tripod shadow in them, and i don't feel like retouching them.

so here is the shot, and i think i'm done for the night.

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also, anyone who is stopping by here on the referral from my better half's blog, looking for macro shots, search here for hood ornaments, or over at my flickr site for more [search for hood ornaments or check out the flower set].

thanks for the shout out d.