eagle has landed

all right, i'll show you this one. not because i am starting to love cars with their hoods open, but because it's just a spectacular car, and the owner is so very nice.

the finish on it is smooth as silk. the guy told my better half at a regular monthly viejitos show a few months earlier, that it was a family project and that all had taken turns sanding the surface so fine, using flour to show the high spots, before they got it all painted up. i've posted it before. i like my better half's versions:here and here

this was in what should have been a pretty good spot for a typical car, on an end spot, under a tree. but with the hood(s) up, with background foot traffic, it was just difficult to frame up a decent shot. from the other side, the doors were open, and there was a car next to it, and next to that, a pop up tent, that really kinda ruined it. took a couple of angles from this side, and i guess i like this one better.

and by this shot, he'd moved the car polish bottles and rags out of the frame. :)

aztechie

still a chevy, but one i don't normally post. i'll do something else next time. sheesh.

a ladder would have been good about now. your basic aztec and nekked girls scene.

i get misty

perfect weather for pictures early in the morning. fog and mist rolling off the water and through the park kept the harsh shadows away, but it sure did wonders for my hair. getting longer, and being baby fine, it just goes all limp, so i don't even bother to do much with it now. i'll chop it short eventually, but now is the time to see how long it will grow, which i suspect won't be much past my shoulder blades. at least i can tie it up now, when i get too warm and absolutely don't give a damn how i look, as long as i can get a good shot.

this chevy was parked with the bridge town oldies club, but i'm not particulary sure it belongs to them. not perfect, but slightly less chipped paint from this side, i think it was the color that stopped me for a shot.

my better half must have handed one of my cards to the owner, as he sent an email to me asking to see any pictures of it. i knew full well that i hadn't passed out any cards this early in the day. i forward those requests to him, and i know he sent off what he had taken.

well, i happened to have shot it too. always fun to compare our shots, but i don't think he posted his for all to see.

anyway, i see that i've posted a bunch of chevys. i think next time i'll post something else for a change. should really look back through the shows i went to last month when i couldn't post, and show them some love.

found it

i was back on the far side of the lighthouse in san pedro, taking pictures of a big cadillac and big truck, when a guy walks by and asks if i can take a picture of his car. expecting it somewhere nearby, i ask which one is it. 

he proceeds to tell me it's up by the entrance, with whatever car club, brown primer, black top. hmm. ya, i'll go look for it, i told him.

i vaguely remembered seeing his club's banner earlier when i'd walked through that section. so i headed over there, before i forgot about it. so easy to get distracted in the sea of cars by the sea.

i'm pretty sure this is the one. a work in progress. still nice in it's own way. booyah!

more than i could catch

finally made it over to the car show by the sea in san pedro. i've known about it for a couple of years, but have just never been able to get to it.

my better half had expected to be called in to work today, but volunteered to go along, since i was going to get there very early. i figured if he did get called, there were several other shows i'd been given flyers on i could hit closer to home.

but they never did call him, so we kept on shooting cars. and wow, we could not believe how many cars could be packed into the little park area. and better still, mostly the kind i really love—old chevy bombs, pontiacs, fords, cadillacs—you name it, it was probably there.

it is hosted each year by the legends car club. i'd been there previously for their xmas show, but hadn't stayed long. they were a extremely friendly and outgoing group of guys, and many came over to introduce themselves and make me welcome.

they stop letting cars in when they hit about six hundred, someone told me. i saw a lot of oldies driving down the street after they arrived late. i had to pass by many cars that i would have ordinarily gone ape shit over at a regular, local show, there were just so many and so little time.

very few people stopped to chat with me, and i'm finding out, that many prefer to seek out my better half. fine with me, he's much better spoken regarding the cameras, and more comfortable, in general, chatting people up. although, that does allow me to keep on being my shy old self. its only people that have never seen me before, who really come over and inquire. i don't mind one bit taking a break from shooting your car, to answer your question, if i can, or to hear your story about it. i am pretty socially retarded the first few times i talk to you, but keep trying, i'll get the hang of it eventually.

if i can remember your story, i'll write about it. if you see your car, and want to share, please do comment or send me an email and i'll add to my post.

this car belonged to one of the first guys that ventured over to speak with me for a few minutes. not exactly the first, but those guys didn't stay long enough to ask what i do with the pictures, and didn't get a card.

i don't remember having one of these in my files, and particularly not in green if i do. it caught my eye, and that was that. i wanna say this one is a member of the harbor knights car club, but i'm not sure.

beautiful cars, a great day, perfect weather and location. i'll definitely plan to be there next year.

i apologize to the other clubs that sent over flyers to me for their shows, that i couldn't get to today. some days, i just can't move fast enough.

destiny

this was the staging area for the whittier car show just before seven a.m. a seemingly endless line of cars down the main street, then other lines going down the cross streets, which you can't see from here. these guys should consider themselves lucky to have to wait it out here, in the shade. the side street guys were already getting hit by the sun.

so i took advantage of the captives and had my way with their cars at my leisure. still close together, but this time, nose to tail.

i don't remember seeing this one around before. i like these type trucks/vans/whatever you call them, with the big shiny sides; they reflect whatever is near them so well, when the light hits just right.

the great and powerful

why i don't really like shooting in the middle of a hot summer day: harsh shadows, blown out detail, and it's frickin' hot. well, there were pockets of cool breezes, especially at the intersections, but there wasn't where this truck was parked.

simply liked the irridescent color on this. i like green. green and chrome. what i'd drive on a cruise out of the emerald city.

there was one of those children's push cars next to it all spiffed up in hot pink and pinstriped like the big kid's cars next to it. kinda bouncing pink on to the whitewall tire, but i like the contrast with the green. 

looks like someone slapped a giant post-it on the window. wonder what it would say?

mr. sandwich

after going to the unidos show last week, and having one of my cameras temporarily wig out on me there, i finally broke down and bought a new camera body. i've treated my cameras pretty well, and they are way past the expected shutter activations, so i thought i should go ahead before i show up at a show and have them both crap out on me and then have nothing to shoot with. so yay for credit cards.

figured the whittier uptown car show would be just as good as any to break it in and run it through its paces. just a newer version of my old camera, but the buttons are sort of different, and it can even shoot video, so its going to take some getting used to. my opinion so far is i like some things about it, and i don't like some things about it. guess i'll have to shoot it some more. was too busy today to hit the shows, so maybe tuesday after work. got a flyer (thanks to whoever handed it to my better half) for a show next weekend, so i'll go if there's nothing else i have to do at home.

my bro and his son joined us very early for the show, and we were all uptown by six a.m., trying to catch the morning light. his son has taken up interest in photography, so we thought it would be a fun day to go out. he really has a good eye for his age. i'll have to go check out what he posts on flickr over the next few days.

each year there's something the city bungles: this year's organizers weren't completely organized and had all the boys waiting down the street in staging to come in until almost eight-thirty, and the show was advertised to start at nine. they had some very agitated guys waiting too long, but at least they were mostly in the shade. 

pretty sure the competing car show hosted by the pharaohs ran a lot smoother, but i skipped that one for this one. waiting for some contacts to post their shots from that one, so i can go whine about what i missed.

gave me the opportunity to scoot around in between all the parked cars anyway. saw a lot of cars and clubs that i've shot in the past, and many remembered me and said hello. lots of the usual joking with certain clubs, but it is all in good fun.

took a lot of shots through the day, and in general the camera did ok. the file sizes are bigger, and use a different memory card, so i'm sure i'll have to get another hard drive at some point. gotta get a faster memory card too. the little sixteen gig cards are too slow.

found this chevy on my last loop around before i was done for the day. was getting too warm out in the sun to care anymore, which is always the problem in the summer. hence getting up so early. shoot 'em and run.

a guy who was a friend of the owner came out and asked the usual questions, and was curious to see how my pics turned out. i think he was saying that this one gets rented a lot for weddings, and i can see why, such a nice car. and you just never know where they'll make you park at some of these shows, but this one was more fortunate in location than others. still. at least i had something to call this shot.

backside story

found a group of impalas at san fernando in the new lot they opened this year. love the '59s. plain vanilla up front, party in the back.

so the owners are all sitting behind the cars, enjoying the shade and something that smells vaguely of skunk. i think they're feeling pretty relaxed by this time of day. 

so i'm trying to jam myself between them and the back of their cars, trying to get the best angles on the fins and stuff. i don't know if they're enjoying the show, because i'm crawling around down low and looking up into the viewfinder, so you know, my back end is behind their back end, and you know...

whatever. so i see this nice view of the car, and i really really want the shot. and as i'm setting it up and about to click the shutter, this lady walks over to talk to a couple of guys that are just out of the frame. so, okay. i'll wait. patience usually wins out in this situation. happens all the time. after a few minutes, i'll try the meaningful look at the interloper. if they continue to be clueless, i suppose i start glaring, but not going to ask them to move, as they have just as much right to be there as i do.

at some point after ten minutes of looking balefully at her, and chatting with the owners, i'm getting overheated, there are plenty of other cars to shoot, and she isn't budging, and probably never even noticed me sitting there.

usually, i wouldn't wait that long, but i like the car. usually, i'd just pick up my stuff and move along. but no, this was kinda starting to make me smile, so i shot it. if she can ignore me, i can ignore her. i like the car. i didn't like the skunk. the end.

underwear or bikinis?

eleven more days | forty-four walks around the neighborhood | forty-four baglettes of shit. that's how i'm counting down until my kid gets home and can have his puppy back. i'm tired. better shape, but tired every day in a good way. i want to get back to playing with my pictures on a more regular basis. just to get time to myself tonight, i've had to bribe the dog with another bone to keep him occupied. i've taken too long and he's finished and is already trying to sleep, but my typing is keeping him from totally going under.

anyway, not soon enough.

----

here's another from san fernando. i suppose i really should be working on a few from the viejitos show, if i wanted to be all chronological about it, but i tend to jump around to any show from any year, depending on my mood, or if i feel like showing a particular car.

truth be told, i should have worked on the car that was sitting next to this one, since the owner practically invited me to have my way with his car, inside, outside, upside down. what was it, a '39 chevy? ya, the kind that the hood opens up like bird wings. he didn't know i don't usually shoot cars with their hoods up. i like the car, but usually, i'll pass them by. but i did take some. maybe i'll even post one when i get more time.

i liked the angle on this one better.

getting tired, so i'll leave you all with this question to ponder: are these chicks wearing underwear or bikinis? so much i could say about this picture, but i'll button my lip, as i've already said too much tonight.