good hunting

long drive home from vegas this morning. freaking cajon pass construction. nice to be back.

better half had been out and about this afternoon. he came home and told me about some old fleetline types driving around uptown, guessing they were heading over to the radisson. sounded sort of like pharaohs' cars, but he didn't catch the plaque. told him that they were either scoping out where to park for the show in the morning, or heading over to a certain house in that neighborhood.

toward sunset, i headed uptown with my camera bag, in hopes of finding one or two over by the cigar bar, or better, in the parking lot at the hotel. only saw a couple of old cars drive by, didn't park. went all the way down the street to the hotel, but didn't see anything. so, they must have been just passing through.

so i walked a block up and back down the less crowded street, and got some dinner, enjoying the air conditioner in the restaurant. just before i'd gone in, i spotted this chevy down on the corner. figured if it was still there when i was done, i'd shoot it.

sun went down before i got back out. got my better half to walk down to the restaurant, so he could walk me home, and/or watch my back while i shot the car. it was still there, but slightly more dark. he got there ten minutes later, and there was the car.

so, my search for the early birds wasn't a total loss. i think it turned out ok. quite a few cars drove through the exposures, so i took a lot of shots, and this is about the cleanest of the bunch. better half thinks i should have left some of the light streaks from passing cars in. i'll think about it.

vegas, baby

here i sit, all by my lonesome. meetings all week. missed pomona this morning.

spent a few hours walking around an automobile collection/display at the linq in las vegas. no tripod, and indoors, so curious if any of the shots came out ok. using a camera i hardly ever use, since i didn't want to haul the big bag out here. it can wait at home with my better half...next saturday is whittier uptown car show, at last! also supposed to go to a bridal shower that same morning, but we'll see...

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last post until i get back, since i had this picture ready to go. blvd bombs car show in los angeles, i think a couple of their cars. i liked the pop of that yellow car, and also that it was a fleetmaster--just love the lines on those and fleetlines. the church building behind somehow just helps the composition. i liked it, anyway.

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sun starting to set here, so over and out...night d.

early bird gets the...

got to san fernando so early, that i parked on the curb near the entrance, and could have parked even closer, but held back a few car lengths. years' past there had been a line of cars down the street and around the corner. not entirely sure why it wasn't the case this time, but i needn't have worried--so many showed up later. must have been hungover, or, egads, they went to church?

i get to shows early, just for opportunities like these. no people in the shot, that glowing morning light, always chasing the light. gotta setup and shoot quickly, or you miss it. no gold reflectors needed. still, i got there too late for the transition from dark blue to purple to orange. oh well.

can't remember which club these two belong to...don't remember any club insignia, though they were later surrounded by a zillion pachuco club cars. i just know that i saw them across the field first thing, with that golden light, and went as quickly as i could to them.

loved the light hitting the hood ornament on the plymouth, and that it showed it's age, hadn't been replaced with a shiny new piece.

camera bags don't roll too good on grass. maybe they should make them with bigger wheels. that glow with fiber optic light. nah, wouldn't really blend into the background that way.

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crazy busy weekend/week ahead. day off on friday, mother-in-law's birthday; a graduation saturday, followed by a drive to vegas. a week there (any local shows besides cars and coffee?). car shows when i get back. thoughts: uptown whittier car show or bridal shower for future daughter-in-law??? hmmm hmmm hmmm.

gotta figure out how/when to take 100+ hours of vacation time before the end of the year. my mom just changed her mind and said she'd be willing to do a road trip. interesting. wait a few days...she'll change her mind.

glory days

i was shooting the woodie next to this impala, early in the day. the impala's owner was still polishing the car, so, when i turned to consider his car, i just walked by, and said i'd come back when he was done.

spent another hour or so, walking around the now crowded park, and had circled back toward the side closest to where i parked my car. i think i was shooting the back end of a '59 buick, when the guy found me, and smiling, said, "i'm done with the car."

i said i would, so i did soon enough. took a few angles; liked this one best. some other guy walked up and got in the passenger side...i hope he was friends with the owner.

another guy came over to ask if i'd shot his car, and pointed out into the fray, talking loudly, but i couldn't quite make out for sure which car he meant. the impala was parked near the stage, and the band was playing loudly. i didn't give him a card, so how would he see the picture anyway? i probably shot it, if the hood was down, and i liked the location. i think it was a packard he was talking about...i shot one...not sure if it was his.

sat down in the shade right in front of the group for a bit to watch old guys rocking. i think they said they were there every year. they played ok; and i took a few shots from where i sat. maybe i'll add a couple of them here.

time to get back to the office...

butt, gumby

saw this car at bob's big boy in downey, back in 2011. saw it drive onto the back field here at san fernando, and headed over.

usually, it's nice to see another car reflected in the paint, kind of a two-fer-one deal. i knew that bright orange car was there, didn't think it would be too bad, since it's a complimentary color. but now, all i can see is the butt:

kinda ruins a good picture for me. but the butt makes me smile. maybe next time i'll catch the car in a field without such a close neighbor, or ask him to move it—something i don't typically do—shoot it where i find it.

anyway, the owner, let's call him noah, since his shirt was stitched with "noah" on it, was very nice. chatted a bit. i mentioned i'd seen the car before in downey, and he did remember being there. said he'd seen a picture of it on the computer...thought maybe it was one i took? possibly, but i'm sure than one person that's shot it before.

all by myself

i've been going to more shows lately. saving up lots of pictures for a rainy day, like a squirrel. just not burying them in the ground. good july; i have so many to choose from for posting, it's hard to pick. most times i have to narrow it down to three or four shots, and have my better half pick one.

speaking of my better half, he's alive and well, thank you. i get a lot of people asking where he is, when i'm at shows. he's very popular, apparently. he has been unable to make it to many shows lately, as his mother had gotten very sick not too long ago, and he's been taking care of her. splits caretaking with his sister, but weekends he's on his own, prime car show time.

his mom is doing much better, and i'm hoping he'll come out to the uptown show for a while on the fifteenth next month. just a short walk down the street, so he wouldn't be too far from home.

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my kid is sitting for the bar exam for the next three days. good luck, my boy!

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went out the blvd bombs show last saturday, at st. alphonsus catholic church. smallish show, but almost entirely old chevys, so hey, bliss. was hot, wished i'd gotten my butt moving earlier, but my better half delayed me >:)

the show was basically an intersection of a couple of streets in the church complex, as well as a small parking lot. just enough cars, that if it hadn't been so hot, i could have happily shot each and every one. was a good turnout, just the same.

i started in the little parking lot, working my way counterclockwise, seemingly a few cars from a few clubs: true memories, originals, pharaohs, and some low rider, jumpy car club, i can't remember, since i didn't shoot any of their cars.

after the pharaohs cars, there was this guy, sitting behind his car in the shade, by himself. don't think he was affiliated with any club. pretty car, so i chatted a little with the guy, and took a few shots. i was wearing an old uptown whittier show shirt, and he asked if it was a good show. told him it was, that it was only a few weeks away. he said he might check it out. hope he will. it's always a good time.

he was parked next to a post of the basketball court, so had to shoot around it. really did ruin a good angle, so didn't waste any memory card space on that side.

wondering if the little louvers on the hood are more decorative than functional for cooling the engine?

told him i'd post something, if i got a decent shot of it. this should do. might go back and push some yellow back into the picture; i think the turquoise is a little too blue, at least on this computer screen. what do you think?

memory lane

busy weekend. following a damn busy week at work. several twelve hour days. i'm way behind on playing with my pictures from recent shows. several people i talked to, so, as usual, i said i'd post their cars, so i'm behind on that. and i'm tired.

was out both days this weekend. i've had too much sun, and today, i'm really feeling it. and sore from pulling my bag and hauling my tripod around both days. standing up, squatting low, my legs are feeling it. it's a good sore. now i have another couple of very busy weeks, then a business trip to vegas. any car shows coming up, there?

went to oldies san fernando car show today. missed it last year...was sick as a dog at the time. i'd heard of a few other shows going on today, so had to pick one. knew it was going to be another hot day. can't stand the heat. can't wait for winter to come back.

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anyway, i'll start with this car from today in san fernando, since they sent a kid over to ask for my card. nice suburban. i've seen it before. caught here fairly early, sun still going up, making cars glow. this field was still pretty empty in the middle. cars were clustering along the fence, mostly by club. this one belongs to memory lane. memory lane was rather short this year...i vaguely remember a few more cars in previous years.

the watchers on the wall

winter is coming...just not for another few months, here in cali. it's been humid the last couple of days, with short, funky rainstorms during the day, and crazy winds at night. puts a crimp in the car shows, but the diehards still go.

i didn't go out this weekend. things to do, and then sunday was my dad's 82nd bday...yay dad! growing old is no fun, and watching every one around you grow old, is almost worse. watching your parents...you're looking at your own future. he's finally accepted that he needs to use a cane, possibly a walker. yee ha.

ordered more business cards, with new pics on the back. well, not business cards, since i'm not running a business, really. should i just call them info cards? handouts? they just give people my website, so they can possibly go see a picture of their car. i like the feel of the paper. i get to see how pictures print, in case i want to get bigger prints.

still just sharing pics as a hobby, or until i get tired of paying to keep this site going. there are about nine hundred and seventy posts since i started, no ad space to annoy you. when should i stop blathering on—one thousand, fifteen hundred, two-thou?

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typical scene at a busy car show. wait for a pause in the crowd, so they don't get in the way of the car. then, notice the group of people, usually against the wall, or sitting behind the car, under a pop-up. 

i like these guys hanging by the building. dudes. i see this a lot. they watch, they whisper. sometimes, they send out a representative, to talk to me. i wonder do they pick straws, flip a coin, rock-paper-scissors...how do they pick? maybe one is just brave enough. inevitably, that's the guy whose car i'll post.

no, none of these guys left the safety of the wall. i like walls too. i'm a quintissential wallflower; at least, when i'm not hiding behind a camera and a tripod.

line up

first bunch of cars i saw when i got to the imperials show. a line of old memories. i have a lot of old memories—and pictures of the cars too. took the opportunity of being there early and no crowds to block the view. sort of wishing i'd used my other wide angle lens, though maybe it would have gotten the same quality.

all stuff i like, i can't not shoot each and every one. way to start my day.

then there's this guy

went to the imperials show last sunday. wow. huge show. right up there with the legends' san pedro show. two baseball fields, plus in between, and a parking lot full of cars. a good amount of the stuff i like, so i was in chevy heaven.

hot day though, so took several more shade breaks than i normally would, which also cut back on how many cars i got to. big thanks to my friends, the latin gents and old times clubs for sharing their shade and the coldest damn bottles of water i've had since i went to canada, and brushed my teeth with water from a glacier.

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this guy, i see at a lot of car shows. drives a really nice '39 master deluxe. always calls me juera. i suppose that's better than gallina--my ex would tease me and say, "catalina, la gallina, puso un huevo in la cocina." he thought it was funny and our kids liked the rhyme.

saw him early at this show. took a few shots of his car before it got crowded in by other cars; but that's for another time, another post.

later in the day, i'm way over on the other side of the other field, and who comes strolling by? yup. says his friend has brought his car, i really should go check it out. won't see another like it, and it's back over next to his car. of course.

so last thing i do, while i still have enough energy to get there, and then get back to my car, is walk back over there.

he was there, with some friends. the car was pretty nice, with real wood panels, not just painted to look like wood. and a convertible, to boot. broke my own rule of not shooting cars with their hoods up, but since i'd walked all the way over, might as well.

and then he wants to pose for a picture with it...and it's not even his car. i guess he really liked it.

oh, and you can see the car without him in front of it, here.