uptown boy

busy day saturday. whittier car show. got up before the sun, and walked down the street.

tried shooting cars at the main intersection. all the guys that help set up get in early, so get their choice of parking. but, they were too close to where vendors were setting up, so people in the shot, cars driving through the shot, and with it still being mostly dark, it messed with the long exposures.

better half had me fiddle with the camera settings, which sped up the exposures, but made them more noisy. didn't change the background activity, so i skipped a bunch of them and moved on down the street, to where cars had started staging.

the point of being out that early was to get the early light. so tried to get to the cars stopped with the rising light coming up behind them, and fewer buildings in the way. mostly owners leave their cars and hang out in groups, or take the time to polish the paint.

the owner of this one asked me to take a shot of his car. so here's one from the morning. couldn't get the group out of any of the shots, so there they are.

we continued to shoot, then the fire marshall cleared them to start moving. everyone at the far end of the street started their engines, but that didn't last long. takes a while to move cars in. so, we just kept going. when they finally started moving the end of the street in, we stopped for breakfast.

may i also mention, that unlike the previous years that i've gone, it was hot and humid, even at this time of day. so, everyone that survived sitting out there all day, omg, how did you do it? we had the convenience of being able to go home for a break.

had to anyway. we had relatives arrive from northern california, so spent some time with them and their baby. took pictures of them for a while. downloaded all the pictures i'd already taken, charged batteries.

we had just headed back uptown and started shooting, when i got a call from my son. he was in town, and he'd just arrived at the house. so we headed back, while he headed toward the show. stopped again. walked down the street and had lunch at one of the barbeque places. at least it was cool inside. that ate up more time.

walked back home, chatted for a bit, checked out the car he'd recently bought himself. he took off. we went back inside to cool off for a bit. downloaded any additional pictures i'd taked before being called away again.

decided to head back at two-thirty, before the awards were to be given out. that usually ends a show; people start leaving after they realized they haven't won anything. wasn't really the case here. seemed like the earlier organization of the show broke down here. the announcer at the main intersection seemed to be calling out awards, but really, there wasn't the normal crowd of people listening. as if no one had told them what time they were going to make the announcements. it was weird to say the least.

and we also finally got to eyeball this year's show shirts. wow! what a crappy quality image! they've been bad the last few years, but these were really, truly crap, sad to say. looked like they'd put tracing paper over some pictures they probably downloaded from the internet, and used cheap magic markers to draw them. maybe kids did it. but wow, really bad. didn't see too many people wearing them. and the printing sucked too. sorry, i'm a graphic designer, so i can say it was badly done shirt all the way around.

i digress.

we went down the side streets. i was looking for a particular car, we'd seen earlier, after breakfast, waiting in staging. had no idea where it had ended up. i wasn't going home until i found it.

was up one of the cross streets, and found this same car again. didn't see the owner, so couldn't take him up on his earlier offer of a cold bottle of water, which would have been really good about then.

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have to pick up my pictures from the fair tomorrow. hope you all got a chance to see them. i have relatives in town from the east coast, over at my parent's house, so i suppose i'll drive over there, and show them off. probably won't get back to my posting until wednesday.

valley high

gonna post this, because i had it ready to go. i did make it uptown to the show today, and i'll start posting some of those soon, after i move from out of the front of this fan, and into a cold shower.

i'm way behind posting on recent shows. just been too busy and not home enough.

this one was from san fernando last month. love this show—oldies car club is very efficient about getting things organized, and moving the cars in. plus, they've let me in early for the three or four years i've made the trip up there.

pretty much have decided, since my better half mostly hasn't been able to join me at car shows lately, that if i can't find decent parking, in a relatively safe looking neighborhood, i'm not hanging around. luckily, i haven't had to leave one yet. there are other places i can be, which is the great part about socal and the los angeles area.

i think this is one of theirs. was in a line of their other cars, in the last parking lot i made it to before i was done. not sure which i liked most—the car or the hood ornament. liked the pop of the red, of the wheels, and the subtle pinstriping.

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.