what's up?

not going to miss my shot

i think this was the car, that the owner lamented, that no one ever takes a picture, and jumped out of my way when i set my tripod down. (apologies to my high school english teacher for that butchered phrasing.) pretty sure i've shot it before elsewhere, but i can't see the plates on it, so can't be sure.

perfectly fine car, so i don't know why he would think no one shoots it. perhaps, it had to do with being parked next to the pontiac i posted yesterday. sort of like the plain jane out and about with her much hotter friend, who gets all the attention.

is this a forty-seven or forty-eight? anyone? anyone?

looks like it was getting ready to rain again at this point, so got this one image of it, and a few more nearby cars, before the time stamps on my pictures stops for some time, while i went back to the overhang to wait it out.

lazy day

there was a big car show today. i was even awake at five in the morning, but i went back to bed. i should have gone, just to get out of my head, to take in some fresh air and get some exercise, but i just didn't want to go to this one. too many hot rods the last few years, not enough low riders.

tomorrow i will. a car show later in the day, and no rain expected. anniversary show at frisco's. for sure there will be cars i like there.

walked uptown for lunch. joked to my better half to be verwy verwy quiet...i'm hunting fweetlines... lo and behold, i did pass at least three of them driving by and on the way back to the house.

right now, there's a funeral / viewing down the street, practically a car show in that parking lot. didn't know the guy, and it would be sort of disrespectful to go back and set up my tripod and start shooting, right? didn't even whip out my phone for a snap as i walked by.

really explained why i kept seeing cars driving past the house and uptown earlier.

they are welcome to find parking down here, by the house, instead of trying to jam all of their cars into the lot. i'll keep an eye on the cars while they're gone. really i will.

so now, i go outside once in a while, to see what i can see from the corner. figure i can shoot them as they slow down at the stop sign, after the viewing is over. unless they go the other way, and hit up the cigar bar or something.

the sun has gone undercover now, so it's quickly become too chill to stand out there for very long without my jacket. and i'm starting to feel like a tool, standing there with a big lens and snapping a few shots, every once in a while.

my kid and his wife are going to stop by. spending the day at griffith park and that hood. will probably go uptown again for dinner, if they're hungry.

another from last week. was a lovely car. i'd be worried about the rain, but then figured they'd just put the roof back up and rub off the water spots when they get home, safe in the garage.

sky looks sort of dramatic here, but really any pictures featuring clouds in so cal could be called that. usually such a rare occurrence.

la chillona

so i'm sitting here while a bunch of wolf whistling dudes check my tires. one of them had a nail in it a few months ago, and it seems to be leaking out again. waiting room smells--not of teen spirit--more like teen racing dreams. these display tires are all 'hairy' with the little rubber peach fuzz on them.

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here's another car from this past weekend. got pretty overcast at some points, even lightly sprinkled off and on, but that didn't stop the party going on here for the most part. did wash out the colors quite a bit, but i like the atmosphere of it.

dead president's day

had things i absolutely had to do today. different circumstances would have had me at la puente park, shooting cars, of course, but things were 'beyond my control,' so i wasn't.

this weekend was sort of messed up, and it's almost over. holiday weekend blew by. thinking i might have to reschedule a vacation, which kinda sucks, or see if my bro wants to go somewhere, which could be fun.

made it to one show, but this shot is from last month's pomona swap meet. just liked the mood of it for some reason. it spoke to me, and said post me, so i did.

i got nuthin really to talk about, and it's back to work tomorrow, so i should probably end it here.

a scare

went to the harbor knights hit-a-thon car show rather late today. i vacillated all morning, and the clouds outside seemed about ready to burst for a good while. finally flipped a coin, thus deciding it.

of course most halfway there, it starts to sprinkle. i momentarily pull into the in-n-out lot, ready to throw in the towel and have lunch. but then i decided, i'd just head over and see if anything/anyone was still there.

sprinkles let up the closer to the beach i got.

got to the high school, saw banners at the entrances, but could not see a show from the street. almost thought it was over, but then this impala drives up. i had gotten out of my car, about the same time, heard an announcer somewhere mumble something, then the music started.

so he figured out the gate was unlocked, and drove in, and i followed. show was hidden behind the buildings, on the basketball courts. super secret. glad i got out of my car.

this was a beautiful car...

being that it's now after midnight, i'll have to continue later.

let's just say, after the show, had a family emergency, and that's all i'm going to say about that.

how romantic

beat my better half home from work. today is valentine's day, so he got stuck in traffic, and ended up just going to costco, since he was near one.

switched my hours at work, and so far, it takes me just over an hour now to get home. i guess that's better than over two, and there's no way i want to start at five in the morning, so it is good enough.

i was just going to walk uptown for a slice of pizza for dinner, since my better half decided to just have something at home, but then he didn't want me to go out in the dark alone. ended up that he needed to go to home depot, so i drove, with the intention of going to pollo loco.

upon arriving at that fine dining establishment, we were assaulted by some overpowering, lovely aroma from the "rest" room hallway. figuring how the sense of smell plays into the sense of taste, we decided to find sustenance elsewhere. wasn't quite as awful as the taco bell a couple of weeks ago, but the reek was just starting to permeate the dining area.

my head was swimming, so i just ended up at del taco in the home depot parking lot. meh. not quite ruths chris, but filled the empty space gnawing at my insides.

saw this car drive into the lot. better half says the driver was waving maniacally at me/us, but i didn't notice the driver, just the car, noting the club. i've seen it before.

gotta be just a blem tire, but that suspicious bulge makes me nervous as it did the first time i noticed it a year or two ago.

maybe i'll spy another suspicious bulge later...

the other nomad

one of the cars that were at the super cruise when we arrived early early. i only shot them because they were there.

better half was talking to the owners, and the one that owned this one came over and asked if i'd seen the his other nomad. uh, no. just got there.

so he proceeded to pop the hood. normally, that would have ended my interest in the car, but since he seemed so proud of his little joke, and had made nice with my better half, i shot it.

might say a pale man on a pale horse, but nope, death rides a moldy camel.

i would just say, i've seen better airbrushing. and i've seen a hell of a lot worse.

mind the gap

i walked around the lot several times last week. deciding which cars to shoot, looking for opportunites to get the shot i wanted, looking at how the light was hitting the car. mostly looking for gaps in the herds of pedestrians plowing through the aisles.

tried shooting this car from the other side a bit earlier, trying to get the sunset behind it. not too many people passing by on that side at the time.

but then the owner walked into the shot and proceeded to open the door and stand there talking on his cell phone.

i have several frames showing his back side. i had just let the camera keep doing it's exposures, figuring he would move along, and i could just dump those shots he was in. i mean, the sun was moving, and sunset, the light really changes quickly.

but it was an extended convo, so i gave up and moved to an impala convertible on the this side of the car, just out of the frame to the left.

shot that car, with the sun hitting the hood and the plastic seat covers (wtf?), then turned around, and took shots of the fleetline from this side. pretty sure the owner was still standing in the open driver's side door on the phone, but from down low, i can ignore him entirely.

still some blurriness, because people are still walking nearby, and it picks them up in the reflections, but i don't care. at sunset, with long exposures, it becomes more about capturing the feel of the moment, not perfection.

the escape

i'll put this one up here, tho it's clearly not perfect. sharp up front and focus quickly drops off. busy night, lots of people and cars shuffling through the lot. there's a balancing act of timing and exposure and finding space for a tripod so that it isn't a tripping hazard.

i was almost back to my car here. better half had given up taking pictures because there were just too many people and cars packed in the lot. he was getting nervous as there was no way out, should anything go down. said the cops had already been by three times, and had threatened to have cars towed for blocking entrances, but last had left to get more back up. the fire department had also walked through shakingtheir heads, and left. pretty sure the manager of the big boy had gotten a talking to, and the neighbors behind the wall weren't too happy.

i had parked on the end under the overhang. he'd texted that there was an opportunity to get out right then, or we'd be stuck for hours, and i needed to hurry. finished the shot and was at the car within a minute.

there would have been just enough space for me to back up, but now not enough of an opening to exit without taking out the back corner of an impala. i would have been fine to take more time shooting, but better half was tired. owner of the impala saw that i wanted to leave and offered to take my spot.

oh why hadn't i backed into the spot, as i usually would have; it would have been so much easier. the impala had backed into the empty space that i had intended to back into, so that i could drive out.

instead, everyone was directing me to just back all the way out into the street. fine, on a normal day, i could do it, but there were so many people walking behind me, and i can't see around my better half sitting in the passenger seat.

finally, one of the guys from the oldies car club, who was trying to guide me out offered to do it. by all means, yes and thank you! better half jumps out of the car, to allow for more visibility, i guess, and i got in the back seat.

club guys do know how to move a car, and it was in the street just like that. we had escaped.

there was a line of cars waiting there and around the corner down firestone, trying to get in, so the void was quickly filled.

whisper

another from yesterday. before they ran out of room. i don't think anyone ever did park in that empty space; there was no room to manuever if someone would have wanted to.

the light was changing. sky still not dramatic enough, but a whisper of color was enough to kiss the cars.

got lucky that no one walked through this shot, considering how close it was to the pop up tents collecting the donations and selling raffle tickets.