karate choppy

double-posty tonight: if i'm not working overtime (it's tradeshow season...again), i'm hoping to be out shooting at one of the two shows running tomorrow.

i've seen this awesome custom mercury (though one of the other regulars said it was a chevy) at fuddrucker's pretty often over the past year. the color is so deep, you almost fall into it when he's got it buffed up like this. hard to capture without the light hitting it just so. got the sunset highlighting it here, and i usually can't get the back end of it either, due to his parking choices, and the crowds. was a bit colder this night, so fewer people.

wish that tree reflected on the trunk wasn't in that spot...there's a very nice pinstripe job going on, but it's being masked by the tree branches. it's chopped and dropped pretty low, must be interesting to get in and out of, but still pretty sweet.

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short rant:

i ran into someone at a show the other day, whom i'd met at a car show several months ago. at the time i'd shown him my book of photos, and he'd asked me to take a picture of his car. fine. he even closed the hood for me. i would have taken it anyway, it was that nice of a car. i worked up my favorite and posted it, but then never heard from him. had a lot of people comment on it, liked it quite a bit.

anyway, i finally went ahead and bought a print for my book, since i liked it well enough myself. so when i spotted his car at another show recently, i figured i'd at least show him the print...they look even better than they do here. i think he saw me before i remembered which one was him, and he avoided me for a while. eventually i found him sitting in the car, and approached him.

asked if he wanted to see the picture, and he said sure. then he proceeded to tell me that he'd seen it posted, but he really wasn't interested, wanted more of a photograph. i shrugged and said this type of photography wasn't for everyone.

if i show you my book, you know the type of pictures i take, so i figure you should know what to expect...why waste my time asking me to take a shot?

it doesn't bother me in the least if you don't like what i do, i've heard the photo purist arguements before, and to each his own. but if you specifically ask me to do a picture of your car, and i bother to take the time to work on it and post it, at least be polite and say hi or something. even say i don't like it, but take the time to let me know you saw the thing.

not doing a full-on rip you a new one here (richard (no it wasn't him either)), but no, i'm not going to tell you which car it was; i assume he's still lurking here and will recognize himself anyway. whatever. if you change your mind about buying the print, the price just doubled, just for you. :)

end rant.

four eyes

this one is pretty cool. i first saw it in march of last year in lakewood. then i didn't see it again for a long time.

for the past few weeks, he's been going to the broiler in downey. just been waiting to get another chance for a front view.

finally got one i like here. while the fins and paint job are appealing, the front chrome is kinda making me happy in this picture.

lucky bastard

stopped by the three car shows in the area yesterday. keep finding the most variety of cars over at the pep boys show. hearing that there was some disagreement with the guys that run the garden grove show, so there was a split, and now a good majority of the cars can be found here on friday nights.

i was told in passing, by a guy i frequently see at shows, that this car almost ended up in a chop shop. it had been stolen from the owner's driveway and found a few days later, covered, in the yard of a "mechanic's" shop. i remember reading about it, but the article i read had no pictures at the time, so i didn't recognize this as being the one. yep, the guy is one lucky bastard...what are the typical chances of ever seeing your stolen custom car in one piece again?

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i read a small sign hanging in the window of a shop in uptown whittier, that there is a charity car & bike show on the 12th at whittier high school, benefitting their baseball team. not much advertising...wondering if anyone has heard about it and is planning on going? says the show is from 10–4, drive-in starts at 7a.m.

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going to seattle/tacoma this summer...anyone know of any car shows?

pink panther

this past friday, i hit three car shows in one evening. they aren't too far apart from each other, so really wasn't a problem. started at chubby's, to which i arrived a bit too early, but was still going to be a really good show. i was told that the week before, about 90 cars showed up. i left early that night, so didn't see them all. gonna start calling this one the chevy show or the latin gents show...that ends up being a lot of what i see there.

then i went to a newer show over at the pep boys. ended up being a lot of the cars that have been missing from the garden grove show, as well as others i hadn't seen before. only bitch about this one is that it's just a parking lot; no scenery to add to a picture, too many cars crammed in, and the owners parking them nose in. makes it difficult to really "see" a car that way. and i really don't like to get in the middle of a bunch of cars with my tripod...it makes the owners nervous.

after that, went briefly to the garden grove show, which has been very light on cars the last few times, in spite of the elvis impersonator show. there were a few that i've taken before, but again, parking nose in or putting a big sign in front of the tail fins that i'd really like to shoot. thanks for nuthin'.

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i've seen this one many times before. at the garden grove show. never like the shots because they usually put a big stupid sign about it out in front, or on the side where the light is hitting the car best, thus ruining the picture. do these signs really add any value, especially at a show they attend often, as far as judging goes? also they have a little stuffed pink panther sitting on the hood. i think everyone can guess why this one is called the pink panther, don't need to reiterate it so many ways. definitely a 'look at me' car.

sign and stuffed animal were also in attendance here, but fortunately on the side that you can't see them. and from this angle, you can't see the damn toy on the hood.

nice flames popping on the hood though, with the sun setting behind me. pretty happy about that.

sign says it's a '47, but looking at other images on the internet, it looks more like a '51 or '52 to me, but what do i know? nuthin. just like taking pictures of your shiny babies.

lead sled

this merc custom, also from the whittier uptown show, is seemingly the companion piece to this one. this was the second of three similar vehicles parked on this corner. maybe it was just a coinkydink that they were clustered in the same area. i don't think i bothered with the other, as i remember it was just painted in primer gray and not too dazzling or remarkable.

i remember this being a spectacular, deep blue, but i think maybe i've made it too dark here. the time of day made for an uncontrasty, flat shot, so i had to jack it up a bit. but that's the point of my tweaking, now isn't it?

flamed trifecta

well i might as well make it a complete triumvirate of flamed vehicles with this motorcycle. i don't often bother with them, but i do make exceptions when i'm bored, or the opportunity arises for a decent shot of them.

found this one back in april at the foothill ranch show. parked near the raffle booth, and probably belonging to one of the people running it. i think it was the red glitter paint with the sun hitting it that made me take this shot. if i remember correctly, the owner even moved another bike out of the way.

hot rod lincoln

my best guess is that this a 55–56 lincoln of some kind. just not finding one with exactly the same bumper set up. guess i should've asked the owner — i think he was the guy who asked me "what is it you've been doing all these weeks here?" my answer was, "having fun," but maybe i should have been a smartass and stated the obvious answer, "taking pictures." nah, he was curious enough to ask, so i didn't feel the need. anyway, i handed the guy my card, so i hope he sees his car, if it is indeed his.

nice pinstripe job, and interesting paint. didn't quite overhear the whole story, so i'm not sure if he was saying he painted the car himself in his garage, or he took it somewhere. its kind of a matte finish, which is a little unusual when its not primer, but then this car was a bit unusual, and i don't have another one like it in my files.

i also think i've seen that guy in the doorway...i think he owns this hot rod, and is also currently selling an old cadillac.