better leather

harley davidson heritage softail

ahem. let's get to last week's whirlwind through the whittier uptown carshow. i've got several to prepare for those few people who asked me to post pictures of their cars.

as i mentioned before, i only had six hours out there, and i still didn't get around to everything. had to get to the train station, and i've been gone most of the week.

it seemed mostly organized this year, though i don't remember checking what time they started rolling the cars in from staging. i was busy, going from flower to flower to flower...i mean car to car to car, trying to shoot as many as i could in my short amount of time.

was out there at five-thirtyish a.m. where were you?

found this motorcycle down in the rick's parking lot, the owner nearby keeping an eye on his bike. he offered to move it, nah, i'd find it later for other shots. this is how i found it, so leave it be.

there was so much detail on this bike, that it seems to be less about the harley itself—which is pretty nice, shiny and pinstriped—and more about the leather.

everything decorated in an aztec theme, with the usual characters and patterns you'd expect. skillfully done and fitted, i asked the owner about it. 

he said he'd save himself a buttload (he didn't exactly use that word, my edit) of cash by taking it down to mexico himself versus paying a guy here, to basically do the same thing.

he had to point out that there was a little felix the cat medal/figure on the side. probably thought i'd appreciate that since i was wearing my felix the cat chevrolet shirt. if he hadn't mentioned it, i wouldn't have noticed it, it was low, on the side next to the wall, and there was so much other detail to look at.

anyway, really nice work here.

father and son

1951 mercury and 1950 ford

1951 mercury

putting up a few shots of these two cars, since the kid asked. well, he asked my better half, and then i got the email.

i like the idea of the nose to nose shot, but i'm not so sure my wide angle lens does them justice. just couldn't get up high enough. maybe next time i should climb on top of another car or truck.

not sure if these are works in progress or if this is it. better half said the headlights are really meant for motorcycles is what i think they told him. whatever they are, the headlights on the black one had small red lights around them and they made the grille glow red.

black one belongs to the dad, the other to the kid. nice to share the same interest, and to pass your knowledge on to the next generation.

l-e-d, you and me

harley davidson heritage softail

haven't decided if these lights on bikes add or subtract from the overall look of the bike. this one is already blinged out with etched chrome and airbrushing.

i shot it earlier, just after we arrived. the owners moved out of the shot then. i like those shots, with the clouds in the sky, from a low angle.

i found it again, just before i packed up my gear, in the evening, sun setting, sky colors changing. mostly it was the sky i wanted. i guess the red glow is ok. 

i guess the owner was too tired by then to move his chair this time, as well as there being other bikes in the same space. also, there were more people crowded around to look at the bikes this late, making it more difficult to find a good angle to shoot my longer exposures, and not get them smearing through the shots.

this particular morning

hudson

at my kid's house tonight. made a batch of cookies...i wanted the dough.

---

the chicano park show this year, made up for the low turn out last year. last year, it threatened to rain, and many cars stayed away.

this day was almost as perfect as you could wish. not too cold, and overcast and/or cloudy most of the morning. then blue skies cutting through here and there, until it dominated, and the sun burned through, and the wind blew the clouds away.

and the cars. so many cars. every type i could wish for in one place.

we got there, as usual, after five, still dark out. shot cars that were lined up, until roll in. then headed across the park, to the street, to the patch of grass next to the freeway on-ramp. that's klique territory. they park over there every year.

first car that caught my eye, was this hudson. the owner--a woman, btw--was busy polishing it, so i went on to shoot another car.

came back around ten minutes later, only to find her still busy rubbing that paint to a crystal finish. i decided to shoot it anyway, as the sun was rising behind me and hitting the car with a warm glow. had to snap my shots as the woman was around on the opposite side of the car. tried to take it everytime she leaned down, out of view.

what was bugging me, and ruining that shot, was that there was a big box of a transformer or other equipment on the lawn behind me a bit, to my left, so, with the sun rising behind that, there's an odd boxy shadow across part of the car.

following the advice of some famous photographer, whose classes i've sat through, i decided to look the other way, and take the shot from the side you see here. the thing of it was, the car is parked next to the beginning of the uphill ramp to the walkway over the freeway. so i'm bent over in that small angle space underneath the ramp, with my tripod, to get this shot, while the owner has now moved to the other side of the car again, still polishing and shining.

i have another picture i like a little better than this shot, from the other morning at chicano park. almost the same shot, but just a few minutes earlier. in that one, there's the sun, blazing sun rays, framed in that little gap on the right. the sky is more colorful, the car gorgeous still, even with one sun flare blemish on the car.

the one little thing that ruins it, or makes it, depending on your point of view, is my better half and his tripod, as graceful as a giraffe at a watering hole, fiddling with his camera on the other side of the car, stage left. he's trying to get his shot too; i wonder if he got my sorry ass in his picture.

i passed it later in the day, after the sun was full up and the light hitting the car had changed, but the hood and trunk were up, and that was that.

better half says he read an article about the owner, who said she had wanted to join the klique club, but they said no, it's for men only. the dukes accepted her and that car...good on them. win-win for both. i hope she won-won.

long way to go

1940 mercury

i've seen this car before. probably at chicano park.

i was chatting with a car owner when i spied this car drive by at the end of the lane. he off-handedly mentioned that the merc owner had driven up to city of industry from san diego. that'd be about a three hour drive on a good day. but on a friday, it must have been hellish.

gave me more hope that this frisco's show was worth the effort to get here. having the previous show shut down before it had barely got off the ground, definitely was a good sign.

but what if this guy drove all the way the eff up here, just to have to leave?

i guess it was a gamble he was willing to make. i did not hear that the authorities shut it down after we left, so he lucked out.

i bet he has plenty of friends to hang out with as a back up anyway. nice car, no problem meeting people, i suppose.

---

rained a bit today. predictions put it at eighty percent chance of rain all day saturday and sunday, so i guess my weekend outings are off. shows may be on, rain or shine, but my lenses don't like rain that much. maybe i'll actually pack up my camera that crapped out on me last summer, and send it in for repair. does me no good as a paperweight.

disco disco. good good.

1952 chevrolet

i have a craving for lasagna today. so i've been busy making the sauce all afternoon, and just now have finished layering it in the dish with all the cheese, and got it in the oven.

better half chopped the onions for me. i think the doubled the garlic that the recipe called for, so, i may be sweating odiforously for a day or two, thanks to him.

have also watched the old cars drive by today. saw a really beautiful mint green bel air drive past the window earlier. walked uptown and saw an old merc drive by.

drove over to whittier boulevard at lunch, and saw an intriguing old gray chevy of some sort waiting for service of some sort or oil change, down by the ymca.

saw this completely glitter covered chevy at frisco's on friday. i think the light hitting all the facets of glitter at different angles fooled the sensor on the camera a little, so it's blurrier in some parts than i like, and others, the glitter disappears.

owner says at night, it looks like nothing. just flat paint. hard to imagine, but i guess so.

i don't think i'd do this to a car of my own, glitter isn't really my thing, but it is different. and it caught my eye.

green reaper

harley davidson road king

found my better half chatting with some guys from the timeless classics club in the lot between the buildings, an overflow parking lot. the real show lot only had one hundred spaces available, so i'm pretty sure this area was meant for actual customers for the nearby businesses. i think the majority of the customer parking areas quickly became overflow parking for the show, and any of the paid, reserved show spaces were quickly forgotten after the tape went down.

i shot the immaculate impala my better half was standing in front of; i'd shot it previously at the majestic's new year's show at the dam. the car looks fine, but my better half and the dudes he is chatting with are too close to the front of it. i'll have to think about if i want to waste time cloning them out, or just leaving them in.

anyway, right behind that car, this bike pulls in and parks next to the wall. i'd seen it cruise by the main lot earlier. wondered if he was going to park, or just pass through. a car had just abandoned the space before he got there, so there was a big gap between the bike and the cars in front and behind. perfect for a picture, and there really weren't a lot of people in that area, only traffic to contend with.

as i set my tripod down, and started to frame up a shot, the owner offered to turn the lights on for me. awesome. thanks, i think it looked better with them on. kinda kicking myself that i didn't shoot the details of the airbrushing on the fenders and tank. flaming skulls are always fun. and love the rearview mirrors held by skeletal arms and hands.

now if the headlights had been on, and it was a wee bit darker, that could have really been cool.

i think i made a car wait while i finished my shots of this one, my ass hanging out in the drive lane, but i think it was worth his aggravation.

da boyz

quick post. relatives visiting here, and i'm tired. stayed up too late last night, followed by a long day's work.

i did manage to get around to finding the originals east los angeles club, eventually. not hard to miss, with their big banner hanging from the trees.

they're a friendly bunch, and i've gotten to know them a little the last couple of years. armando always says hello, and shakes my hand.

the tall dude with the pepsi, called me over to show me something in his phone. for no reason, and completely randomly, he had a picture of me he'd shot at last year's show. a picture of me taking a picture. at least i didn't look too pissed or squinty or whatever it is my face does when i'm focused on a shot. he even showed it to my better half, when he'd been over there.

i'm pretty sure he added another to his collection, as i shot his car here. shiny car. buffas, they have lots of buffas.

figured it would only be fair, that i'd shoot a picture of all of them. didn't turn out too terribly awful.

brave soul

toyota corolla

made it to the two shows on my calendar yesterday. first up in my sights: the azalea festival.

i'll get to that in the next post. first i wanted to post this completely unusual car, or should i say completely normal car. what the hell is it doing here?

i was on my first go around of the show, a couple of aisles from the entrance. i went counter-clockwise, so i'm saying, i'd already been around three-quarters of the show. that early, there weren't so many cars there.

i guess the owner of this perfectly regular car had seen me taking pictures, when i'd been down his row. he'd walked a couple rows over, just to ask me if i'd take a picture of his car. he described which one it was. i had to ask him a couple of times, not quite sure i was hearing what i was hearing.

finally told him to show me, i was done shooting whatever it was i was currently shooting, so i'll follow you to it. yup. a toyota corolla. the idea of that car being in this show, with all these other wonderful cars, just tickled my brain to no end.

he was completely serious. it's his car. he wanted a picture. here you go. i salute you, brave soul, for bringing that car in, and for asking me to take a picture of it.

rock what you drive...nice rims.

sucks

we just got back from a walk uptown. passed the whittier community association office, where they post flyers for all the local activities going on, up on their windows.

this year, the annual uptown car show has been moved up from mid august to june fourth.

in a normal world, i'd have said that's great, since it's always hotter than hell in august. but it's not perfect, and my world has been a bit of a crazy whirlwind lately. so, checking my calendar, i've just noticed that i have to catch a train to san diego that same day. perfect.

i can make it work, though, since the show is physically, just up the street. i'll just have to be sure to be all packed and ready to go the night before.

we're usually up and out by five-thirty in the morning anyway. organizers are up and telling vendors where to set up, and cars are stuck in purgatory, i mean, staging.

we'll just get up and out, shoot the cars for a few hours, as usual, but then i'll go home, download the pictures, and head to the station, instead of back to the show. just sucks that i won't be able to do anything with them until i get back a week later.

------

shot this car before, at a different show, from the back end. even sold the file for cheap, to an unnamed shop not too far away, with their idea of putting it on tshirts. perhaps they didn't have a shop to do it, or the cost prevented it.

i suspect, the more likely scenario is that they just gave the owner a nice print of the car. enjoy, i guess.