looking back

i've been out for a few walks this weekend, but otherwise, have stayed in the house. worked on stuff for the office most of the day yesterday, except for a couple of hours spent watching game of thrones and walking uptown for dinner with my better half.

being that i use my old computer when i have to connect to the office, i left it hooked up after finishing work last night. figured today, i'd have a look around on the hard drive for any interesting old shots stored there, before getting back to work again.

found this old ford made new again. it's an ok shot. the car is damn near too perfectly polished that it's almost boring. but i liked the lens flares catching the light of the sunset, and bouncing it around on the camera sensor. photography purists may say this is a throw away, but some of my favorite shots are sprinkled in flares.

now, off to work toward a deadline...

taxi

saw this taxi recently, when it drove past the window. i usually hear cars before i see them, and know to stand up and take a peek. some days i've seen a dozen old cars of all types drive by, which sends me for a walk uptown to see what's going on...where are they going?

anyway, as i was saying...i happened to be watching a hummingbird that sometimes sits on a tree outside, and saw this car drive past. not quite as fast as the ice cream truck...how the heck are kids supposed to catch that guy?

i've never seen the taxi before. told my better half to look out the front window, but he was deep in conversation with his mom, and didn't quite hear me. it was gone by the time he figured out what i said.

few days later, here it was at founder's day. owner was a youngish guy. i want to say he was telling the group around him he was recently home from the military, but i might be remembering another group of guys and another car.

he seemed nice. i think he was telling everyone about the guys that helped get the car done. looks nice.

chop chop

looks fast just sitting still, no?

not quite sure why it was sitting all alone in this parking lot, here in chino, on the edge of a very big car show, but i took full advantage of it. no people, nicely framed by the trees, i like this shot the best.

i did notice later on, that other cars moved in next to it, so i just got lucky, i guess.

’stang

i'll throw this one up here. something different. shot it because it wasn't surrounded yet. and maybe somebody out there likes them.

old geez

old car. i like these from the back end. and sometimes the big ass headlights.

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i may not have made it to a car show today, but i kinda have. at least a half dozen very nice cars have passed through the intersection so far. didn't see them uptown earlier, so i have no idea where they are going, but at least i get to see them for a moment.

fifty

ok, mustangs really aren't my thing. probably because my sister had a boyfriend with one back in the day. and i didn't like him much, but what does a kid know? 

i usually don't give them much more than a glance at shows, this one included.

i had walked past these and was happily shooting some old pos truck, covered with rust, when some guy walked up and asked if i had shot his car yet. i asked which one, and he pointed over at the 'stang, or should i say 'stangs. both of these are his.

told him i hadn't shot them, probably wouldn't because they just aren't my thing, aren't old enough.

he argued that i probably had seen this, and probably wouldn't very often. his point was that there is a fifty year difference between these two models, and they are both his. the story was that he'd bought the '65 when he got married in '65, and had bought this stinking new mustang this year for their golden anniversary.

it is a big, beefy model. i'm sure it purrs when he drives it. i had a rental mustang a couple of years ago, and i couldn't stand it, but maybe this is a little better.

so i took a few shots. not bothering to post the new model by itself, cuz, you can just go see one of those at any ford dealer today.

happy anniversary, btw. i forgot to tell the guy.

vibrant

this is from last week's show in norco. almost as soon as i walked into the show area of the lot, i heard, "kathy!" for all i know, they're calling to someone else, cuz they usually are, but not this time.

it was an old acquaintance, my buddy, gary. hadn't seen him at a show for a couple of years. and you know with old guys...you start to wonder...

last time i saw him, was at the riverside show-n-go. he'd had his chevy there the first night, but not the next day. his friends told me his starter had stopped. on the car, that is.

and then i didn't see the car or him there last year. really at any show in riverside last year.

but here he was in norco. with a new car. no wonder.

said he still has the chevy, but now has to decide which one to take out.

so of course, i had to take a picture of his new baby. so hey, gary. what's with the bright, bright colors on your cars?

and what the h...this is like my third or fouth post in a row with a turquisey color vehicle.

lucy lucy lucy

been a crazy week at work. i do have some deadlines i gotta work toward this weekend, but i'm still trying to have "a weekend." 

spent the morning in the oc, watching my kid play in one of his alumni baseball games. unfortunately, both high school and college games were today, so he picked high school. probably because his best friend, and former team mate was in town, before heading off for spring training for his minor league team.

another of his former roommates should be starting this year in the  major league. maybe i can weasel some tickets from him. my kid chose to pursue a law degree, and is about to graduate. he should pick one of his friends, and work on their contracts.

anyway, after the game, figured i had options for the balance of the day: go home and work on my deadlines; get some lunch and go home and work on my deadlines; or i could drive out to norco, to see if there was anything worth seeing at the all american working iron show. guess what i picked. its called avoidance.

i don't miss the drive out toward riverside. anyone else feel like they're driving in the wild wild west going east on the 55 freeway? there always seems to be accidents, and people drive even more like idiots than other freeways. like there are no lane lines, swerving around the semi trucks. for get physics of stopping that much weight.

been a while since i've gone out to that big boy, and the parking lot was busy, but not crazy full like other shows they have there.

this one mostly had trucks, vans, and any cars that may have been used on farms back in ye olde times. and old cars were welcome too. unfortunately, many of them had their hoods up, so that cut my stay time by a lot.

i was about ready to leave, not finding a lot to keep me interested in shooting, when this car drove through the lot. was hoping it wasn't leaving, and happily saw it park way at the end, away from most of the show. i headed back that way directly, just in case.

owner was still sitting inside, on a cell phone. he jumped out when he saw me setting up. wasn't necessary, i was low, and he wouldn't have been in the shot at all. anyway, i took a few angles of it, and liked this one best. silhouettes up on the light pole, and the side view of the car; seemed appropriate.

one of the things i noticed when it originally went by, was that there was a big ole' lucille ball on the trunk. i couldn't get a good straight up shot of her, because he'd backed up against some plants i didn't want to totally walk around in or on.

owner said his wife really loved lucy—didn't everybody? he said he just happened to be driving by, wasn't really there for the show. can't remember where he said he lived, but i think he was just as far from his home as i was.

i shot quick. he had been on the phone with his wife, and had to get going. thanks for waiting while i got my fun on.

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back home now, and decided not to do any work today at all. that, and also cuz my better half had my computer set up all taken apart, in order to put a battery backup on it. if his mom has her heater turned on, and someone runs the microwave, it blows a fuse. which means, my computer crashes. has happened one too many times. 

and i got a new back up drive, that i'm filling up as i type. gotta make sure its working. still has not quite three hours out of five left just for all the pictures i took last year, and january this year. 

gotta go clean my camera sensors now. hoping to wake up early and head out to hillco for the super cruise before the big game. hard to get parking for that thing.

after that, then i really do have to get my job done. meeting on monday morning to present the designs.

smelled like pussy

as we were walking home from the art show uptown, we found this ford was parked a half block down. i had already taken a few shots of it, when the owner walked up and wanted to grab a jacket out of the car.

better half, who had assigned himself as my bag boy/assistant by this point in the evening, asked him what the story on this car was. 

if i remember right, he's had it for about seven years. said it was a complete mess when he got it. said it smelled like cat, or cat piss, fairly unbearable. took four months to air that out somehow.

he cut out that oversize sunroof and smoothed the edges. i think he said when needed, he can pop in the old piece to cover it up, and i suppose keep the rain out. but maybe he doesn't take this out in the rain.

anyway, cool car now. check out that paint job.

and i apologize for the title...better half dared me.

screaming meemies

i don't know why i shot this car or more, why i'm bothering to post it. no idea for sure what it is. it has some ford looking headlights and grille, but it's had some over the top cosmetic surgery.

i think what i enjoyed more than taking a picture of this thing, was the elderly asian couple that had been taking pictures of each other in front of various cars, this one included. suddenly, the old guy started screaming at the wife loudly in whichever language they spoke. kinda like a car wreck, i stared for a while, facinated like watching foreign soap operas on cable.

at this point, i can't remember if the old lady gave as good as she got, or if she just ignored him. i suspect the former.

they were still yelling when i left the area. maybe she didn't get his good side.