this is from the mother's day show at canyon crest in riverside. not too many cars were there for obvious reasons.
this beauty drove, or should i say purrrrrowled into the show just before they called it a day. it ran very quiet, and after parking, soundlessly dropped down to the ground. damn fine hydraulics i suppose. obviously, i didn't just imagine it...here's the picture to prove it. i think it even won a trophy, but then, with so few cars, maybe everyone won.
i don't typically shoot these, but this one was just an outstanding piece of work. how could i pass up all that chrome?
i was shooting pics of an old packard and la salle across the street from this buick, which i had shot the back of earlier, as i had walked up the sidewalk behind it. no one was really paying any attention to it, so i figured i could just finish with the packard and cross the street and do what i wanted with this one.
of course, as soon as i set up my tripod and set the white balance, a horde of guys decided it was a good time to take a close look at it. i could wait until they left, or i could just take the shot, and get over it. my time was limited, so i took the shot. still came out all right even with everyone milling about. i got what i wanted, the shiny chrome, the reflection on the hood, the overall ambience of the weather and location.
here's another beauty from washington state. where do they keep these remarkable cars?
this one was at an intersection, usually had a few people around it, but i managed to wait them out, and quickly got this shot before the next bunch got in the way.
this town has a nice, clean, little main street area, similar to most main streets anywhere. i think if i didn't mention where i was, it could almost be anywhere.
this paint job was really different. like an irridescent copper plate. it was overcast, so i can only imagine what it would look like in the bright sun. i suppose it would have been too bright and messed with my camera focus, so just as well.
i took a few angles of this, but it seemed more interesting from the front in this setting.
so i had to make an emergency trip to washington state this past weekend. i had wanted to hit a show on saturday, but shockingly, it rained. that was fine, as i had a lot of things that needed to get done anyway.
sunday was father's day. overcast, but not raining. found only a couple of car shows on the net, in opposite directions. so i picked this one in burien. turned out to be a strawberry festival, street fair and carnival, with an added bonus...three blocks of cars. classics and muscle, about 50/50. new stuff to shoot, so yay. only had time to check out the car show before i had to get back to family stuff.
i'll start with this one, since it was the first car i shot, and the only one i bothered throwing a card onto the seat. one comment on that; around here, cars get filled up with flyers for all sorts of crap–upcoming car shows, parts, wheels, etc.–but at this show, there were no flyers, cards, anything thrown into/onto the cars. i almost felt like i violated the space, but i had to throw at least one card at a car...just as a i was here, and hope you come check out your car on my blog, thanks for letting me shoot it.
anyway, i don't think i've seen one of these before. it was pretty clean, no rust, really amazing condition. they must keep cars hidden in the garage all winter in this state. not the only pristine car here.
strangely, no one asked me who i was with, what i was doing, mostly didn't say nuthin at all, though i was the only one hauling a tripod. oh, and thanks to the baggage gorillas at the airport, the tripod head had a broken piece hanging off of it, and i feared it wouldn't work right. i managed to get the piece back in position, though it popped off a few times. finally twisted it a bit, and it seems to be usable. kinda sucks, as they don't make this model anymore.
i got a bunch of other shots that i'll post soon, but it's late now, and i have stuff to do before bedski.
what is it with the ghost flames/color on color i see too often? they're there, but they're not, which is the whole point, i guess, but what a pita they are to photograph. even with a little bit of sparkle thrown in the mix, it's difficult to catch the light on them just right. the glitter throws the light all around and messes with my camera focus.
found this one in cypress. first time i made it there this year. i have pictures from last year, but i didn't remember it quite this flamey. gotta be the sunlight hitting it. i need to start carrying a little step ladder, not only to get the details here, but i'm seeing highly designed and airbrushed roof tops, that are just a shame to not be able to see from my height. i'm gonna take to leaping small buildings or standing on top of other cars or something. so aggravating when i see those and am too short to aim the camera, should i attempt to fully extend the tripod legs. guess i could just wing it and see what i get.
yes, yes it is. 1956. says so on the plate.
this is gary's car. i've only met him a couple of times. he's a funny guy.
this shot was from the first time i ran into him, where he made some typical remark, when i was shooting the back end of his car and another bel air next to it (not shown, except for the reflection on gary's car) — can't remember the exact phrasing, but i'm sure you can guess how it went. everyone has to make those kind of comments to a girl on her knees shooting up at the tail lights i suppose.
he happened to have closed the hood for some other photographer, so i went around to the front for this shot, though the back end wasn't bad either. notice i didn't say his back end...
ran into him again last week, where he mislead me on the ownership of another car and knew about my predilection for closed hoods. they do look better closed, don't you think, gary?
i've seen more than a few flamey mercurys (mercuries?) lately. why is that? i suppose because they're awesome that way.
it was hot and extremely windy when i took this shot a few weeks ago in riverside. it was the glitter painted flames that stopped me first, and that it had a hood ornament – bonus. almost gave up trying to get a shot of it, there were too many people around.
i am at the point where, i figure, screw the people milling about if they're not in focus, just get the car. otherwise, the best cars just can't be captured. i hate the ones that i let get away in the past because people wouldn't move. fortunately, the majority of the time, if you whip out a tripod, people will move, same way i try to stay out of someone else's shots. i have some patience, and i can wait.
anyway, i think i'll hit you all up with a short series of mercs. why the hell not. i keep seeing them, so why shouldn't you?
had enough of the showlows cars? ok, this is the last one of the bunch i have. did i miss any ronnie? such a nice collection. a nice bunch of guys.
wish there were more sunsets like the one there was this night. such pretty colors and i don't use that word too often. and i liked how it reflected on the cars, especially the lighter colored ones.
just realized i've posted over 250 cars up here...whew! time flies when you're having fun. :)
i've done this one before. almost the same angle, and same parking spot. but the owner is a friendly sort of guy, and came right over to mention that his baby was freshly cleaned and polished, and that nasty chair in the former post was not parked up front (though he forgot about that one at the back).
that's him in the reflection of the fender with me, and the owner of said nasty chair as well (wearing the hat). lol. nasty chair owner always likes to tell me how i should shoot a car — i'm not quite clear on whether he was a photographer of some sort in a past life.
he (mr. nasty chair) wanted me to shoot from the other side, which i did, but i liked the background stuff (a light pole impaling the car and traffic lights) less than from this side. of course, his car was on that side, and is reflected in the door of this car. kept saying he painted it the color of his girlfriend's fingernail polish. great, but here it's just an obnoxious hot pink reflection.
the owner of this car told the other guy to pipe down and let me do it my way, which is what i always do anyway.