can you not see why rainy days make for the bestest images? look at that sky. and that the sun is muted like a big soft box, killing off harsh reflections.
i take pictures of the cars as i find them, but there are times like this, i wish i could move some of that background crap out of the way...it's cluttering up a perfectly fine car picture.
check out the airbrushed picture on the visor of this dodge. skelly banditos. :)
quick post, since it is that over-wrought hallmark holiday after all.
my better half says it's valentines day every day, but then he also says it's his birthday, so he celebrates every day. these things usually said while he looks into my eyes. may you all be so lucky...
always looking for an excuse not to have to deal with cleaning the house or running laundry, i found this car show out in riverside, a fundraiser for the arizona middle school. i figured i could at the very least see some new cars.
i was not disappointed. the back field was lined with several inland empire car clubs' collections. i arrived, and just started from the right end of the fence and followed it around the perimeter. didn't shoot every single car, but mainly because half of them had the hoods and trunks open. such fine cars. mostly chevys of various years. but there were also a few newer cars, and some truck club, that i didn't really care about and therefore, totally ignored.
they also had various food and product stands, all selling their wares to collect money for various school clubs. i meant to buy some girl scout cookies from girls pulling a wagon, but didn't want to carry them around while i shot; i forgot to go find them when i was done. oh well. they weren't for me anyway – was going to get thin mints for my mother-in-law – a guilty pleasure for a diabetic.
this wagon was very nice, as proven by the trophies won, sitting in front of it. i don't think i've ever seen one, so i couldn't help from taking a picture of it, even with the back window hatch up. as it's supposed to rain in the next day or two, the sky above made for wonderful down low shots and reflections on all the cars.
i think the owner of this one was victor, one of the few people that bothered to talk to me. handed me a flyer for a show in march. thanks, victor. i hope i can make it there. hope your car won a trophy at this show...the one that was taller than me would probably fit in the back of your wagon.
i've had this one sitting in my favorites for a while now. i guess saving it for a rainy day. supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so close enough.
this baby was polished to a mirror finish, and i'm kinda bummed i couldn't get up any higher to catch the sunset reflection in the hood. i think i had the tripod as high as i could get it, stand on my tip toes and still see in the eye piece. of course my better half would/will hassle me about using an angled eye piece for this type of problem, but i'm going to hope he doesn't see this post for a change.
anyway, was damn nice car.
i've carried my cameras with me for the last couple of days. even drove to a show yesterday, got there early. sat in the lot for half an hour. only a couple of cars drove in, and i'd shot them several times previously. waited a bit more, then headed home without even getting out of the car. ya, maybe i should have waited longer. maybe i'll go back when the warmer weather and later sunsets are here.
then today, after sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours at work, i just didn't feel like going to either show on my way home. i think i'm just ready for the weekend off.
another practice baseball game tomorrow, and yup, already checked, a couple of car shows available to see in riverside, should i be in the area late enough.
this cadillac i see a lot. often at the broiler. i found a night shot of it in my favorite spot looking up at the neon. maybe i'll post it some other day. this shot was over at the summer show that happens in cypress, from last year. looks really clean at this size, but when i zoom in, i see the pitted paint, probably from being hit by dirt and rocks on the freeway, and the blemishes in the trim.
still really like this angle, but perhaps i'm stuck in a rut. i'll have to put up some other view next time.
so i went to the broiler the other night. end of january. temps in the upper 70s. weirdest weather i can remember.
anyway, lots of cars were already in the lot by the time i arrived. these pretty little things were all spit shined for an official photo shoot for a magazine i can't remember the name of, but i'm sure you'd all recognize it. quite the production, with a large team of people setting up fancy lighting and lots of cameras.
got this one fairly early on, though i was intercepted when i first arrived by someone interested in pictures of their own car. he's a regular. already had posted his car, and tried to show it to him on my phone, but the signal wasn't that great. had to go fetch my ipad out of the car, and finally found it to show to him. dude, if you're reading this, i sent you an email. waiting for a reply...but i digress...
story i heard from the owner of this lovely nomad was that it was the third time his car had been featured as a work in progress, only this time, the car had just been completed. hot spanking new paint job. perhaps it was really featuring the paint shop, as three of these cars were completely awesome and similarly pinstriped and metal flaked up in lollypop colors.
anyway, i got my shots in between their set ups and all the people milling around. only i didn't use a flash or their lights. i'll look for the magazine, but i'm perfectly happy with my pictures, even if they aren't perfect.
t buckets are interesting beasts. they're old, but you'd never know it, they way they're polished up and perfect. all angles and chrome and wire rims. much too fastidious or should i say meticulous? not a bad thing, but i think you'd have to be a little ocd to keep this type of ride this clean and spotless. not for me, but thanks for letting me park my tripod in front of them.
there always seems to be groups of cadillacs here at bob's. a couple of new ones have started coming around, though i'm pretty sure i've seen them somewhere before. lovely pointy fins and nice tail lights, even with their imperfections. and if one happens to park here, in one of my favorite parking spaces, i can't help but take a shot.
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anyone going to the new weekly show over at the great park farmer's market in irvine on sunday? i've never even bothered to go there, but i think the show just started up last week. wondering what i might find there.
of course, after a week of perfect summer weather in january, there's a 20% chance of rain. well, it did get cloudy on wednesday...i'm starting to think my better half is causing the exceptions to the perfect weather – he went with me to the broiler on wednesday, and says he'll go with me on sunday. kinda sucks, because i hardly ever get him to a show anymore, and the weather keeps the cars away.
i think a former co-worker has a stand in the market, so i guess i can at least say hi.
quick post. gotta get going. not much to say about this car. don't know why people don't like hudsons. they're like some poor bastard of a chevy and some other model i can't quite remember. chrome on silver and a cloudy day always make me happy too.
outta here. ttfn.
danny's car again. he really wants a three-quarter view of it. i've only seen it twice, and both times, not an optimal spot. i shot it before, but he wanted to see more of it. this one echos the other danny's car, both in color tweakedness and in lens flare. it's supposed to be a deep red wine color. must be the light and the shade on this side, again messing up the color. i like it anyway. guess i just like flares and starbursts.
i have a decent one from the other side, and it's the right color, but there's a group of dudes on one side and a single dude on the other in it that just bug me, and it's not quite showing this much of the car. throws the picture out of balance or something, and i can't crop them out without losing some of the car either. i think that is the point where i could revert to desaturating, darkening, blurring, stripping out the background, or a hundred other things to remove the annoying items. i don't have the time or desire to do that much work.
i need to get something done tonight for delivery tomorrow, so i'm just putting this one up because it's ready to go.