for someone that isn't that interested in trucks, here i am posting yet another. apparently, i like the '51 to '53s. but they're chevys, and they're curvy and chromed out, so that's probably what it is. and hey, it's got a hood ornament. :)
shit did i just use a smiley? not me at all. my better half is coming home tomorrow from boston...he's the bright, sparkly one; i'm just the dark, twisted one. he should be doing the smileys. i suppose i'll get back to normal soon. :) ahhhhhhhh!!!!!
so i'm just waiting on my better half. getting tired. same old story, and again, time for sleep. long day, long week. thinking i'll go to ruby's on friday. haven't been since the first day of the season.
i'm not much for trucks, but i still will occasionally take a shot. this one was not quite a candy cane, but it was pretty sweet. and the hood was closed, so bonus!
been busy again at work. coworker on vacation, deadlines for tradeshows; i've done a bit of overtime. while i've been to a few shows the last couple of weeks, i've yet to really get a good look at them and decide which ones i want to work on. so, i've dug this one up from february, since i'd already started on it.
still without hot water, and also busy packing up my stuff into big plastic bins. who knew one could collect so much sentimental junk over so many years. trying to sift out the trash from the useless stuff, and still having a hard time throwing out perfectly good junk. there's a community garage sale coming up, but i hate doing those too. think i'll just put the good stuff out in the alley–there's lots of people that would love to have it, and they comb through the garbage several times a day. let them keep it or make it worth their while. i'm too tired to deal with it now.
quick post. it's late, but i've missed my cars. been dealing with a bum water heater, which now has to be replaced. time out of the office, and work is piling up, so i must make up for the time.
made a quick stop here in tustin before heading to work on a sunday, at an annual show at enderle center. seemed smaller than last year, but there were still a good selection of cars. unfortunately too many with their hoods up. ah well.
it's the front bumper on these things that really mark the car, so i've focused on it here. don't know why edsels have a bad name, or so i've heard. they look well enough to me.
off to bedski...
went to the broiler yesterday. was feeling a bit wobbly and warm, so bought a coke and walked around before pulling my gear out of the trunk. the usual suspects were there, a few were missing, several new ones to be found. a few too many muscle cars for my taste. too many hoods up.
out of all the cars i saw, this was the one that really caught my eye. was the first one i had to shoot before i lost the light. i'm sure the guys with the shiny, wonderful cars were watching incredulous that i'd bother with this one, and not even give theirs a thought. location, light, character win over perfect most often. can't pay to have this done to your car. only time can do this. eh, and an owner that doesn't pay attention. maybe it sat in a yard for years; i don't know, didn't talk to the owner, wherever he was.
did chat with a group of betatted guys, one of which came over and said he'd seen me shooting pictures for years here, and always wondered what i did with them. didn't catch his name, but ya, i recognized the indelible girl on his right arm. i believe i've got him lurking in the background of a number of pictures, inevitably. showed him my book, handed him a card. welcome to my digital garage, if you haven't lost the card yet, and make it this far.
no, i'm not dying right now. i was at the fuddrucker's in el toro the other day, trying to take a few pictures of some really spectacular mercuries that had pulled into the lot. minding my own business, lost in my car zen. zoning out after a day of work.
an older couple came over to inquire about what i do with the pictures. told them i do it for myself, and post them on my blog. they walked away.
five minutes later, the lady came back over and asked if i'd take a picture of their car. said she had some dying relative she was going to be visiting, and wanted to show him/her the car. ok, i'll take her word for it. it was a really nice car anyway.
i wouldn't have shot it otherwise, because both the hood and trunk were up. i took several shots of it, but i think this one probably turned out best. sun was starting to go down, so the shots from the other side had too much of my tripod shadow in them, and i don't feel like retouching them.
so here is the shot, and i think i'm done for the night.
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also, anyone who is stopping by here on the referral from my better half's blog, looking for macro shots, search here for hood ornaments, or over at my flickr site for more [search for hood ornaments or check out the flower set].
thanks for the shout out d.
this chevy was truly beautiful. not sure why it parked way over here by itself, but it was fine by me. fewer people milling about, and had room to shoot whatever angle i wanted. and thankfully, he didn't open the hood and walk away. in fact, i'm not sure where the owner wandered off to; maybe he went inside for a burger.
better half thought this shot was better than another i was considering, so here. he took pictures of it too, so i'll wait and see his interpretation of the same car.
thinking i'll go to spires and bob's on wednesday, unless i get stuck late at work.
nothing frames a picture like a city bus, right? right? so awesome. not. lol. really it was just parked in the middle of the street behind this puppy, and i got tired of waiting for it to move, so you takes what you gets.
before this shot, there was some "professional" photographer with "people" shooting pictures of it, with models in '30s and '40s garb draped upon the vehicle. at least two side lights for the model, even on this sunny day, almost straight up noon. maybe because the models already looked a bit harsh, the side lights would soften them up?
whatever. i waited and squeezed in a few shots between their takes, and then they moved on to a car off to the left of this one, so i took a few more. i dunno if i owned a car like this, if i'd let models sit their asses on the bumpers and such. i do assume there was some sort of arrangement with the photographer and the owner to do so.
anyway, there's a car club sign in the back window, but i can't read all of it. the smaller type i think says PHX AZ. i liked the car, but the bus...not so much.
wow, has it really been almost two weeks? work, a conference, and baseball have kept me MIA long enough, right?
so at least once a year, i can talk my bosses into sending me out and about to get some training on the software i use everyday—to keep current, to learn from the people that develop it and the tech gurus that teach it—this year i chose a 3-day conference in san francisco, with a couple of extra days thrown in.
as usual, time leading up to being out of the office is crazy busy in the office trying to not leave jobs hanging or to be handed off unnecessarily. then the way to early trip to the airport, the kiss goodbye, then waiting for the plane.
i love san francisco. but it kinda sorta sucks when you're on your own. my room wasn't ready when i got there before 10am, so had to check my bag and kill several hours. walked around the westfield mall over on market by the end of the cable car line. never really knew it was as big as it is. even had a movie theatre inside, and that's where i blew a couple more hours watching whatever it was that was starting at the time. meh.
you know how it is when you go out of town, where there are moments that stick in your head, pictures frozen in place. here are few from several rides on the streetcars: an old chevy; a long line of low-riders—a club i assume—waiting at the stop light on third street; two "men," one wearing 6-inch clear acrylic stilettos running down the sidewalk, and the german tourists on the other seat obviously commenting to each other about them; the clearest sunset, sky glowing reds and yellows over the golden gate. ya, didn't have my camera with me for any of these, so they are just taking up space in my head.
and the conference, it was very good. hard to find me one that makes me feel challenged. and depending on which seminar i sat in, i either learned a lot or learned a lot and felt like an idiot. anyway, my head hurt from all the info by the end of the three days.
and here, i'd like to thank all the guys that have taken time to chat with me the last couple of years at the car shows. i've always been such a wallflower, hoping to fade into the background, please don't call on me for an answer in class...my original social ineptness has been greatly improved by your conversations and storytelling. it really helped me during the conference, and where i'd usually try and avoid the set-up socializing events and networking sessions, instead, i went to the meetings, and sat at the dinner table. still awkward, but i did manage to ask and answer some questions to the other attendees.
they even had made available free printing of business cards from the same place i order my own sets, so i had more of them printed up, and had some to trade with the other people. other people mostly had standard business cards, or had missed the deadline to order the free ones and had none. so mine, with the cars on them, helped to break the ice and start the conversation about my hobby.
even better, at one particular lunch break, i found someone who reminded me of myself at an earlier age: hardly acknowledged that she had company, didn't say a word, avoided eye contact, ate quickly, and got away as soon as she was finished. i've come a long way, but i'm still going to be a lifelong introvert.
also, my son's baseball season is winding down. now just three more games and he may be on his way to law school. unless he gets drafted at the beginning of june...waiting is the hardest part.
it was all good. but i have missed my cars. and when i got home, my better half had decided to build a new monster computer, and i do mean monster. the thing is big enough to fit small children inside, or maybe park a mini cooper. well, maybe not that big. anyway, he'd had to borrow my computer to download software, and then the internet connection was whacked...so couldn't post if i wanted to for a couple of days. time has been very limited.
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well, here's to getting back to my old routine, hitting up more shows, and meeting more people.
this one is from cinco de mayo in riverside, at the show and go. i'd seen it driving around the circuit. and then it was gone. i wandered about the side streets taking lots of pictures, passing others by (close your hood!), and discovered it parked way out in a side parking lot over by the courthouse, or was it a civic plaza? someone asked if it was mine...no, but wouldn't it be nice...why do people ask if a car is yours just because you use a tripod to shoot the picture? anyway, no owner around, so helped myself to shooting it. cute little matching trailer, isn't it? not quite sure what year it is, but it was so shiny.
as i said, i'd been at the show on saturday, but never did spot my sort of bud, gary and his car. on sunday, with fewer cars, it was easy to spot him and this car. i stopped and shot the car nearby, as he was busy spit shining it, and well, the hood was up.
finally walked over when i caught his eye, to say hello. he immediately went around to the front and closed the hood, proclaiming, "kathy's here...hoods down." yep, he's been reading my blog for a while, and knows what i like.
then he had the nerve to say, just kidding, you don't need to take a picture. come on, gary, you have a pretty car, and the hood was already down...i'm gonna take it.
he waited patiently while i took a few shots, and chatted a bit. hey, he said he'd won a trophy for the third year in a row...something like top 40...i don't know exactly, i'm not familiar with the categories. congrats dude.
now i gotta go pack a bag. off to san fran in the morning for a few days on business, then back for a weekend in fullerton for baseball stuff. meanwhile, my better half has to stay behind and miss me lots. so ya, no posts for a few days, and i won't have a car up there, so i can't get to the few shows in northern cali. so it sucks.
