love hood ornaments. non-standard ones are often more fun. found this one on some random rat rod.
maybe i'll collect them some day, but not now, as i really don't have a shelf to put them on. maybe on my desk at work, next to to giant fox tail hanging there already.
can't pass by a pontiac without shooting the indian.
i've got a few shots of the car, but i'm not so impressed with them. not liking the other cars and pop up tents in the background. don't know why, since that's how i find them most of the time. maybe if i look at it again another day, i'll like it better and post it.
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spent the morning doing a lot of driving. drove my better half down to the optometrist, where he got in trouble for not going in for a couple of years. he'll have new glasses soon enough.
then drove back, avoiding the eff-up on the freeway at valley view, where they are doing construction or something all weekend.
stopped at the market. cooking up pots, or more seemingly, vats of beans today. never made them before, and my better half was whining the other day that his mom hadn't made any for a while. i finally asked her to show me how to make them for him, so we had to pick up ingredients.
first market didn't have everything we needed. second market didn't have the pig cankles, so i had to go to a third market for those.
anyway, spent the afternoon doing that. the house smells like onions and jalepeños. better half chopped/obliterated onions in some sort of device he'd bought at the swap meet. his mom sifted through the uncooked beans for the defects and dirt, and told stories of when she was a girl doing the same for her mother.
so it kinda seems like they did most of the work and i just wrote down and followed her directions and stirred the pots. fine by me, i'm not going to eat them.
results are mixed, probably because of the different sizes of the pots used. better half just dumped one pot as being way too salty. says one pot is probably perfect, the other two probably could have cooked a bit longer...not my fault...his mom said they were done time-wise. i didn't think they looked the same as the first batch. whatever. they'll eat them anyway. i'll try again some other time. maybe buy more big pots to cook with, so they all cook at the same rate.
ya, i hate cooking. i'd rather bake cookies and bread. way better than beans.
i've shot this car before. and i see it often parked out in front of his business, when i pass by on the way home. sometimes think about stopping and shooting it up against the brick background, but then chicken out and/or don't have the camera with me. something about invading their personal space, when they're not at a show.
his buddy armando said i should just go ahead and stop...he'd love it. i guess that'd be the case of most owners—to have more pictures of their cars and people that admire their pride and joy, right?
everyone, except richard, of course.
found my way to the viejitos ela show this morning. really didn't want to get out of bed, but expected it to be hot later. and i was awake anyway.
at eight in the morning the lot was already pretty full of bombs. just what the doctor ordered. hurrying, but not hurrying, racing the sun that always wins.
had to take a couple of breaks back under the roof of the drive-in overhang. nice breeze there. waitress even gave me a cup of water. thanks so much.
i was about ready to head home when i was over by this car. liked the hood ornament. the hood was up, so generally would have skipped out on the car. then the owner came over and started talking about other car shows i should check out. big shows in vegas. i happen to be going there week after next on business, but no big shows going on while i'm out there. oh well. i'll see if i can get to the local club shows.
he closed the hood for me, and i shot a few while we continued talking.
really the only one who talked to me, aside from another guy taking pictures with his cell phone, or the guy who said he liked my felix chevrolet shirt. so, i'll post this one first.
san pedro early tomorrow. i gotta get some sleep...and another hard drive.
so i drove out to the broiler on wednesday, for a change. haven't really been able to get out to many shows on weekdays anymore, so i was hopeful.
i arrived just slightly early, and there really weren't too many cars there. not even the old regulars. saw a couple of people i knew though, so that was nice to catch up a little.
so i shot what cars that were there. then sat on the wall and read email and news on my phone. ran into someone who follows me on flickr, and that's always fun. i'd seen his pictures of cars from previous weeks, which is probably why i chose to be hopeful that there would be cars there to shoot.
anyway, each time i decided it was about time to pack it up, a car or two would drive in. mostly not what i like to shoot. they told me the low riders come in later, and that's what started showing up. not pretty or interesting ones, just plain, old cars. and most of them headed to the back of the lot. ya, and they don't look all that friendly, so buh bye.
i liked this chevy. showing its age, but not adorned with unnecessary details. no pinstripes, at least that i saw. liked the hood ornament too, with the pitting.
really should have stayed until sunset. need to eff with this camera in low light more. still prefer my old camera.
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looking forward to the uptown show in the morning. hoping it will be more coordinated this time. maybe even more of the lowriders will be coming back after the idiocy the organizers pulled a few years ago. i heard they expect about 400 cars. crossing my fingers. better half will be there off and on too, in between taking care of his mom's needs.
and meeting a guy who's buying one of my pictures from the fair. so if you see me just standing around the main intersection around 11:30, come check it out.
so i'm still sick. had a last minute invite to take a picture of a club's cars at a memorial service today, but had to turn them down. can't drive on this medicine. hope someone else was able to help them.
probably also won't go to san fernando tomorrow. i could skip the medicine, but my over-protective better half wouldn't be very happy. he'll say it's too soon, and that i should stay down the whole weekend. already missed three days of work.
he had expected i'd get up and go out to do the photo today, and i'm sure he fully expects i'll get up before the sun tomorrow to be in san fernando. and i totally would. the things we do for love...so phooey, will have to wait another year.
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ok, the lady of the couple that owns this car, saw me shooting another car, and came over to ask me to take pictures of her car. fine. if they managed to get computer access, there's another view of it over here.
mostly stock parts, and recently completed, if i remember correctly, it also features air bags. guess that's important, because other people mentioned it to me as well.
several websites mentioned nicknames for this model year, including "baby cadillac" and "cast iron wonder."
hey, photographer! that's what i vaguely heard after i'd walked past a pop-up tent with a bunch of guys lounging in the shade. took a couple of times, before i realized they were calling to me. i don't really think about being one, so i almost had it tuned out as background noise.
turning around, got the question i'd been asked several times yesterday: you with a magazine or what do you do with your pictures? never quite sure what to say. i do post them here. one. at. a. time. or maybe some of them, never. to the few people who really seem interested, i'll post their car here, if i think the shot was decent. if it isn't, hope to see it again, in another location, with more interesting light maybe.
anyway, fun bunch of guys. viejitos from somewhere else, i think. one guy asked me to take a picture of his car. took a couple, liked this one best. if you like it, you can buy a print here.
kinda missed the focus point on the hood ornament, but i like it anyway:
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most of the time i forget my camera will take video. shot this quick video before i left. not nearly as clean and steady as what my better half gets when he slaps his camera on his rolling tripod, so sorry. just did the say anything move, and held the camera up over my head.
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if you know i took a shot of your car, and want to see a frame straight out of the camera, without the tlc or polish, you can go peek over here. shoot me an email, if you're interested in seeing it cleaned up, and maybe buy a print. some of them i'll get around to eventually on my own. squeaky wheel gets the grease, ya know. i have a hard enough time deciding on what to post now anyway.
i usually don't go so long between posts, especially when i'm not on vacation or otherwise out of town, away from the puter. but i'm just soooo tired after busy days at work and sitting in traffic going home.
actually, i did work on a picture on monday, but after finishing it, decided i didn't like it so much. i have a few other angles on that particular car, so i'll try one of those another day. sorry ernie.
this is one of the solitos' cars, out on the curb by foursquare church last month. i sort of like all their cars i caught out there, so i suppose i'll get around to posting them one by one, eventually. everything's eventual. just need to find enough time.
quick post, as i run off to catch a plane to san fran to attend a two-day business meeting. gotta come back saturday to turn in my pics for the fair. kind of a bummer, as i'd prefer to have stayed the weekend, but on the other hand...i got stuff that will be hanging at the fair. so yay. better half says i'm a winner whether i get a ribbon or not...just getting selected is enough to celebrate.
sooooo tired. too much work this week. almost thought i was going to have to get a job done before i left, but it's looking like i will have to miss part of the meeting and use the boss's computer to finish. not my fault if they miss their deadline. blame the ceo.
when ya gotta go, ya gotta go. ttfn.
ok, one more from the old memories show, then i'm gonna put up a few from yesterday's solitos show.
i think all of the cars in this shot are old memories' cars. i liked the "patina" on this one. evidence that this isn't the original hood ornament either.
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oh, and happy father's day to my dad. he mostly can't hear what i say anymore. i think i'm on a different frequency...to which my better half would probably agree...so i'll just write it here, since i know he peeks once in a while. i'll take him out to dinner in a couple of days, when it isn't so crowded at the restaurants. i don't follow the holiday rules anyway.
celebrate your parents everyday. who knows how much time you will have them. i hope they know that i love them, though we have a tough time saying it to each other. stiff upper lip or something.