tiki time

so i stopped at bob's last month and saw this woodie sitting there. usually don't care about them, but i liked the paint detail on the spare cover. so i just took this one shot of the car just to catch it. the coconuts in the trees are little tiki heads.

the owner came over and asked what i was doing. i'm up fairly close to the car with the wide angle, and they always think i'm just doing a detail shot. nope, when i want the detail, i use my other camera with the macro lens, like i did for the air filter cover here. he opened the hood, said i had to see it.

not sure if he knew about my aversion to what's under the hood, but he insisted i check it out, and i admit, this one was pretty cool. clean engine compartment too.

must have looked up my blog; he found me at the halloween show at ruby's the following week. wanted me to take pics of his car, but i got there too late and for some reason he didn't have it at the show or had already taken it home.

guess i'll try to get to bob's again sometime. better chance to get nice sunset shots since the time changed. just gotta start carrying my cameras with me again, and stopping at shows after work.

one little indian boy

i saw this hot rod several times at the pep boys show before they put an end to it. it was always parked too close to other cars and often the owners were all sitting around in front of it, so i never really got a shot i liked of it. i did get an ok shot of the hood ornament once.

found it this time over at the buena park elks lodge. i think the show only started a few weeks ago. i'd never been there, so i pulled into the lot and parked near the entrance in an unmarked spot. there were the typical reserved spots at an elks lodge, like one for "knights" and such.

i got out of my car, opened the trunk and started getting my camera set up. loading batteries and cards, cleaning the lenses. finally pulled my bag and tripod out, closed the trunk and was ready to go.

then from across the lot, one of the grand poobahs asked, "are you an elk?" took all that i had not to come back with a "do i look like an elk?" type answer. i told him no, and then he advised that the parking lot was for elks only, i'd have to move to the street. would help if they'd put up a sign at the driveway. way to roll out the welcome mat, oh holy moly one. might as well have told me to piss off.

so, i heaved all my gear back into my trunk and moved the car. almost considered giving this show the finger, but figured i'd already wasted time and gas finding it, so i might as well take a quick turn around the lot. fortunately, i got there early enough, there was plenty of space right across the street. unfortunately, i got there early enough, there wasn't much to see. kinda disappointing. several cars that used to go to the garden grove main street show, a couple i see at cypress, and only a few i've never seen. one guy i spoke to did say they usually get about 60 or 70 cars. i've heard that before, and i'll believe it when i see it.

i didn't stay long, as i was heading to ruby's halloween show right after.

wtf is an elk anyway, and why would anyone want to be one? do they wear the big hats with horns like fred flinstone and barney rubble? secret handshakes? what's with the silly names for the exulted leaders? guess i'm not old enough to want to be part of that club anyway. i'll stop now before i get into trouble.

his baby

ok, nuff showlows for the week? ronnie asked if i had one of his ride, so here it is. he's one of the few that actually comments on my blog. so thanks ronnie. hope you like this one.

oh, and here's a shot of the pinstripes on the back of the car.

apparently i missed a decent show and some of my favorite cars over at bob's this weekend. sorry, but my better half caught a cold, so he got my attention instead.

altarnative view

here's another showlows car from the dia de los muertos. one of two altars set up in the back of their trucks. interesting to look at and very colorful.

some work's been done to this truck since this shot. kinda wondering what's planned for it. it's all sanded down.

not plain vanilla

here's the first one i took from the dia de los muertos show in whittier yesterday. this was a row of showlows cars. ronnie was kind enough to let me know they were going to be there, and since its right up the street from me, easy to walk to. even got uptown early and got some bfast before they arrived.

i don't think i've seen this one from their club. very exceptional and clean. i liked the pinstripes, which they all seem to have, and it's very well done.

imp

i stopped by the broiler the other day. was a bit more lively than on recent visits, yet still pallid compared to last summer.

as always, i find more interesting cars hiding in the back for whatever reason. this impala was one of those. on first look, it was an eye catcher, with it's shiny paint, glitter and all. but on closer inspection, there are a few imperfections on the pinstriping/airbrushing, but maybe it was just because i was getting up close and personal with the thing. still, it's a pretty thing just the same.

green with envy

oooohhhhh. this was one spectacular car. really incredible flame job and chromeography. yet another in the land of unwelcome customs and low riders lot at the whittier uptown show. my only question in all the attention to detail, is why they used such a jolly green giant green on the wheels, rather than something from the same range as the hood flames? kinda throws me off a bit.

---------

question for you: what do you consider a professional photographer? i often get asked if i'm a professional, and am always at a loss as to how to answer. i look at them, they look at me. they blink, look quizzically. "do you work for a magazine?" blink. blink.

i wonder why they bother to ask, most never look like the type that would buy a print, much less pay “professional” rates. i assume they want something for free, to use for their charity, whatever. if i state a price, i sometimes hear that mr. xyz only charges $X. well, then, go buy his/her pictures, it don't bother me none. i don't have the time or interest to peddle my wares or harass the owners.

i think the basic definition, is that if you can sell a print, you're a professional. then, ya, i guess i am, in some fashion. on the other hand, i do this more as a hobby, to do my own thing after a long day at work, without other people telling me what to do. 

i'm a professional graphic designer, since that's what i've got a diploma in and how i make my bread and butter, one who farts around with cameras after work, then tweaks the images on a computer—still in designer mode. so anyway, ya i'm a professional.

back in college i collaborated on a gallery show with a painter. i showed my black and white photography, he put up his paintings. i had cemetery images, close up detail stuff, abstract negative space, etc. the one comment left in my guest book that stuck out in my mind, was that "...the work looked like it was done by a graphic designer." i was never sure if that was meant in a good way or a bad way. i developed the stuff the same as a "photographer," so what is the difference? was it the way i cropped the images? the presentation? was it a snobby photography student? i don't remember. i didn't know anyone well at the school, and it wasn't advertised as photography done by a design major, so how would they even know?

anyway, back to my point; everyone with a camera these days can call themselves a professional photographer. but the old rule still applies: garbage in, garbage out. i think people can judge for themselves. i usually just answer to the blinkers, "no," and they go away to stuff more of their flyers into people's cars.

grape ape

these guys were parked off on the end at enderle last week. i think the owners and a couple of other people were chatting about paint and body and other customization, but in the background of my mind it all sounded like charlie brown's teachers: "wha wha wha whaaa wha wha."

it was something different. don't think i've had the pleasure of catching a hudson that looks like this. all the curvy goodness is just fun for my eyes. not too flamboyant, and even in a simple monotone, i like it a lot.

of course that there mercury ain't bad neither. guess i'll have to post the close up of that one sometime too. polished to a shine on the hood of infinite darkness.

it's dicey

well, another weekend gone. gonna start whining about getting up early for work pretty soon. didn't get enough sleep, and i didn't even get to a car show. intended to, but didn't work out.

anyway, i'm flipping through the year's shots. i have a lot to choose from, which is good. i liked this old mercury, for no better reason than the color combination was different and interesting. and it was the first car i found, as i walked into town that day, just over the train tracks. it was the run what you brung show, in rialto. i'm not sure what that yellow car driving through on the right was, but i don't think i caught up with it later; maybe he just kept going.

swanky

remember when the show at the broiler was so busy, cars had to park in the back lot? what happened? in winter, they said it was too cold. now it's a fairly cool summer, and still not much showing up. maybe i just keep picking off-days – if i went back to going every week, would i be wasting my gas?

i don't know why i like this one. probably it was the tail lights. don't see too many of these. and the slight imperfections don't bother me either. the sign in the window says he belongs to the devils cc from venice. wonder what he was doing here, so far inland.