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1938 plymouth

almost didn't get up for the oldies' show today. knew the heat there can be brutal. after a half an hour of inner arguments, i got my sorry ass out of bed and got ready to go.

out the door a little after five, and with a forty-five minute drive ahead of me, knew i'd lost the sunrise, at least the full dark to that sun peeking over the horizon.

got there early enough anyway, to catch some of the golden hour. almost didn't get in the gate. usually, no problem, no question, pay my way in, and get to work.

this year, i'd arrived just as the gates opened for clubs, and no one at the gate recognized me. they seemed confused as to how to handle a photographer that didn't work for a magazine, simply wanted to shoot for the love of the cars. i guess the main confusion was in my wording of, "can i come in now," implying that i wanted in for free. nope, fully prepared/expecting to pay, just let me in before the sun gets too high.

in the end, after the question getting passed through about three people, the guy one called, "grampa" let me in for ten, though i would've paid the thirteen advertised. so thanks to all of those people that figured it all out, and helped me get in.

probably the closest i've come to being turned away at a show. i would have just stayed out on the street for a little while, shooting the cars passing by, as they waited in line at the gate, since that was where i was parked, first on the curb. certainly would have left a hell of a lot sooner, because it really did get to warm to be in the sun for long periods of time.

at least there were shady areas, with cool breezes, for a change from the normal weather there. and with the fire in santa clarita, a few miles away, the breeze blew away that smell of burnt wood and ash within the first hour.

blah blah blah.

ok, this was the second year in a row, out of about five years that i'd been there, and it was slow to fill up. first couple of years, it was packed, with cars lined down the street and around the block. i dont' know why many of the shows lately are so lightly attended that early, unless you consider the partying the night before.

well, i just go with it, and the cars that are there get all my love, with room to move around.

this plymouth was being polished when i walked by the second time, and i momentarily waited for him to take a break from the job. i think he said it belonged to his uncle or cousin, who also owned another car that was later parked in front of it. told him i'd come back later when he was done.

i did, but i like this earlier shot better than the later ones. there was space around it to get a decent shot, and no people.

the kid was interested in seeing what i shot, but i explained that it was multiple exposures, so he wouldn't really be that impressed by one frame. told him i'd post it, so here you go.

i like the playing cards that were blowing randomly down the street. guessing from the newer, fancier cars around the corner with the mirrors and fuzzy material under their vehicles. one did have a pack of card strewn about on the blanket. 

goldie lox

1940 plymouth

at my parents' house. they're outta town at a mini family reunion. all my dad's sibs in one place, probably for the last time...it's a good thing. my brothers are there too, maybe to keep the peace, i don't know.

they're all getting old, and don't travel well. at least i know how my old people grumbled as i dropped them off at the airport. my mom would have preferred not going, or maybe a roadtrip, but then my dad would have fallen asleep at the wheel, and taken them both out. i'd really prefer to take his keys away now, even for local trips, but we'd have to pry the keys from his fingers.

mostly, he's fine. it's keeping him away from costco that'd be preferrable just now. no two people need that much food on hand that often, especially stuff that is sold in twenty-four packs and ripe right now. mostly i think he forgets that he already went shopping.

back to my point, i'm here, watching the house, feeding a turtle that is apparently not hungry and sleeping somewhere in the backyard, and an ancient bird who hates everyone that isn't my mom. it's also sort of creepy being alone in this house i grew up in. i just don't live here anymore, so i am not used to the sounds it makes. and there has been someone calling and not leaving messages all day, who also hung up on me when i did answer. probably just a telemarketer, because they're a-holes that way.

i also half expect my kid to sneak in and scare the shit out of me, since he also has a key. he used to do that to my mom, until i pointed out that he was going to literally give her a heart attack. he felt bad and stopped doing that at least. i'm tired, but don't want to turn the light off...little kid in an old bod.

there are several beds to choose from, one that's too hard, one that's too soft, and a couple that fred flintstone would have been happy to sleep on, until i bought them thick foam mattress pads to ease guests' suffering, most often that being me.

anyway, one more day and they'll be home. i'll probably miss ruby's season opener car show tomorrow, but my better half may go just to send me pics of what i'm missing. it's raining here right now, and probably tomorrow, so maybe the show will start next week, if the clouds head to whittier...

such a busy month ahead for me, i will just have to endure it, and fit in a couple of weekend shows as i can.


i've seen this plymouth before, in previous years at chicano park. people mostly shoot it from the other side, and from the front. i got that shot too. but i am hoping to see things a little different, so here's a shot from the back. i need to post some cars from other areas of the show, than just by a mural wall. the cars are interesting on their own, without the added prop of the art. that is, unless it's more about the location and the car is incidental to the scene...

now i'm just rambling, and i should get some sleep. i'm sufficiently tired enough to not give a rat's ass if the bogey man showed up.

chatty kathy

1937 plymouth

made it out to the los angeles bombs' car show at the speed zone on friday. good thing we got there early...parking was hard to come by later on in the evening.

good thing we got a lot of shots in before too many people showed up. the more crowded it got, the more time it took to shoot between the crowds of people, or the people that don't notice and walk between the camera and the car. it happens. have to go zen, or just count to ten, before giving up and moving on to another car.

i was shooting this plymouth soon after we arrived. then the owner and his friend came over, the friend saying my name. he had remembered me from the unidos show the previous year—they had both chatted me up there. i remembered him instantly, when he mentioned the high school—i'd taken a picture of the friend's car

spent a long time talking with them again. learned about a couple of car shows coming up, that the friend's son had somehow broken a braket on his car with a garage door, so didn't have it at the show. talked photography, of course, and all sorts of other things. a really rambling convo, but fun and interesting.

better half happened to walk up about that time and joined in. the more the merrier.

told the plymouth owner i'd post a shot of his car, if i got one i liked. problem with the earlier shots was that they both kept walking into the frame, the owner getting stuff from the car, the friend directing the owner on how to turn the wheel just so, so it would look good from the angle i was shooting at that particular moment.

i did manage to get a shot or two without them in it, but i like this one from later, when they were no where in sight. it's all good. i just have to chuckle sometimes.

if laughter is the best medicine, then my better half and myself are the healthiest people around.

into the dark

i liked this car. owner and his friend were standing in front of it for a while, so i spent time wandering nearby and further away, shooting other cars. finally ran out of interesting cars for a while...it was very early...and went back over to it. just asked them if i could take a picture of their car, and voilà, they said sure, and moved out of the way.


hell of a week. a few 12+ hour days will do you in. taking a break right now. going to a memorial service this evening, followed by a funeral tomorrow. then more work to do.

house full of relatives. i may head to the office tomorrow, afterwards. it's just easier.

speaking of, got to watch a crime scene unfold the other day, down in irvine. they found a body on a bike trail. saw it from my office window, soon after they found it, just after the sun came up. didn't have my camera with me, just a cell phone. so, the pic i took before they covered the guy up, just looks like a cow laying across the path.

interesting to see how the cops dealt with the scene, a lot of cops milling around for a couple of hours before the forensic types showed up, failing miserably at hiding the body from view...seriously, it is right next to the freeway, and hanging blankets over the fence didn't cut it.

they say he was killed. my theory, until they say how it happened, is that the coyotes ganged up on him. his bike was parked nearby. i say, he got off the bike, thinking they were dogs, and the pack jumped him. i saw them yesterday from the window, on the same path. just a thought.

or it could be homeless guys under the freeway overpass. it's creepy down there as it is...i've walked over there before. might be a while before i think about walking by myself over there again.

taco town

i was on my way back to my car, from the mooneyes open house, when i saw this car sitting in a parking lot. i find it difficult to just keep walking past such a car, with all it's rusty business, particularly when i had my camera gear in hand this time. otherwise, i'm just as likely to whip out my phone and take a snap.

not sure if it was completely the car that caught my eye, or just the play of the colors of the cars against the building.


been away from my pictures for several days now. home for the weekend. very busy at work. people will start visiting this house soon; a funeral is only a week away; and one person has two additional of her own to attend...this year has started on a very sad note indeed.

hoping to be sitting in line at pomona this sunday, before the sun comes up. thar be cars to shoot...

early bird gets the...

got to san fernando so early, that i parked on the curb near the entrance, and could have parked even closer, but held back a few car lengths. years' past there had been a line of cars down the street and around the corner. not entirely sure why it wasn't the case this time, but i needn't have worried--so many showed up later. must have been hungover, or, egads, they went to church?

i get to shows early, just for opportunities like these. no people in the shot, that glowing morning light, always chasing the light. gotta setup and shoot quickly, or you miss it. no gold reflectors needed. still, i got there too late for the transition from dark blue to purple to orange. oh well.

can't remember which club these two belong to...don't remember any club insignia, though they were later surrounded by a zillion pachuco club cars. i just know that i saw them across the field first thing, with that golden light, and went as quickly as i could to them.

loved the light hitting the hood ornament on the plymouth, and that it showed it's age, hadn't been replaced with a shiny new piece.

camera bags don't roll too good on grass. maybe they should make them with bigger wheels. that glow with fiber optic light. nah, wouldn't really blend into the background that way.

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crazy busy weekend/week ahead. day off on friday, mother-in-law's birthday; a graduation saturday, followed by a drive to vegas. a week there (any local shows besides cars and coffee?). car shows when i get back. thoughts: uptown whittier car show or bridal shower for future daughter-in-law??? hmmm hmmm hmmm.

gotta figure out how/when to take 100+ hours of vacation time before the end of the year. my mom just changed her mind and said she'd be willing to do a road trip. interesting. wait a few days...she'll change her mind.

valspar

woke up early and headed to original mike's for the pistolero's / viejitos show. was wonderfully overcast the whole time i was there, so i'm hoping the pictures will be good.

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was a bit confusing, because when i got there, the lot was full of porsches, with the cars i was looking for sitting on the street. guys were saying they had double-booked shows.

perhaps it was just their regular saturday morning coffee meeting. if not, it was the weirdest show i've seen...none of them were out looking at each other's cars...they were all inside eating/meeting. it was like a damn porsche dealer lot; full of carreras. all the same, all different colors, all packed together.

i spent the time shooting what cars there were on the street. got some good pictures, up against the buildings, and the fire station.

whatever. my guys started moving into the lot about nine, more as the porsche party broke up and started to leave, one by one. i followed them in. shot them again...different location, different light. 

more cars showed up, plenty to keep me happy. cars reshuffled several times as spots opened up, and clubs parked together. shot them again.

only a couple of guys inquired about my pictures. so i'll start with them.

don't think i've seen this plymouth before. i liked it up against this paint building, the colors matching the car almost like they'd matched paint chips. what is that...PMS 188 or 201?

on my way out, this freaky monkey thing was at the entrance/exit, a bizzare greeting to all those that enter. certainly was creeping out a little girl, who did not want to pose with it for her mother.


golden slumbers

got there relatively late this time. had to stop at the market to have breakfast, since we pretty much skipped dinner, and i was just gonna faint if i didn't eat.

we decided to start at the back of the park this year, then move to the street, before the crowds showed up.

i liked this plymouth, just sitting there glowing in the middle of the lawn. stupidly, i didn't take any shots of the hood ornament, and i love hood ornaments. oh well. next time.

i suspect there's some custom stuff on the car, since i don't think plymouths sat like this back in the day.

rain, rain, go away

so i had to get my taxes done friday afternoon. weather reports kept saying it was going to rain all weekend, but it hadn't started yet. so i took my camera bag with me to the appointment. it was close enough to the elks club show, figured i'd drive by and see if anything was happening.

hadn't been there in several months. as expected, they lot wasn't as full as it should have been. rain, rain, go away. i guess i thought that too much, since it still hasn't rained all weekend.

stuff i wanted to shoot really didn't show up, at least while i was there. made the best of it, and enjoyed myself before heading back home to finish my work day. chatted for a few minutes with another photographer, i hadn't seen before. you get to know the regulars. we should have a secret handshake or something.

anyway, work was waiting, so i packed my bag, and took about ten steps toward the car, when this plymouth drove up. and drove to the back of the lot. so yes, i walked all the way back there, and pulled everything out again.

turns out i saw it earlier in the month, though not with the additional side and roof paint. i recognize the pinstriping on the front.

so i got a few shots to keep me happy.

betty boop

hard to pass this plymouth by, it being so red and all. i stopped. i saw. i took a picture. well, actually a few.

i liked this one best. shows the sky, the car, the bridge, the mural...what the show is all about...and the location. or maybe just because it makes me laugh because the guy in the painting looks like he's about to write all over the car. furiously.