purple sky

another from the lowdown show. these aren't perfect, but i think they give you the gist of the feeling. wishing i'd used my old lens, especially at night. better half would probably argue that this one is better, but i don't think so.

pretty truck. i think i've shot it before, but i'm not finding it now. probably didn't label it right. they moved it to this side of the street at some point, so shot it again. different spot, different light. slightly fewer people in the way. can't really do anything about the traffic, so i just live with the light streaks.

pinky swear

we were heading back toward the car and spotted this car across the parking lot, across the street. definitely bright and sparkly enough to stand out.

lots of bling and too much of everything. all the chrome engraved, airbrushing, glitter, pinstriping and pink. pink. pink is for chicks. i'm a chick, but hate pink, and that's just me.

but it was an interesting amalgamation of skills.

effected

there's a chevy under there: glitter, chrome, airbrush, pinstripe, reverse doily/lace, glass etching...i dunno...a bit much? interesting, but i don't know where to look first. sorry.

long day, so i'll bite my tongue and stop now.

 

muy bueno

i've seen the famous bueno family impala several times now. another car that i just can't get enough of. so many details. airbrushing, etched chrome and pinstripes all over. can never get up high enough to shoot the roof of these kinds of things.

there's stephanie waiting patiently. i don't know her well enough to know what she's thinking, so i won't presume to guess. we pass each other at shows, and don't say much more than hello. i'm shy. she doesn't seem shy. so it's just me.

other people we ran into at this show expressed happiness that she was there, and getting out, making the effort to be out with people. i imagine it can't be easy.

saw her around the show later in the day, without a camera in her hand. that was unusual.

his own, personal, jesus

i've been spotting some really incredible impalas lately. clean, etched, engraved, hydraulics, airbrushed and pinstriped.

saw this stylistics car at the church show too.

what might that man be looking at in the trunk besides the engraved hydralical system? ah, there it is now...

the girl on the wheel cover must have been calling him earlier... >:)

a bike is a bike

quick post. does anyone really grow up?

this tricycle features a popeye theme, wood paneling, metal etching, airbrushing and pinstriping.

this bike features metal etching, airbrushing and pinstriping.

both cool. both bikes. big kids.

dam fine

stayed up late last night, slept in a bit this morning. my better half assumed we weren't going anywhere and was settling in to watch the idiotic rose parade on tv. he was laughing because channel 5 had missed the thunderbird flyover and only caught the contrails. can't stand the talking heads with their milquetoast voiceover.

when i said i was going to go to the majestics show at the santa fe dam, he got moving. we've never been there, and i figured it would be mostly low riders and jumpers, but also a bit of the stuff we like. flickr contacts are good references when trying to judge going to new shows by looking at past shows images. and mentioning flickr...hey to rudy and to luis...a couple of contacts who have introduced themselves and were at the show today. also, hey to steven, who ran into my better half, but i was off in another parking lot at the time.

needless to say, it was an incredibly well attended show. didn't realize that it continued from parking lot to parking lot, and we only got around to about five of them. also didn't expect to stay very long. we got there about ten in the morning and didn't leave until three-thirty, and still didn't take all the pictures that i could have if i wasn't worrying about my better half and taking up his day off. he had been bored early, but then got over it. said it was because he had gotten something to eat.

anyway. i know we both shot pictures of this car. i can't quite figure out what it is...to me, the body looks like a '39 chevy, but the front looks like a '34. i dunno, and i guess it doesn't really matter much. it was pretty detailed all over. it had airbrushed girls on the visor and in the engine space. can't quite remember if they were also in the trunk, but that was full of engraved hydraulics, if i'm not confusing it with another car. i gotta re-sync my two cameras, so the pictures are sorted by time...the detail shots start getting separated from the car i'm shooting too often.

it also had pinstriping on the hood and about the headlights and such. the grille was so gold, it seems to be throwing off the sensor in my camera trying to catch both the brilliance of the gold and the brightness of the red paint.

really amazing car. the owner lost interest in me after he asked if i was with a magazine. i threw my card on the seat, so maybe he'll enjoy the picture anyway.

long day, but so worth the time. extra glad it wasn't a summer show, as it did get warm, but not the hell hole it must be down in the ditch as during the summer would be.

enjoyed watching the cars hop for a bit in a different lot, though i don't think i can understand why you guys spend so much time and money fixing up the cars to look good and then bounce the hell out of the chassis. i suppose its just because you can.

i would go again next year.

i see what i see

finally, the weekend. not too much going on car show-wise. some standard weekly shows. not sure if i'll go. probably should, as i'm out of practice again. can feel myself closing into my shell again. gotta get out to shows frequently to feel like i'm getting any better in my photography and/or getting out of that comfort zone they talk about.

got netflix playing in the background. watched a couple of stephen hawking shows, which were kind of interesting. how he explains the world and how we see things. we all see things differently. just ask my better half, he'll tell you about going out on photo shoots when we travel, and how i'll see stuff he just never noticed. is it his height, or just that he doesn't notice things i don't know. is it the difference between boys and girls and what catches our attention? don't know. just know it's fun to compare what we take when we go shooting in the same places.

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saw this bomb at the latin gents show. i don't think my pictures have captured what i saw. i'll have to try again if i see it. 

loved the details—the engraved scrolling on the metal trim, the pinstriping, the paint—all good. not quite loving the window etching. did he do it himself? kinda ruins the perfection of the rest of it, but maybe it balances it out as well.

jesse’s girl

while wandering around the show, we passed through this group of cars. i was shooting the pinstripes on the back of this one, when the owner came over and asked what we do with the photos. so, since he seemed really interested, i took a few shots of his car, while he pointed out the finer points of the monte carlo next to it.

i liked his car. a pale yellow, with tan pinstriping, just a touch on the hood, and a little on the back end. not too much, not too little. he says their club mostly goes to the bigger shows, in several states. mentioned one coming up in laughlin, nevada next month. says it's a good show, lots of cars. i'm trying to remember how hot it gets in nevada in may. already thinking about going to vegas in september and it is usually smoldering then.

normally, i wouldn't shoot the monte carlo, but it was the details that really blew us away. etched metal on all the chromed surfaces, custom leather interior, airbrushing and pinstriping. really impressive. here are a few of the details: