flying fish

stopped at fuddruckers the other day. mostly too late to catch the sunset, which wasn't all that special anyway. not like the one a couple of nights ago. why is it when there's some awesome sunset to be seen from the front door here, there isn't a car show to be had? saturday, there was a sunset so deep purple to deep red, melted crayons couldn't have matched it in a million years.

finding fewer cars at this show that i want/need to shoot a picture of. been an overall different vibe there, though the dj/host does like to mention other upcoming shows to me.

only took this shot because i liked the fish hood ornament. that decal on the side panel kinda ruins it for me otherwise. 

better than the gym

i had every intention of going to the gym a couple of days ago. actually made it to one last week, after over a year of not setting foot in one. they're so frigging boring. and kinda sucks going by yourself. i mean all alone in a room full of sweating, stinking people.

i was surprised, though, because this gym had totally been redone and expanded. all shiny and air conditioned. as compared to the one over here near where i live. each and every time i went through the door of that place, i'd get hit by a wall of air so stagnant and ripe, i really didn't stay very long. so what's the point?

so as i was saying, i was going to the gym. had changed into the stretchy pants and big, ugly shoes. had to drop some stuff off at the post office, and figured i'd stop by the fuddrucker's nearby. got out and took a walk around the lot. some stuff there. a big ass, fussy britches car of some sort i don't know, but with his hood open, so nevermind. some muscle cars. some random cars. a couple of old vettes. and a few latin gents. they seem to have adopted this show, and there always seem to be a few of them there.

i'd taken a walk without my camera first, in case there wasn't anything worth shooting. then decided there were a couple. went back to the car, got my camera and tripod and headed back over. didn't bother to get my whole bag out of the trunk. ooops. got set up, framed the shot, and realized the memory card was back in the trunk. so had to make the round trip back to the car. errr. 

after my first few shots, the owner noticed and turned on the lights. that's different. wished he would have closed the hood. oh well.

anyway, took a few shots, talked to a few people. made it right in my head that all that walking, lifting the tripod, and up and down squats in front of cars somehow cancelled out the need to go to the gym.

and then after stopping to see my kid, i walked around the lake. so there. gyms suck.

everything old is new again

i'd never seen one of these before, at least that i can remember. dropped to the ground, it was hard to decide which point of view would be best. i have a front view, that i like, but it doesn't give you a sense of how low it was, so i'll show you this one instead.

wish the three dudes had moved out of my shot, but they persisted in just standing there for more than five minutes, so i just said screw it, and shot away. maybe that was the whole point of staying there anyway. at least they aren't being dorks and making faces.

stumbled upon

after melting over at the shakedown show, we were hungry. i suggested pizza, and remembered that there was a round table a couple of freeway exits up. coincidently, in the same plaza as the fuddrucker's show in lakewood. and hey, the show there was just getting started.

just kidding. i knew it was there. just dragged my better half over there to have a peek. still wasn't that busy yet, but this one did catch our eye as we drove by. originally sitting there with nothing next to it, but by the time we parked and set up, a clown car drove up and parked next to it...not the mg, that one was sweet...on the other side. a whole parking lot, and he has to park there. so i squeezed in and took this shot.

don't think i've got one of these before, and the blue and white paint job made it more striking. happy accident.

skull obsession

quick stop at lakewood fuddruckers today. was quite hot, and i arrived later then i have in the past. lots of cars, but a lot of open hoods. so i focused on the few cars i really liked.

this was probably the most spectacular chevy i've seen in a while. there were little skulls on almost every little appendage hanging up off the car and everywhere on the dashboard.

anyway, i believe the owner of the car was standing off to the side, out of the shot, watching closely. but then, he also followed me over to watch me shoot an old '46 olds, where he did get in the shot. i suppose he was just someone curious as to what the hell i was doing, but too shy to ask the usual question about magazines. no, sir, i don't.

i'm in a kind of hell now

living a whirlwind right now, with very little time to post, much less think or sleep. got a coworker on a three week vacation, so helping with some of her work on top of an increasingly busy work schedule. still packing my stuff to go into storage, but at a much more accelerated timeline than i originally thought. but even that, i've been too busy to get much boxed. my son did get through his graduation, so at least i can check that off the list.

quick post, so you don't think i've dropped off the planet. sun was way too bright for taking good shots this day at fuddrucker's in el toro, but i was there and needed to shoot to break the work week up. this was a really nice merc, all flamey and chopped and parked just so. wish that suv thing wasn't next to it.

funny thing was that i was on my way out to spires the next evening, and saw it again followed closely by an unfinished merc on the 91 freeway. had hoped they were heading to the show, but they didn't take the exit, so pooh. went over to the broiler, but they weren't there either. another one of those "where you going?" moments...

dying wish

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.

luxe

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.

impala

didn't make it to either of the two morning shows that i'd thought about going to, but then it's really difficult to convince myself to wake up early on a sunday, much less get out of bed. i knew about this one out in lakewood, and had been to it once before on easter sunday. it starts later, like 2pm, so figured it wouldn't hurt to see what else might show up when it's not a holiday.

wasn't disappointed. and my better half, now having a super computer that can probably reprogram the laser and magnetic tractor beams on the death star, all from his big desk in the back room, has rediscovered his enthusiasm for photography. his computer can now work with his gigantor files from his a850 without taking a couple of hours to contemplate it.

there were several cars that really stood out, and a couple of times we had to wait for the other to finish taking their shots. i don't what he might post over on his blog, so i'm just going to post this baby and hope we don't post the same one. i couldn't choose which view i liked better, so i asked my better half, and he thought this one was more interesting.

it's really in remarkable shape for it's age, and the glitter and airbrushed paint job on the roof is something to behold. neither of us could get the camera high enough to get the shot we really wanted, to show it to its best advantage, even from the small incline behind it. so you'll just have to squint and see the little bit you can see.

the owner did stop us as we were packing up to leave. young guy, very nice. asked about what we did with the pictures, which only one other person asked me about, and so i gave him my card. he said the paint job was 10 years old, though you couldn't tell by the look of it. he did admit that it stays hidden away in the garage mostly, so that does help explain the lack of scratches and dings.

those that ask are usually the ones that get first consideration when i think about what to post. so here's a shot of your car, hope you like it.

the chevy on the left was pretty awesome too, but the owner unfortunately decided to prop open the hood with a wooded machine gun, so my loss...

times are changing

as i've been saying, my life has been getting very busy. not clearly an absolute yet, but i may soon also be packing all my worldly possessions up and stuffing it into storage. nah, i'm not going anywhere else, everything's fine. change of environment, sort of.

had hoped to get some pictures yesterday at fuddrucker's in el toro, and drove over there, but since the weather has been overcast and sprinkly, there was just a couple of newer corvettes and a 1930's ford. didn't get out of the car.

today i intended to try a new sunset show in laguna niguel, but figured since you really couldn't see the sun, and would have been colder near the coast, figured it wasn't worth the drive yet.

so, i'm really hoping the sun is out on friday for the first ruby's show of the season this friday. i'll be there, won't you?

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found this one from the easter show over at fuddrucker's in lakewood. i think i've mentioned in another post, that there wasn't much at this show because of the holiday. i'll have to go back again soon on a typical sunday. i've heard it can be a very busy show, and more cars equals more to choose from. lots of practice, only makes you better, and i've been out of practice.