show me the way

i've been incredibly busy this week at work. so much so, when i get home, i just have no energy to think much about playing with my pictures.

in fact, a couple of days, i drove home, booted up the computer, and continued to do work remotely. even spent last saturday doing work work instead of fun work, just to try and get somewhat ahead of the backlog at the office.

did no good, as i had to reswizzle what i did to work in some edits the following monday. oh well. such is the life of a graphic designer, right?

i had tweaked this picture over a couple of days, while waiting for the work i was doing to process. had it finished last night, but was too tired to post. back at an xmas show in santa ana. was threatening to rain, and the clouds overhead were just reflecting the heck out of some of the paint jobs.

i like this picture of a car show. the packed in cars waiting to be admired. the cars i passed by because the hoods were open, still caught because of the angle. they must have been doing the raffle, since there are so few people milling around in this shot.

anyway, got dead presidents day weekend to look forward to, with monday off. getting my taxes done too. i so hate making that annual trip to the preparer.

then, my son has decided to go ahead and set a date for his wedding. don't know why they can't wait until they've graduated from college and gotten some decent jobs. isn't that what all parents always ask? why can't they just stay small? why do they have to go and grow up?

he wants me to take engagement photos. told him i'll try now, then he still has time to get a professional to do them. i'm just more comfortable in front of a car then the happy couple.

blue moon

this truck is a bit over the top for my taste, but it isn't mine, so there it is. it just happened to be parked at the front, prominently underneath the host's signage, so i shot it. might as well show you the back as well. glitter and flames, and a bit chopped. hmmm.

shout out to hillco fasteners...another great show. if not for that pesky football game, it could have run a few more hours, and i could have got more cars.

painted on the back were the words "blue moon." what that has to do with the truck, aside from an affinity for the drink, i don't know.

same car, different place

ya, i thought i'd seen this one before. and it is a nice car. probably would have kept on going, but it does pick up the sun so nicely with the lightest dusting of glitter or sparkle in the flames. plus the owner busted me taking a picture of it and jokingly asked what i was doing. said he expected a snapshot of it. 

well, i don't give those out for free, but i'll show him the shot of it, since he said hello.

found it this time at silverado days in buena park. didn't expect it to be as busy as it was, but there were about a hundred cars, including a few of my favorite clubs, so it was all good. and a carnival to boot, in the shadow of knott's berry farm, was a bonus.

too bad so many cars had the hoods up...

down in flames

so i'm running late already today. on my way to the viejitos show and lunch. you know what? decided not to go to work this weekend at all. i'll work late all week. i wanted my weekend too much. and my better half is also so persuasive. :)

i noticed at the legg lake show yesterday, that the tribe was there, even had their tent up. but i didn't see this one. and not even his lincoln. he's a busy guy i guess.

i stayed out among the cars, didn't go up on the grass and talk to anyone. they knew i was there, good enough. i was trying to hurry to go to work, remember?

anyway, this one from the whittier show in august was ready, so i'll just post it now and be done with it. the flames, the flames, the cursed flames. guess the early light was good enough to pop the ghost flames off the hood.

flamed and a little grumpy

the lovely couple that own this hot rod have been waiting a month to see a new picture of their baby. they thought they'd been going crazy and missed it, but no. i just don't post everything, especially if i'm not satisfied with it. i suppose i have an old email from them somewhere, so i could have let them know. or i guess i could have written something here. but then i wonder if they're just looking for the picture and not reading it, they wouldn't know then either.

i had been having an internal arguement over a couple of shots of it from a show out in riverside, but there was something in each that was just not doing it for me.

then this weekend, a couple of local shows i'd heard about and planned to attend, just simply didn't happen. so having awakened at an ungodly hour for a saturday, took my better half along for the ride out to rialto, promising him that i don't drive out there anymore if it isn't worth it. i'd scoped out a few while my son went to ucr, so i knew this would be ok.

and i kinda guessed they'd be there too. i saw them drive in as we walked over the train tracks to the main strip. we didn't actually get there until after 8am, so the sun was already past the sunrise we were looking for, but not so high as to be irritating.

i took a few shots early, then wound back around and took these two before i left. i think either one looks better than the shot with gary's favorite outhouses.

my better half went to the car show with me, so afterwards, we went out to chino planes of fame for him. he had fun...hardly anyone there, and a nice breeze for a change.

thanks for telling about another show the next day, but i just couldn't do another whole day in riverside.

oh ya, and there's the little grumpy on the back of the other car. didn't notice him last year, when i was just all about the skulls.

oh, and buy a print here

leadrag

i've seen this one many times. i thought i'd posted it at some point, but i'm not finding it right now. well, i know i have other shots, but not very satisfying ones.

this is the first time i've seen it with the top up. i suppose because it's next to those trees, those lovely, drippy, sappy trees. and the birds.

i'm not saying it's my favorite car, but i do just like the challenge of trying to get a good shot of cars i see far too often. usually solved by a change in location. like this one; they killed off the fuddrucker's show in el toro...all that construction had pushed it too far from the main drag, and no one knew it was there. here it is at chik-fil-a, where you are separated from the main street by a few feet of concrete, dirt, trees and flowers.

dia de los thunderbird

yes, it's a real eye-catcher. kinda ugly, but outstanding pinstriping and airbrushing job. i like the skulls pinstriped inside, out, and on top.

weren't too many of the pimped out low riders at the show this year in whittier—apparently they're still pissed off by their exclusion last year. i've heard that the idiot that vetoed them last year is no longer on the committee, but his asshole-edness has continuing repurcussions. thanks dickwad. eh, excuse my french, or something.

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...

blazing saddles

so why not post more flamey cars? why the heck not? i have quite a few in my collection.

found this one out in riverside at a charity show. saw several cars that i've shot before, but there was an ok turnout considering other shows i've been to recently.

hey gary...i remembered you...just had to place the face with the car. and so sorry, your hood was open, so i didn't shoot it this time.

this one, well, it didn't have a hood, but it did have glittery flames, so why not? it's got a wall-e engine. that thing must block your view while driving.

hell on wheels

i'm in the mood for a cadillac. ya, a big, elegant tank of a car. so many to choose from... 

take this one. don't think you'd miss seeing this baby driving down the street. it's a bit over the top. don't think i'd have the nerve to cover the classic lines in this loud paint job, but i'm sure the owner doesn't mind the attention. he's screaming for it.

i'm guessing it bounces too. been a while since this show, but i wanna say the owner was here with some of his other homies with similar rides, though the other flamed one is much more subdued, all black, with much tamer airbrushed flames, just here and there.

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hoping the rain holds off until later in the week. i gotta kill several hours after work on wednesday, before heading over to LAX to pick up my better half. hoping to hang out at the broiler. hoping there will be more there than the last time i briefly stopped, and didn't bother to get out of my car a couple of weeks ago. i gave that night a pass, since it had rained earlier, and it was cold and windy. otherwise, guess i'll find me a movie theater and wait for his call.