early and late

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buick eight

had a choice of two shows i wanted to go to today. just needed to pick which to do first. pretty much knew which would have more cars, so decided to start with the other one, just to be ornery.

past years' at this show in south gate had been quite busy, with an abundance of cars waiting to get in before the sun was up. so based on that thought, i was there by five-thirty.

aside from the people working the show, there was exactly one impala, which turned out to belong to one of the workers. so i sat in my car and waited. i watched the lone guy waiting to check in cars that were late registers, observed the trash collectors. 

it was almost an hour before the next show car drove in, then another fifteen minutes before the first club showed up. by then the sun was up enough, the "golden hour" was about done.

got out and started shooting anyway. more arrived, so that was good, though still not the consistent numbers as before.

when they opened the gates of the golf course, i headed over and took some video of cars driving past. i suppose i'll post some clips when i have more time.

once there was a lull in the drive-ins, i tried to talk my way in, expecting to pay and get in as usual. but noooo, the lady at the gate said i had to buy a ticket at the ticket entrance. problem with that plan was that the entrance didn't open until ten and it was only about eight.

i should have taken that as a point to head over to lincoln park there and then. but i was tired, and hopeful that one of the other workers would take pity on me and help me out. a couple said to talk to jackie. i was about to head over to watch the girls' softball game for a while when one of the groundskeepers offered to chat with the lady at the gate. by the time i figured out who jackie was, i was being helped out at nine-thirty by that guy, who got me in the ticket gate only a little early. good enough.

just a photographer, feeding her habit, i mean hobby, doesn't always work at the gate. if i'd said i was with a magazine, i wouldn't have been on the list, so why bother fibbing?

so, with the light changing already, i got to work. there wasn't much really, that i hadn't already shot in the parking lot. there was plenty of room, as they hadn't even filled half the field, but the weather was perfect, with lots of shade, so i made the best of the situation.

couldn't decide which picture to post, so closed my eyes, and picked this one. it's a buick, but i can't quite figure which year from the fifties it is specifically.

only stayed inside until a little past noon. decided to skip the other show, as i needed lunch and kinda felt icky. my guts hurt. i suppose i should see a doctor about that.

living daylights

fleetmaster

saw this car with the lights still on, past sunrise, and the light coming up quickly, but the parking lot lights were still on. the sky was overcast, so i guess that fooled the sensors in the lamps.

wished it was a bit darker, a little more foggier, more atmospheric. would have got that warm spray of light intersecting with the wisps of fog.

better half says i have the power to make it so...i know photoshop. only, it wasn't like that when i saw it. i could darken the picture, kick the shit out of the pixels, add some fake smoke, but nah. if was going through the trouble of all that, i might as well be the guy masking out the car and having it fly through space, with george jetson giggling like a school girl behind the wheel. and a trail of stars flying out the tail pipes.

i like it just the way i found it, thank you very much.

wings and a prayer

1959 chevrolet impala

came across this impala in the midst of things. i just love the back of these cars, and usually don't pass up the opportunity to take a shot.

usually, i pull in close, up and under those fins. i did that with this one too, but just didn't get an angle i liked. this picture, pulled back a bit, still showed the curves that i want, and gives it a sense of it's place in the world, the variety of makes and years represented at the show.

is it my eyes, or does it still look a little dark? maybe it's my monitor.

da boyz

quick post. relatives visiting here, and i'm tired. stayed up too late last night, followed by a long day's work.

i did manage to get around to finding the originals east los angeles club, eventually. not hard to miss, with their big banner hanging from the trees.

they're a friendly bunch, and i've gotten to know them a little the last couple of years. armando always says hello, and shakes my hand.

the tall dude with the pepsi, called me over to show me something in his phone. for no reason, and completely randomly, he had a picture of me he'd shot at last year's show. a picture of me taking a picture. at least i didn't look too pissed or squinty or whatever it is my face does when i'm focused on a shot. he even showed it to my better half, when he'd been over there.

i'm pretty sure he added another to his collection, as i shot his car here. shiny car. buffas, they have lots of buffas.

figured it would only be fair, that i'd shoot a picture of all of them. didn't turn out too terribly awful.

keep on knocking but you can't come in...

keeping it short, i've so many pictures to sift through.

arrived at the south gate show about six-thirty in the morning. later than last year, and not so dark out. overcast and cool. still, not so cold that i couldn't dump my light jacket in the car before too long. i'm just running hot lately, and the cold felt good to me.

fewer cars than last year waiting in the lot—only a little disappointing, still plenty to bide the time. a lady at the new registrations table in the middle of the parking lot, came over to ask if we were with a magazine, or who we shoot for. following the usual explanation, handed her a card.

still too early for the gates to be open to anyone, except food trucks and vendors, we cruised around the parking lot, shooting cars here and there, chatting with people we know, and keeping an eye on new arrivals to the lot.

when the gate opened to start letting groups in a few at a time, my better half and i went to the table by the gate, hoping to be let in, as we often are. didn't recognize any of the people organizing the show, and the young girl at the table, most definitely not. she seemed unsure of what to do.

explained we were just there to take pictures, to which she asked if we were with one of the magazines on their vendor list. nope. just wanted to take pictures. would have paid the entry fee, if necessary—we've been to this show several times, and know it to be worth the money.

she went over to ask the people letting cars in, and returned to tell us sorry, no.

so, shrugged and took our place on the same wall as last year. hoped they weren't going to make us wait until the offical open time, around nine or ten, i don't remember; would have just left after shooting what we could—there were other shows to choose from, and it was too early to sit there for several hours doing nothing.

fortunately, there was a food table nearby, so we bought a couple of bfast burritos, and munched on them, while shooting pics and watching the cars slowly ooze by toward the gate. watched a hadley tow guy help an old chevy that wouldn't start, followed by a newer mustang with a flat tire.

here's a smallish video clip i shot while we waited (click on that chevy back end). (click on this bigger is better link to see it in all it's glory.) i should take some time and figure out how to use the video editing program better, but i'm not really that interested in video anyway.

after most of the groups had entered the golf course, we tried asking again, if we could get inside, first from the lady we met when we got there, who sent us over to another guy. talked to the overstressed and tired guy, who'd been up before the sun, directing things, who apologized several times if he wasn't making sense, as he was very tired.

he mentioned they were interested in getting some official photographers and being able to use their work on the official facebook site or something, and somehow my better half agreed to audition, got us on their vendor list, with the promise of shooting not only the cars, but the spectators and band as well.

well, i shot cars. he spent time talking to people, talking them into posing with their cars, and shooting some pics of the first band. i'm not sure how much of our souls he sold to the guy at the gate, but i suppose my better half will post his pics on his web site, which has been neglected for a long time now.

i should take more pics of people. i'm too shy to ask if owners would like to be posers, errr, i mean, want to pose with their cars. so, if you want to throw down some signs next to your ride, just ask.

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anyway, i was going to keep this short, and i'm rambling. got plenty more pictures, and a few more stories to tell from this show, so i'll spread the wealth on other posts.

saw the owner polishing this car, as i shot another car some distance away. when he was done, i headed over. still fairly early, and suprisingly, not any people wandering around in the shot, in the morning fog. they're behind me, you can see them in the reflection.

it was just a pretty car, and i knew it was going to be a pretty picture. i could just see it.

brave soul

toyota corolla

made it to the two shows on my calendar yesterday. first up in my sights: the azalea festival.

i'll get to that in the next post. first i wanted to post this completely unusual car, or should i say completely normal car. what the hell is it doing here?

i was on my first go around of the show, a couple of aisles from the entrance. i went counter-clockwise, so i'm saying, i'd already been around three-quarters of the show. that early, there weren't so many cars there.

i guess the owner of this perfectly regular car had seen me taking pictures, when i'd been down his row. he'd walked a couple rows over, just to ask me if i'd take a picture of his car. he described which one it was. i had to ask him a couple of times, not quite sure i was hearing what i was hearing.

finally told him to show me, i was done shooting whatever it was i was currently shooting, so i'll follow you to it. yup. a toyota corolla. the idea of that car being in this show, with all these other wonderful cars, just tickled my brain to no end.

he was completely serious. it's his car. he wanted a picture. here you go. i salute you, brave soul, for bringing that car in, and for asking me to take a picture of it.

rock what you drive...nice rims.

candy

lifestyle cars are all extraordinary. i think its a requirement. meticulous, fantasmic airbrush, pinstriping and details. candy colors and multiple layers of clear coat paint. 

they're also usually surrounded by admirers, and i can't get a clean shot edgewise, so i mostly have to pass them by. unfortunate.

caught this one from the back, where one can often find some pretty spectacular airbrush portraits. ok, this one is more fantasy-like. dream on, big boy.

peelings

overdue posting this chevy from march at the azalea festival. owner was really friendly and chatty.

i liked it a lot, with it's small imperfections. especially liked the peely paint patches over the fenders. sort of like my shoulders used to get when i attempted to get a tan—never really happens, just a bright red burn, and a slow peel.

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so my website host has been a little flakey the last couple of days that i've tried to post. and doing the same tonight. slower than a snail, and lost the post before i saved it. second time i've typed this up, and definitely not as clever as the first iteration.

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feeling better, though still not one-hundred percent normal; but then, when am i? 

i did drive out to ruby's yesterday, but then remembered i needed to pick up a belated birthday present. decided i better go buy it before the store closed; i wander around a car show the same way most women wander around the mall—lose all track of time—though i don't end up with a car load of shopping bags at the end of the night.

bought a crap ton of chocolates over at the see's candy store, then decided it was best if i didn't leave it to melt in the car while i did the show. got it home and to the happy recipient, our favorite diabetic. happy birthday, indeed.

i could have gone back, but then there would have only been about an hour left, and people start bugging out early when they think they won't win any prizes, so i stayed put for the evening.

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.

the nerve

mother's day. got the call from both kids today. still have to make my own call to my mom. had intended to drive down to see my mom, then stop at disneyland to hang with my bro and his family, but i woke up with a pain in my back, and it hasn't gotten any better, so i'm just hanging out at the house with my better half and his mom. 

no idea what i did to make it hurt. must have just slept on it wrong. gonna go take a hot shower after i'm done here and see if that helps. happened a couple of months ago, and worked itself out after a few days. hope it does the same, or it will mess up my plans for shooting next weekend, both days.

anyway, my better half built me a better puter to play with my pictures on. it is much faster, but i have spent a bit of time transferring files from the old computer instead of playing with pictures. he calibrated one of my monitors...says not this main one, so even though i think it looks darker, he says it isn't anything he did. guess i'll have to go look at the picture on another computer to see if it's the monitor or my eyes.

anyway, he was looking over my shoulder while i flipped through possible pictures to post and this was one he really reacted to, so i'll use it for the first picture on this new puter.

he said he saw this same cadillac at the san pedro show last year, parked in front of the light house. i vaguely remember it, but maybe there were too many people in front of it for me to shoot it. i'll have to go look at what shot that day.

its just a big, long car, and so shiny; it was awesome. a whole lot of green going on here, but it all kinda works.