have you ever thought about the best taco you ever had, while sitting in taco bell, thinking about the best taco you ever had? ya, that happened. but, my fault for wanting something quick.
sometimes i shoot cars that aren't my favorite, because something catches my eye. this day, the paint was it. fresh, shiny, detailed work here.
1941 chevy special deluxe
i do like cars when they are parked near overhanging trees. easy to frame up something nice.
others were shooting a group of cars farther down the parking lot, just out of the frame. i took the opportunity to shoot other cars, while everyone was over there watching the commotion.
almost everyone. at least two were left, watching me, shooting this car. caught them in the reflection.
we live in an older house. no air conditioning in the summer, and an ancient heating system for the winter. i get hot flashes more often than not, so i suffer through the heat of summer, and the old wall heater in the back room is basically dead in the winter. i put off using a space heater in our room as long as possible. the thing makes me paranoid that it will tip over and start a fire, and it also heats the room up a fair amount.
my better half used to love it cold; i called him a polar bear. now he is less enthusiastic about it, especially when he wants to sleep. so we are at odds, now that winter is coming. it has been in the low forties at night, and our room has a lot of windows.
some nights we run the heater, and i alternate being under the blanket and throwing it off. sometimes it wakes him up, most times not. he has slept up on the couch a few nights, so i could see how it was without the thing on. it was great, and i slept fine.
i think he didn't mind the couch either; house heating system works well up there, and i secretly thinks he likes being up there, sleeping with the xmas tree lights on...a big night light. but those elf on a shelf elves, that it is covered with would freak me the fuck out.
heard my better half had joked to his mother that an exorcism was going to be needed in the back bedroom. he could almost see his breath when he walked in the other morning.
1939 chevy master deluxe
slept in, skipped pomona this morning, but did manage to roll outta bed and get to the old memories toy drive at the speedzone. thought i'd go there, then maybe head over to pomona after.
wasn't really a whole lot there when i arrived after start time, which was ten. several other photographers were there or showed up soon after—@zurdo_la, @reyfierro, @aragonphotography39. i know a couple of them well enough to say hey, how's it going, where you been, where you going next...starting to sound like forrest gump. they said it was too late to head to pomona, that cars would be heading back this way. toss up between this show and the together toy drive out in covina.
i just stayed at this one, for a couple of hours. there was enough to keep me busy and fiddle with my cameras. zurdo, one of the photographers, asked what lens i was shooting today — same one i usually do, wide angle. used to carry around another wide angle, but more glass just makes my bag heavier. at this point, i'm just getting the hang of this lens...shoot the hell out of what you have, until you know it, really know it, right? or wear it out.
anyway, with all the extra space available at the show, one of the other photographers took the opportunity to have some of the owners to pull their cars out, so they could shoot them better. i tried to stay out of the way of their shots.
once they walk away, the cars are up for grabs, until the owners move'em back.
one owner of a very nice chevy, asked me if i'd like him to pull it out; it took a bit of biting my tongue, to not start laughing and say, "that's what he said." i did manage to thank him for the offer, but it was fine where it was.
really liked this one. managed to get a shot that didn't have other people in it, and at an angle that hid the cars parked behind it, more toward the checkered building.
took a couple of shots of the interior—why not, the window was open. didn't quite frame it up right, but like it just the same.
didn't go to another show after this one. on the way home, i did stop by the cemetery, to say hey to my better half's uncle. he didn't have much to say, but he does have a lovely tree to give him shade, and it was hot in the sun.
i don't think i'd want to be stuck in a box in the ground, with just a no-profile grave marker. tombstones, big ass tombstones are the way to go, if you're going to bother with a hole in the ground. they make a statement, that they were here, kind of like kilroy.
i drove over to the other field that has those, and they aren't very impressive or numerous, but they make me think cemetery. maybe i should go back to photographing old cemeteries, like i did in college, and shoot very old tombstones and graveyards. i like the old ones in boston, or even santa ana.
for a wallflower like me, i just want to be cremated and tossed to the wind. i prefer this meadow on a mountain in canada, overlooking lake louise, or maybe mt. rainier or muir woods--whichever i could get someone to dump me. at least i'd be more useful that way, and no one would stomp over me to visit someone else. and it would be as if i never were...
cemeteries with the no-profile markers just look like pock-marked faces. old school is the way to go, but more inconvenient for the field owners...
harley davidson road king
found my better half chatting with some guys from the timeless classics club in the lot between the buildings, an overflow parking lot. the real show lot only had one hundred spaces available, so i'm pretty sure this area was meant for actual customers for the nearby businesses. i think the majority of the customer parking areas quickly became overflow parking for the show, and any of the paid, reserved show spaces were quickly forgotten after the tape went down.
i shot the immaculate impala my better half was standing in front of; i'd shot it previously at the majestic's new year's show at the dam. the car looks fine, but my better half and the dudes he is chatting with are too close to the front of it. i'll have to think about if i want to waste time cloning them out, or just leaving them in.
anyway, right behind that car, this bike pulls in and parks next to the wall. i'd seen it cruise by the main lot earlier. wondered if he was going to park, or just pass through. a car had just abandoned the space before he got there, so there was a big gap between the bike and the cars in front and behind. perfect for a picture, and there really weren't a lot of people in that area, only traffic to contend with.
as i set my tripod down, and started to frame up a shot, the owner offered to turn the lights on for me. awesome. thanks, i think it looked better with them on. kinda kicking myself that i didn't shoot the details of the airbrushing on the fenders and tank. flaming skulls are always fun. and love the rearview mirrors held by skeletal arms and hands.
now if the headlights had been on, and it was a wee bit darker, that could have really been cool.
i think i made a car wait while i finished my shots of this one, my ass hanging out in the drive lane, but i think it was worth his aggravation.
been a long day. was at work at 5:15am, so i'm pretty much done for it.
quick post. i squeezed down between a couple of old cars and the group of guys that went with them. not the best angle, but i wanted the picture. liked the car, liked the club sign. the guitar that was actually a speaker playing some good old tunes was pretty cool.
and then there's that guy's legs. i could crop the picture, but that cuts the sign. i could just photoshop them out, but its late and i'm too tired to bother. maybe some other time. maybe its his car, for all i know. i could have shifted the camera a bit to the right, but then there'd have been the issue of them parked next to the porta-potties, so i took the less offensive angle.
