bottle rockets

as long as we're talking '59s and back ends, why not one of these. love'em. those red tail lights remind me of the water rockets my little bro and i would shoot off when we were kids. but on a cadillac, they're just double double awesome. and fins...

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anyone know if the viejitos are doing their monthly show off brookhurst anymore? thinking of stopping by. i could actually hit up 4 shows tomorrow, if i was feeling ambitious, but it's more likely just going to be two. and i'm running out of space on my hard drive. time to burn off past years' images to make some room.

ready for take off

one of my better half's coworkers told him about this show in south pasadena, cruz'n for roses. guess it was a fundraiser-type thing to help make money for the rose parade float, which is just a hunk of metal right now, as it was sitting there looking all pathetic and hoping for some help to make it all purrty. eff that, i don't watch the silly parade anyway.

so there were maybe two city blocks closed off for this show, maybe 150–200 cars. got there about an hour after it officially started, which sucks, because most of the hoods were already up. hubbie asked a few to close the hood for a picture, and actually got turned down by many. even just for a few minutes. their damn stupid engines might get passed by in the judging if they did that, and so, so many guys just have to see the engines. well, the usual rule applies: hood open, no picture. so there.

found this and the other cadillac in an overflow lot toward the end of the street. some of you know how much i love the fins on older cars. i did get quite a few stares as i shot low to the ground, up at the tail lights, on a lot of cars. did that with this one as well, but i really liked the reflections of this angle for the time being.

would have shot the front end, but by this time, it was very hot, and hubbie had already called and said he was waiting up the street for me. i could have took my time, but i was really getting hungry and thirsty after only having a donut for bfast.

wished we had arrived early, when the sky was still overcast, but he had errands to run for his mom, and cars can always wait until later.

tangerine dream

finding an awesome car can be both great and full of suckage at the same time. it's great cuz you're just saying to yourself, "wow! i gotta get me some of that!." i also sucks big time because it usually draws a big crowd of people just milling around it, getting in the picture, asking for the hood to be opened, and the owner to be strutting about proudly.

exactly the problem with this glitter paint tangerine fluorescent caddie. skipped it a few times because of all the folks just standing there in front of it. meanwhile, the sun is going down, and now i know my chances of a clean shot are diminishing, because i'll be needing longer exposures.

i saw it clear of people from across the lot, so hurried back over. then my better half saw it too, and i had to wait for him to get his shots first. nevermind, i like the back end of these babies better anyway. by this time, they were opening the hood for someone to look inside too.

apart from the owner of the mustang next to it constantly polishing it and milling about next to where i was shooting, and me standing in the ditch to get this shot, i still kinda like it.

now this one is just a favor. owner watched me shooting some other car at pep boys, and asked some questions, looked at my prints, and asked if i'd take some shots of his car. told him not with the hood open...he closed it immediately, of course.

well, this one seems the most interesting of the couple that i did take. several people just mosied through the other shots. well, if you like it, mr. owner, send me an email and let me know if you wanna buy a print.

double-double

i had a good time at this show in garden grove. was stopped several times by people asking about photography and talking about the cars. i am getting a little better at chatting, though i am always going to be better at listening, and some of the stories they tell really are interesting. at least i was at this show early enough, that i wasn't watching the light change too much while i listened.

check it out. love the back fins and lights on these older cadillacs. and i saw two of these on the same day, in different cities. weather was perfect for hitting the car shows on this evening...had really cooled off by and there was a cool breeze.

this one was up at the end of the street, not next to any other cars, so i had free reign to take shots from all sides. i couldn't figure out who the owner was; there was an old guy with a polishing cloth, but there was also a younger woman with a kid nearby. i finally decided by listening to their discussion that this was her inheritance, but gramps still got to play with it. they were trying to tell the kid about taking care of it and it would be his some day. at least that's what i overheard while minding my own business. some of the things i hear...sometimes i just pick up and move to another car.

after this show, i headed up to the ruby's show in whittier. i cut up the surface streets through garden grove, caught the freeway, exited and cut through santa fe springs, where i spotted the second one of these 59 caddies at a random gas station. and later found it at the ruby's, in what's become the cadillac aisle, in the back corner.