muy bueno

i've seen the famous bueno family impala several times now. another car that i just can't get enough of. so many details. airbrushing, etched chrome and pinstripes all over. can never get up high enough to shoot the roof of these kinds of things.

there's stephanie waiting patiently. i don't know her well enough to know what she's thinking, so i won't presume to guess. we pass each other at shows, and don't say much more than hello. i'm shy. she doesn't seem shy. so it's just me.

other people we ran into at this show expressed happiness that she was there, and getting out, making the effort to be out with people. i imagine it can't be easy.

saw her around the show later in the day, without a camera in her hand. that was unusual.

deep sadness

i just learned today that jae bueno had passed. i did not know him well, and had only spoken with him a few times at shows. he was always very nice, and i was always too shy to just go up and say hello, save one time in santa ana. i barely recognized him when i last saw him at a viejitos show several months ago.

he occasionally took the time to comment on my pictures, if he had a story to relate to whatever i'd said in my post. i admired his work through his blog, flickr pages and in low rider magazine. it is a great loss to car culture and photography.

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this was the first car i shot at the old memories show this past weekend. first of the the phalanx of old memories cars lining the entry to the show area. i preferred this view of it, rather than the other side, showing the line of cars and buildings and a billboard. just so cluttered. keep it simple, stupid, they always said in school; and i would say it worked best in this case, even if it is kind of a cliché image in front of a loading bay. it is such a nice turquoise, even in the morning shadow of the building.

i hadn't realized it, but the owner had been watching from not too far away. i'm not sure if he was waiting on me so he could get something from his car, but he did thank me for taking a picture of it. how could i not? thank you for bringing it out for me to shoot.

general

i think i've seen this truck over at jae bueno's blog at some point. here it is, hiding on a back pathway of the old world village in huntington beach.

i'm thinking the wheel covers aren't original, but they are kinda cool. wished the hood was down, but figured i better catch it while i could, from the side that was closed.

it was highly polished, like looking into a black hole, were it not for the blue sky above, throwing reflections all about it.

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i'm in tradeshow hell at work again. i've worked a couple hours over for the last three days, and will probably continue doing so for the next month or so. makes it hard to get it up for a car show in the evening. i want to go, i really do, but if i stop at home first, i just don't want to go back out.

i do intend to hit the whittier uptown show this saturday. please do bring all your purrrty cars out for me. i miss you so.