what's up?

xmas is almost over

it's happening. it's finally happening. the xmas tree is coming down, and all the whimsical holiday stuff is going back into the garage.

better half would leave the tree up year round if he had his druthers, but his mom wants it down now, so sir, yes, sir, may i have another?

still half a tree to denude of lights. maybe i'll help tomorrow, just to make it go away. fake needles really do beat your hands to hell though.

i have a whole lot of cars parked in draft mode, waiting to be posted here. sad, really. haven't had much to say, or that i want to share now.

i figure the cars got posted on instagram fairly quickly after their respective shows, so if i take my sweet time posting them up here, it doesn't really matter. except maybe if they wanted to see them a bit bigger. want to see it optimally? buy a print. seriously. i'm down another camera already, with the other starting to show the same error message, and don't know when i'll take the time to ship it in for fixing vs just buying another body.

i do have chuck e cheese points in the reward program at work, which i was saving up to buy a full frame body, but i could get two crop bodies with the points i have now. i dunno what to do. haven't gotten any more points lately. i could pay the difference, but i don't wanna.

better half's sister is back at her home for the weekend, and his mom mostly sits in her room watching tv all day. hoping to just sit around the house at least topless all weekend, so my stitches can get some air. lol. it's been hot all week, so the house is overly warm anyway.

better half has to work all weekend at his desk. ya, i won't be distracting.

in fact, he's in the kitchen doorway smiling right now.

spinner

hi there. just fiddling around, and thought this was interesting, even if it is slightly out of focus.

i spent an hour or so making some edits to it, but of course, i did something wrong, and it wouldn't export properly, so feck it, here's the thing straight from the camera.

always interesting to see how bikes are displayed. i try to determine what the owner is communicating about himself by what is included in the setup--sort of a forensic science. i can make up a story to go with this diorama. or just enjoy the bike—its kinda cool, even without the booze bottles, which don't impress me...and they're already empty, so what fun is that?

new life

owner of this car came over one row to specifically say hello to me.

i was shooting another car at the time, but i didn't mind. the sun was already pretty high in the sky, so i'm not missing the light changing much.

he pointed out his car when i asked. fleetline, one of my favs.

took my time on the aisle of cars i was already shooting, but definitely told him i'd shoot it. took a few when i came back around to it.

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hoping to get out to a show or two this weekend, but things happening at home may keep me busy. beyond my control, truly.

and then...

so back in so cal, off the plane yesterday, unpack, eat, sleep six hours, and back to a full day and then some, of work. already feeling scatter brained from being away from the office for most of two weeks, and it usually takes a couple of days to get back on track. ugh, i still need to do expense reports...maybe tomorrow.

gotta do a headshot tomorrow as well, so hoping i everything goes right. i'll pretend she's a small car, maybe a metropolitan.

better half dealing with a family emergency; i'm on standby, waiting to hear if/when i should be there.

dealt with the landlord when i arrived back at home after the hour and a half drive home. so not a lot has changed on that score.

...distracted by a monster truck trying to parallel park across the street from my window...entertaining, yet so stupid looking. closing the curtains...

anyway, i can't even think straight right now.

i owe a couple of people a view of their car from the last show i went to at walnut high school. i'll get around to them, promise. just need to find a moment to concentrate.

throwing this one out there, just cuz it was ready to go, and it pleases me, with the fluffy clouds overhead. not going to take the time to worry that it looks a wee bit dark on my screen. pretty sure i need to do some adjustments, or all my pics will be edited too dark.

cry baby

1948 chevrolet fleetline

pretty little fleetline. passed it by early on, because these kids were busy posing in front of it. waited a bit, but they took too long, and there were plenty of other cars to shoot.

right after the mom finished with her picture, the kid on the right started to cry. not sure why. didn't see the older kids pick on him or anything. he sucked it in pretty quick, but i saw it. tough times when you're young.

came back around to shoot it on the way out. there was some dude passed out asleep inside, mouth hanging open, head up against the side. some other dude was taking a picture of that, but it seemed a little rude to me, so i settled for just the car.

party time

harley davidson

niece is having her first birthday party behind me. so i guess it's time to go eat cake.

posting this quickly from last sunday's unidos show at walnut high school. i'll write more tomorrow.

hope it was a good friday for everyone.

Update

on 2016-03-27 00:21 by kathy

we bailed out of the azalea festival show, just after noon, just before the sun came out. better half wanted to get lunch and maybe check on his mom. he worries when we leave her alone, before the sun comes up, and she's still asleep.

i offered to drop him off, that i was going to stop briefly over at the unidos show in walnut. he compromised by giving his mom a phone call, and we stopped for lunch first, at the subway near the show, where we usually go after.

i think this was the fourth year i'd been to this show. not sure my better half went last year.

sun was out in full force, and it had really heated up. really sucks, being that this show is on the pavement in the high school parking lot. i was not prepared, no hat, no sunblock.

better half wandered through the cars at the front, i headed to the back lot, and worked my way back. i did end up skipping a few rows...just didn't see anything i wanted to shoot, and i was in a race with myself...how long i could stand the heat.

finally packed it in, when i started feeling my skin tingle with that feeling like bacon frying in a hot pan. i was only slightly pink, but it felt worse.

shot a few bicycles, lots of the old chevys and buicks, but only this one motorcycle at this show. i think the color and the light just caught my eye.

for all i know

another busy week, though unusually, not so much at work. as in enough to keep me busy for a full day, but not work overload with multiple deadlines. i actually caught up with everything before the end of the day, which happens about three times a year. then i don't know what to do with the time.

nothing has come to pass with taking executive portraits since they asked a couple of months ago, so i guess everything i've read up on it will fade from my noggin. i could practice shooting family members, but aside from my better half, around here, no one likes to be in front of the glass. i think i'll stick with cars, and call it a day.

looking forward to a veterans day car show this weekend, but for all i know, it will rain. it's been sprinkling around work and in random cities on my commute, but it seems to be missing whittier and los angeles for the most part. does seem to follow a pattern of warming up the weekend then getting overcast for back to work monday.

i do love the overcast and clouds for pictures, though. this chevy pic turned out ok. even managed to get an angle that hides most of the other cars around it, and in between all the people admiring the cars.

picking coins out of a bear's butt

fourth of july. sitting at my puter watching illegal fireworks through the window. was going to walk uptown, but my better half said that there are a-holes throwing m-80s in drive-bys. interesting city, whittier and los angeles. hate living somewhere, where you have to worry about something stupid like that. could be anywhere now-a-days, i guess. where i grew up, the worse to worry about was eggs being thrown.

there's been some jerk in the neighborhood spending time late in the evenings driving around tossing the things here and there, playing cat and mouse with the cops. i have a hard time falling asleep as it is, so thanks bozo. he just went by, and five seconds later, a cop, lights still dark following at a fairly quick rate...hope he catches him.

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here are some random cars, the right colors for the day. red, last night at ruby's; white, last april at chicano park; and blue, march at the unidos show at walnut high school. all chevy's, all beauties, all, i wouldn't mind having.

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oh, if you're wondering about the title, i've spent the last two days rolling all the spare change in the house. i don't have a piggy bank—i have a bear. he was stuffed so full of coins, i had to keep poking him in that little hole on the bottom to get them loose enough to shake out. i've had him for like thirty years, so i really didn't want to smash him.

found a 1945 mercury dime in my bear; a few other silver dimes in other jars.

between my change and the buckets my better half uses for his, we hauled over a grand to the bank. damn that stuff is heavy! but hey, all we need now are a few days off at the same time and a road trip is in order.

maybe

only shot i took of this chevy at this show. was just too crammed in between the other cars. but i told the owner i'd post something.

the owner, if i remember the right car, wandered over to inquire who i was shooting for; usual response, for fun. if it's the right guy and right car, he was also asking about getting a picture of his wife with the car, to hang in the garage. hmmm. people. i will once in a while, take a shot with someone and their car, but that does push my comfort zone a bit. but i can understand a guy wanting a picture of the things he loves. and it is good to get uncomfortable once in a while, out of my shell.

"sure, where is she," i asked. she wasn't there...at home, sleeping in late. just down the street a bit. oh well. what fun is that? maybe some other time. maybe next year.

begin at the end

slept in on sunday, and arrived at the unidos show just about eleven. i walked through the show first, around the outer perimeter of the lot, and around to the other parking area. usually where i end, is where i began shooting. figured it was going to only getter hotter, and by the time i got around to finishing, it would be closer to the car and it’s air conditioning.

chatted with a few guys from the bomb club over there. i’ll post those soon.

had to stop and take a water break, after having to figure out which stall was selling the refreshments. really dude, put up a sign. had to ask one of the food vendors where the drinks were hiding. only obvious drink vendor just sold horchata and that type of stuff, when i only wanted a bottle of water. sat under a canopy at a lunch table. so much cooler in the shade, and with a breeze.
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spent about fifteen minutes talking to the owner of this car and his friend. usual chit chat about my hobby. then about another female photographer from the early fifties, vivian maier and her street photography. then about the heat and where i got my hat, which led to talk about chicano park and san pedro car shows, neither of which these guys had been to. ever. go, baby. go.

interesting guys. hope he likes this picture.