what's up?

aware

i think i’m trying to block the sadness i’m feeling from losing my brother with something that makes me happy—going to cars shows and posting pictures again. it’s a nice distraction. i’ve missed it. i don’t miss the heat.

i am supposed to be scanning old family slide carousels to digital, but the little scanner my older brother loaned to my mom sort of sucks. fifty slides in, i decided to check the quality. i’m not liking the color. i guess i’ll reset the little scanner to the defaults, and just be done with it. but i’d rather work on my cars…

this week, better half and i decided to go to the latin gents’ cancer awareness cruise. forgot to bring my hat, but i did smear sunblock on before we left the house. i am aware that my pale skin and genetics will predispose me to a lovely sunburn, at the very least.

better half had to be out until about one in the morning, so we both slept in a bit later than we otherwise would have liked. we didn’t arrive until after ten, and the sun was cooking already.

we spent about an hour, shooting just two aisles of cars, before i needed a break from the sun. we went into carl’s jr for about another hour, having a burger and chugging some water. figured the light wasn’t going to change much in the middle of the day to make a difference in the pictures anyway.

only spent another hour and a half after that, and i’d had enough sun for the time being.

this is one of the latin gents’ club’s cars. i don’t remember a red fleetmaster from anywhere, but i haven’t been going out much the last couple of years, so that doesn’t mean anything.

silly us, after this show, we decided we’d drive out to legg lake, and check out the bbq show going on there. another forty minute drive, we could cool off in the air conditioned car, and be ready to take more pics.

well, we drove to the gate on rosemead boulevard, which was closed, but had a sign to take the freeway one exit to another gate. this allowed us to pass by where the cars should’ve been. well, by about two pm, there really wasn’t too much there to justify paying the entrance fee, so we skipped it. headed back to our old hood in uptown whittier, and better half picked up some overly zealously garliced chicken and some sides at the chicken koop. it’s currently stinking up the refrigerator. he says it’s very good, but i haven’t ever tried it. maybe another day.

headed home after, and we both took naps for a few hours.

thinking about hitting up huffarama next weekend, if the fires in the area are out…

wanderlust

flipping through pictures from a few years back. looking for something interesting i may have overlooked, or just never got around to posting. cars that have been sold, or just don't go out to the shows anymore.

this one from two thousand thirteen, i think i've seen elsewhere, but i thought it was a decent shot.

..been crazy busy at work again. the holidays are definitely over. busier i get, the more my mind wanders, to memories of past road trips, future travel, pretty much anywhere but the office. even thoughts of what i will do when i get my house back from my kid—gutting it, repainting it, what furniture to get...

today, mostly thought of the trip to seattle last year, driving through the redwoods.

and every day, when i get on the freeway to go to work or heading home, when i get to my exit, i always have the briefest of thoughts to keep going, keep driving, get to somewhere different. i could buy clothes and whatever else i might need on the way.

and i would do it, except for these pesky responsibilities like a mortgage and a job, and oh ya, the better half. i'd have to stop and convince him to get in the car...so let's go. and he would have the same argument in his head. until he would call his sister to come and watch their mom...he would go...but not for any extended length of time.

one of these days...i'm going to do it. and call and say, "oops, i must have taken a wrong turn..."

missed mooneyes

i know, i know. should have been there. sorry, i was outta town. even managed to miss the whittier parade that passes outside the window.

back in whittier, watching the intersection. seeing my own parade of old chevys and a cadillac driving through going to who knows where. maybe uptown to the ceegar bar? maybe i'll wander down the street and see. those shots just end up on instagram.

couple more from the latin gents show. beauties, both.

was there at the end of the show. stayed for the awards, and the raffle. bought tickets, but didn't win anything. didn't need a tv anyway, though the cash would have been nice.

nighty night

got out of my house late in the day. forgot how early the sun sets now. by the time i got to the latin gents show, sun was fully down and the lot lights were on.

gotta deal with long exposures, weird shadows thrown across the cars, and people wandering through the shots. true, there weren't so many cars by this time, so fewer people, but there were a few kids chasing each other. cause to mess up a few shots, as well as worry about knocking the camera over.

anyway, most people stayed out of my way, so thank you.

i haven't been shooting much at night since i bought the new cameras. don't really think they work as nice as my old cameras. too late now, one is retired, and the other gifted to my sister-in-law. she's a big nascar fan, so works well enough for her.

this was the first shot of the night. beautiful car. picture is a little darker and noisier than i would like, but it's ok.

hawg

got off my butt for a little while this past weekend, and headed over to the latin gents show. i was tired and it was somewhat hot, but i did it anyway. was heading to the oc to see my mom and pick up some mail, so why not?

lots of cars, though i arrived a couple hours after it started. talked to several people that i'm familiar with, and haven't seen in a while.

i know ernie and his wife will be looking for pics of his new ride...just haven't gotten around to it, and deciding which one is best.

after shooting a few viejitos cars that were there (their annual show coming up in a week and a half), i came back around and saw a few cycles sitting near the dj booth. this one looked familiar, and after checking out the plaque on the back, knew exactly where i'd seen it before...at last year's annual viejitos show.

as i was done and packing up, the owner came over and said hello. he remembered me from last year, and sheepishly admitted he'd lost my card. mmm hmmm. handed him another. he said he'd be at the show again this year, but first was going to the torres empire show. i've never been, and he said a little bit of everything shows up and i should really check it out. maybe, but i doubt i will. too many people.

horse of a different color

another strange monday. why did i get out of bed? responsibility is a heavy thing. sister-in-law is having some health issue at the hospital right now, so the taking care of the mother-in-law situation is getting a bit more exciting here. wait and see, wait and see.

ok, this isn't my favorite, best picture, but i did like the neon green of the the car with the pop of red from the tree behind it. don't remember any other red leafed trees except that one...weird.

otherwise, there's the sign up against the car, the bunch of dudes i've never seen before just sittin' there shootin' the shit on the other side of the car, and the car has blems and scratches. normally i wouldn't bother to show it, but i like it just the same. maybe it's the pinstripes. and it's just a weird day.

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thinking about shutting down the print ordering website. up for renewal on the fifteenth. only a few have used it to order prints for themselves; most people just email me directly. paid for itself last year, but no one really uses it. oh well. i cut the prices...if yours is there, now's the time...

gentry

another for the day. won't post tomorrow. already know it.

read somewhere the latin gents show is down for the winter, so i dug up this one from a show last august. was hoping the summer weather would keep some shows going through the winter. so that sucks. always love their cars, and the clubs that participated.

thinking about checking out the impalas show on wednesday. anyone going?

i see what i see

finally, the weekend. not too much going on car show-wise. some standard weekly shows. not sure if i'll go. probably should, as i'm out of practice again. can feel myself closing into my shell again. gotta get out to shows frequently to feel like i'm getting any better in my photography and/or getting out of that comfort zone they talk about.

got netflix playing in the background. watched a couple of stephen hawking shows, which were kind of interesting. how he explains the world and how we see things. we all see things differently. just ask my better half, he'll tell you about going out on photo shoots when we travel, and how i'll see stuff he just never noticed. is it his height, or just that he doesn't notice things i don't know. is it the difference between boys and girls and what catches our attention? don't know. just know it's fun to compare what we take when we go shooting in the same places.

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saw this bomb at the latin gents show. i don't think my pictures have captured what i saw. i'll have to try again if i see it.

loved the details—the engraved scrolling on the metal trim, the pinstriping, the paint—all good. not quite loving the window etching. did he do it himself? kinda ruins the perfection of the rest of it, but maybe it balances it out as well.

out of sorts

first, happy bday to my better half.

i gave him a woody.

the one from the pixar movie...i know what you're thinking... >:)

have had a very not feeling right weekend otherwise.

on friday, my better half walked five miles round trip, when he took his van in for service. ended up with a sore ankle, so he didn't want to go anywhere on saturday.

i stopped for about an hour and change at the latin gents show, then started feeling wobbly. probably because i needed to eat. weekends throw me off...i sleep in late, so i eat later than usual.

anyway, packed up and headed out, while seeing more cars arriving. considered going back later, more toward sunset, but just couldn't bring myself to drive back down there.

then today, there were a couple of shows i'd thought about going to, but, it's my better half's bday, and thought i'd just hang out with him and whatever he wanted to do.

this shot is one of the last couple i shot yesterday. couldn't resist that light and how it was falling through the trees. it just feels like fall. maybe that's why i feel weird...time to hibernate. i sure as heck don't feel like getting up at 4am and going to work tomorrow.

saved from an untimely crash

i was working on this picture a couple of days ago. i was about five minutes from calling it a day and posting it, and then wham, blue screen of death. shit.

i'd already put in a long day at work, sat in traffic for two hours in what should only be an hour drive, but is becoming a more typical evening drive. then to start playing with the pixels, and for it to bomb out at almost ten o'clock at night, just topped off my day and week.

going crazy at work, trying to meet multiple, overlapping deadlines, which is also par for the course, only more so with a redesign of monthly reports. also really lowering my energy to get to as many car shows after work as i used to like to be at.

thought about going to the broiler tonight, but after the drive home and being glued to an office chair and a car seat for hours, i just had enough fight in me to walk uptown for a slice of pizza.

there are a couple of cigar bars/drinking establishments, that i find more and more often frequented by owners of classic cars. tonight there was an old plymouth sitting in front of one of the wino bars. almost went in to find the owner, and ask if they'd be there if i went home and got my camera, but no. it will be back. if not another time, then maybe at the uptown show in august.

as i was saying at the beginning, i was afraid that this file was going to be corrupted by the computer crash, as has happened before, but shockingly, there was only a minor, fixable flaw. i liked the location, the sun setting behind the trees, but there was a decent breeze blowing the treetops a bit more than i like.

thinking of going to the show in rialto and/or the show at la habra high school this weekend. i wanna say there was somewhere else i was supposed to be, but it eludes me right now.