what's up?

week off

1946 chevy truck

1946 chevy truck

i got back from my road trip two days early. caught up on some sleep today.

i should go for a walk, but i've only been out of the house to drive somewhere to pick up lunch. so tired of the food places uptown, but i don't know what else i'd have. kinda craving a salad right now. one out by house, not here in whittier. maybe when i go visit my parents...

i noticed some bananas getting over-ripe in the kitchen, so i guess i'll make some bread. way to spend some free days, right?


truck from the veteranos' kick back at in-n-out...was just a week ago now? two? haven't seen one of these models in a while.

kid is back

1952 buick eight

1952 buick eight

pretty sure i saw this one last week at in-n-out, before my trip. figured i just post this one from last year’s uptown whittier show, since i just saw a flyer for this summer’s show in a store window recently. 

so highly polished, like they poured liquid shellac all over it. 

———-

so i drove over one-thousand, one-hundred miles over the last two days. i’m feeling that i should have split it over three. today i get to unload the rental truck, but that somehow sounds easier than loading it was, though my arms are pretty tired from just holding the steering wheel on the truck. 

of course, the worst part of the drive was going through los angeles. traffic could have been worse, since it was easter sunday, later in the evening, but it was moving, even if it was slow. thank goodness the dodger game had already started, so we weren’t stuck in that traffic. 

knew we were back in california, just by the sudden decline in the road quality. washington and oregon seem to actually spend money on their highways. maybe because the weather up there makes it critically important, but california roads are just shit all the way down. sure there are stretches of road that are smoother, and maybe those counties cough up the money for it. but the majority of the way, especially in the right hand travel lanes, are bumpy, potholed, tire eating grinders. 

i am surprised that none of the kid’s tarantulas or spiders died from the stress of all that bouncing. she had the snakes in pillowcases, and when she had to leave the dog in the car, would put them in the truck, so the dog wouldn’t stomp or chomp on them. they creep me out, even in the bags, and i only imagined them getting out and slithering around my feet while i drove, so i always made sure i gave them back before we got going again. i can only wonder what we looked like handing bags back and forth between truck and car. 

had to hold up the line at the cali inspection stop, to open the back of the truck and have the inspector peek in. no fruit, or drugs, or guns, or whatever they look for, but at least he was nice enough about it. 

i also had to drive through a weigh station at one point. never had to do that before, and that guy was a little snippy because i didn’t know i needed to drive three miles an hour while they weighed in motion. got yelled at by the invisible office worker via an intercom.  

otherwise, i think every other weigh station in the state was closed for the day, so what was the point? i could have loaded up a shit ton of bricks, drove a lot, ruined the roads, and they’d never know. or what is the point of those stops anyway? guess i’ll have to ask the one trucker i know. 

i do remember seeing someone northbound in norwalk, with a broke down white thirty-nine master deluxe. tow truck was there, and with all the road construction on that part of the freeway, i know that was a pretty tight place to have to take care of that type of thing. but really, my first thought was whether i’ve taken a picture of it before... 

at your service

san gabriel 1-0664And9morehdr.jpg

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.

don't hold back

1951 chevy truck

1951 chevy truck

beauty of a truck here in whittier, from a few weeks ago. had to do the waiting game for several shots; for another photographer, for a videographer, for the background traffic, for other random people. it's a car show, so it comes with the territory. i'm not in a hurry, so i wait. or come back later.


trolls. i have trolls. not for me, specifically, more as a conduit. they're frustrated, and rattling cages, and can't get through to the person they want, so hello me.

don't want to shut down commenting, but thinking about it, at least for a little while, until they forget about me. i don't got time for dat, and it's not about me anyway. sounds like i need some sort of salve.

in-n-out

1941 pontiac

1941 pontiac

so many pictures, not enough time. so much going on at home, and a trip coming up, i almost did not get out to the veteranos' show. drove an hour to get there from my parents' house.

better half still at home taking care of his mother, relatives visiting, so he couldn't go. and, i couldn't stay very long, as i needed to get back there with him.

lots more cars were showing up as i was leaving, but that's how it goes. and, well, i really don't care for midday light and shadows anyway.

 

connect?

1947 dodge

1947 dodge

wth. i was just checking articles on linkedin, and who is the first person up as a suggested connection?  

jae bueno. 

now i’m just sad, though it does say he is still presently busy as a freelance photographer.  yes, maybe, somewhere in the universe, but not here. and that sucks.

——- 

old dodge hearse that i see everywhere. usually not like this, on it’s own, where you can sort of work around it for a better angle. was still too close to a wall/a hedge. but usually jammed between other cars, so this’ll do. 

stylish

1948 chevy stylemaster

1948 chevy stylemaster

sitting in my car here, way too early, but i did beat the rain getting to work this morning. it’s just now started falling on the roof, at a pretty steady pace. i still need to get gas over at costco soon—no lines at five-thirty in the morning. 

relatives coming this weekend; i’ll probably avoid them...don’t want to trade cooties with the little kid. 

but the best news is two days to go, until a two-week vacay for me. nothing fun, but it does involve a flight, a rental truck, and lots of scenic driving. and not working. so yay. wish my better half could go, but he’s busy taking care of his mom. someday his sister will come back to help, but for the near future, it’s just him/us. wonder if medicare would provide someone to help? dunno. 

——- 

second time, at least this car is up here. this time at workman high show. one of the few older chevys there. first car i shot that day, being the first one there in the corner. one of the veteranos club members, they reminded me about their car show coming up this weekend, in covina. hopefully, the rain stops by then.

tired

1940 chevy special deluxe

1940 chevy special deluxe

missing a couple of good shows this morning. just too tired to move. my arm still hurts. maybe this afternoon, i’ll check out a couple of evening shows. better half has been out at the markets, and i’ve been watching his mom while he’s out anyway.

——- 

nice car from a few weeks back at salinas tires. limited space, but nice selection to shoot. 

shaking my head

1950 chevrolet deluxe

1950 chevrolet deluxe

i remember this day. last summer's bomb club car show at santa anita. middle of the racetrack, on the grass. hot, sunny day. still looking forward to the next one on june twenty-third.

all the lovely cars, in a new location, at least for me...i'd never been to a show there. actually, hadn't been to santa anita in years, so that was fun.

maybe i'll take pictures of the horse races this time too.


recent events have just got me feeling down. if i was a psych major, there'd be a thesis in it. people are just so horrible sometimes, and selfish and stubborn. there are some that will politely engage in a discussion, agree to disagree, but the rest think if they just yell louder, insult you, belittle you, threaten you, they win. water off a duck's back. let's remember richard for a moment. ok, he's not worth the time; see how it works?


and i'm kind of enjoying that it is raining just a little bit, so i can sleep in and not have to find a reason to not get out of the house. i'm sure there was something grammatically wrong with that sentence, and i don't care...double negatives or something.

been busy, and i'll be travelling soon. i'm getting really good at driving big ass moving vans. hoping i don't get a diesel one again...don't like the steering wheel being so horizontal. hoping the weather is good, and the roads aren't icy.


had to do a bunch of headshots at work yesterday. they scheduled seven people; one showed up, forgetting that she was supposed to wear a suit, and was dressed for st. patty's day. one less person, great. then someone else heard there was a shoot, and wanted one, but she couldn't do it until the afternoon. so i still ended up with seven people.

interesting how insecure people are in front of a camera. i am just as uncomfortable behind one, when they are in front of me. i babble, and try to lighten their mood, to get a decent smile from them, get them to relax. i'm trying, and i hate it every time, but the pictures aren't bad. now if i'd just relax enough to be able to tell them how i want them to pose, to get rid of that double-chin, or thin them out a bit, like i've learned in classes, i wouldn't have to do so much in post-processing, maybe.

i did do a little bit of stand like this, smile like that...sort of a mirror. i don't smile much, so my smile just has to be ever more stiff than theirs. at least they laugh, and i get the shot.

after shooting someone six+ foot tall, followed by a person about five foot in heels, when i went to adjust the height on the tripod, a leg twisted off. not good. couldn't get back together and stay. the person is just waiting. i tried some hand-held shots, but i shake too much. probably should have dialed up the shutter speed or something.

i wasn't liking the quality, so i tried the leg one more time, and propped it up against a chair. that held together long enough, and got something usable finally.

i had a twenty-minute break before the next person, so up to my office, asked a co-worker if they could fix it, while i ran out to my car to get my personal tripod from the trunk. knowing that i didn't have the plate to attach the camera to it with me, i was going to have to pull the ball head off and just mount the camera directly. 

fortunately, my co-worker figured it out, at least for the time being, and i got through the rest of the day with it. pretty sure, though, i didn't adjust the leg height for the duration.

need to reschedule the one person sometime in the future, so i better be sure to check it on monday, and carry my own as a backup on those days.

 

missed you

1946 chevrolet fleetmaster

1946 chevrolet fleetmaster

got up late, but mostly because the time changed. stupid daylight savings time. well, it didn't matter. the weather forecast said no rain, just cloudy all day. oh hell yaaas. love that. giant softbox.

took a bit to get moving, but out i went. drove past where a cruise was supposed to be, on the way to the workman high school show, but i guess they had already left. no big. arrived at the high school just after ten, when it was supposed to officially start.

workman hs 2-2423.jpg

the cars are hidden down on the basketball court, which you can't see from the parking lot. but in the parking lot, there some semi-trucks parked, followed by some muddy dirt buggies in the next lot.

sort of disappointed [not] that i came to find not so many cars on the court. last year had been jammed, and hot. here, there were maybe about thirty cars, half the kind i don't like, and the other half my favs, just parked around the perimeter.

fewer cars, more focus, more pics, less people in the way. look at the glass half full. make the most of it. any time i walk away with at least one car and one picture that makes me happy, it's cool. 

this guy parked over in the corner. was hoping some of his friends from his club would show up, but didn't. that was ok too. i think this was one of my favorite pictures i shot today. and the clouds are ok too. owner even pulled the show tag out of the window too. thanks for that.

waited a bit for a jump-off between two cars, but it kept not happening, and i had to get back home. wished more cars had been there, it never did rain, still isn't, missed you all, but was still good with it. one guy theorized everyone was at the dub show. whatever.