pns 2.0: **sniff**sniff** smells like a midlife crisis here. something about these kind of cars just makes me think the guy is compensating for something. i can't help but laugh, but not in front of the guy. hope it gets him whatever it is he is looking for.
well, hey, it got me to take a picture of it. but i'm just in one of those moods, so i better bite my lip now.
oooh wait, reminds me of the model cars my bros used to put together. ah the smell of the testors model glue...ok, i'll stop.
so i stopped at bob's last month and saw this woodie sitting there. usually don't care about them, but i liked the paint detail on the spare cover. so i just took this one shot of the car just to catch it. the coconuts in the trees are little tiki heads.
the owner came over and asked what i was doing. i'm up fairly close to the car with the wide angle, and they always think i'm just doing a detail shot. nope, when i want the detail, i use my other camera with the macro lens, like i did for the air filter cover here. he opened the hood, said i had to see it.
not sure if he knew about my aversion to what's under the hood, but he insisted i check it out, and i admit, this one was pretty cool. clean engine compartment too.
must have looked up my blog; he found me at the halloween show at ruby's the following week. wanted me to take pics of his car, but i got there too late and for some reason he didn't have it at the show or had already taken it home.
guess i'll try to get to bob's again sometime. better chance to get nice sunset shots since the time changed. just gotta start carrying my cameras with me again, and stopping at shows after work.
i saw this hot rod several times at the pep boys show before they put an end to it. it was always parked too close to other cars and often the owners were all sitting around in front of it, so i never really got a shot i liked of it. i did get an ok shot of the hood ornament once.
found it this time over at the buena park elks lodge. i think the show only started a few weeks ago. i'd never been there, so i pulled into the lot and parked near the entrance in an unmarked spot. there were the typical reserved spots at an elks lodge, like one for "knights" and such.
i got out of my car, opened the trunk and started getting my camera set up. loading batteries and cards, cleaning the lenses. finally pulled my bag and tripod out, closed the trunk and was ready to go.
then from across the lot, one of the grand poobahs asked, "are you an elk?" took all that i had not to come back with a "do i look like an elk?" type answer. i told him no, and then he advised that the parking lot was for elks only, i'd have to move to the street. would help if they'd put up a sign at the driveway. way to roll out the welcome mat, oh holy moly one. might as well have told me to piss off.
so, i heaved all my gear back into my trunk and moved the car. almost considered giving this show the finger, but figured i'd already wasted time and gas finding it, so i might as well take a quick turn around the lot. fortunately, i got there early enough, there was plenty of space right across the street. unfortunately, i got there early enough, there wasn't much to see. kinda disappointing. several cars that used to go to the garden grove main street show, a couple i see at cypress, and only a few i've never seen. one guy i spoke to did say they usually get about 60 or 70 cars. i've heard that before, and i'll believe it when i see it.
i didn't stay long, as i was heading to ruby's halloween show right after.
wtf is an elk anyway, and why would anyone want to be one? do they wear the big hats with horns like fred flinstone and barney rubble? secret handshakes? what's with the silly names for the exulted leaders? guess i'm not old enough to want to be part of that club anyway. i'll stop now before i get into trouble.
another from the halloween show. an old fav, this one. his parking spot really sucked. too many cars, too many people. there was a car parked in the aisle in front of this one, with very little room for people to pass by, or for me to set up my tripod. thank goodness for a wide angle lens.
low rider types are also not my typical subjects. these two were just on my way out of the show, and there weren't too many people milling around, so there you go.
i find them difficult to shoot, not this red one in particular, but others are. they like to lower them way down, then pop one or two wheels up so the angle gets all screwed, and/or they pop open the hood and trunk to show off the boom boxes and hydraulics.
i took a shot of the car behind this one. it was up on the far side, so it looks a bit funny. not sure if i'll post it. i haven't decided yet.
here's the first one i took from the dia de los muertos show in whittier yesterday. this was a row of showlows cars. ronnie was kind enough to let me know they were going to be there, and since its right up the street from me, easy to walk to. even got uptown early and got some bfast before they arrived.
i don't think i've seen this one from their club. very exceptional and clean. i liked the pinstripes, which they all seem to have, and it's very well done.
so i got out shooting today, but already had this old picture ready to go, so you guys from today will just have to wait a few more days.
this was back in august, on the day of the uptown whittier car show. the one that allowed vintage and muscle cars, but no low riders. ya, you guys have to wait until may for your token show. thanks whittier.
don't know why, but this ford wasn't part of the show. he parked over by the coffee bean, i suppose to get his fix. did he get there too late? did he not register? did he just want to be noticed? well one out of three is sure.
the lack of people walking through the picture and the brilliant color of the car, made it an "ok, i'll take it" shot.
there are old things we should keep around. like this old truck. a new coat of paint, shiny chrome, new wheels, and you have a keeper. it has value to the owner, and all us poor plebes can only admire from afar and appreciate the hard work. yep this one got put almost in the center intersection of the whittier uptown car show this year.
feeling philosophical tonight. i have a house filled with boxes of stuff from an earlier life. boxes of memories, toys, junk. all have value to me, or i would have gotten rid of them long ago. i used to have it all in storage, then decided i didn't want to pay the storage fees anymore. thought it would be easier to go through it all if i actually had it around...
thing is, i think i'm ready to let go of some of the stuff. i'm sick of looking at the boxes. if i can find someone to cart off a lightly used electric clothes dryer from my garage, i could move some of said stuff out there, so it can play with the other boxes out there, out of sight, out of mind...except everytime i park my car there.
if i had the time, i'd go through the boxes and filter out the old photos, and absolutely sentimental stuff to keep forever, then decide what to do with the rest of it. i should have a garage sale, but i hate them, especially since the last time i had one, some bunghole actually paid for my junk with a counterfeit $20. thanks for nuthin.
it is a lot easier to just shove the stuff in the corners and ignore it, but i'm getting to the point where i don't want to think about them anymore. i suspect this is why i got custody of all this stuff, so that i would have to face it one day. i think he would have just thrown it all away and be done with it.
i could post stuff on ebay, or take it to goodwill, but that would take time, which i don't have a lot of lately. i'd like to clean the slate, so to speak. someone could make use of it. i've gone through it all a few times over the years, but this last bit is just hard to let go of.
easier to play with my pictures, go to a car show, go to work, watch netflix, travel, do almost anything than to deal with the past.
this one was at the labor day show in henderson's lincoln dealership. it stood out amongst all the chevys, rat rods, and other typical vintage stuff. mostly because it was hot pink. these puppies always make me think herman munster.
so while i was taking a few shots of it, some old guy walks by and mumbles about it being a “girl car.” ya, i didn't shoot his car, so maybe he was jealous?
even has hot pink dice...ya, it's a chick car.
i stopped by the broiler the other day. was a bit more lively than on recent visits, yet still pallid compared to last summer.
as always, i find more interesting cars hiding in the back for whatever reason. this impala was one of those. on first look, it was an eye catcher, with it's shiny paint, glitter and all. but on closer inspection, there are a few imperfections on the pinstriping/airbrushing, but maybe it was just because i was getting up close and personal with the thing. still, it's a pretty thing just the same.