which way to in-and-out?

another weird summer here in so cal. when i was a kid, it would be hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks by may. the last few summers have been relatively mild, compared to the rest of the country. it's almost july, and really, i've had to drive all the way to riverside to find some real heat.

this one was a couple of weeks ago, overcast, but not raining. can't remember if the gloom burned off in the afternoon or not. great weather for shooting cars without harsh shadows. only spent an hour here before going into work on a sunday afternoon.

didn't notice at the time, but i like how i caught the reflection of nearby palm trees on the car. makes me think of the drink cups at in-n-out, with the little palm trees, and i almost want to look under the car for the john 3:16 they hide on the bottom rim of the cups.

she devil

so i'm just waiting on my better half. getting tired. same old story, and again, time for sleep. long day, long week. thinking i'll go to ruby's on friday. haven't been since the first day of the season.

i'm not much for trucks, but i still will occasionally take a shot. this one was not quite a candy cane, but it was pretty sweet. and the hood was closed, so bonus!

i'm in a kind of hell now

living a whirlwind right now, with very little time to post, much less think or sleep. got a coworker on a three week vacation, so helping with some of her work on top of an increasingly busy work schedule. still packing my stuff to go into storage, but at a much more accelerated timeline than i originally thought. but even that, i've been too busy to get much boxed. my son did get through his graduation, so at least i can check that off the list.

quick post, so you don't think i've dropped off the planet. sun was way too bright for taking good shots this day at fuddrucker's in el toro, but i was there and needed to shoot to break the work week up. this was a really nice merc, all flamey and chopped and parked just so. wish that suv thing wasn't next to it.

funny thing was that i was on my way out to spires the next evening, and saw it again followed closely by an unfinished merc on the 91 freeway. had hoped they were heading to the show, but they didn't take the exit, so pooh. went over to the broiler, but they weren't there either. another one of those "where you going?" moments...

impala

didn't make it to either of the two morning shows that i'd thought about going to, but then it's really difficult to convince myself to wake up early on a sunday, much less get out of bed. i knew about this one out in lakewood, and had been to it once before on easter sunday. it starts later, like 2pm, so figured it wouldn't hurt to see what else might show up when it's not a holiday.

wasn't disappointed. and my better half, now having a super computer that can probably reprogram the laser and magnetic tractor beams on the death star, all from his big desk in the back room, has rediscovered his enthusiasm for photography. his computer can now work with his gigantor files from his a850 without taking a couple of hours to contemplate it.

there were several cars that really stood out, and a couple of times we had to wait for the other to finish taking their shots. i don't what he might post over on his blog, so i'm just going to post this baby and hope we don't post the same one. i couldn't choose which view i liked better, so i asked my better half, and he thought this one was more interesting.

it's really in remarkable shape for it's age, and the glitter and airbrushed paint job on the roof is something to behold. neither of us could get the camera high enough to get the shot we really wanted, to show it to its best advantage, even from the small incline behind it. so you'll just have to squint and see the little bit you can see.

the owner did stop us as we were packing up to leave. young guy, very nice. asked about what we did with the pictures, which only one other person asked me about, and so i gave him my card. he said the paint job was 10 years old, though you couldn't tell by the look of it. he did admit that it stays hidden away in the garage mostly, so that does help explain the lack of scratches and dings.

those that ask are usually the ones that get first consideration when i think about what to post. so here's a shot of your car, hope you like it.

the chevy on the left was pretty awesome too, but the owner unfortunately decided to prop open the hood with a wooded machine gun, so my loss...

free at last

i am both relieved and feeling some loss. my son played his last baseball game yesterday. hitting .351 and 32 RBIs for the season. not bad. he will graduate from college in a couple of weeks. i've been going to his games since he was eight years old. it feels weird to know that my weekends will no longer be scheduled around his games. mostly it just feels weird knowing that is just another step in letting him grow up.

he'll probably still have to make the decision to continue on to law school or say yes to a pro team if they pick him in the draft. big choice, and glad it's not mine to make—it's his future now, so i'll just be there to support him whichever way he goes.

but getting back to the car shows is something i can still look forward to. found this show in fullerton, before heading to a baseball game [of course]. had a momentary scare while shooting this car. seriously thought i'd killed one of the two cameras i use at the car shows. already maimed one and killed one lens from overuse. turned out i just had forgotten to switch a couple of settings, since i'd been also using it to shoot the baseball games.

ya, i didn't stay long at this show. owners seemed a little too pretentious, maybe that's not the word, but it wasn't clicking with me. this was the day for hot rods and stuff; the next day was "concours d'elegance" —yes, maybe pretentious is the right word.

from the lack of free parking to the "free shuttle," which turned out to be a standard van for too many people, i knew it was one of those shows that i typically avoid. and yes, i've known about this show for years and managed to skip it. i'd never even gone to the museum, though my college professors used to recommend it for art gallery review assignments. not as many cars as i thought there would be, but i think the concours was probably the busier day. lots of hoods up, many very fine cars, but not many that made me want to take a picture.

i have a couple more i'll share, but there will be additional stories of owners being themselves, to put it nicely. and maybe i should wait a while so i can do the "say something nice, or don't say nothing at all," and get it out of my system. but that's boring.

flying rat rod

quick post since it's late...seem to be starting every post lately that way...too much to do, too little time.

i had a busy weekend. i did make it to riverside. ended up for an hour or so both saturday and sunday at the riverside show and go. saturday on purpose, sunday to entertain some visiting relatives. saturday was great, about 1000 cars; sunday, only a few hundred. my buddy gary (hey blog lurker!) was there on sunday, and said if people didn't win or think they won a trophy, they either didn't show, or had already left.

well, there were still more than enough to satisfy my relatives, and we all ended up satisfied. i have more pics to post, though not of all the cars i saw...too many hoods were up! lol.

full monte

another car that i usually pass by, but i liked the reflection on the hood too much. frankly, i don't get the tiny wheels they put on these cars. i suppose it has something to do with the hydraulics and bounceability. otherwise, this one was rather plain compared to others i've seen all tatted up, relatively.

green with envy

been a busy month, and it don't look like it's going to let up for a while. ain't complaining, except for not being able to get out and shoot fresh images, and less time to play with the ones i have.

isn't this one a beauty? look at that paint job. says in the back window it belongs to the autoholics club. from that night some unrecalled magazine was doing a shoot. wonder if this one made it in? no doubt.

payback isn't always a bitch

one of the first cars i decided to shoot at this show, and oh how i wished the photo album was off the hood. the owner did finally come over and offer to move it, but i was already done with his car, starting to overheat and running short of time. chatted a bit, showed him my book.

he said he'd helped the original owner paint this car, i think back in the '70s. turns out he'd inherited it from him a couple of years ago. if i remember what he told me, i think he's still tweaking the engine, but it looked nice, glittering in the sun. glitter and pinstripes. not a bad way to say thanks for your help.

blazing saddles

so why not post more flamey cars? why the heck not? i have quite a few in my collection.

found this one out in riverside at a charity show. saw several cars that i've shot before, but there was an ok turnout considering other shows i've been to recently.

hey gary...i remembered you...just had to place the face with the car. and so sorry, your hood was open, so i didn't shoot it this time.

this one, well, it didn't have a hood, but it did have glittery flames, so why not? it's got a wall-e engine. that thing must block your view while driving.