this trio of rolling red metal was at bob's back in september. of course i was mainly interested in the old ford here in the front. the lights hitting it's shiny paint made it just seem to glow. problem was trying to catch it long enough when there weren't many people walking through my exposures. guess i got lucky here, didn't have to kill any ghosts.
happy bday to my better half. i got something for you...
so i'm in a rough and dirty mood. been too long since i threw a beater up here. a nice rat rod made of bits and pieces of various years. i'm tired and don't feel like spit-shining pixels tonight.
this assembly seems to be based on a ford body of some sort. i like the unfinished surfaces, with the engine compartment a matte black with pinstriping. interesting to the spend the time and money for a touch like that, or even for the dice on the tire valve stem, when the rest of it seems destined to remain “aged.”
at least it doesn't have a huge, obnoxious engine, which in a chop top would inhibit the view from the driver's seat. i don't believe i've seen it back again since then, so maybe its been transformed into something more interesting by now...
i think i probably caught a cold, courtesy of my lovely neighbors seated next to and nearby me on the airplane home. really tired, so 'scuse me while i whip this out.
not one of my best shots, more of an experiment. i liked the positioning with the neon sign and the reflections on the side of the car, but i think i'd need to rethink the actual taking of a shot like this. a little rough and noisy, and not quite right, but i liked it enough to post it.
gonna go pass out now. i might be banished again from my mother-in-law's, which is where my computer is currently parked, so i might be down for a couple of days...suckage.
well, i'm back. had an excellent week hauling myself around d.c. missed my cars though. already had missed a local car show outside of town, so of course, while cruising through museums, i was on the prowl for them.
now i have to tell you, i do hate taking pictures of cars indoors, especially at museums. same reasons i haven't bothered going to the big car shows here: too many people; artificial light and/or ugly ceiling from low points of view; limited manueverability to find the perfect shot; not allowed to use a tripod; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
when i was a kid, we lived back behind mt. vernon, so got to visit the smithsonian museums fairly often. my dad would mostly march us to the buildings on the mall. so i had some memories of where to look. i remembered the american history museum having a hall of transportation: a vast room with 3 or 4 full-size trains of various time periods, with the associated smell of smoke and iron; and a room with lots of cars from lots of time periods.
well, its all been redone. the giant trains are gone, except one, and so was the smell. the cars were limited to about 5 or 6 models in silly dioramas, and despicable conditions for getting the shot i wanted. screw it. i got them using a small, flexible gorillapod tripod thing, but i probably will never bother posting them, i dislike them so much.
if you get farther out from the mall, you can find some interesting things. i found this old ford postal truck in the u.s. postal museum of course. i didn't catch what year. the amazing thing was that i could use a big tripod in there now — couldn't do that last year. not a lot of traffic off the beaten path. and apart from the bars to keep you off the thing, you could almost get a 270 degree choice of angle around it to shoot from, only because they have a modern truck behind it at an angle.
really was great to get away from work, but i missed posting. i'll stop boring you now with tales of my time away, since the rest has nothing to do with cars.
i missed the previous show at foothill ranch because i was out of town, and being they only do this one once-a-month thru october (i think), i didn't want to miss it again. turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, and lack of a crowd reflected it. there were maybe about 10–12 cars, instead of the usual 20–30. half had the hoods up, and i walked right by those, which mostly were 56/57 chevys. too bad.
i only bothered shooting about 5 of the cars before sitting down in the shade to wait for it to cool off and see if anyone else was going to bother to show up. one of the organizers told me they were going to pack it up early because of the heat. don't know if they decided to hold the raffle prizes and trophies until the next show or not, because i didn't stay too long after hearing that.
anyway, whilst chillin' in the shade and packing up my gear, the owner of this '31 coupe stopped by to chat. he'd noticed me shooting his car, and was interested in what i was going to do with the pictures. gave him my card. i know he peeked at my blog, because he is one of the brave few who actually bothered to email me — thanks randy! hope you like it.
i think, were i not at a car show, that a guy asking me to "check out my woody," would cause at the very least a double-take if not a slap in the face. but of course i knew what he meant, so no worries.
this 1946(?) ford woodie wagon belongs to one of the group of guys that i've joked with the past couple of weeks at ruby's. i'd seen it before at the show at spires (or is it peris?) i'll call it spires, kinda the same way irvine meadows amphitheatre will always be irvine meadows to me, not verizon..., or its just "the forum," not great western...but i digress.
several of the guys are very interested on whether i shot their car, and can they see a print. i'm not usually all that jazzed by woodies for whatever reason...too cliché maybe; more likely because the wood distracts me from the nice curves of the front. so this owner had to ask me to take a picture of it. so here it is...what do you think?
and surprise, surprise, i only shot the hood ornament on it before. does it light up? at least he doesn't have the stereotypical unused surfboard stuck on it somewhere, that i find kinda lame, though i guess it does fit the theme. totally tubular, dude. cha.
this old ford was sitting in the back corner of the small lot near the judges' table at ruby's in whittier. usually i don't shoot anything back there because people are sitting in front of the cars or they just aren't that interesting. made an exception since this was so clean and no one was around for whatever reason. was just very shiny and with the sun beginning to set and the chevy next to it, it was perfect.
posting another picture tonight, because i already know i won't be able to tomorrow.
anyone notice that it's getting to be a little on the hot side this week? i gotta get something to wear besides blue jeans; they just hold the heat in and i'm just gonna have a heat stroke.
stopped by three shows this evening: one in anaheim (too early, hardly anything there yet), peris, and bob's big boy in downey (only stayed fifteen minutes). lots to choose from at the peris show, stayed about an hour.
this ford hot rod stood out from all the other hot rods there. probably because it was hot pink and had pinstriped flames. even had an airbrushed portrait of a hot rod and the tasmanian devil on the back.
anyway, it was neato. i've got a shower waiting for me now...gotta go.
...and so much better than the movie of the same name, this '57 ford fairlane, guessing hardtop convertible, was at fatburger last week. i got there late, lots of cars, but not many that i wanted to shoot. some were on their way out when i got there, and they did not hear my cries to come back...ok, so the cries were in my head, but i imagine the signal going out like aquaman sent signals to all the sea life for help. guess i'm not aquaman.
i did run into another photographer, who i overheard talking to / making a sales pitch to a small group of guys. one of them mentioned his name as he was looking at the card the guy was handing out. got my attention, since its a name you don't hear often and my mother happens to know someone by this name who also trolls the car shows lately.
so, going so opposite of my shy self, i walked over and asked the guy his name. i guess since i look similar to my mom, the guy recognized me instantly. quite funny actually. anyway, he was very nice, and we chatted for a bit. he went off to take his pics and i wandered around before deciding what to shoot first.
i caught up with him again shooting a bright orange truck in the corner of the lot. good luck with the color on that one, orange that bright is a real PITA. i started shooting a nice ford woodie, and he had disappeared next time i looked around, so didn't have a chance to say good bye.
anyway, shout out to booker, hope you got some good shots! my mom says hi.
just got home from the x games. saw the guy get smashed by his motorcycle. looked real bad, but they say he'll be ok.
quick post then off to bedski.
this 1934 ford was at the show off alondra and the 605. nice old car. looks a little odd straight on, so i've cropped it here. i left the ghosts in the background...maybe they came with the car?