plain as the nose...

so i briefly thought this was an impala when i looked quickly at the small thumbnail images. when i opened the file, there it is right on the front side, the insignia "galaxie 500xl." errr. and a showlows thingy in the back. my bad, ronnie.

anyone planning on going to the ruby's show on friday? first one of the season? maybe i'll make a brief stop at chubby's too. not sure about the garden grove show...has been disappointing the last few times, but maybe since pep boys cancelled, everyone will be back. 

i'm hoping to find the time...don't think i'll make it to riverside that night.

only one that asked

taking a break from work and from the showlows cars...i'll get back to you guys tomorrow, probably.

busy weekend. spent many hours in riverside. i had a few hours to kill on saturday, and it just so happened they were having one of those 3-day car shows in downtown riverside. the type of show that i normally would skip as being to crowded and busy. but it was late afternoon on the second day, after the awards for the day supposedly were given, and i figured most of the mess would be gone.

that may be so, but there were still lots and lots of cars to see, and many that i would have like to have shot busy cruising and never stopping. several blocks were closed to traffic, except for cars in the show, which were allowed to cruise along several blocks in a circuitous route.

and damn was it windy there. had to hold onto the tripod to minimize the shakes, and it did nothing for my hair, but really it was more annoying than anything. my hair blew across the camera as i was trying to frame up the shot. it flew all around my head as i walked down the street. it took on a life of its own, until i just really didn't care what it was doing, which is what it does best anyway. i probably looked a fright. i probably should just cut it short again and be done with it. i digress...

while there were many people, they mostly stayed out of my way once i set up my tripod. i never did see anyone else with one, so i'm sure they didn't know what to think of me. couple of owners inquired if i was a professional, but only the owner of this hot rod bothered to really ask about what i was doing, looked at some of my pictures, and took a card. this one was off the street in a parking lot of a business, thus no one really getting in the way. not the best location, judging by the background, but the other angle just was going to be some garage doors and building frontage, so...imagine those are time capsules on the right side.

i took lots of shots, so i will post a few more soon.

siblings

these two could be brother and sister, so different, yet so similar. i suppose the truck would be big bro, watching over his little sister. and she's so hot. party in the front, no junk in the trunk...ehh, no trunk. lol.

i know i talked to the owner of the hot rod at this show; gave him my card and he commented that he had the same last name. i think he was one of the vendors, so probably the truck belongs to the company or partner. too much of a coincidence otherwise.

of course, i wished the hood was down, but couldn't resist the hot rod, so what the hell.

anniversary post

greetings. anyone miss me this past week? all i can say as to why i haven't been able to post, in no particular order: overtime, rain, family.

take this ford, for instance. i managed to get the hell out of the office last tuesday, on an evening when it was actually not raining. sky was clear, wasn't too cold, yet there just weren't all that many cars out at the show. true, clouds were rumored to be heading this way, but not yet. gets kinda disappointing when i find the time, and not much is there.

i hadn't seen this particular car since 2009. it did make it on my blog early on last year. i was especially happy to have found it again, as i had only taken a couple of shots of it from way down low.

anyway, i'd only taken a couple images of this one and also a sweet chevy nomad, in all of 10 minutes, when i get a call from work, saying please come back and tweak some files. so i pack it up and work 2 or 3 more hours...they're all starting to blur together.

otherwise, family was in town, and had to get all the time i could with them. ended up squeezing in a lunch hour, and a late dinner the night before they left. oh well.

i've realized it was exactly one year ago today that i began this blog. i'd like to thank everyone for putting up with me at the car shows, whatever mood i'm in, and letting me take pictures of your cars. at least most of you. thanks for visiting my blog, no matter how much i ramble, digress, or blather on about nothing. the pictures are the main thing, and they make me happy. i can only hope you're liking them too, or i'm really just talking to myself here.

flame thrower

only a few more weeks until the season when there is literally at least one car show a day. car gluttony. car-razy. car happy = carappy? whatever.

i think it's been hinted to throttle back on how many shows i hit up. shall we just say my better half is very patient with me, and i should probably throw more time his way. but, hey, he does work a lot of overtime, so what else am i going to do? i really hate going to the gym, and at least this gets me out and about, hauling around a tripod.

speaking of upcoming shows, this flamed beauty, and it's hot rod companion (can't really see the flames on it from this side) were at the foothill ranch show last june. was a bit overcast, and not as broiling hot as it got later in the summer there. i can't be sure, but i think this chevy has also been over at fuddrucker's once in a while, and i think it might even belong to the pinstriper guy who comes out once a month there in the summer. i'm sure someone out there will let me know ifn i'm misguided...you always do.

playing with fire

so i hit a couple of shows on sunday. stopped first at the big boy show in orange. second time there. big disappointment. didn't even get my camera out. they had several rows of the parking lot blocked off, so they were hopeful, but the security guard started taking the caution tape down before i left.

then drove over to pal joey's show in costa mesa. haven't been to one of these since they were at the santa ana elk's club. decent turn out, but i still expected more. got there late enough that many cars had the hood up, so bye bye to them.

this one was a pretty decent hot rod, as hot rods go. i've never seen slightly rainbow-y flames as these...pinks to greens to oranges to blues. nice big wall•e engines...kinda expect a nickelodeon if you peek into this one.

so basically for the day, i got shots of maybe four cars. whatever. i had fun anyway.

fly away home

i've been checking out some of the odd and random shows lately. looking for some different cars to shoot, new people to meet. well, this one was really disappointing as far as shows go, but not as far as the few cars that showed up.

the flyer mentioned that you should r.s.v.p., as there was limited space. well, smooth move sherlock, i can't think of a better way to get people not to show up. marketing genius.

i'd just gotten a new macro lens to replace the one that had broken...so sad. anyone interested in an awesome minolta "secret handshake" macro lens, that doesn't focus anymore? needed to test it out, in case it needed to be returned. being late in the day, i could only think of this particular show still running by the time i could get there.

well, despite being only half-way through the advertised show time, there were a grand total of four cars that i would consider being in the lot for the show, two of which were just selling stuff or otherwise just silly and shouldn't ever be seen in public...so embarassing. oh wait, a tricked out golf cart in front of an indoor golf facility, i guess could be interesting to some.

there were only three when i first pulled up across the street, then this baby drove in. saves the day even better than that stingray next to it. thank you so much!

eye see you

there was nothing particularly special about this car. just hadn't seen it before, and i haven't seen it since.

it had an interesting front end that caught my eye. it's got some rusty pitting going on, and the back end looked vaguely like a t-bird. otherwise, a pretty generic looking car, but i got it anyway.

it's for sale. i really should ask people to take those signs off, just for a little while, only a little while. just while i take the pictures.

thou art very plain

this pretty little model t was at the broiler last week. it’s old, but looks so new. aside from the chrome wheels, the young whippersnapper cars next to it, and the modern location, it looks as it has driven from an older, simpler time. i like that they have not jazzed it up or overcustomized it. just a classic look. even if i have to squint past those wheels.

lucky bastard

stopped by the three car shows in the area yesterday. keep finding the most variety of cars over at the pep boys show. hearing that there was some disagreement with the guys that run the garden grove show, so there was a split, and now a good majority of the cars can be found here on friday nights.

i was told in passing, by a guy i frequently see at shows, that this car almost ended up in a chop shop. it had been stolen from the owner's driveway and found a few days later, covered, in the yard of a "mechanic's" shop. i remember reading about it, but the article i read had no pictures at the time, so i didn't recognize this as being the one. yep, the guy is one lucky bastard...what are the typical chances of ever seeing your stolen custom car in one piece again?

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i read a small sign hanging in the window of a shop in uptown whittier, that there is a charity car & bike show on the 12th at whittier high school, benefitting their baseball team. not much advertising...wondering if anyone has heard about it and is planning on going? says the show is from 10–4, drive-in starts at 7a.m.

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going to seattle/tacoma this summer...anyone know of any car shows?