tiger in the grass

i've posted this one up here several times before. keep trying to get the stripey, random airbrush paint job right. lo and behold, there it was in with a small contingent of cars from orange county down at chicano park, hiding in a corner. 

as i've said before, it's fun to find a car over and over, and then to find it some new environment. typically, i find it on a hot, sunny day, sitting on hot asphalt in a parking lot. things get more blown out that way.

here i found it again, in the shade of the bridge overpass, sitting pretty on the grass. surrounded by hundreds of other remarkable cars, i found it without a crowd around it for a change.

screw it, here's a chevy

so i like old chevys better than the rest. been a while, so i'm posting one.

saw this one last night when i gimped around the ruby's show in whittier—hadn't been since last year. i saw it cruise past me fairly silently while i was shooting another chevy. they went down the aisle and under the caution tape...sadly thought they were leaving, then realized they were just taking a shortcut to another aisle.

i've learned that if i really want to shoot a car, i need to go find it pretty quickly, in case they decide to drive away again. so i headed over the two rows to where they'd parked. it had hydraulics in it, so here it is dropped down a bit. later, i got my better half to come over and admire it. he'd upped the front end by then for some reason, but i took that one too. didn't think that one was so interesting, so here's my favorite of the few i took.

it was mostly overcast, so the sky here is almost as silvery as the car, but the sunset was still peeking through here and there. there weren't so many cars as i'd usually see here, and my foot was starting to ache, so we didn't stay until full sunset. 

the owner did come over to ask about where he might see the pictures. said he goes to lots of shows, but i don't recall ever seeing this one before. hope i see it again, in another setting, and without my foot distracting me from getting a good shot.

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early early

best time to go to a big show is before it is supposed to start, the earlier the better. especially a show out in riverside, where the daytime temperature can shoot to over a hundred degrees on a cool day. wasn't the case this year, as it was unseasonably overcast and cloudy, but i still only managed to go out early in the morning and later in the evening. stupid foot was bugging me. still is. i'll give it a few weeks then go back to the doc.

this belonged to a couple who spent the night nearby in a motorhome. poor things. really roughing it. not. he found me out behind another motorhome shooting a little pink coupe, and he headed over to uncover his car. i had no idea what was hiding behind door number three, but i was pretty happy with what was revealed. 

sun coming up, trees, and few people and cars passing by, so i was free to take whatever angle i liked.

i have one more promised car to do, if i can decide i like any of the shots. then it'll be time to get back to a nice old chevy.

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working eight hour days, but they feel like twelve. my foot still cramping my style. i went to the broiler tonight—first time in a couple of months—really going down the drain there. got there later, and still not much in the lot, so i took a few shots, chatted with my buddy angel and his friend, and left.

sedan, i am

this is bob's pontiac. i'd seen it parked off the street in this side lot for the last couple of years that i'd been to this show. finally had the time and inclination to go over and have a look. initially, there was another car parked on this side, and i was just shooting the hood ornament. he came over and apologized that it wasn't a better ornament—said there was more to it, but someone had snapped the other pieces off at some point in the past.

then, the car next to him took off, so i had space to shoot the car. happily, he moved the dust mop thing off the hood. 

the car is showing its age, but that's fine with me. imperfections just make it that much more interesting, so don't apologize when you're car is less than perfect.

they all head south for the winter

so, i'll get back to riverside in a couple of days, but i wanted to put one of this beauty up before i forget. my better half talked the owner into closing it up later that afternoon.

i basically stare at cars with their hoods open if i really want to shoot it, and hope the owner notices and offers to close it. i've only asked owners to close it a couple of times because it was too good not to get it, and most typically will just walk past a few times and hope to see it again some day.

of course, i took advantage of the hood closed, and took several more shots. but i thought i'd share this one, just to show that i sometimes break my own rule. i think my better half mentioned that it's rare to see one in such immaculate condition, but if memory serves, d, there was about five of them in a row down at chicano park, each just as delicious as this one. but i did skip most of those, since they had one side up and one side down.

ok, this one had a nice engine, so i guess that was part of the reason i went ahead and took this shot. my better half liked this one better than the others i did, so maybe that's why i'll share it with you.

out of town tomorrow, so riversiders, hold your breath until wednesday. unless i go to big boy...

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pretty fair

i spent the weekend in riverside at the show and go. not as much time at the show as i'd have liked, because my foot isn't totally healed and i could only take so much time walking around. my better half would have helped if he'd been able to be there, but no, he's still working on that deadline. missed a really great room i had over at the inn, but it worked out perfect because i could go crash when it got too hot and when i couldn't walk any farther.

i talked to several people over the three days i was there, and should they happen to be looking for their car, be patient. i have a day job, go to shows when i can, and i squeeze in the pictures here as i can get to them in the evenings if i'm not too tired. please check back—i try to put cars up of the people i talk to before others.

i took over 1,600 pictures over three days, and i've spent the evening sorting them and backing them up. so quick post now. this one belongs to jimmie. really, really clean fairlane. he was, of course, curious what i was doing behind his car and came over to chat a bit. i took a few angles of the car, but this one was my favorite. so jimmie, as i was saying, click here if you are interested in buying a print.

gotta catch some sleep now. up early for work and wondering if it's going to rain, or if the weathermen are just being incompetent as usual. but i hope they're right. my birthday is coming, and really, i just want it to rain. i'd rather it be raining and i was hearing it on the roof of a cottage in solvang, but i guess if it was just raining, that would be good enough.

written in the sky

so on the next-to-last day of wearing the bionic leg, we went to three car shows. my better half just got himself a new camera, and since i mentioned there was a viejitos show, he was all about taking it out for test drive. their show is usually packed with tasty treats like this one. while, there wasn't as many as is typical, he seemed happy enough with what was there.

so i'm pretty sure i've seen this one at the latin gents show a few months earlier. you tell me, but i think this is the back end of it. i was blown away then, and am still in love with it now.

i had some difficulty getting the low shots of the cars with the boot on, but i managed a few. my other leg was sore the next day from all the squats.

there was a skywriter scribbling across the sky, but either it was too bright for my eyes, or it was so small and blurry, i have no idea what it said, but there it is curving down into the roof of the car.

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so, i got the ok to take off the boot yesterday, and today did physical therapy. i'm not sure if it just hurts because it's not fixed, or if the therapy is just aggravating it and/or helping it heal as intended. whatever, i'll carry the thing in my car for a while, just in case. but no more shots, please. they suck.

going to riverside this weekend for the show-n-go. sounds like my better half has to work on some deadline at the office, so that kinda really sucks donkey balls.

chicano graffiti

ok, one more for now from chicano park. i've been to a few other shows since, so i have a few to post in the next few days for people i talked to at those shows.

i just think this is a nice shot. sure, i like the car, but i think the archway bridge behind it just makes it more interesting. again, wish the show tag in the window were not there, or even just smaller, but i suppose it was easier to make letter-size copies than to make smaller ones and cut them up.

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hoping to get the doctor to let me out of this cyborg boot. it's been a real hassle at the car shows. i suppose if i have to wear it any longer i'll have to get creative and think up some interesting story for whatever is wrong with it.

jesse’s girl

while wandering around the show, we passed through this group of cars. i was shooting the pinstripes on the back of this one, when the owner came over and asked what we do with the photos. so, since he seemed really interested, i took a few shots of his car, while he pointed out the finer points of the monte carlo next to it.

i liked his car. a pale yellow, with tan pinstriping, just a touch on the hood, and a little on the back end. not too much, not too little. he says their club mostly goes to the bigger shows, in several states. mentioned one coming up in laughlin, nevada next month. says it's a good show, lots of cars. i'm trying to remember how hot it gets in nevada in may. already thinking about going to vegas in september and it is usually smoldering then.

normally, i wouldn't shoot the monte carlo, but it was the details that really blew us away. etched metal on all the chromed surfaces, custom leather interior, airbrushing and pinstriping. really impressive. here are a few of the details:

a day at the park

the doctor may get mad, but i spent saturday morning hobbling around the show down in san diego at chicano park. yes, my better half helped me a lot, mostly pulling my camera bag around, but it also had a bunch of the lenses for his camera in it, so he helped both of us.

the park is literally under the bridge overpass to coronado island, and the supports are all painted with graffiti art like this one here.

didn't know what to expect, except for pictures from previous years' shows on flickr. we got there early, like 7am-ish, before it got crowded and hot. next time, we'll probably get there even earlier, maybe even stopping the evening before. guys were saying to get the best spots, they had to be there the night before and camp out.

anyway, as i was saying, at 7 am, they're already bringing in the cars and vendors. first one that caught our eye was a wonderful truck, which promptly stalled in the grass. it started up after about five minutes, but my better half was about to go over and offer to help push it.

later heard the owner say it was the carbuerator. bummer. i'll wait a few days to post it, since i've put a few trucks up here recently, but it really was an amazing truck. just don't think my pics do it justice. i think i should have waited a bit, for the light, for the owner to move his wax bottles out of the way, but he did close the hood for a little bit. better half did get some good shots of the engine compartment though, that show the pinstriping and awesomeness inside.

i'll post this one, from the same club. later in the day, light had shifted, but parked under the shade of a tree, it's still nice. and earlier, i hadn't noticed the car was actually purple. wish the entry signs weren't so huge on the windows, but i'll shoot them the way they are and pretend i don't see that huge sign on there.