some kind of wonderful

not sure what this is—chevy or merc—but it was one of the few nice cars at ruby's yesterday. incredible interior upholstery throughout, and very light use of pinstriping on the hood and over the lights.

i go away for a couple of weeks, and when i get back, there's not really much there. fewer cars than ever.

at least when i arrived, had just parked and popped my trunk, an old acquaintance ( his car ) was just walking back to the show from the carl's jr. said he'd missed me, had been reading my little blog. had been reading my better half's blog. mentioned a couple of pictures of me he'd seen there. apparently, he perceived that my better half might actually like me. a lot. hmmm. hmmmm. hmmmm. of all things to notice over on his blog...i hate pics of myself, but my better half seems to like them.

so there was only a couple of rows of cars there for the show. didn't take too many shots, still taking it easy, though i am allowed to return to normal activity. talked to a few people i've met before, as well as a few others, about cameras, about pictures, about cars—don't know much about the last one, but i do like taking pictures of them. it's nice to get back out.

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...

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.

shooting star

catch a comet by the tail, but not in this case. i liked the front end better.

rare day at a car show lately. family and work priorities finally gave me a brief break. this show in paramount has started up again for the spring/summer season. never are too many cars here, and the cliquish (as i was told by an unnamed acquaintance) group are always bunched up in front of the main circle of cars, in front of the trophy table. kind of like the oscars, they vote each other the awards every week, even if one of them doesn't bring their car or arrives late...or so i was told.

fool injection

another day, another back end. wasn't feeling well this evening, so i skipped going to the broiler. just been flipping through old shots, deciding on stuff i will work on when the rain comes or when i can't decide which one i like. at least it will have been narrowed down a little. and it's just a collection of what i liked today, which doesn't mean i'll like it on a day that i don't know which one to work on.

this one was from a cars and coffee type show over by LAX early last january. had to drop my better half off for a business trip, so hey, find a car show as long as i'm up this early. it was parked next this woodie.

favorite combo: fins and clouds. kinda wish that woodie wasn't there.

cardinal

a quick search on the web finds this car, or one amazingly similar, parked down in balboa park in san diego. it is also on a cars for sale site. is it the self-same car? i don't know. it didn't have a sign on it.

i found it up in the "look at me" row, up front of ruby's. once in a while they are actually worth a bother. this one is almost too perfect to be driven much. i should have peeked at the mileage.

green with envy

oooohhhhh. this was one spectacular car. really incredible flame job and chromeography. yet another in the land of unwelcome customs and low riders lot at the whittier uptown show. my only question in all the attention to detail, is why they used such a jolly green giant green on the wheels, rather than something from the same range as the hood flames? kinda throws me off a bit.

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question for you: what do you consider a professional photographer? i often get asked if i'm a professional, and am always at a loss as to how to answer. i look at them, they look at me. they blink, look quizzically. "do you work for a magazine?" blink. blink.

i wonder why they bother to ask, most never look like the type that would buy a print, much less pay “professional” rates. i assume they want something for free, to use for their charity, whatever. if i state a price, i sometimes hear that mr. xyz only charges $X. well, then, go buy his/her pictures, it don't bother me none. i don't have the time or interest to peddle my wares or harass the owners.

i think the basic definition, is that if you can sell a print, you're a professional. then, ya, i guess i am, in some fashion. on the other hand, i do this more as a hobby, to do my own thing after a long day at work, without other people telling me what to do. 

i'm a professional graphic designer, since that's what i've got a diploma in and how i make my bread and butter, one who farts around with cameras after work, then tweaks the images on a computer—still in designer mode. so anyway, ya i'm a professional.

back in college i collaborated on a gallery show with a painter. i showed my black and white photography, he put up his paintings. i had cemetery images, close up detail stuff, abstract negative space, etc. the one comment left in my guest book that stuck out in my mind, was that "...the work looked like it was done by a graphic designer." i was never sure if that was meant in a good way or a bad way. i developed the stuff the same as a "photographer," so what is the difference? was it the way i cropped the images? the presentation? was it a snobby photography student? i don't remember. i didn't know anyone well at the school, and it wasn't advertised as photography done by a design major, so how would they even know?

anyway, back to my point; everyone with a camera these days can call themselves a professional photographer. but the old rule still applies: garbage in, garbage out. i think people can judge for themselves. i usually just answer to the blinkers, "no," and they go away to stuff more of their flyers into people's cars.

grape ape

these guys were parked off on the end at enderle last week. i think the owners and a couple of other people were chatting about paint and body and other customization, but in the background of my mind it all sounded like charlie brown's teachers: "wha wha wha whaaa wha wha."

it was something different. don't think i've had the pleasure of catching a hudson that looks like this. all the curvy goodness is just fun for my eyes. not too flamboyant, and even in a simple monotone, i like it a lot.

of course that there mercury ain't bad neither. guess i'll have to post the close up of that one sometime too. polished to a shine on the hood of infinite darkness.

it's dicey

well, another weekend gone. gonna start whining about getting up early for work pretty soon. didn't get enough sleep, and i didn't even get to a car show. intended to, but didn't work out.

anyway, i'm flipping through the year's shots. i have a lot to choose from, which is good. i liked this old mercury, for no better reason than the color combination was different and interesting. and it was the first car i found, as i walked into town that day, just over the train tracks. it was the run what you brung show, in rialto. i'm not sure what that yellow car driving through on the right was, but i don't think i caught up with it later; maybe he just kept going.

swanky

remember when the show at the broiler was so busy, cars had to park in the back lot? what happened? in winter, they said it was too cold. now it's a fairly cool summer, and still not much showing up. maybe i just keep picking off-days – if i went back to going every week, would i be wasting my gas?

i don't know why i like this one. probably it was the tail lights. don't see too many of these. and the slight imperfections don't bother me either. the sign in the window says he belongs to the devils cc from venice. wonder what he was doing here, so far inland.