'48 Pomona Blues

Toward the end of our time at the Pomona Auto Swapmeet this past March, I walked along the drag strip grandstands and came across this two tone, blue 1948 Chevy Fleetline sitting in the area generally reserved for cars for sale. I don't typically peruse the cars in this section since they usually have their hoods raised and for sale signs plastered on the windshield but while this car wasn't for sale the paint was amazingly reflective and the chrome was spotless and perfect looking even with the intermittent rain showers and threatening skies overhead. After taking four or 5 sets of images I took another photo with my phone and sent it to Kathy letting her know about it and where it was so she wouldn't miss it. Not sure if she ever has seen this particular car before but I'm sure glad I got to add it to my digital collection. 

 

Black Fleetline Under Stormy Skies

Kathy and I decided to go to the Pomona Auto Swapmeet at the Fairplex in Pomona, California once we learned that it wasn't supposed to rain until later that morning. Kathy's older brother and his wife happened to be in town, so we asked if they wanted to join us and they agreed. We picked them up around 4:00am and headed for Pomona. The drive to the event was uneventful with the exception of encountering a police car weaving back and forth across the freeway lanes ahead of us for a short time. Once we arrived, we saw that the line of cars waiting to enter was fairly short. I think many exhibitors and visitors decided not to show up due to the impending storm. When we arrived at the show area there were only a handful of cars for us to photograph but more arrived as time went by. One of those cars that arrived was this 1947 Chevy Fleetline who's owner was kind enough to leave the lights on for me while I took my shots. It began sprinkling as I took these photos and it wasn't until I moved to the rear of the car that I realized that the sky had become quite dark. We continued shooting lots of cars until it became obvious that we should go get some breakfast.

Gumby

I saw this clean, slammed, two toned chevy truck at the 2023 Riverside show & go car show tucked away on a side street. We had walked around all morning taking loads of photos and we were nearly ready to return to the hotel to check out and head home. Glad I got few shots of this beforehand.

Earn Your Wings

Just a few posts ago, I was talking about style when it comes to cars. I really do feel that today's cars are sorely lacking in style probably because every design today is the result of a focus group and not the realization of a group of visionaries. I may be wrong but check out this 1959 impala! If this is considered bad design, well sign me up! I'm ready to earn my wings. 

Truck Stop

I was taking a moment to change lenses at the Riverside Show and Go car show, when this slammed red chevy truck rolled up and stopped right in front of me it's airbags hissing as it lowered itself to the ground. The driver spent a few minutes talking to some of the car show staff before raising the car off the ground and motoring off. That was enough time for me to abandon the lens change and take 2 full HDR sequences conisting of a total of 18 images.

Any Day is a Good Day to Photograph a 1957 Chevy Hood

I can't help it. Any time I see a 1957 Chevy Hardtop, Belair, or Nomad I have to photograph the hood rockets with a large aperture lens to blur out the background. I don't know why, I guess I just think they look cool. In the past I have typically taken these shots with my well used 100mm macro but I recently purchased a 40-year-old 70-200mm f2.8 minolta zoom lens that among its other excellent optical qualities, can render beautiful out-of-focus bokeh. I needed a longer large aperture lens to enable me to fill the frame when shooting hood ornaments and while it works well for this purpose, focus accuracy becomes critical as the depth of field is exceedingly narrow, typically 1/8 of an inch at 200mm. This photo was taken at the Riverside Show and Go car show.

1954 Chevy Bel Air Station Wagon at Sunrise

Shoot right into the sun? Go ahead, break the rules. HDR dominates here.

Sunrise at Chicano Park

Kathy and I arrived at Chicano Park around 5:30AM but found the area swarming with cars and people in the early morning light. We had to park about 6 blocks away. We should have arrived at least an hour earlier. We had talked about taking the train but at the last minute I found myself driving Kathy's car to the park. Oh well. I caught this Chevy station wagon rolling into the park just as the sun was rising. Normally it is not recommended to shoot directly into the sun, but I like breaking the rules. 

This is Not Your Mothers Station Wagon

Kathy and I came across this amazing 1957 Chevy station wagon at the Majestics Car Club show in Norwalk in late March 2023. To say it stood apart from the other cars at this show would be a significant understatement. The paint job on this car was nothing short of spectacular. We both chatted with the owner who told me he orignally wanted to go with a solid blue color but the painter convinced him he would regret that decision and be back to have the car painted in the look it now wears so well. He decided to go for it and wow I'm so glad he did. This paint treatmentcovers the entire car including the roof so I had to hold my tripod over my head to capture the beautiful design on it and trigger off 9 shots, trying to hold the camera steady. 

"If you want to make a statement, wear purple." - Baron Davis

Kathy and I went to the Azelea Festival car show in Southgate California on a recent Sunday morning. While that show is now just a shadow of what it once was, there were still about 50 very nice cars to photograph but we were done fairly quickly. So something very rare happened. Kathy asked me if I was done and ready to leave. Usually, I am the one that asks that question of her. As we were walking back to the car, she told me there was another car show being held that day in Norwalk. Not too far from where we were. It was being hosted by the Majestics Car Club and when we arrived we found about 50-75 spectacular cars parked in the Civic Center Plaza parking lot. I found this 1953 Chevy Truck parked in front of one of the store fronts and it really stood out with that highly refelctive purple paint.