Low Down on a '48 Fleetline

Kathy and I met at the Broiler for a Halloween car show. After a beautiful sunset the sky turned purple before fading to black. To try to get this 1948 Fleetline and that beautiful sky into the same shot, I collapsed my tripod down so my camera was no more than 6" above the pavement. To shoot at F11 I ended up not using my camera's Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) function and instead manually adjusted the exposure compensation value for each shot. AEB supports a maximum exposure time of 30 seconds which wasn't enough to capture the range of light I wanted for this image.

Chop, Chop, Till Ya Drop

I'm guessing those hands on the trunk are praying that this bad ass chopped 1951 Chevy Deluxe doesn't encounter any speed bumps.

Anthony's Blue '62

This super clean '62 Impala caught my eye immediately when Kathy and I started walking around the Viejitos car show this past weekend. I met Anthony, the owner and he told me a little about the car which was as visually spectacular up close as it was from across the parking lot. The paint job on this car was very reflective and all of the classic Impala/chevy emblems were present and accounted for. I photographed all of them as well as another view of the car from the front. Nice meeting you Anthony, I hope we get to see you and your car again.

Fleeting Fleetline Sunset

Kathy reminded me that there was a Halloween car show being held at the Bob's Big Boy Broiler in Downey tonight. I had to work a little late so traffic was pretty heavy by the time I headed over to the show. I had just parked my van when Kathy arrived. The sun was getting ready to make its departure for the day and the light was already looking nice so we got right to shooting some of the classic ars that had already arrived. It was a good sized show with lots of cars and people. I was talking to a nice guy with an Australian accent who was also taking photos, and was telling him how I like to shoot during sunset at car shows. Just then the sky lit up with the most amazing orange color. I stopped talking and took a bunch of HDR sequences in the fading light. The sky went from what you see in this photo  to completely black in about 10 minutes. This Chevy Fleetline looked to be completely stock. The paint was very reflective and nicely done. Hope I see this car again soon.

1948 Nash in Early Morning Light

I go to my fair share of car shows and I rarely see Nash automobiles at them so when I saw this beauty I couldn't wait to take make some images of it. In addition to a striking grill this car had a spectacular hood ornament. I spoke to the owners when I returned to the show later that afternoon. I gave them my contact info and told them to give me a few days to process the photos of their cars. Well that was my intention. Life, work etc. got in the way and a few weeks later I'm just starting to work on these Bomb Club car show images.

Fly On Little Wing

Really felt like the end of summer today. As evening closed in the temperature actually felt brisk and then cold for the first time in recent memory. I saw this '59 Chevy parked facing the heavy clouds which were rolling overhead and decided to make this image.

Is This Room Stretching?

This is the Los Angeles Natural History Museum's Rotunda built in 1913. The statue in the center, "The Three Muses" was the museum's first exhibit. For those who are wondering, this was taken hand held, and consists of 3 vertically stitched shots, each being a HDR image derived from 3 additional exposures. This location has been used in films and TV shows quite a bit.

Hammers of Hell

On April 30, 1962 at the then super-secret Area 51 facility at Groom Lake, Nevada, those who witnessed the first flight of the new A-12 spy plane were awe-struck by the raw power it displayed. It was so loud that somebody named it "The Hammers of Hell" on the spot.  Built by Lockheed for the CIA, its mission was to spy on the Soviet Union and its client states. Construction plans called for it to be largely built from a rare material called titanium. This was the only metal known that could withstand the super heating the air frame would experience at 3 times the speed of sound and altitudes above 80,000 feet. Using a series of fake companies and import firms, Lockheed was able to obtain the Titanium from non-other than the Soviet Union itself. So they helped the United States build a spy plane that they were never able to shoot down. It just flew too high and too fast. At altitude A-12 pilots reported that the sky turned black, the stars came out and they could see the curvature of the earth. They often out ran missiles shot at them. None were ever lost to enemy fire.

Lead Sled - Slammed '60 Caddy

I spotted this slammed 1960 purple Cadillac at the Cruz'n for the Roses car show this morning. The owner closed the trunk and removed the entry paperwork from the front window so I could get a cleaner shot. He didn't have to do that so that was pretty nice. Unfortunately it didn't stop people from stepping into my shot of course but that's kind of expected. I was being patient but the owner was saying "tell them to get out of the way!" What great style this car has. Check out the bed-of-nails  grill.

Getting All Up in Your Grill

Face full of a '39 Chevy Master Deluxe from the Southern California Bomb Club's car show held in Whittier, CA this morning.  They don't build them like this any more boys and girls. You have to see one of these rolling masterpieces to appreciate the exuberant styling Chevy's designers imparted here just as the world was exploding into war.