Excitement rides with you - Now with Turbo Thrusting Engine

Excitement rides with you - Now with Turbo Thrusting Engine, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

One look at those saucy lines and you know this new Chevy's ready to shove off for wherever you say. You'll see what we mean the first time you feel the quick-sprinting torque of Chevrolet's new Turbo Thrust V8 whisk you up a steep hill. Excitement rides with you every mile you roll in your new Chevrolet. At rest or on the roads, this sleek style-setter promises you more go, gaiety and glamor - and you'll find it keeps its promises beatifully. Come aboard and take the key to the happiest traveling on the highway!

Automobile advertisements in the 1950's are fun to read. I spotted this 1958 Chevy Impala at the Uptown Whittier Car Show quite late in the day. Kathy and I had taken a couple of walk throughs that day, returning home to escape the heat and to cool off. We decided to visit one more time so I put my fisheye lens on my camera and left my tripod at home.

I don't know how I missed seeing this beauty earlier but I did. Something must have distracted me. Wonder what or who it could have been.

A Day in the Sun

A Day in the Sun, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Asphalt parking lots are great at reflecting heat onto and into anyone foolish enough to be walking around in them in the middle of a bright and sunny Southern California day. I would imagine this 1957 Chevy Nomad's hood was hot enough to cook a side of buffalo on. No buffalo or even a bison were on the menu at the La Habra High School car show held today but about 40 cars showed up.

I did meet and have a great conversation with fellow car show attendee and photographer, Robert who has recently picked up his camera again. He shoots film with a classic Mamiya camera that he showed Kathy and I. Robert, it was great meeting you. I took a quick look on Ebay for lenses for your camera and I found several so check it out.

I first saw this Nomad at the Uptown Whittier car show where it just dazzled me with it's amazing paint job and beautiful lines. I have posted a few other pictures of it here before.

Funky Cold Medina

Funky Cold Medina, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Another early morning shot from the 2012 Uptown Whittier Car Show. Featured here is Ron Medina's incredible 1963 Chevy Surburban parked along side other amazing cars from the So Cal Tribe car club. Smart guys that they are, they arrived early and got some primo parking spots in the shade of the big trees you see here. That shade came in handy when the temperature exceeded 100 degrees that afternoon. I was moving at my usual methodical pace, while Kathy was doing her usual ass kicking, take no prisoners, get-the-hell-out-of my-way pace. You can see her and her tripod in the upper left of this image. She had already shot the four cars between her and I not to mention the cars across the street. I get too fixated on one car for too long, trying to figure out what shot would look best. I really need to work on that. To quote Ferris Bueller Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Twilight Time

Twilight Time, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

We were rapidly running out of daylight when these great looking cars rumbled into Bob's Big Boy Broiler and parked all the way in the back of the parking lot next to the fence. Kathy and I looked at one another as they went by and we walked over to try and get some shots before the sun vanished beneath the horizon.

Just to the right of this view was a killer red and black truck that Kathy shot. Her image was amazing. So good in fact when she decided to submit seven photos to be considered for entry in the photography exhibit at the 2012 Orange County Fair, the truck was one of the images she chose to enter. Four of her images were selected for display and the truck won honorable mention. We were really stoked when we went to the fair and saw them on display. Kathy as always kept her cool, showing very little emotion but Manny, Dot and I were really happy and excited. I even made her pose for pictures with her images. Now they are all hanging in our living room and they look great!

Jesus Has My Back - El Patron

Jesus Has My Back - El Patron, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Kathy, Manny and I decided to go to the San Fernando High School car show on a hot Sunday afternoon. It was a big show and wow, was it worth the drive. We saw some of the most amazing cars. I don't think Kathy had ever seen any of them before, even though she goes to lots of car shows. The only problem that day was the heat. It was over 100 degrees for most of the time we were there so we didn't end up staying as long as we might have wanted to.

Anyway, before entering, we all had to pass through a mandatory security screening. We had to endure a bag search, pat down and wanding but no body cavity search thank goodness. I think they were looking for items such as weapons, drugs and alcohol and not camera equipment and tripods because we had no problems passing through.

Once inside the show, Kathy of course went her own way while Manny and I stuck together, alternating between making images and taking video clips. After wandering around for a while, we decided to walk to the far off corner of the show where in addition to some shade, we found this stunning 1959 Chevrolet Impala.

We stood in front of it and just stared. The body work and paint job was just perfect. It was so glossy and deep looking. If that wasn't enough, when we walked around the back of the car, I found Jesus. I mean when we saw the continental kit and spare tire cover mural on the back of the car, Jesus appeared to me. I mean Jesus appeared to me on the spare tire cover, or rather appeared to be on the spare tire cover. I wasn't the only person who saw Jesus. Manny saw him too. I remember distinctly saying unto Manny "Jesus, Manny, there's Jesus". Once we beheld that, I personally felt blessed and I knew in my heart I was going to make several images from the rear drivers side of the car. I would have taken some shots from the front side, but the hood was open which in my opinion ruins the lines of the car, so I decided to stay on the Jesus side, back side. Not the back side of Jesus, I mean the back side of the car where Jesus first appeared to us.

Oh and check out the engraved detail on the chrome wheel cover. Just spectacular!

I Dream of Fake Bokeh

I Dream of Fake Bokeh, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

My Sigma 50mm f1.4 is a good lens but it doesn't hold a candle to Kathy's Minolta/Sony 100mm f2.8 Macro lens in the sharpness and bokeh departments.

After seeing some of her great photos of these amber colored Pontiac hood ornaments, I've been on the lookout for them at every car show I go to. She usually finds them first and lets me know where I can locate them.

In this case, Kathy and I had been at the 2012 Uptown Whittier car show for a while with each of us going our own way to seek out whatever treasures the day might bring. Later when we met up again, she told me about this Pontiac hood ornament she had come across. We walked down the street so I could make a few images of it too.

I've noticed that the older the hood ornament, the more cracks it is likely to have. Here it was possible to orient the camera in such a way to capture the sunlight illuminating it's internal structure which had a lot of character.

Later when I went home and was reviewing my images in Lightroom, I could see that the bokeh in my shots left a lot to be desired. Luckily I own Nik Software's Bokeh 2 plug-in. It works great as long as you have a good selection isolating what you want to be in sharp focus from that which you want to be blurred. In this case I think it improved the existing bokeh nicely.

Silver Chevy Tail Dragger

Silver Chevy Tail Dragger, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Kathy and I decided to go to sleep early yesterday since the annual uptown Whittier car show was being held today. It's been really hot in Southern California lately and this car show draws thousands of visitors so we wanted to arrive well before the show officially opened to beat the heat and crowds. The great early morning light was a bonus. The show is walking distance from our house so we arrived around 6 am and there were already around 15 cars that had shown up even earlier to claim primo parking spots.

This silver Chevy convertible drove by us as we were walking down Greenleaf avenue. The cool factor on this one was cranked way up and I was immediately taken with its clean lines and amazing paint job. I think the owner scored the best parking place at the show. The building you see behind it is the historic Whittier Village Cinemas which has been a landmark in the city since 1931.

You can see how empty the street was that early. Later it was nearly impossible to move, not to mention setup a tripod to make an image.

Kathy and I ended up taking a early break, had some breakfast at the Rocky Cola Cafe and then made some more images. We ended up walking home and returning to the show a few times. As the day progressed, it was just too hot to stay out for long.

Chevy Master Deluxe Grape Soda

Chevy Master Deluxe Grape Soda, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Kathy took me to this car show at the Fuddruckers in Lakewood. It was right next to the Best Buy where we bought our very first DSLR, the Sony A700. We now own two A700's and a A850 as well along with a pretty nice collection of lenses and tripods. So it was sort of a little homecoming for that first camera which has been to London, Washington DC, Virginia, Arizona, Nevada and all over California. It's been repaired and put back in service after more than 100,000 shutter actuation's. Ah the memories.

Anyway, this was a really cool car. I was shocked the owner hadn't left the hood open like most owners of custom cars tend to do. I almost never make photographs of a car with the hood open. I think it just ruins the lines. I completely understand that car owners are proud of their engines but I'm not really interested in photographing them. Kathy recently posted a very similar shot of this car on her blog. I think her version turned out better. You can see it here: www.tweakedpixels.com/whats-up/2012/6/4/luxe.html

Low Down '57

Low Down '57, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I saw this killer '57 Chevy at the Ruby's car show in July of 2011. I made several sequences of it. This one was shot with the Lens Baby Composer using the Sweet 35 optic. This manual focus lens allows you to specify an area of sharp focus and everything moving away from that area becomes more and more blurred. It provides an interesting effect I like a lot. Given the reduced size of the focus sweet spot, I would guess this was shot at an aperture of about f2.8.

Separate but Equal?

Separate but Equal?, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This slammed 1951 Mercury was a favorite of mine from the 2011 Uptown Whittier Car Show. The show organizers made what I think was a stupid decision to exclude lowrider cars from the show, saying that they would hold a separate lowrider show later in the year. Well you guessed it, the lowrider show never happened. The upcoming 2012 show is open to lowriders once more, and I for one am glad they aren't going to repeat their mistake again. I previously posted another shot of this car you can see it here: www.bigpixelpushing.com/journal/2011/9/11/1951-flamed-mer...