Art & Inspiration Cool photos, for photographers

These were taken at the "Day Of The Drags" event 2010.

 

Front door of long closed So-Cal Speed Shop, Sacramento, CA gutted by 2 alarm fire 1

 

side wall of closed So-Cal Speed Shop, Sacramento, CA

 

Where can I get one of those Watson t shirts in the background?

 

Pentax 35mm color film camera and two mirrors on the walls.
Hello,

My wife and I had an interesting first day of our honeymoon. We had stayed in a resort hotel on an OC beach, right after our reception. Since we got our rings made in the same town just a few blocks away, we thought the place to stay should be in the general area. It was a fun time and the hotel/resort place is still there on Coast Highway on the ocean side of the coast. But, most everything around it has disappeared or changed to newer construction.

We had a long ride back to Long Beach for an early appointment in a tall office building in the downtown area. It was a draft board meeting for re-classification. But, as usual, we underestimated the traffic on Coast Highway going up the coastline that early in the summer and got there in record time. The meeting was for 8:00 a.m. sharp and we got to Long Beach around 6:30. So, we got a cup of coffee and snacks as we wandered in downtown area near the beach and the Pike, (or what was left of it.)

My wife knew some history of the Pike, but, since they lived near Knotts Berry Farm, quite a few miles away, a short visit at one time was her memory. So, we talked about our stories as we walked along the destroyed or closed Pike area. The photo above was taken in an underground tunnel area below one of the tall hotels. It ran across the Ocean Blvd. street and was one way to get to the beach or Pike area.

Down the long fully tiled tunnel, was this old restroom. As I was coming out of the room, I saw my reflection in the mirror and it was strange. So, I took a photo of the odd photo that showed up on the mirror. The angle of the two mirrors came up with photo that I had never seen before.

Jnaki

My short story as told to my wife was about our early years living on the Westside of Long Beach.
We could actually walk along the L.A. River from our house to the shoreline area without getting accosted by anyone. Some would say it was a walking river trail that should have been publicized as a “outdoorsy place.”

When the river was not flowing to the brim during the rainy season, it was white sands and grassy growth. The sandy bottom had a “clear water meandering river” snaking its way to the ocean from as far back as Griffith Park and the LA Zoo (and beyond).

Long Beach had its long white sandy shoreline (as its namesake goes). The Municipal Auditorium was demolished in 1975 to make way for the all mighty dollar Convention Center that brings in lots of money to the city. That was past our daily involvement in the city cruising scene as teens. Later on, as we still visited our mom in the Westside of Long Beach, we drove down the Ocean Blvd and Shoreline Drive not to look at the buildings, but to see and visit the sailboats in the Shoreline Marina.

At first, it was the 58 Impala making its cruising drives all along the shoreline and side streets. Then it was the Flathead 40 Sedan Delivery, the progression of the 65 El Camino and 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery knew the streets of Long Beach quite well.

It was a fun place to grow up and discover. These days, it is a throughfare with no stops other than gasoline and a few quick bites to eat for lunch/dinner. The old place is just not quite the same.

Note:

"The Long Beach City Council refused to renew the land leases and demolished all of the structures and attractions it could. The structures and rides that weren't trucked away at the long time favorite, The Pike Amusement Park, near the harbor and ocean."

Today, there is a PIKE, but in name only. "You can't go home, again."

 

I understand they've been breaking out the concrete bottom of some of the upstream parts of the LA River and allowing it to return to natural habitat; and it is a recreation area with people getting out to enjoy it. Or, since I saw that some time ago, maybe it's become filled with homeless as most every other open area has. In any case they did realize lining the river in concrete wasn't a great ecological idea and have begun to restore it to natural habitat.

 

Hello,

We have seen the non flooded/non concrete areas up stream. It is really a beautiful place. Although whatever water is running down the middle of the meandering creek is polluted. But, the concrete walls and height of the “flood control” built up areas are a necessity.

The history of the area was a huge Alluvial Plain as told to us in a college class. The end result was a fabulous area with the best soil around as it got closer to the mouth of the river in downtown Long Beach area. Back before the terminal island navy base and surrounding areas at the mouth of the L.A. River. Every bit of good soil that was washed down the river from as far back as the griffith park area in Los Angeles ends up in the ocean.

But, on the way, drops off where it wants to stay. Our backyard is/was less than a quarter of a mile to the flowing L.A. River. So, it was a part of a huge deposit of soil washed many miles downriver on its way to the ocean. Back in history, there were no homes and the whole area always flooded almost a mile wide. When the development started in the 1930s, some control of the flood waters had to be done.

Jnaki

Now, it has its “Natural State/purists” folks in a tizzy and there are talks about restoring the concrete channel areas back to its natural state. They don’t live near the flowing river during the year when it almost crests the tall barriers as it gets plenty of rain and flow from the surface streets. We have walked the tops of the trail on the barriers and the water was three feet from the top, flowing out to the Long Beach harbor and ocean. There were several calls out to the public to evacuate if the level rose another foot during the rains.

If the barriers weren’t there, we would all be under several feet of mud and water, every year. Yes, the white sand and green plants that reside at the bottom of the river during the “dry” months are/were nice. But, it is not always like that and as it stands, dangerous to those that live around the river from its San Fernando Valley origins area down through L.A. and the surrounding communities to the ocean in Long Beach.

For someone that lived and played in the area of the L.A. River during our formidible times, from a Flathead powered sedan delivery, the 58 Impala and 327 powered Ford Sedan Delivery, spans from the 50s to the 70s and beyond. The concrete flood barriers are needed to preserve life as the whole area has learned. YRMV

 

A friend sent me this one of my dad hauling one home old school style. This was Sunday when we had 75 mph winds. He had to move the car from another property about a mile away so he hooked the old car dolly up to the old ford. Cool pic huh?

 

Art? I don't know. Just some random shots of mine.

 

Here's some of the girlie stuff from our calendar shoots.

 

Planned or not, sometimes a double exposure photo pops up during filming, back in the old days.

Hello,

An accidental double exposure from December 1959. The foreground is the Purple Modified Roadster of Tony Waters. “The Giant Killer…” in the staging area of the Riverside Raceway. At the same drag race, Don Garlits is setting up to go on an elimination run against Archie Ary of So Cal. The films were taken by me in succession from the staging area leading up to the starting line.

Jnaki

These early drag races had safety protocols, but almost anyone was able to walk up to the actual starting line and take photos or movies in my case. The photo was a surprise as I was editing some films for another story.

Bakersfield Smokers' Tony Waters Modified Roadster in the staging area...


Archie Ary staged first, while Don Garlits took his time firing up and staging. The long time in staging caused Archie Ary’s motor to bog at the starting line… thanks, @296ardun



GARLITS VS ARCHIE ARY

 

I just now discovered this cool thread. So here are a few of my photographs as well.

 

@41 GMC K-18 Very nice!

 

Photos of some of our stuff here... and some friends from Connecticut, over the years of friendship...

 

One of my first photographs taken. Route 66 Car Show San Bernardino CA, 2001. Always loved this Roadster

 

Coupes on Parade...

 

Hello,

We have all seen the famed 4th Street Bridge in various TV shows and movies located in Los Angeles. It has been a part of Los Angeles to connect the Eastside population to the downtown area for many years.
The 4th street freeway exit is the fastest way to get to downtown Central Los Angeles with the least amount of traffic in this generally congested area.

For us, since our dad worked in Los Angeles from 1946 to the time he had to retire in 1982, we have been using that offramp to get to his place of work in the city center. Even when we were driving on our own, as teenagers, we always stopped at his place and also, visited his best friend, the expert mechanic of all things automotive. What exit off of the freeway through that area of Los Angeles? The 4th street off ramp leading to the famous 4th street bridge. The First Street Bridge is also available, but the traffic there is usually heavy, since it leads to the city hall area.

Throughout the time we were exploring that area of Los Angeles, we found many odd places that also gave us some good background for supplies and food items. The grand central market was one and the other one that stood out was this small shop in a industrial area that made mass quantities of all types of sushi as fresh as it can be in a nice picnic box. The sushi rivaled our own mom’s fresh sushi. She liked it when we came over for a visit from Los Angeles to have lunch or dinner holding several boxes of sushi from that small industrial shop.

Jnaki

But, as the top photo shows, a long time ago, it was a river in a fairly natural state that led water out of the LA Basin toward the ocean in Long Beach. Today, it looks like the photo on the right.

If someone took a similar photo from the early days in the Long Beach area as the river approached the ocean, it would show a wide area of soil dispersed for miles as the river creates its own path and destination. When the walls were built, the walls protected the lands and homes in the area from flood waters, every time it rained in the whole So Cal region.

So, yes, the restoration of part of the river could, in the future, have a fabulous river oriented park. But, for others along the path of the annual flow of the waters from the whole basin out to the ocean, it is a protective wall to contain and minimize the flooding near the channel.

Note: Over the years we lived there from 1953 to 1998, our surface streets were slightly flooded as the inlets to the river were clogged and there was nowhere for the rain water to exit in a normal fashion to the river. So, even with the tall walls, concrete does its job of not having major flooding. But, the by product is minimal flooding if the rain continues in its own path with nature’s powerful storms.

In the recent downpour “river of rain storms hitting the Westcoast…” The L.A. River was like the fast flowing white water rafting, Colorado River rapids. But, this time the river was flowing past many communities situated below the level of water going out to the Pacific Ocean, near the Queen Mary boat in Long Beach.

The end result is a clogged bay harbor near the Queen Mary and it is the most polluted area for water usage. The nearby harbor docks for sailboats and powerboats of all kinds has in the water/underwater boat cleaners. It is high cost to have the clean the undersides of all boats. Most cleaner guys will not work there due to the high content of pollution coming from the Los Angeles River at all times of the year. YRMV

 

A few more of my photographs. All H.A.M.B. friendly.
Thanks from Dennis.

 

How 'bout this action shot I took in 2016....

 

DeSoto Airflow with inline flathead 6 or 8, and a Roots blower mounted on the side, and completely hidden under the hood. correct?
Sounds awesome when it's test fired.
It holds a record. I think it was 154 or 156 mph at that time. ?

 

I’m no photographer, but here are a few shots of our junk I got lucky on.

 

HAIL to the MAESTRO, Blood runs with Lead,
Visions of CHOP TOPS Dance in his Head;
So PAY IN CASH and HAVE NO REMORSE,
For He's a DEVIL with a Hammer and HELL with a Torch...

 

A few of my recents...