Brain Toad's Photo Blog

Midnight Mass 2009 Pictures

2009-07-28T15:03:00.001-07:00

Von Zipper Red Baron Tribute, originally uploaded by The Brain Toad.

The rest of my Midnight Mass 2009 pictures can be found here

Was a good show, keeps getting bigger every year. The size this year was almost too overwhelming.

Some Pictures from May

2009-05-22T23:11:00.001-07:00

Pink is Outcast

All Alone

Rusty Grille

1934 Dodge Brothers

Grille with a Nose

Face in Chrome

Black and White Chrome

Hood Head

Packard Swan

Soaring

The Deck Shoots a Stream

2009-04-30T20:42:00.001-07:00

The Deck Shoots a Stream, originally uploaded by Brain Toad Photography.

Night Moves

2009-03-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I've posted here, mainly because I haven't had much to post. My photography has been limited to what inspiration I can get while at school. No car shows until the end of March and there isn't much to shoot on campus or off. Especially during the rain we had for the past month. Though this past week has been amazingly clear and while I didn't get out during the day to shoot, I did get out at night. The first sessions was to shoot the massive moon we had this past week that was made even more clear by the lack of clouds in the sky.

The problem was that I didn't have my tripod, so I was stuck using a monopod and a sapling support as a brace to steady my camera and it didn't work well. I also didn't remove my UV filter, which I find out later causes some problems with night shots.

It was bright, very bright. This brightness plus the blur created an effect much like the sun at night.

That bluish dot is what happens when you leave your UV filter on at night. I thought it was just lens flare.

So after that sorry attempt, I decided I need my tripod. Since my dad was already making a trip up to give me something, I asked him to grab my tripod. That night I went out again. It was still clear though the moon was gone from the sky. It was also mighty cold and after less than a half hour outside my hands were numb. I think I'll wait until it warms up a bit before I go out again.

I'm trying to use Aperture priority more in my shooting. I know with night shots Shutter priority makes more sense, but aperture is easier to set. In order to get good shutter speeds, I had to crank up the f-number. Which gave the lights a really cool effect.

The light trails it created for the cars driving by was quite neat. I call this one "The Flash Got in My Shot", because of the red blur.

The sky came out really orange in some shots. Not sure if this was because it sun had only completely set not too long ago, or because of the light pollution of the area.

My aim for this shot was to capture the lighted dorms still under construction way in the back. But the lamp posts ended up being the focus. The star effect really gives it a "fake" feel, I really like it.

I really couldn't get the center on this shot. I couldn't eyeball it very well, so I kept making adjustments and shooting. And I ended up with two shots, same settings but slightly different centers. I thought it would be good for a wiggle stereoscopy, to give a 3D effect. However, the pictures are a bit too different and it doesn't work as well. I may try this again though, the tripod makes it easy.

All my night shots and all future night shots can be found in my Night Photography set on Flickr. I'll post more once I get a good batch going. I'll also post some pictures from the Good Guys car show in a few weeks.

Thought Gears

2009-02-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not what you would call a perfect car guy. I love looking at, studying, and admiring cars. I don't know how an engine works, what the cubic centimeters numbers means or what the difference between a big block and small block Chevy engine is. I don't change my own oil, fix my own problems, or even open my hood unless I'm filling the wiper fluid. I'm not above any of that, I just never learned how, not that I wouldn't be willing. But I am a great admirer of classic cars, why else would I take near 5000 pictures of them in less than 3 years?

And there is a specific type of car I love. Some call them rat rods, others call them traditional hot rods, or suede. These cars aren't shined a showroom finish, tucked away in the garage, only coming out to be loaded onto the trailer to be bussed to the Rod & Custom Show or the West Coast Nationals. They live their lives outside or in beat down garages, they are driven daily if they run, worked on daily if they aren't. They are bare metal, rusted, or primered. Their wheels are usually the cleanest and newest thing on them, because they are the cheapest. They are a mismatch of parts, scraps, blood, sweat and tears. They are obvious works of love by these individuals. These classics don't need to shine, they just have to run.

1952 Buick, no gloss, no shine, just flat paint with hand painted flames.

1950 Chevrolet, a Frankenstein of color, fading original paint perhaps, or the result of different tests

Rust doesn't mean the car isn't loved, in some cases the rust buckets get more love the the gleen machines

Tractors are legitimate sources for parts

1951 Chevrolet, just because you own a Chevy doesn't mean you can't have a Pontiac hood ornament

Rust is a valid color in these parts

You can still color coordinate and still look cool

It worked then, it still works now, what other reason do you need?

What is in a name?

1959 Edsel, this style works even past the Hot Rod era

What is paint but just another expense?

With Bettie by your side, can you do any wrong?

It doesn't even require an engine to be a true piece of work

Just because you weren't born in the USA, doesn't mean you can't still be a true American classic

If your back wheels are almost as big as your body, you are doing something right

Your car is also the best seat in the house

A little nudity is always appreciated

Don't bother cleaning your car after your run through the mud or salt, no one will judge you

And it's always good to bring along a designated driver

I love these cars. If it wasn't for them, I would have never fell in love with classic cars. These cars and their owners showed me that not every car guy owns a car to show off once a year, but there is people out there who do it for the love of the vehicle, the work, and the culture. I salute the owners of these hot rods, rat rods, suede machines and leadsleds.

(Pictures taken from my Billetproof 2006, 2007, and 2008, Midnight Mass 2007 and 2008, and Last Originals 2008 sets)

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

I was going to avoid doing a "Christmas haul" type entry because it feels like bragging and I doubt any other people care about what I got. But I decided to do an entry about Christmas anyway, except sprinkle it with some photos and talk about my Christmas experience this year.

Christmas is of course one of my favorite holidays. I'm a sucker for tradition, I'm not big on change, so tradition is a happy time for me. Traditions help solidify memories and keep these organized, plus I enjoy all of the traditions that we've established. Christmas Eve is just me and the parents. In the past we took the day to go have lunch with my grandmother on my mom's side and visit her brother to deliver goodies, but since my grandmother's passing this tradition has fallen away, so now it is just a time spent with the parents. We get a movie, not always a Christmas movie, but more often than not it is and watch it during dinner. This year it was A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott (I also watched the MST3K version of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians earlier in the day but that wasn't part of any tradition). Our Christmas Eve dinner is a tri-tip roast with baked potatoes, a Caesar salad and garlic bread with a dessert of cherry pie, none of it strctly home made (tri-tip is pre-marinated, salad comes from a bag, garlic bread is pre-made and the cherry pie is canned cherries + frozen crust), but it's still a great meal and it's all about enjoying the movie together. Plus any tri-tip is good tri-tip if cooked right, which my mom does quite well. Then I follow it up by watching A Christmas Carol in bed before I sleep, ever since TBS started showing it 24 hours.

Christmas morning hasn't changed since I was a little kid, except with me getting up progressively later as the years go on. When I was a kid I was the first one up, then the second and this year for the first time ever, I slept in until 9 and was the last one up. It may have had something to do with the fact I had stayed up until 2 am and slept until noon for the past few days and had stayed up until 2 the night before. But it was an okay break in tradition and made the transition into gift opening much easier, I think. We turned on the log on TV (this has replaced Christmas music on the stereo over the years, since it's just plain cooler, I mean what beats a fake fire on TV?) Stocking gifts are first, then regular gifts. Of highlight from my parents were some Disney/Star Wars stuff, a book about my Nikon D40 (operation, tips and tricks type stuff), some of the Star Wars books I needed and the newer version of the Car Spotters Bible, the book I used to identify the cars I take pictures of. This book puts all the same pictures from the past book in color, does away with the seperation between decade groups, and carries with it some of the flaws from the previous version like giving some cars their own sections for no reasons (Mustang and Thunderbird have their own section, but all other Fords are together, except Falcons), as well as adding some new flaws such as removing all the Chevy II-era Novas and not including pre-40 vehicles. But otherwise it's nice to own, especially since my original copy is falling apart.

Traditional Christmas morning breakfast followed, except this time it got mixed up a little. In the past it was scrambled eggs with leftover tri-tip mixed in and toast, this year it was tri-tip and cheese omlettes and breakfast sausage with toast. I much prefer this version, as I much prefer my dad's omlettes over scrambled eggs and the meat intregates much better with it. This breakfast is late and big enough to eliminate the need for lunch.

In the afternoon we headed to my grandparents for the rest of the events. This year I was looking forward to it a lot, as it would be the first Christmas for Evelyn where she would actually know what was going on, as her actual first Christmas she was only 6 months, and wasn't really aware of the signifcance of it all. She was being a cute brat the whole day, going around the kitchen demanding everyone give her chips and run between Lindsay's room and the living room. First thing was of course stockings, which Evelyn wasn't much interested in once she got hold of one toy she really liked. Because of the relatively large size of the family, I rarely see what anyone else is getting unless they are in my immediate vincinity, so it's a bit odd. Next was some time for snacking before the main presents. All the grandkids got one big "Santa" gift from my grandparents and I think Vanessa was the most enamored with her's over everyone, as she got a Wii which she has been wanting since it came out. She nearly passed out, I almost expected her to slip into N64-kid mode. Mine was a Magellan GPS, which I only recently wanted, as I realized at SSU I was printing out way too many Google maps to get around, the fact I have a shitpoor sense of direction and would get somewhat lost quite regularly. I was quite happy with this, I'm hoping it will work out well for me. I also got a bunch of car washing supplies from my Aunt and a crazy Marc Ecko Darth Vader shirt that I'll end up returning because it's way too flamboyant and fancy for my tastes.

Evelyn wasn't too into the whole gift upwrapping thing. She opend up her present from her father, a easel and demanded her mother open it for her, rather than go for any other presents. She eventually moved onto her other presents. She got a tea set that she really loved and played with for the rest of the night. She also got a ton of books from both myself and my mom, me giving her two Eric Carle books, the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Brown Bear What Do You See, the former being my most favorite book from childhood. I'm hoping she enjoys it as well, and I think with her amount of intelligence, I can see her beginning to read much earlier than most other kids, if her level of speech is any sign (she is only 18 months but probably has the speech patterns of a two year old). I joked with Vanessa we're going to turn her into a nerd. But that's not a bad thing, I mean her uncle is a nerd.

After the presents and subsequent recovery, the Wii was set up and fun was had by most playing Wii Sports. Even my dad and aunt joined in on the fun. I think Ernie ended up playing more than Vanessa however. I think everyone will get a lot of use out of the Wii. Many of my memories with Vanessa at my grandparents were filled with playing SNES, so I see the Wii fitting very well into that household, until she moves to Sacramento and taking it with her.

Christmas dinner was the usual ham, though it was missing the traditional spinach casserole as there was no spinach in Concord apparantly. While it wasn't a very together dinner, with various members of the family not eating dinner at the table, it was still very nice and enjoyable, even though Evelyn was becomming quite cranky at this part. The rest of the night was filled with more Wii playing and dessert.

Overall it was a very good Christmas, it reminded me how much I enjoy my family no matter how many stupid things they do, how annoying they can be and how much changes, they are still a great part of me. I'm looking forward to next year's, as Evelyn gets older and is able to enjoy everything more.

And now for some pictures. All my Christmas 2008 pictures can be found in thier Flickr set.

The Christmas tree at home

At one point the autofocus on my camera said this was in focus, I didn't agree but thought it made a good shot

The Star topper, I refuse to have an angel on our tree as it looks like the tree is shoved up the angel's ass

My mom's mini-Christmas village

The nativity scene. This year I decided to mess with it. I put my Christmas C-3PO Galactic Hero in at first and later put in a Homie looking over the baby Jesus. Threepio was found almost immediately, but the homie had to be pointed out. I put him back in later thought. He just works perfectly in the scene.

The numerous stockings at my grandparent's, they were placed in the family room this year as there was no room for them in the living room

My grandma always does a great job with the tree, I can only imagine the time she spends with it

Vanessa and Ernie with their drinks of choice, though Vanessa could barely finish that margarita

Not sure why Evelyn was making this goofy face, but I like this shot

I never ask anyone to smile for my shots, especially Evelyn. She does it automatically when she sees a camera, her mother has her well trained.

So that was my Christmas. I hope everyone who does celebrate also had a great time and a Happy New Year to all

Photos from November

2008-12-06T22:46:00.001-08:00

I'm going to start a new tradition of making a post at the end of a month to post a select few pictures from that month. Of course it's already starting in December, so I'm a bit late for November pictures, but whatever. It's also probably a bad time to start this tradition, as my main source of pictures doesn't start again in full swing until July or so. But maybe this will force me to take more non-car show pictures. So let's begin, November photos!

When I was home for Halloween I got to play with my dad's home made light box/studio, made from a bucket with a hole cut out of the side and a light placed on top. I did some photos of some diecast and really liked them. I had to do some white balance adjustment thought

1959 Chevrolet Impala by Johnny Lightning

"Bone Shaker" by Hot Wheels

November only housed one car show and that was the Good Guys Autumn Get Together. The weather wasn't great and I was pretty sick, so my picture taking was limited. But I still got some photos anyway.

1959 Chevrolet Impala hood ornament with rain drops

1950 Ford

1946 Cadillac hood ornament

Classic Hot Rod Mercury

1955 Oldsmobile Super 88

1925 Graham-Paige that traveled from Argentina to Alaska

1932 Ford

I already posted this before, but I'll post it again. My 1957 Hawthorne bike

Of course November is the time of Thanksgiving and this year I have been bringing my camera to the family gatherings this year in order to capture more of the event and trying out people pictures. I hate posed pictures though, so I try to be inconspicuous and capture events

Though of course I can't help missing out on an Evelyn pose, she was the main subject of most of my photos anyway.

A happy accident type photo

A goofy old manish face

The table

And the final pictures from November were taken at the Great Train Expo, a model train show that travels around the country. I went to the one at the Alameda Fairgrounds since I was already home for the weekend, I love model trains, and wanted to take some pictures anyway.

N Scale Union Pacific

Z Scale radio station

Z scale rail yard

On30 gauge tramps

On30 Locomotive

G scale band

G scale locomotive

LEGO Pleasanton

N scale town

That does it for my pictures from November. You can guess what Decembers will be filled with, though Christmas photos may get their own post all together. I don't know what else I'll be photographing in December, however.

Also, though I have no reason to really ask any of you, casual readers to do so, I thought I'd throw it out there. AT&T recently terminated their agreement with Flickr on providing AT&T DSL customers with a free pro account, so come February I'll be losing my Pro account if I do not purchase one. So I ask for any donations if you wish to do so. My Flickr Pro account is pretty much why I got so into taking pictures. Why take 500 pictures if it takes you months to upload them?

So if you are feeling generous, please click the donation button below. Any amount is appreciated. I wish I could offer something in return, but I really have no ideas.

A hike through Crane Creek Regional Park

2008-10-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

After an extremely shitty week at school with the stress of two midterms and some shitty personal drama spilling over from the week before and shit that happened during the week (I resist the urge to elaborate, but I'm staying on my no personal entries rule), I decided I needed to take the weekend to get out of the dorm and do some photography. Since there was no car shows going on and there won't be for awhile and I was tired of doing campus photo shoots, I decided to pack a lunch and head up to a regional park and take some pictures there.

My original destination was the Sonoma Valley Regional Park in Glen Ellen. I followed Google's directions to Sonoma Mountain Road and realized that that street deserved its mountain name, barely wide enough for two lanes and no lines painted, I wasn't going to drive that, especially when I wasn't sure where I was going. I decided to head back the way I came and take the alternate route of highway 12 through Santa Rosa. I passed Crane Creek on my way up and decided I'd stop there instead. While not as large nor tree filled as I read that Sonoma Valley was, I thought it would be a nice drive.

First thing I noticed was the lack of a ranger station of any sort. Yet you still had to pay for parking, $5 in an envelope. I guess it's based on the honor system and fear that they could come and check anytime, writing down license plate numbers and parking permit numbers to see if you paid. Though it seemed like I was the only one who paid. Oh well, more money for the parks.

Crane Creek is very much like most of California and Sonoma county, covered in grassland with a few trees cropping up here and there. Not until you descend down the hill slightly towards the actual Creek (which was dried up at this time) do the trees start to get more thick.

Overall it was a lovely hike. I'm kind of glad I went to Crane Creek instead. I'm not the most physically fit, and this hike had me somewhat winded near the end, I could only imagine what Sonoma Valley would do to me if it was longer. I'd definitely go up there again, though I'd bring a walking stick. It was great place to clear my mind, distract myself from the shit week I had, and give me a chance to take some great pictures.

My initial reason for going to a park was to see some actual trees that changed color in fall, unlike the evergreens and redwoods I'm used to seeing. While Crane Creek had none of that, the vineyards across the street were showing off their fall colors and it was quite a beautiful sight.

That one was actually taken near the end of my hike.

The first trail I headed to was the overlook trail, I wasn't sure how high up I was, so I wanted to see how far I could see. The view was gorgeous, with Rohnert Park and parts of Santa Rosa in the foreground and the hills covered in haze in the background, I was really awed by it all.

I'm pretty sure that building is the new Green Music Center here at SSU, but I'm not certain, as I couldn't really gauge my location in relation to the school.

From the outlook and other high points of the park, I turned around toward Pressley road and towards the multitudes of vineyard homes and ranches that were located here.

This house really captured my attention, it just stood out where it was.

I wasn't sure what would look better, with the weeds in focus or the house in focus. I think the weeds in focus turned out better, but I think it's because I didn't really get the house totally in focus in the other. Maybe if I played with the F-number I might have gotten better results.

All the trails were marked throughout the park. I spent most of my time on the Fiddleneck trail, which was for walkers, bikes, and horses. I saw no bikes, and only saw horses when I was leaving. This trail does a loop around the park, with various junctions to the other trails. This trail however was not marked and looked like a shortcut that quite a few people decided to take.

The center of the park was made up of a mass of trees that shaded the wildflower meadows. Apparently during the spring this park is a great spot for wildflowers. I guess I'll have to go back when they are in bloom. All I saw were wilted, dead wildflowers.

This tree was all alone near the top of the park. Also notice in this shot part of the trail. The Fiddleneck trail was covered in rocks and gravel that made it quite a difficult journey when going up and slightly dangerous going down. Would not want to ride a bike down this.

I know nothing of trees, so I don't know what this is. But the mass of branches going every which way was amazing. It reminded me of the haunted trees at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

Another example of the crazy branched trees

Many of the trees had lots of moss and other plants growing on the actual, giving a really cool look.

I wonder how many people go off the trail to go check out that arch, either to lay under it or just look at it closer. I decided not to.

This barbed wire was kind of in a random spot. I guess it was to really force people to stay on the trails by only giving them a gate on the actual trail. I liked the rusted look and the menacing barbs. I had to hump a gate post to get this shot, but I'm pretty happy with. Should have messed with the F-number to get those back poles into focus slightly more without losing the main focus on the front post.

Crane Creek itself was dried up for the year, but apparently it does run at other times. Which is strange, because the Fiddleneck trail seemingly goes right through the creek. It was a tough challenge navigating the many river rocks though.

After the creek and climbing a big hill I was starting to feel the effects of my longish walk. I'm not sure how much I hiked, probably no more than a mile, but it's not something I'm used to. I rally enjoyed myself though. It was great to get out of dorms and into nature, where it was quiet except for the occasional plane sounds, hawk screeches, and rustling birds and lizards. There was only a few people on the trails with me and only one I crossed paths with. I felt alone during most of my walk, which was nice for my mind.

Next time I get out I'm definitely going to try out the Sonoma Valley Regional Park and maybe even the Jack London park, also in Glen Ellen. But as the year wanes on, I don't know how much I'll be able to do before the rain starts, though that will make for some good pictures as well.

Hood Ornaments and Macro Shots

2008-10-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

My first few car shows, I rarely took any other pictures besides full shots, with a few detail shots sprinkled throughout. But that quickly became old hat and I was getting bored of it. My dad suggested I try hood ornaments, as there is so many different ones out there. It was one thing he did a lot of when he did photography, so that's what I started to do. There isn't that great of a variety at standard car shows, but by taking hood ornament pictures I think I really developed my eye for closeups, reflections and angles. I can take multiple pictures of the same ornament on different cars, but they can all be different for the most part. And with my new DSLR and now my macro lens filters, I am able to try a lot more. So now, a foray into my hood ornament and macro car shots.

One of my earliest hood ornament shots was also one of my first black and white shots, and is still one of my favorite pictures, even though it suffers from a pretty big flaw.

I have a few other favorite ornaments. I don't have that many ornament shots I like from my point & shoot, not after what I've seen I can do with my new DSLR, but here is a few that I really like.

The Pontiac Chief is another classic that I love. There is just too many angles you can do that face. Plus they have some of the best detail of any of the era.

I swear this is a chicken, my dad claims otherwise, but it will always be the chicken ornament for me. I've set out to take as best of pictures as I can of this one, since my dad had admitted he had trouble with it.

Being one of the most ornate cars of the era, of course Packard will have a really ornate hood ornament. I really like that the background isn't in focus for once, something my point & shoot never seemed to do, but did this time.

Another Pontiac. It was a conscious effort by me to get the light to shine the right way through the head, the first time I've really played with light while taking pictures.

I don't like this shot, but I'm posting it here to show the perils of shiny chrome, a bright sunny day, and not planning shots well.

Hand made ornaments are always a welcome sight, as are non-chrome ornaments, as they make things a bit easier with light and reflections

That's the end of my point and shot ornaments, there is a lot more than what I've showed, just go search for hood ornaments on my flickr page and you'll see.

What I love about my new Nikon D40 is the ability to manually focus, something I couldn't do with my point and shoot. And while I've discovered that the autofocus is actually really good on the D40, I still like having manual there just in case.

I could never get the medallions like this on '60s Fords with the point and shoot, as they'd tend to get washed out or blury. But now I'm able to capture them perfectly, and what a great thing that is, as they are some of the neatest to do closeups of.

I don't like when car owners have the hoods of their cars open, as it ruins the cars shape, though there is some benefits. One is if they have a really cool engine, ripe for photography, the other is getting underside shots of hood ornaments. It especially works for Plymouths like this, because it's a boat, or for the eagle on Chevrolets or the rocket on Oldsmobiles.

Custom ornaments make my time fun, as they are so different. This one is quite popular among the people on Flickr who view my photos.

I really like this custom one too, and no its not because I'm biased towards the red whiskers. *strokes beard*

Now on my most recent car show outing, I brought my macro filters (for the non-photographers, a macro filter is basically a magnifying glass that attaches to the end of the lens), I have a 3x, 2x, and 1x which of course can be combined to also create 4x, 5x and 6x. Having the macro filters really gave me a different view and mission while taking shots, especially of ornaments. I also went into other things like nameplates too.

This Packard's ornament's face was quite detailed for what it was, and the macro really helped bring that out. Though my arms are really unsteady at vertical shots, hence it being crooked. I need to improve that.

This one was extremely hard to capture. I couldn't get the angle right, light wasn't working to my advantage. I'm still not that happy with the result, but it's still a good macro example.

This is my favorite result from the macro stuff. I was amazed at how close I was able to get. You can see the dust and chips on the chrome, and that was only using 5x. I could've added the 1x and made it 6.

I never bothered with these "ornaments" before, as I always though they were just valves and didn't see the ornate dressing around the edge, until I got close and took this shot.

Another Ford Medallion, this time really close. It's probably extremely hard keeping these clean and free of scratches, rocks must aim directly for it.

Birds and ladies, thats what the old cars were about. This one isn't macro, I just really like the angle of the goose coming in for a landing.

And here is some non-hood ornament macro stuff.

I wanted to bring the details of the bird's head in closer, as it looked like little hearts cut out.

This one is a little too blurry for my taste, but the light on the shiny red details is great.

I love the Superbee logo, it's such a great character with a good design.

And that's my showcase of hood ornaments and macro shots. I'm really looking forward to doing more of these. I eventually want to get an actual macro lens, but those things are pricey. I think I may aim for a 10x filter first. I'll definitely be trying to perfect my technique with these shots. Expect to see more.

Some car birthdays

2008-10-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is really an excuse to show off some of my own pictures, but also to celebrate some anniversaries that two of my favorite cars are celebrating this year, the Ford Model T which began production in 1908 and the Chevrolet Impala which began in 1958. The Model T was of course a revolutionary car that changed the way America saw the automobile and our current love of cars could pretty much be focused back to this point. The Impala was a revolution in style for Chevrolet. The Impala is still around today even after many evolutions and changes, its still a car with a lot of style and the top of Chevrolet's offerings.

I don't actually have any pictures that are definitively the first year for the Model T. The model lasted from 1908 to 1927 when Ford thought it good to start over with models and bring back the Model A designation. But here is some Model Ts that were made in that 19 year period.

A Model T police car from Burlingame, California.

1915 Speedster Model T.

Stock Model Ts are rare to come by because of their age and popularity of creating T-Bucket hot rods.

The Model T came in a variety of body styles, coupes, roadsters, wagons, trucks convertibles and this, a 1912 touring car, which were larger than the other models, the limos of their day as it were.

The Impala was introduced as Chevrolets top of the line model in 1958, displacing the Bel Air which had held that position since the mid-50s. It held this position until the '60s when it was displaced itself by the Caprice. The Impala always carried once unique style feature throughout all it's model, the pair of triple tail lights in the rear, making it instantly recognizable.

The most famous appearance of the 1958 Impala was in Geroge Lucas' American Graffiti where a white '58 was owned by Ron Howard's character Steve, but driven throughout most of the movie by Charles Martin Smith's character, Toad.

This was the actual Impala used in the movie, showing its age slightly, but still in beautiful condition.

The '58 model came in both 2 door and 4 door varieties. A 2-door coupe, 2-door hardtop, 2-door convertible, 4-door hardtop, and 4-door sedan. The 2-door models are the most common. Convertibles of any car are usually the most rare, however I have yet to see any 4-door '58s, but have seen one convertible.

The key visual point of the Impala, as mentioned, is the 3 tail lights in the rear. Also in this picture is the development of Chevy's sideways fins in contrast to the vertical fins of the era (such as those found on the Cadillacs). This would go on to be taken to the extreme in '59 and '60.

1958 was also the debut of the dual headlights for GM. All 1958 GM models carried a similar grille to this, with the dual head lights on top and squarish grille below. The Buick models had the most spectacular, with the entire thing being covered in individual chrome squares.

So there is two cars that celebrate some big anniversaries this year, the 100th of the Ford Model T and the 50th of the Chevrolet Impala. Two classics and two of my favorites.

Midnight Mass 5 - July 26th, 2008: A Photo Report

2008-07-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Poster belongs to The Original Poor Boys, I do not claim any credit for this

So this year was the 5th Midnight Mass in their 5th location, and the 3rd year I've gone to the show. To describe Midnight Mass it's a huge car show mixed with a huge gathering and party, all held by the Original Poor Boys car club. It's a different car show in many different aspects. It starts in the middle of the day and runs until midnight (hence the name), the cars are not your usual shiny classic cars that can be found at most other car shows. Everything is pre-'65 and completely traditional. Some call it a hot rod show, others call it a rat rod show, others just call it a fun time.

I call it all three. Midnight Mass is one of my favorite shows of the year. I look forward to this and Billetproof every year. These two shows are really what sparked my interest in cars and taking their pictures, as they presented cars that were made not just to show off a couple times a year, but they are cars to be driven, raced, and enjoyed. As I said this is my 3rd year going to the show and my 2nd year doing pictures and a report. I of course go with my dad and his business Fun Collectibles, where we did some pretty good business, as per usual at this show. Last year I posted the report on MiceChat and wasn't planning on writing one this year, but one of the show promoters was interested, so I decided to post it here on my blog, as MiceChat isn't exactly the right audience for a bunch of car photos. Enjoy a sample of my 243 pictures from the show.

Before I get started, all pictures can be found on my Flickr page in the .

I couldn't get as many details shots as I usually do, mainly because the heat was really doing a number on me for the first part of the show, which made constantly kneeling and getting up even worse than usual.

Here are the rules of the show, this hood was parked near the entrance while the cars were coming in, but I didn't get a picture until the end of the night when it was propped up behind the host club's booth.

This is the typical rat rod that shows up at these shows. This is most likely the finished product, no more work really needs to be done body wise. Though I'm sure they'll always be tinkering with that huge engine.

I don't know how many laps around the show this guy did, he probably passed our booth a good 10 times throughout the night. Love the color.

This year's Mass was filled with a lot of vehicles that you rarely see at shows, this was one of them. An old Studebaker pickup truck.

Another was this 1964 Plymouth Valiant Wagon. There was a few Valiants and Darts around, which was quite surprising. Car guys going for the smaller cars for better gas mileage?

1959 is my favorite year of Chevys, especially the '59 Impala. There were quite a few '59s this year, a lot more than I usually see at any other show.

And this is why I love the '59, those huge fins and taillights.

This truck, named Lucy, was also at last years show. These type of pickups are some of the only older pickups that I really like (not a huge fan of the '40s-'60s trucks).

I'm always on the look out for any old Plymouths, Dodges and DeSotos since they seem so rare. And while there no DeSotos in the show (very unfortunate as they are quickly becoming one of my favorites), there were plenty of the formers, like this '50 Plymouth.

This was an interesting custom. The front end of a '65 Mercury Comet attached to the back end of a '65 Ranchero. It was a good fit seeing as the Comet was Mercury's Falcon and the Ranchero was just a pickup made from a Falcon.

A fat Mercury with the customary custom grille most likely taken from a DeSoto. I'd love to own one of these.

This '64 Impala was owned by the vendors who set up next to us. They pretty much had a full bar going amongst themselves, I think they had more alcohol in their booth then entire show. Thankfully they weren't too rowdy, though they did leave a mess when they left. The paint job on the car was nice, though the green wheels were kind of odd.

And this was owned by the vendors on the other side of us. The paint job on this is one of the best I've ever seen on a '55. Just beautiful.

The engine on this bad boy was quite impressive.

This was a neat pickup. He was later caught burning out and got in trouble with the show runners. I don't think he was completely kicked out though.

Fairlanes were quite popular in this show, which I usually don't see a lot of at other shows. I think the Fairlanes actually outnumbered the Chevy Bel Airs of the same years.

Usually at car shows the only Mercs you see are of the fat variety ('49-'51) and the occasional '39. But here there we quite a few '53 and '54. It was interesting to see them, but I can't say that I'm a huge fan.

The grille on this 1957 Buick looks like the car is really happy. I'm not usually a fan of green for cars, but this one does fit the car.

It's hard to believe this was once a 1954 Chevy. The car is appropriately named Frankenchevy and was sporting a different paint job last year, orange with flames. This paint job is a lot better, the car itself catches your eye, having bright orange flames is a bit of an overkill.

About to become roadkill by a monster

The way this Oldsmobile was catching the light was stunning. It made taking a picture hard and I really couldn't capture it completely how it was in reality. A really nice car though.

I see everything else from FoMoCo, Fords, Mercurys, and even Edsels. I rarely ever see Lincolns and I have never seen a '50s Lincoln. I was surprised how small the car was compared to their later models. Loved the color on this one.

As I mentioned, there was quite of a few early Mopars in this show, much more than most other shows (I even think there was more early Mopars here then there was at the Mopar show I went to). This is a '53 Plymouth

This '54 Chevy Bel Air looked to be all stock, or pretty close to it. The brown and cream really went well together.

Most of the Buicks I see are stock or near stock. This '54 was a shock with how customized it was. I'm not sure I really liked the complete package, but the grille is great.

And the new badge is quite fitting for it's new look.

Don't see many of these Dodges. The grille is insanely big. Also really hard to pinpoint the year with my car book, as '46 through '48 are grouped together as one style.

The ram ornament is one of my favorites. The subtle changes over the years are really cool.

There was quite a few Edsels throughout the night, more than I see at most shows, and they were different then ones I have seen (not shiny and in perfect condition)

A 1958 Citation

A '58 Pacer

A closeup of the "horsecollar" grille (or what I like to call, the lemon puckered lips)

'59 Ranger

'59 Corsair and my favorite Edsel of the night. The paint job is quite neat and the interior is unique and cool.

This Dodge Brothers truck is neat, but the door artwork seems a bit out of place.

The "shoebox" '49 and '50 Fords are neat if only for the "eye" in the middle of the grille.

The colors on this were great, the orange accents go perfectly.

One of the few "forward look" Mopars at the show and an early one at that, a '55 Dodge

This guy had his truck's make down as "Ford-Chevy-Chrysler", he's got the three bases covered there.

This '58 Impala had the best black paint job I have seen. Gorgeous in the setting sun.

I wish I had one of these to get around to show, if only to get to the food booths and bathrooms a lot quicker. That long walk was torture in the heat of the day.

Really neat color on this, looked like a nice glass of root beer.

And how about a close up of that.

The '60 Cadillac is my favorite year for the Cadillacs. Its curves and fins are great

The sun caught the tail light just right and I didn't even plan this.

It seems so rare to see a rat rod like this, using that Ford body without chopping it down like most guys do.

The '60 LeSabres have great swooping lines on them. This car was getting quite a bit of attention when I was taking this shot.

I'm not huge on El Caminos, but I've been warming up to them lately and it was really neat to see the early El Caminos at this show. The fins on the backs really work with bed.

This '59 had the sun shinning on the chrome making it appear gold.

This '60 was for sale, it needed some bed work and interior work, maybe a paint job. I wouldn't mind owning it.

This was probably one of the most unique cars at the show. I have never seen a Hupmobile, only in my car spotters guide. So cool to see something so different.

Got a picture of the wheel to both remember it was a Hupmobile and because I was able to get it so the reflection reflection the adjacent car and not me.

This guy took a unique approach to his panels and wheels, doing them up in copper instead of chrome. It was pretty neat and unique. It went really well with his paint job.

Never even seen a Packard Caribbean before. It was huge and fancy looking. The three-tone paint job wasn't my thing, but I know it's stock, so that adds to the cool factor. (Had to lighten the picture up in Picassa because of the shadows)

Seeing a Nash always makes me smile a bit. They aren't very common and they have a kind of silly look to them. The grille gives them a cartoonish grin. The paint job on this one added to the "cartoon" feel because of its pastel tone.

This is my absolute favorite style hood ornament for Pontiacs. This shot was actually calculated to be able to capture the sunlight in the shot.

I remember this Kirby van from last year and I really dig it. Probably the coolest car owned by the Poor Boys. The addition of the vintage vacuum in the back really seals the deal.

Another early forward look Mopar, a '55 Chrysler Town & Country. This is something I have never seen before.

Feel sorry for this guy for getting a flat tire, I bet those thin white walls aren't cheap. Good he had that spare on the back.

This guy was a real piece of work. I loved the style of it and it's name "El Cheapo". My favorite part is the Alfa Romeo badge on the front grille.

This isn't something you see everyday, a Corvair Wagon. Watch out for Ralph Nader!

It's amazing how aafter '58, GM started to consolidate the look of their brands a bit more. The '58 Cadillac, Chevy and Oldsmobile all have similar front ends. Though I rarely see '58 Oldsmobiles.

This and the black '59 were my favorite cars in my show. Beautiful machines. I praise the owners of both.

This Buick needed some dental work, some teeth were black and others just weren't there.

'57 is my least favorite year of the Fairlanes, the front end doesn't look right to me. This one was in great condition though.

This one really surprised me. I'm always waiting for someone to bring a Mustang into these shows since you could get a '64 1/2 or a '65 in, but I never expected a GTO.

Never seen one of these before, '60 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. It's a huge machine.

The artwork on the side made this Impala really unique, I can dig the personalization.

Took me awhile to identify this car. It seemed so tiny, I didn't expect it to be a Plymouth, my first instinct was some non major manufacturer.

Has it been made clear in this report that I love the Pontiac Indian hood ornament, because I do.

I hope this doesn't stay in this condition, not because I don't like unfinished cars, but because I'd love to see an early Skyliner restored completely, there is so few of them out there.

Overall this year's Midnight Mass was great, the Poor Boys outdid themselves once again. Cal Expo was a great location for them. While it had it's negatives (lack of shade, long walk to food and bathrooms), it was overall a better location than the previous ones and will really help the show grow. Hopefully Cal Expo hasn't banned them too.

We did great business as vendors, busy throughout most of the night and selling out of quite a few things. We may not have enough stock for Billetproof because of Midnight Mass, but hey that's nothing to complain about too much.

Can't wait until next year's Midnight Mass and I hope to see some of these cars in Antioch at Billetproof too.

And with that, I leave with the girls of Midnight Mass

THE END!

Dead Kennedys Collection

2008-04-23T21:53:00.001-07:00

Dead Kennedys Collection 1, originally uploaded by Brain Toad.

This is a little introduction blog for the next blog I'm hoping to finish about the band, Dead Kennedys.

Dead Kennedys is one of my absolute favorite bands, they are in my top three with The Beatles and Johnny Cash. They were the band who hooked me on Punk rock pretty much. I'm borderline obsessed with them. I have downloaded all their albums as well as any bootlegs I can find, including live shows, demos and the like. The obsession extends to anything the members have done outside the band, such as Jello Biafra's side projects and spoken word, Klaus Flouride's strange solo albums and even East Bay Ray's single.

Pictures is my physical Dead Kennedys collection. When I took this shot it had just gotten larger with the addition of five 7 inch records I won off eBay. This is incredibly nerdy of me. Followed is the list of the items included.

In God We Trust t-shirt (album cover on front, "Freedom from religion" on the back
Jello Biafra I Blow Minds for a Living t-shirt (album cover on front, "Jello Biafra Thought Criminals" on reverse)
"Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" 12 inch LP (Manifesto remastered)
"Plastic Surgery Disasters" 12 inch LP (Manifesto remastered)
"In God We Trust Inc" 12 inch EP (Manifesto remastered)
"In God We Trust Inc" 12 inch EP (Alternative Tentacles original)
"Bleed for Me / Life Sentence" 7 inch single (UK issue)
"Nazi Punks Fuck Off / Moral Majority" 7 inch single (with armband, AT)
"California Uber Alles / Man with the Dogs" 7 inch single (French issue)
"Too Drunk to Fuck / The Prey" 7 inch single (UK issue)
"Buzzbomb from Pasadena / Night of the Living Rednecks" 7 inch flexidisc (AT)
"Prairie Home Invasion" 12 inch single (Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon AT)
"Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" CD (Manifesto remastered)
"Plastic Surgery Disasters / In God We Trust Inc" CD (Manifesto remastered)
"Frankenchrist" CD (AT original)
"Frankenchrist" CD (AT Canada)
"Frankenchrist" CD (Manifesto remastered)
"Bedtime for Democracy" (AT)
"Power of Lard EP" CD (Lard AT)
"Last Temptation of Reid" CD (Lard AT)
"Prairie Home Invasion" CD (Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon AT)
"Thingie" CD (Jumbo Shrimp Flouride Treatment records)
"Dread Kennedys - In Dub We Trust" CD (Dub tribute to DK)
"What Were We Fighting For" CD (tribute)

So yes, I am indeed a huge DK nerd. I have an equally large Beatles and Johnny Cash collections, but I'm not nearly as anal about issues/reissues as those.

Hopefully I finally finish with that next entry.

Good Guys All-American Get-Together 03-28-08

2008-04-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

The Good Guys All-American Get-Together is the first California Good Guys show of the year. It takes place at the same place all the other Good Guys shows take place, Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. A great fairgrounds with a lot of room for all the various events that go on there. Good Guys are one of the largest and most well known car show promoters out there. They do shows all over the country, 3 of which in Pleasanton.

Good Guys was my dad's first car show when he was beginning the branch his business out from the toy show circuit which was dying in the early 00s. Since then he's gone almost exclusively to selling at car shows. At Good Guys who chooses to sell in the Swap Meet, the giant fleat market of car parts. He does great at these shows and continues to do them every year.

I usually don't like the shows much. Good Guys always seems like the height of the classic car scene where the cars aren't vehicles anymore, but display pieces. They aren't toys to be driven around every day, but collectibles that should be stored until the few times of year they are brought out. Good Guys is the exact opposite of Billetproof, a show where the majority of the cars are still driven and are labors of love just to keep running. With that opinion I went to the Autumn show last year and enjoyed it a bit. Though it's a very long day as a seller in the Swap Meet and the show is huge. It was even bigger for this event. I'd say there was between 800 and 1000 cars here. The requirements weren't that strict, as long as it had an American motor it was allowed in. I saw everything from a Ford Model T to a 2007 Dodge Viper, from a VW Beetle with a Ford V8 to the multiple 1945 Fords. With this relaxed requirement you got a lot of interesting things, you also get ugly things and things that really aren't special.

I like the variety of the lax requirements, but I prefer the strict pre-1965 all original requirement of Billetproof.

But with all that being said, enjoy my photos from the event. I took over 160 there, I won't be posting all here, the whole set can be found on my flickr account

The first pictures come from the Car Corral, where anyone can bring in their car to sell. There is a wide variety of junkers to cherry rides

I love Pintos, I don't know why, but I love them. But the racer Pintos are always so ridiculous. I know if you drop a V8 into them they are fast, but they always look ridiculous.

Lightly modified Model A's are always great to look at. Though I wish there was more out there with original tires and the wire wheels.

I'm not a big fan of 60s Buicks, but this 1965 Buick Wildcat is nice.

This 1951 Buick was only $8000, it ran. Just needs a paint job.

Why oh why must people insist on putting dub wheels and lambo doors on things that don't need them

Most unique thing at the show, a 1932 American Austin Roadster, to the right is a 1931 I believe. Only $13 for one of these babies.

A very creative use of license plates, it was really cool.

The car in the Good Guys logo, very neat to look at

This 1946 Caddy was a beauty.

Not sure what this used to be. Though I'm sure it's related to this

Good Guys is one of the few shows I go to where I can see my all-time favorite car (though the more I see '32 Fords, it may not be all-time anymore), a Dodge Viper. This is one of my favorite styles too, a GTS Coupe. The hood was pretty cool, but I prefer the stock version

I really like the back fins of Cadillacs, very different then all the other 50s tail fins

And being a 1950 Caddy means it still has leftovers of a '40s style grill, my favorite for taking pictures like this.

I'll give them credit for the effort, but I think this is kind of silly.

'40 Ford Coupes are nice. They are up there of my favorite cars but I like them 'rodded out.

My camera failed to capture all the flashing lights that came from this thing. It wasn't a real police car from what I can tell, but it had flashing blues and reds, not sure how it go away with that.

It's probably my dad rubbing off on me, but I think Hearses are cool. I've seen this one before and while its kind of standard on the outside. The inside is awesome.

And this is why, the coffin in the back complete with "dead person" who rises from the coffin.

I love '40s era cars, especially Buicks, but Ford made some good ones too.

And because I don't think I've ever done a roadkill shot of a Ford, here we go.

This is what happens when you have a new car with a hot rod feel, and then let after market people go crazy. You get a monstrosity like this PT Cruiser that seems to have every possible catalog modification available.

The arm gearshift was the crowning mark. That thing was creepy.

You'd be amazed how few pictures of Oldsmobiles I have. I'm not sure if they just aren't that popular among the car show crowd, or I just miss them.

My dad likes this car, I do not. We have differing tastes in cars, but we have a lot in common. I think that works fine.

Mercs. The reason I love grill shots. I did a roadkill shot for this Merc at the last Good Guys show. It's a beautiful car.

I don't like muscle cars. I think 70s Mustangs are the 2nd ugliest mustang generation (80s are ugliest), I never liked any of the Camaros that much, and Firebirds are bleh. But this Charger, I love this Charger. It is a great looking car. I'd love to own one.

Most people know what a Nomad is and when most people think two door station wagon by Chevy they think Nomad. This is a Nomad. However Chevy made other two-door wagons, and if you call one of those a Nomad, the owner usually doesn't appreciate it.

I think other than a Deuce Coupe, a '34 Ford Coupe is one of the most classic hot rods ever.

Chevy's attempt to get on the "modern hot rod" bandwagon to compete with the Prowler, PT Cruiser, etc. And like the Prowler, it suffers from the lack of a good engine. It's also god awful looking, but that's just my opinion.

If there we to be a car show Bingo, a red 1957 Chevy Bel Air should definitely be there. These things are everywhere.

Another rarity, a Willys Jeepster. I'm not sure if I like the modifications

to this.
'55 Buick Riv? Yes please

I like that I was able to take a picture of three generations of Mustangs lined up like this. Though it would've been better if the 4th and 5th generations switched places so it was in more chronological order

The painted grill kind of weirds me out.

You can probably tell by now that I love Buicks. Anything before 1960. The color on this is gorgeous.

I do not understand the appeal of half-car half-trucks like the Ranchero and El Camino. My mom likes Ford Rancheros though. Guess each to their own.

Rat rods always get huge gatherings at Good Guys shows. This is Exhibit A.

This reminds me of the Nomad from Home Improvement. Though I think that one was a 1955

The CHP brought one of their Camaros, which are quite cool. I'm sure this is the same I've seen sitting on 680 tucked away with his light bar taken off (it's strapped on and removable), masquerading as a broken down Camaro.

This thing was just ridiculous. The dub wheels thing has never made much sense to me and to put them on a Police Interceptor Crown Vic makes even less sense.

Model A's are another one of my favorite Fords. Not that big of a fan of the paint job, but it is nice.

Not sure if this was a kit Shelby or not, but I'm sure it's fast.

The Impala really is a car that has evolved over the years. Compare this 1960 to a 1970 and then compare it to the current Impala. It went from a Sport Coupe to a lowrider to a sedan. Though when I went to Vegas with my parents we had a '90s Impala and it was an awesome car.

An overview of the huge amount of cars at the show. Definitely take a look at this one in full size.

The new Shelby Mustang's are really nice. I've seen a few now and I really like them.

Ford really is playing into the nostalgia factor with the new Mustang. Every imaginable variation from the 60s and 70s seems to be available to the current Mustangs. Shelby, Saleen, Cobra, Boss 302, and now the California Special. This is a nice one. Though I prefer some of the other variations.

I don't see very many convertible Bel Airs. They lose a lot of their nice curves without the top, not a top car for me.

Arlen Ness was at the show signing autographs and showing off his bikes. I looked at quite a few of them and they were alright. They weren't what I was expecting. I expected more Orange County/West Coast Choppers type stuff, but got a mix of all different types of cycles, choppers and hogs. Here's a tricycle by him.

And here is a motorcycle with a sidecar from Ness

Have I mentioned enough in this post how much I love Mercs? I love them. The color on this one isn't great, but I still love it.

This color is great, no other car would look as good as this does.

Here is probably the most popular single car I've taken a picture of. It was at another car show and got a lot of views. It's a very unique car and a really eye catcher, probably due to the color.

When the Viper SRT-10 first came out in 2003, I wasn't impressed at all. It seemed too small and too much like a Corvette. It lost a lot of it's Viper charm. Plus the fact it was only available as a roadster until 2006 made it worst. But when the coupe came out in 2006, I rejoiced. It looked more like the GTS Coupe, it still looked really small compared to the original GTS and still had some Chevy looking points, but I was happy. The 2008 SRT 10 is even better. I was sad to hear Chrysler will stop producing the Viper though

Three words for this... WHY GOD WHY. I don't like GTOs much, I've seen quite a few originals and wasn't that impressed, but I see the appeal. But the new GTO is an awful continuation. Why bring back a muscle car name, and stick it on a sedan? It's stupid. But then, whoever did this customization went too far. I hate half-car/half-trucks, see earlier my comments about the Ranchero. This thing is just awful.

This guy really wanted to qualify as American powered. He took a Volkswagen Beetle... and dropped a American V8 (probably a Ford) engine in it, and called his creation Bugzilla. While the engine earns it its name, I think the addition of the some huge tires and maybe a lift kit would be appropriate. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

There isn't many Willys out there and even fewer Willys pickups, but there's plenty of them made in diecast. A very unique truck.

As pointed out earlier, Rat Rods get all the attention at car shows like Good Guys, exemplified in this picture in that I had to resort to letting a guy be in the picture because I waited a good 10 minutes waiting for it to clear, and it never did.

And the final picture of this post, a beautiful yellow 1934 Ford with Greyhound hood ornament. A perfect example of a classic car.

So ends this long picture post, which took me a few weeks to write as I kept starting and stopping. It was probably a little too picture heavy and future updates probably won't be as heavy or they will be split up into separate posts.

Over

Introduction

2008-03-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

I think a proper introduction may be in order since I've started this now.

Hello, I am BrainToad. I'm an average guy who currently attends Sonoma State University and am a major in Sociology. I've been a San Francisco Bay Area resident all of my life. I'm an amateur photographer, and this is my photoblog.

I come from a very photography-oriented family. My grandparents and parents are all photography hobbyists and I grew up around a lot of cameras. I never had my own camera as a kid until I was 12 or so, a little Nikon point and shoot film camera. I tried to imitate my parents by taking closeup shots of flowers, with no way to zoom or focus.

My love of photography grew after buying a digital camera. I bought one after having 2 of my 4 rolls of film become overexposed and unable to develop when I went to Disneyland in 2005.

I bought a Canon Powershot A530 that I was quickly taking everywhere with me. My first big outing was to a car show in 2006, Billetproof in Antioch, CA. During this show I fell in love with taking car pictures and from then on, that has been my main subject as I have plenty of opportunities to take shots.

As I got more and more into photography I decided to look into buying a better camera. For my 21st birthday, my parents agreed to pay for the difference of a Nikon D40 DSLR camera, and later a secondary lens to go along with the kits. Now my equipment is the D40, a 18-55mm lens, a 55-200mm lens, some old macro filters (+1, +2, +3) and my monopod and mini-tripod. Like I've said, I'm just an amateur and a hobbyist, still learning how to use everything and what kind of equipment I need

This photoblog is a place where I can show off some of my favorite shots from different sessions of picture taking. I want to create a record of my progress as well as expose my photos to a different audience then the community on Flickr.

Only a select few of my photos will be posted here, all of my photos can be found on my Flickr page, which can also be reached via Braintoad.net.

Enjoy my photoblog. Feel free to comment on the entries, or comment on the photos on Flickr. All photos will link back to their Flickr counterparts.