An Older MG

When we were at the shop on Friday, this 1950ish MG was there being worked on. Isn’t it a good looking vehicle? I remember when I was learning to drive, my father almost bought one for me.  Maybe that is why I bought my own years later!  There are always great cars there to photograph. I had to increase the ISO to 400 to get enough light on my sensor to shoot inside. I also had to use different shutter speeds to compensate.

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1969 MGB

Canon 20D, Raw, f4.0, 1/400, ISO 100, 21mm, Nik Pro Conrast Filter

We finally picked up the MGB today. I think it looks great! I took this photograph at the shop before we took off to take it to the upholsterer. So far, it has been a year and a half, and we are not finished yet. This has been a big project. We do have photos along the way, through the different stages of the project.

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Allen Ave Under the Overpass

I believe I told you I would bring something different to you today, and I truely believe I have. We were in Pasadena today and when we get off the freeway at Allen there is an entrance to the metro link gold line. I have been wanting to take a photograph of it for a long time. The one I am showing you today is of the freeway and metro underpass. The entrance is behind me. This photo I had not planned on taking until I turned around and saw it. There is a lot of texture and angles. I hope you will appreciate all that it shows.

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A Great Couple to Know

This is another of my nephews, Greg, with his wife of almost two years, Sarah. Aren’t they a very sweet couple? Greg is my brother Frankie’s eldest son who works at the shop with him. Greg is quite the mechanic and race car driver. He does the website for Frank Monise Motors and also plans all of the marketing. He is also very active in VARA. He is making a real change in the business and his marketing ideas are working out real well. Sarah is a phlebotomist.

A photo from the wedding two weeks ago…

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today! However, I was determined to finish the wedding photos  so I was unable to take advantage of it. Halleluah, I finished all of the photos! I just need to put them on a disc for Ryan and Sophia (the bride and groom) and them download them on a website so everyone can see them. I have emailed them several PDF’s of the photos. I am very happy with the results and I hope everyone involved is also. I feel very confident that they will like them all. I hope Greg and Sarah like this photo. I will send them a link.

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A Cool Triumph Sedan

This is such a cool car and it could even make an MGB lover like me convert to Triumph! Isn’t this a great looking car? It was at the shop last week at the Southern California Triumph Club. I did a little Google search and it looks like this is probably a very early 1960’s automobile. I tried to call my brother but he did not answer his phone. I played around with a couple of filters and this is what I came up with. Look at where the side mirror is located!

Have you ever seen one of these before…?

I do not believe I have ever seen one of these before, but since I have been to car races and car shows since I was a very little girl, there is a good chance that I have and I just do not remember! We were at the shop today and they had a 1960 Mini Morris there which was still owned by the original family, purchased in Hawaii. I will take a picture of it in a few days when we go back there. It must be so much fun to see all of these older English sports cars and to contribute to the restoration of them. I am rather envious of my brother and my nephews! At least I can go take photographs of them!

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A Great Looking Couple!

I was going through the 1,200 photos from the wedding of almost two weeks ago, and came across this photo of my nephew Geoff with his girlfriend Randi. You have seen him before in his MG Midget racing around the tracks at Fontana Speedway. Both of them were in the video I posted from the VARA races. Aren’t they a sweet looking couple? They are both so cute! Randi is a grammar school teacher and her students are very lucky to have her! Hopefully she will not become a victim of our “Terminator” Governor’s budget cuts!

Randi Clark and Geoff Monise…

I have some great pictures of them at Blue Skeye Ranch riding the horses. Geoff had never been on a horse before and he was a great sport! My brother Frankie has two great sons – he is very lucky! Geoff and Randi have been together for several years and Willie had the audacity to ask them when they are getting married. They replied in two years. Well, hopefully that will happen and there will be another new member of our family, even though she already feels like  a member of the family. I guess that is enough family stuff for a Friday! Have a good week-end and please come back tomorrow!

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Southern California Triumph Car Club

We went up to Pasadena today to the shop where they sponsored the Southern California Triumph Club car show and tech meeting, where they discussed restoration of the old English automobiles. There were some beautiful and all very well cared for cars there. Willie walked the dogs around while I took some photos. I liked this TR3 model from sometime in the 1960’s. I will try to find out the exact year and will pass it on to you. It was a good morning and all the people were very nice. Update:  Gregg says this is a ’58 or ’59!

Great looking Triumph TR3….

One thing you should know about me by now is that I am an MGB person. I got to see mine today and it is coming along slowly. But that is ok. They have been busy at the shop so that is good for them. They have been “swamped” as Greg told me. It has been cold and overcast all day today – even a little misty. We watched the Dodger’s lose when we got home today and had some lunch. Did a few errands and I downloaded the images from today so I could pick one for you to see. I believe I made a good choice. Have a good week-end!

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Here Are Kyla and Donnan

I took this photo of the dogs the other day when we were up in Pasadena. They like riding in the car and they seem very comfortable in their cage. This is them after a 45 minute ride up the 405, 605 and 210 Freeways to the shop. They were anxious to get out and have some water. Willie took them for a little walk, while I took some photos of the MGB and spoke with my brother and nephew. The dogs do look quite different since their haircut!

Donnan and Kyla left to right…

I have been so busy finishing up my school work that I have not been out to take any photographs. I do apologize and that will change very soon! I need to take some photos tomorrow for a panorama for class, so I will be out for sure! It was a nice day today. Willie was gone most of the day and I was working at the computer. I went outside with the dogs a few times for a little break, and it was very pleasant. They seem a little bored when Willie is not here. As I think I have said before, he is the “fun” parent and I am the “strict” one. They do respect me and listen to me more than they do Willie, so that is ok with me!

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Old Town Pasadena

After reading the DPS  post for today, I decided I would look for a pattern, either man made or in nature, to photograph today. We were in Pasadena today at the shop and decided to go over by the Pasadena City Hall. It is a very beautiful area. This tile work is in a courtyard across the street and close to a hotel and some restaurants. I thought the colors and the patterns were outstanding.  There were many pretty  fountains and some great places to sit and take it all in.

Part of a large courtyard with beautiful things to look at…

At the shop, we looked at my MG which is being restored and looking great! We had lunch up there, took some photos and then came home. Kyla and Donnan came along for the ride. I had to get home because I had a lot of errands to do. I need to work some more on my photo for class tomorrow night and then I still have a lot to do on my website for Wednesday night. I have a few busy days ahead of me!

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Back at Fontana

I took a one day reprieve from racing photos, but they are back! This is my nephew, Greg Monise, driving through the chicane at the end of the back straightaway. He looks great, doesn’t he? You can see all the markings from the cars that were not able to make it as smoothly or successfully as he is doing it. I am sorry he was unable to finish the week-end because of the problem with his crankshaft.

Gliding through the back chicane…

I had a very, very busy day today and I am now finishing this in class. The instructor should be here in about 20 minutes. It is my advanced web design class. I sold a book through Amazon so I had to take care of that, then I went to a new clients house to pick up some candles he wants photographed for his website. Then I just had to make some cookies to bring to class. I got everything done but I know tomorrow is going to be just as busy if not more so!

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Back at Fontana Race Track

This is a photograph I really like.  Unfortunately, I do not know who the driver is or what car he is in (except the number). If someone sees this who knows him, please let me know.  I took a few other photos from this angle of some drivers, but I like this one the best. I would have liked one like this of my nephews, but we were watching from another location at that time. I have started to work on my gallery/slideshow. I took all of these images in raw so there is an extra step I need to do. So far I have been very happy with the outcome.

Gentlemen, start you engines…

Willie and I were going to go out to dinner last night but we ended up staying home bar-b-q-ing and it was great. I think we will go out Thursday evening instead. Daylight savings time seems so early this year – this must be the earliest ever! Is it? Larry and Shelley came by yesterday afternoon and I was still in my robe (how embarrassing). They were doing week-end errands and stuff. We needed some wood chips for the backyard and they picked them up for us. Pretty exciting, huh?

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Leaving the Grid at Fontana Racetrack

Here are some production cars leaving the grid to go onto the track for their second practice of the day. We were at a great location to view and photograph all of this action. The VARA (Vintage Auto Racing Association) is a great organization. All the people are very friendly and out to have a good time. They share a lot and care about each other and the cars. I have so many photos to go through, but I do hope to have a slide show up by the end of the week. I will put a link here when I have it ready. I want to thank my brother Frankie and my nephews for a great day.

Corvettes, Porches, Datsuns, etc. taking off from the grid…

I grew up in a racing family, my father and one brother raced cars and my other brother raced motorcycles. Now they do restoration and this is a great group of people for them to know.  They had a barbecue yesterday for any and everyone and it was very good. Check out their website when you get a chance at Frank Monise Motors. There is a link at the sidebar here. Anyway, I saw some people I have not seen in a long time yesterday and it was great. I will post more photos from yesterday, but I will try not to bore you with them!

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Fontana Motor Speedway

We spent the day today out in Fontana and we had a really good time. I took this photo at the late afternoon practice session of my nephew Geoff. My nephew Greg did not have much luck this morning. Some kind of problem with the crankshaft on his car so he was unable to complete practice and will not be able to race tomorrow. It is a beautiful facility and I cannot believe there was one just a few miles away in Ontario that was torn down many years ago.  I will give you a link here if you want to know more about what goes on there. There are NASCAR Races, etc. there.

Geoff Monise on the straightaway…

It was a fun day and I enjoyed seeing Carol and her husband Bill. I think Bill really enjoyed it – he seemed very excited and  appeared to be having a lot of fun. It is now 8:30 on Saturday night – the latest I have ever done a post. I have a lot of photos to go through and I will do a slideshow on my website.  Willie took a lot of photos also. I took over 150 just myself and he probably took twice as many!  I have a lot to look at! Until tomorrow…

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A Panoramic Central Park

I was at the park trying out some panoramas. There are four photos in each shot and I think they came out pretty good. It is for an assignment for my photography travel class and I think it was a great idea. I have often thought about doing it but it has been a long time since I have even tried. I have had my Canon 20D camera for many years and yesterday I finally downloaded the software that came with it to do a “photostitch.”  This five week class has been great and I want to thank the instructor, John Clark, for the new ideas I have gotten.

Surf City’s own Central Park…

This is just one small area of the park. It is a beautiful Friday here, though a little chilly. We will be up early tomorrow morning as I need to go to class and then we are going out to Fontana for the VARA (Vintage Auto Racing Association) Route 66 Races. It will be a fun day and I hope the weather stays nice! Our friends Carol and Bill are going but my other friend Cheryl will not make it. I look forward to seeing my brothers and other family members, including Larry and Shelley. Have a fun day!

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Early 1930’s Riley Motorcar

We needed to go up to Pasadena yesterday to the shop (FMM). They had two collectors cars there to work on. One was a three wheeled 1949 Morgan and the other was this 1934 Riley. The Riley Cycle Company was a British bicycle manufacturer.  The company built the Riley motorcar from 1898 until 1939. There were many models. They later merged into British Leyland. Today, the trademark is owned by BMW. It is rumored this motorcar was purchased for over $100,000 a year ago.

One model of the British motorcar the Riley…

We had beautiful weather again yesterday, but I do not think it is going to last very long. We will probably get more rain before the week is out. I made a doctor’s appointment for today.  My regular doctor has left the practice and moved up North. I hate having to start over with a new doctor. I hope I can finally get this stomach problem taken care of! Today is Friday the 13th – are you superstitious? I am not quite sure what this week-end is going to bring. I will let you know!

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The Rising of the Phoenix

This is a photograph I took of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA. We have seen a lot of great shows and performers there over the years. Doesn’t it look like the Phoenix Rising? I think that that is a perfect interpretation. I took this late in the evening as people were inside enjoying a show. I wanted to try to get a shot without any, or at least not very many, people. It worked out perfectly. That was a better way to spend my evening than going to school (my instructor said I did not have to go).

The beautiful Phoenix Rising…

I posted my Flash project (Frank Monise Motors) on my web site. There is a link at the bottom of my What’s New page.  I can’t post it here because WordPress does not support Flash.  Willie and I are going to go over to South Coast Plaza  later today to do some shopping and look at all the sights. We haven’t been over there in a while so it will be fun to walk around and maybe have a nice lunch with my wonderful husband – the love of my life and my very best friend. Now I start the second 100 of my photos – that is quite an accomplishment!

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