The first, is that I photographed my 200th automotive brand, which I did at the Hemmings Concours in Lake George, NY on September 15th...I think. I have some question about the accuracy of that. I've photographed a couple cars that I am sure I have, yet weren't on the list, and I discovered an error where one brand was listed twice. So...I THINK I hit that mark at the Concours. I'm not entirely sure.
If my records are correct...and I'm less and less sure they are...this was my 200th brand.
You can see all the Hemmings Concours pictures here, on my website: 2019 Hemmings Concours d'Elegance
As my records stand now, I'm at 205 photographed brands. I'm working on a project to find that out for sure right now. As I did with my Cardboard History project, I'm copy and pasting all my car photography, and sorting them into albums by brand. I think it's going to take me a year to accomplish, but my passion for everything automotive means I'm giving it a lot of attention, but it's still a massive amount of work. And it's showing me that I need to pay more attention to things besides Chevrolets and Fords, which I knew would be the most...but I didn't realize how little I had of some of the Mopar brands in particular.
My second major milestone: 2019 is now the year I've attended the most car shows ever in. I'm currently at 32 shows attended. My old record is 29, set last year. I went to 18 in 2017, no more than 5 in any year previous. My doctor has been on me to get more exercise...I'm choosing to do that by walking around car shows. And it is working. Although it's not taking the weight down, my blood sugar numbers are better now than they have been since I began checking them several times a day In 2013. I can only hope that eventually it will all come together and I can actually say I'm making an improvement on my health. It would be nice to not have everything be getting worse all the time, something I've never experienced. I still have a couple more shows lined up for the year, too. In fact, I'm scheduling this post for 4:30 PM, meaning I may actually be at a car show when it goes live, depending on how motivated I get...unlikely, as I have a doctor's appointment in the morning that I am dreading. Nothing works better to bring up even a little cheer than a car show, so I will go no matter how bad I'm feeling.
Bonus Milestone: I finally completed an AMT 1959 El Camino! The 1959 El Camino is one of my all-time favorite cars, ever. They are rare, but there has been one for sale at the Adirondack Nationals for the past three years. I based my model on it. Not an exact match, and not perfect, but the AMT 1959 El Camino kit has fought me a lot over the years. This is the 4th copy I've attempted to build.
Congrats on your MAYBE milestone! Actually, I think that meeting your first Olympian might be the most exciting thing you mentioned!
ReplyDeleteTurns out I crossed the milestone previously and just didn't realize it. I had a few brands photographed that were missing off my list. It wasn't much of a meeting. He was on his way to lunch.
DeleteCongrats on the milestones! Not many people can say that cars are their favorite form of exercise! :)
ReplyDeleteHey, that's kind of an oxymoron. I didn't think of that! Thanks
DeleteHow many people can say that they've photographed 200 automotive brands? I'd guess you're one of the few! Also, you should feel great about getting all the walking in. It's a better exercise than many people realize. Nice going, Billy!
ReplyDeleteWhen I posted about it in some of the car forums I'm in nobody else commented that they had as many, but several people started working on trying to figure out how many they had shot. It's really not hard to accumulate them if you go to car shows a lot, as I do. And also if you're not afraid to walk through parking lots, you can get most if not all of the current brands that way.
DeleteThat model turned out awesome! I'm sure I've left this comment before... but I'll write it again. If I had the skills to make models, there's a good chance baseball cards would take a back seat to them.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a LOT of effort and practice for me to get this far...20 years actually. And I still ruin 5 to 10 models for every one that I complete even somewhat successfully. Some people are born with the skills and just go with them, others, like myself, were not and it's always a struggle. You won't know until you try!
DeleteFinished model looks great! Congratulations on one of many milestones!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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