HERE’S A MUCH BETTER IDEA

The Pro-ject Automat Turntable doesn’t include speakers, but it does include a fully-automatic start-and-stop with a German-made assembly that disengages and decouples while the record plays, thereby preserving the sound from mechanical vibration. I personally use Rega decks, but this option is very appealing.

MUSIC REVENUE CHART

For folks who care about such things, here’s an interesting chart adjusted for inflation that shows where each music format has fallen in yearly revenue. LPs peaked in 1978, and CDs peaked in 1999. Only sales of new items are included. Colored vinyl is the new collectible fetish. Elsewhere, physical music formats have remained niche products, with revenue from used sales on-line unaccounted for. The days of finding gold in used record stores are pretty much over. Click on chart to enlarge.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS, IT’S ALL ONE STORY

Everything worth doing takes time. Commitment and intention are everything. Otherwise, projects end up half-baked, or worse yet, contain inaccurate information when they were thought to be “finished”.

Our title says it all. Remember the big picture. “You’re only as good as your last job” is something else to keep in mind, no matter how far up the tree you climb. Another is, “The higher you climb, the harder the wind blows.”

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NOT A GOOD SIGN

From Uncrate: “In airplanes, the black box records and stores flight data to provide information in the event of a crash. With climate change putting our planet in a downward spiral, earth is getting one of its own. The 33-foot-long steel vault is being constructed on the coast of Tasmania and is designed to record and collect measurements and interactions as our planet continues to decline. Continue reading “”

Drone image of North Cascades landscape at sunrise, Washington by Randy Wells

LOOK UP, THE SKY IS OPEN.

Drone photography and videography can be magical.

However, it is not for the faint of heart. The deeper you go into this discipline-laden aerial specialty, the more you risk being confronted with the limits of what is possible. Those limits are not very forgiving.

Still, for me, the effort is worth the risk for the imagery that can only be acquired aloft. It’s an inspiring and addictive vocation. Fly safely.

For more, see Randy’s Landscape Instagram page: @landscapes.randywells

THERE ARE NO RULES #5

OK, here’s the last in my arbitrary list of 5 traditional photographic rules meant to broken on the 21st day of the 12th month of the 21st year of the 21st century:

“Don’t Place The Horizon In The Middle Of The Frame”.

Another version of this is, “Never put your subject in the middle of the frame”. That’s another compositional rule to break, unless you’re shooting for a full-bleed double page spread!

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THERE ARE NO RULES #4

The following photographic advice is often recommended: “Never shoot at noon on a sunny day.”

You actually can do this.

However, here’s a tip. It’s easier to do if it’s late fall, winter, or early spring. And you need to aim the camera up. Include that beautiful blue sky in your image.