CHEAP AND GOOD ENOUGH

If you are a budding photographer who wants to add a side hustle shooting automobiles, make sure you are “cheap” and “good enough”. That way you might get enough gigs to survive your first year in business. If you work really hard shooting cars once a week and practicing Photoshop every day, you may eventually have “something to say” (aka: develop a great eye and a style) that will separate you from the pack. Then you can charge more. It can take up to five years, but learning on the job requires that. Just don’t try to fake it ’till you make it. That never works for very long.

(Illustrator: Unknown)

11-2-23

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

My father would be 98 today, but he passed away about 20 years ago from Parkinson’s. We still have my mom.

P.S. To good friends lost in the last month:
11-9-23 God Bless Fayne
11-12-23 R.I.P. Mark
11-30-23 R.I.P. Nick

Never a Beatles fan, my dad Chuck probably would have liked the new Stones album better…

6-20-23

IT’S A LOVELY MORNING – BUT NOT EVERYWHERE

I often take my good fortune for granted.

It means I need to work at gratitude on a regular basis. In the process, I’ve come to realize that my life’s journey is an evolution that fills me with wonder and joy at the best of times. I think the world could use more of that.

Thank you to all my friends. I’m lucky to have each and every one of you.

(Photos by Randy and Andrea Wells)

Cumulus Clouds over AZ

ACCEPTANCE, NOT EXPECTATIONS

Not everyone seeks perfection. In contrast, I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist. It stems from my belief that things can always be better.

As I’ve matured, that trait has been somewhat subdued by my need to be more mindful of others. Judging others and criticizing behavior is not where I want to be. As I let go of that, my life becomes easier. And in today’s world, anything that simplifies my journey is most welcome.

(Photo: Randy Wells – Un-manipulated sky in Arizona)

BECOME WHO YOU ARE

Native-Cordova-Alaska-travel-photographer-Randy-Wells, Image of a bald eagle in flight on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, the bald eagle is a bird of prey and national bird and symbol of the United States of America

Friedrich Nietzsche was never the easiest philosopher to understand.

Another way of saying this is, “Be your own best version of your self.”

Here are more of his aphorisms:

Nietzche Quotes

THE 4TH OF JULY

It seems the 4th of July means something different every year.

For me, what I feel is sadness. At the same time, I’m grateful that I experienced the best of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. It was a wonderful time to be young in America.

I made this image of Mt. Rushmore from a low-flying helicopter in the ’80s. I probably wouldn’t be allowed to do it today. Not sure I’d want to.

The image below is one I made last month.

Think deeper. Be safe.