Category: Travel / Nature Blog

FEAST OF FRIENDS

I’m lucky to have Bob Tilton as a friend, along with all my other early Porsche chums. Here’s a photo he posted recently from the 2011 Rennsport Reunion IV in Monterey. Bob was there making some amazing images, and happened to choose me as a subject. For more on his photgraphy and lfe experiences, please see his WerkCrew blog, plus a cool video with a couple of Tilton blog images: Continue reading “”

JUST BACK FROM TWO WEEKS IN CALIFORNIA

Thanks to everyone I saw on this special trip. Photographed five Porsches for future articles, met with three of my editors, and chatted briefly with Prescott Kelly, Jerry Seinfeld and Chad McQueen. Special thanks go to Curt Autenreith, Cris Huergas, Terry English, Scott Longballa, and Rod & Gary Emory for their valued companionship. Continue reading “”

GET AWAY IN MARCH?

Here’s my pick for this year. Caribbean or Hawaii, depending on where you live. My fave island in the West Indies is St. Barts. Second, if you want more variety, would be St. Martin. Both will provide French cuisine and beautiful white sandy beaches. For Hawaii, my choice is Kauai. It’s off the beaten path, especially Hanalei Bay, and offers lots of exciting possibilities like aerial photographs of Na Pali at sunset. Continue reading “”

MAKING IT AS A TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER

Here’s an excerpt from our interview that appears in the latest Shutterbug Magazine. Thanks to Maria Piscopo and Shutterbug for including us in their latest “Business Trends” section.

“Never before has it been as easy for someone to produce a usable travel photograph. And never before have as many travel images been posted to the Internet. Unfortunately, many of these posted images are deemed of ‘good enough’ quality, are free to download, and are not credited to authorship. Continue reading “”

KIDS AND THE WEB

Something that’s come out of Japan lately is a bevy of very sophisticated yet inexpensive compact pocket cameras that are fully automatic and offer the creative performance of a pro digital SLR in the convenient size of a point-and-shoot. Great for kids!

Above is a pic from a recent travel made with a Canon Powershot ELPH 110. Much higher quality than any smart phone, and best of all.. No Instagram! Continue reading “”

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

As we set our clocks back and say goodbye to Fall, here’s the final (for now) post in my creative process series on photography (a.k.a R
andy’s Photo tips):

“Do not paint the sleeve, become the arm.” -Andrew Wyeth

“In order to see, we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.” -Manet

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up.” -Picasso Continue reading “”

I’M NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE

Just back from Salina, Kansas where I photographed Blue Heaven Studios’ 15th Annual Blues Masters at the Crossroads concerts. The live music was inspirational and aided by the superb acoustics in the converted church studio. It was a fun-filled weekend hanging out with Michael Fremer, Chad Kassem, Kevin Gray and many others. Continue reading “”

AN APPROACH TO AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Number four in my series of RANDY’S PHOTO TIPS a.k.a. his creative photographic process:

When approaching automotive photography, one of the first challenges is the belief that you can fix everything in post-processing. Unfortunately (or fortunately), a car’s complex bodywork and glossy paint reflects everything, especially on dark colored vehicles. So, unless your location and background are clean and well thought out beforehand, you could be left with an image that needs a lot of complicated retouching. Continue reading “”

WHY WE NEED HEROES

Neil Armstrong’s passing on Saturday left me wondering: Who are our heroes in this country today? Man’s first walk on the moon in 1969 seems long ago, and maybe a bit distant to our growing global challenges. Yet it was the natural culmination of a journey that started less than 110 years when the Wright Brothers flew for the very first time. Continue reading “”

VACATION

Vacation. From the Latin word vacatio, meaning freedom or exemption. A restful respite. A period of exemption from the world. A soulfully fulfilling experience of freedom.

An island in Washington state’s South Puget Sound holds a recluse that my wife and I can escape to for a couple of days every month. Once or twice a year we spend two or more weeks at a time there. Continue reading “”

10 DAYS ON THE ROAD : BACK WITH A TROPHY

Just back from a road trip that will generate more photo stories for me in less time than any other. I traveled from Seattle to Salt Lake City and back again in my modified 1972 911 T/ST, about half of it on back roads.

The Porsche Club of America held its annual Porsche Parade event in SLC – a land of religious freedom and ultimate land speeds (some of it in in record-breaking heat). 110 degrees Fahrenheit is fine if you are sitting in your air-conditioned car. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. And neither did Jeff Barstow, my co-driver, when it came to laying down some fast runs at PCA national level autocross competition. Continue reading “”

1960’S LAUREL CANYON, LOS ANGELES REVISITED

In 1969, the Aquarian themes of Woodstock (peace, love and music) were being played out on a smaller scale in the secluded Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon, which is defined by a road that links Hollywood Blvd. to Mulholland Drive. Two years earlier Joni Mitchell had purchased a wooden cottage that had been built by a jazz musician into the side of a hill on Lookout Mountain Avenue. Several of the songs Mitchell wrote at the time, including the title track of her third album, were a direct result of her embracing that slice of bohemian counter-culture. Continue reading “”