Author: Randy Wells

6-27-24

R GRUPPE MAGAZINE ARTICLE IN THE WORKS

For those who like reading about early Porsche 911 hot rod clubs, this should be right up your alley. Coming in the fall is my story on the 2024 R Gruppe gathering in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Good times are guaranteed! More to follow.

Ferry, WA

WESTERN WASHINGTON TRAVEL STORY

PCA does it again with my newly published travel story for those looking to explore western Washington state this summer. It’s no secret that now is the best time of year to come to Seattle. Rather than hanging around the city, my advice is to hop on a ferry and head to Bainbridge Island. From there you can explore some of the best attractions this NW state has to offer, including more destinations like Whidbey and the San Juan Islands. Another option is to head to the Okanogan via roads north and east of the Puget Sound. I’d avoid the more touristed areas like Mt. Rainier and the like. Too many people.

6-17-24

BACK FROM PORSCHE PARADE WITH THOUSANDS OF IMAGES

Thanks to the the team at Porsche Club of America’s national magazine Panorama, I was the only full-time freelance pro assigned to make principal photography at the event. I am grateful for the faith they placed in me and happy to report I covered everything to the best of my abilities!

Birmingham, Alabama turned out to be the friendliest U.S. city I have experienced in many years. Look for coverage of my words and photos in the October issue.

FORM VS. FUNCTION

Traditionally, advertising has been more form over function. I’ve done a lot of advertising campaigns in my time behind the camera. Most have been based on form. Yet if I had a choice, my goal would be elegant function. It’s something I’ve strived for over the past 35 years as a full-time pro photographer.

Perhaps the world will turn towards this goal. However, that would mean a big change from appearances, which currently rule.

WHO IS A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER?

Simply put, it is someone who derives the majority of their income from photography. It doesn’t mean that they are being primarily supported by another job, a trust fund, retirement or a family member. A full-time professional photographer has to go beyond that definition. They need to make ends meet every month with the income they earn from their photography. And that means they have to charge a fee that could seem higher than those who don’t. It’s simple really, but the distinction has lost some meaning over the past 20 years. Please consider the differences when exploring these different services.

FORESHADOWING

If the latest reports are to be believed, this world is in trouble (and that’s putting aside all the humanity problems). Solar eclipses, solar flares, global warming predicted at +2.5 degrees celsius, and AI that can’t be explained but is going to be used everywhere anyway. I think they may have got it wrong in the Stanley Kubrick 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, it looks like it could all come down around 2050.

Enjoy it while you can.

(Image above: Courtesy of MGM)

STREETLIFE SERENADER

“Streetlife Serenader” is one the best Billy Joel songs but it doesn’t make most lists. Why? Because it’s too good. Probably best heard on the live album Songs In the Attic.

BREAKFAST IN AMERICA

What would you say to an album that summed up the neural code of America in less than 60 minutes?

It seems astonishing to think that 45 years ago a band from the UK named Supertramp could create a #1 album worldwide that purports to understand the complexities of America. It turns out they could, because this nation has never been all that complicated.

THE ROAD TO H*** IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

The key is to never let it get you down. There can be a lot of mis-communication when everyone is coming from a different point of view. Fractured is how I see the world today. It can be frustrating, but it’s up to each of us to follow what we know to be the truth. It’s good actions that matter. Forget the rest. ‘Relax-Ay-Voo’

4-15-24

I’M ON A CAYMAN ROLL

It wasn’t that long ago that I wrote and photographed a feature for the Porsche Club of America’s national magazine on a Cayman S that was perhaps the most expensive one ever ordered. Now, the April 2024 issue features one of the least expensive used Cayman S models purchased that has been turned into a top-time-of-the-day autocross weapon.
Congrats to Tara and Steven Lau for their wins at last year’s Porsche Parade and national SCCA events! Check it out in the latest Porsche Panorama Magazine.

Image of worn out flowers in South Puget Sound, Washington, Pacific Northwest

YOU CAN SEND ME DEAD FLOWERS

“When you’re sitting there in your silk upholstered chair…”

Maybe you know those lyrics, and maybe you don’t. Yet, everyone who has heard a Robert Ludwig (RL) mastered first UK LP pressing of Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones played back on a great sounding system knows exactly what I’m talking about.

RECORD COLLECTING

If you are after the best reproduction of sound quality in recorded music for any performance you will want to collect direct copies of the original master tape. That’s true for everything recorded up to about 1985. After that most music was recorded digitally.

Of course, direct copies on tape are very hard to find or very expensive, or both. So most serious audiophiles spring for the original all analog LP record created the years the album was first released in the country where the music was recorded, mastered, and cut to vinyl. Continue reading “”