Year: 2012

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 “”

LEICA M10 TO BE ANNOUNCED?

Recent reports that a new Leica digital rangefinder will be revealed at Photokina next month (with autofocus aids, live view, and video capabilities) started me thinking about my life with these German cameras.

The first Leica I purchased was a M4-2 rangefinder in 1979. I was just back from the best King Crab fishing season with my dad and had a little money to spend. A Leica M3 joined it shortly after. I still own and use those cameras. 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 “”

THE LUCKY AMERICAN

The latest issue of Excellence Magazine (204) carries a story of mine on the 1965 Lucky Lager 911 and the early racing career of driver Bruce O’Neil.

Bruce is certainly “The Lucky American” when it comes to racing the early 911 in Europe in 1967. His was a unique experience that would be very hard (if impossible) to repeat. Racing has changed so much. Continue reading “”

PART III. CREATIVITY AND THE DIGITAL CAMERA: A LOOK BACK – Randy’s Photo Tips

For the third installment on creativity and the photographic process I revisit my first professional digital camera in an article I wrote for PC Photo Magazine:

“What inspires us to photograph in a more creative way? For some it might be the realization that we are seeing something anew for the very first time. It might be as simple as connecting with a new country or culture. Maybe this inspiration is a reward for venturing outside of our comfort zone. For others, it might come from trying out a new technique, or viewing a master photographer’s work, or being forced to overcome some challenge that compels us to aspire to heights we haven’t reached for previously. Continue reading “”

THE DOORS ON 45 RPM VINYL

Check out the link below for a review by Michael Fremer on the new Analogue Productions release of the seminal The Doors first album.

Mastered by Doug Sax on 45 RPM 12″ LP and SACD from analog tape, and overseen by original recording engineer Bruce Botnik, this reissue is a killer diller. The only thing that might be better would be Sax cutting it from the master tape, but that’s apparently unusable. Yes, the original Elektra gold label LP with no RE in the dead wax pressed at Monarch is a little more “alive” since it was cut from the original master, but this one will still light your fire. Continue reading “”

CLUB SPORT

Excellence Magazine just published my article and photos on this outlandish Porsche 911. It’s one of 28 US delivered Club Sport 911s that was turned into a Porsche Club of America spec race car.

To many it might seem illogical to take a limited edition 1988 Carrera Club Sport in Dark Blue, one of only four made, and modify it for racing. But is it really that sacrilegious? Doesn’t ‘Club Sport’ suggest sports purpose club competition? Wasn’t the Porsche name originally built on its motorsports heritage? Isn’t the 911 the most popular car to use for PCA racing? Perhaps all that’s needed is to read the full story for it to make some sense. Continue reading “”

PART II. 15 TIPS FOR THE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER

This is my second article in the creativity and photographic process series from 2012:

Many of these tips I credit to other photographers and authors, especially Ernst Haas, Sam Abell, and Deanne Delbridge.

1. Work with the minimum amount of equipment and be totally familiar with it. Consider exercising with your gear before a shoot.
2. Check all cameras, lenses and flash units before any shoot remove smudges from lens elements/filters, dust from sensors, and charge all batteries.
3. Take more batteries and digital media storage than you think you will need.
4. Know before you go: Research your subject and location for favorable concepts and backgrounds. Weather is a factor, but remember bad can be good.
5. Rest completely and eat little before shooting.
6. Check your histogram for exposure, then forget about the review monitor as much as possible.
7. Never say to yourself, I’ll get it later.
8. Listen to your intuition. Turn around. Look up. Place the camera on the ground or over your head.
9. Look for unusual lighting, perspectives, backdrops, foregrounds, framing elements, details, symbols, reflections, and colors that accentuates the subject’s character.
10. Work slowly, remain open and flexible, pursue your own vision, go beyond expectations. Have fun and photograph what appeals to you.
11. Practice using your position and the viewfinder to eliminate distracting elements at the edges of the frame and near your main subject. Remember, the eye of the viewer will always go first to the brightest, most colorful area.
12. Be descriptive without showing everything. Eliminate any contradictions in the image. Place the horizon line thoughtfully. The above are most important when you are excited.
13. Compose formally, and use a tripod when you can, but allow informality to take the image to another place, to a picture you can’t memorize.
14. Try to weave two or three photos together into one with layers of information.
15. Attitude is everything.

Also, periodically answer these questions in writing:

What is the most important thing in my life?
At what times do I feel most alive?
What is my personal definition of photography?
Where would I like to be as a photographer?
What’s keeping me from getting there?
What are my greatest strengths and weaknesses as an artist?
What am I trying to say?
“What does my dream job look like?”
If I could make just one set of photographs what would it be?

Part I

Part III

Inspirational Quotes

Digital Photo Pro Article with Randy

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 “”

WHEN LENNON MET MCCARTNEY

55 years ago, on the afternoon of July 6th 1957, a skiffle group called The Quarrymen played in the garden of St Peter’s Church in Liverpool. While setting up their equipment to play, the bass player, Ivan Vaughan, introduced the band to one of his classmates from Liverpool Institute, the 15-year-old Paul McCartney. John Lennon, lead singer and guitarist for the group, was one year older than McCartney. The pair chatted for a few minutes, and McCartney even showed Lennon how to tune a guitar. Continue reading “”

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Congratulations to Bob Tilton on the 2nd anniversary of his WerkCrew blog site. It’s been a pleasure to be involved in his projects and to watch him grow as a photographer. The guy’s got a seriously good eye.

Werk Crew

Also, be sure and check out the “VPI Traveler Turntable and Dynavector Cartridge Giveaway” from Music Direct on Michael Fremer’s Analog Planet site. You could win a brand-new record spinner!

Analog Planet

Continue reading “”

SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH A NORMAL LENS

It’s been a long time since I’ve used a fixed focal length normal lens for stills (the first time was when I bought a Canon AE-1 in 1976). I have a 50mm f2 Summicron for my Leica M rangefinder, though I use it more for personal work. As a cineamatographer, I also use several fast fixed focal length lenses on my 5D MK II DSLR for motion filming. 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 “”

randy_wells_road.jpg

ALL-AMERICAN ROADS

When America’s best scenic drives are discussed, a few always make the list. US Hwy 1 on the Pacific Coast is an obvious choice, as is Going-to-the-Sun Road in Montana. As amazing as these roads are, over 20 more are considered “All-American Roads” (see below), and one in particular stands out above all the rest as being both uniquely uncrowded and spectacular. Continue reading “”