Category: Drives and Events (Page 3 of 5)

I am a hack photographer.  I take lots of pictures, mainly of cars in various poses.  I have two cars, and, of course, I have two cameras.  I use them as most of us use them.  I point, zoom, autofocus and click.  Voila, I have a picture.  I either like it or I don’t.  I take the lighting as an unchangeable constant.  The only time I fiddle with the mode selector on the camera is when it randomly moves off automatic and I reset it.  That is, until today.

Today I, along with 20 or so PCA Los Angeles Porsche buddies, took a photography class from the legendary Al Satterwhite.  The class was sponsored by Samy’s Camera, and it was held at the Petersen Automotive Museum.  The class was aimed at teaching serious photography skills.   The subject matter was taking pictures of, what else, cars generally and Porsches specifically.  I went for the latter reason, as I really should have been in a class where the teacher taught entry level photography concepts.  This was made abundantly clear to me at one point in the class when Al gently suggested to me that I read the manual that came with the camera.  More about that later.

Al Satterwhite is the real deal.  He has been a professional photographer for decades, shooting motor sports, print ads, magazines, and even motion pictures.  He was a joy to listen to, even if I only understood him in concept and could not begin to understand how to implement his thoughts.  But that was okay.  I enjoy listening to experts.

Our class started with some classroom time,  Al showed us a video montage of many of his automotive shots.  To say they were spectacular would be an understatement.  After he showed us the video he put several shots on the screen and explained what he wanted in the shot, how he took the shot and how he prepared for it.  Apparently there is much more to this than point, zoom, autofocus and click.  According to Al, shooting cars, or any metal object, outside is very difficult because of hot spots and glare.  He said the best times are 20 minutes after the sun comes up or 20 minutes before it goes down.

After lecture time,  we went into the “cove,” a special room in the Petersen with overhead lighting and rounded corners and walls designed for photography.  We had a good time wandering around and taking pictures, as most of us will never have the opportunity to shoot in that environment very often.

Then we went outside to take pictures of our models, Charlie’s yellow Cayman GT4 and my red 1989 911 Targa.  Al explained that he liked to shoot cars against interesting backgrounds, like solid walls or near other objects.  He stressed that he really liked primary colors.  So he must have just loved our cars.  We took pictures for awhile, and Al showed us how he set up his camera on a tripod connected to his laptop with a hood so he could clearly see the exact shot he would be taking.  He stressed that he likes to compose his shots in the viewfinder and leave Photoshop for only minor adjustments.

We moved the cars from the direct sun into various places in the shade.  Al explained how to angle the car to minimize the hot spots or the glare and the reflections from backlit shots.  After that we spent time shooting frontlit shots.  It was during this exercise that my lack of photography skills became glaring.  We were supposed to shoot into the light and change the shutter speed to enable  the camera to focus on the primary object and blur or white out the background.  Needless to say, my automatic mode failed miserably.  Al said, “Put it in manual mode and change the shutter speed.”  My response was, “How?”  Because my friend Mark was nearby we got the camera into manual mode and changed the shutter speed.  When I retook the picture, the difference was unbelievable.  Al graciously only made one comment.  He said, “You might want to read the manual.”

Then we moved up one flight of stairs to shoot down at the cars from above, providing some interesting angles and perspectives.  That was interesting.  Though the sun was not in the proper position to properly position the cars, we had fun shooting them anyway.

So I took my first photography class.  I enjoyed it, more because of the chance to listen to Al than for the improvement in my photography.  For that I will need to take a beginning class.  Hopefully, I can remember all of Al’s comments when I have the skills to implement them.

5/26/17

I left my house at 4:20 AM to drive to Buttowillow Raceway Park located on the 5 north of Bakersfield.  I had signed up for a high performance drivers education (HPDE) event sponsored by the Los Angeles and CCCR Regions of the Porsche Club of America (PCA).  As my Cayman GTS ate up the miles, my nervousness increased, and  I kept asking myself, “What was I thinking when I signed up for this?”  In reality, I am not a racer.  Nor am I a fast driver. Nor do I have the need for speed.  Yet there I was pulling into the Buttonwillow parking lot.

The ride to Buttonwillow was not without issues.  As I was driving up the Grapevine, it was tough going.  There were lots of trucks.  There was lots of mist, enough to make me use my wipers for miles.  There were lots of times I really had to focus to keep my eyelids up.

The night before, I had decided to eat breakfast on the road, and I located a McDonald’s somewhere near Lebec, just past the top of the Grapevine, as that was about halfway to Buttonwillow.  As I was driving, Lebec came and went, and I never saw the exit for the McDonald’s. Oh well.  I figured I would find another one, and I did, right near the 5 and 99 split.  So at about 5:45 AM I pulled off the 5 and made my way to McDonald’s, expecting it to be just about empty.  It wasn’t.  There was a bus parked in the lot and hordes of teenagers were inside of McDonald’s, making it an absolute zoo.  Apparently, this was the end of their grad night celebration, and I was just lucky enough to arrive right after them.  As I was a little tired anyway, I stayed in the car and  took a short nap.

I woke feeling refreshed and noting that the teenagers were beginning to leave McDonald’s.  I went in, ordered, got my food, and went back to my car, planning to eat as I drove.  I decided to set the Nav for Buttonwillow to see how much farther I had to go, and as I was exiting the parking lot, I looked at the Nav and realized I was in the McDonalds I located the night before, though it was nowhere near Lebec.  Feeling sheepish, I got back on the 5 and proceeded to Buttonwillow with a short stop for gas a few miles from my final destination.

As I entered the parking lot at Buttonwillow, I kept reminding myself that I have a modicum of track experience.  I took a class about three years ago which was given at the Streets of Willow track, near Mojave.  It was fun, but in terms of learning it was pretty useless because I did not receive enough instruction and spent most of the day driving around by myself, making the same mistakes lap after lap.  Two years ago I spent two days at Porsche Sport Driving School at Barber Motorsport Park in Birmingham Alabama.  I had a blast and learned a lot about weight distribution and transfer and car handling,  though my learning may not have been as great as I thought at the time, as I was following the line set by the instructors on each lap.  I had a feeling today would be different, as I would be driving without a leader to follow and my skills as a lemming would not be useful in the least.

I parked my car and made my way to check in.  Thankfully, I saw Randy, one of my PCA LA friends, and he walked me thru the check-in and set up process, which was a good thing because I was  essentially clueless.  In theory I was prepared.  I had taken care of the requisite car inspection at Marc’s shop, which resulted in a new set of front brake pads, a couple of weeks earlier.  Thanks to my PCA friend, Jason, I had learned which direction we were going to drive on the track and had watched YouTube videos to get a feel for the track layout.  Thanks to discussions with others, I had brought a roll of blue painter’s tape to mark numbers and protect some areas from rock chips and debris.  I was a little taken aback when the check in volunteer asked me for my driver’s log book.  I just looked at him and said, “What log book?”  I felt a sense of relief once the volunteer went on to tell me that they were giving them out to those who needed them.

With check in finished and log book in hand, Randy helped me tape my car.  My number was “8,” so I had to create the number “8” on the hood and on each door with the painter’s tape.  Once that was done, I put tape on more random places because that is what everyone else was doing.

It takes an unbelievable amount of work and planning to put on a HPDE event.  All sorts of volunteers, from event organizers to corner workers to instructors, are required.  Run groups, meaning those cars on the track at the same time, are created to ensure that newbies are not mixing it up with experienced drivers.  There were four run groups the day I was there, and each run group had four lapping sessions spread out over the day.  The schedule was planned to the minute because track time is a scarce commodity.  I was a proud member of the White group, meaning I was expected to be slow and I was required to have an instructor sitting in the passenger seat when I was on the track, which was a blessing to me.

Soon it was time for the drivers meeting, which consisted of lots of discussion about the track, the direction we were going to be driving (clockwise), rules, regulations, flags, passing zones, etc., etc., etc.   Yes it was dry and boring, but it was absolutely necessary.  The main purpose of the meeting was to ensure that all drivers were on the same page and to ensure that we all understood how to get thru the day safely, something I was very happy about.  Depending on the run group, there were various passing zones on the track.  I paid particular attention to this because I was confident I would need to know what to do when another car wanted to pass me.  I assumed I would have no need to pass anyone.  I was right.

My instructor, Loren, a fellow PCA Los Angeles Region member, was amazing.  I had met him before at a PCA Los Angeles dinner event to generate interest for the track day.  The dinner was sponsored by the PCA Los Angeles Region, and they spared no expense as they held it at a Shakey’s Pizza Parlor.  Obviously, I did not go to the event for the pizza.  I went to get a better understanding of the tack day.  The main benefit was speaking to the various instructors that were there.  Loren talked a lot to me about the track, his philosophy while on it, and the fun he has had learning to drive around it.  He stressed smoothness and precision, and his thoughts resonated with me.  I was fortunate that he was my instructor.

My first lap was sketchy at best.  Apparently being a lemming at Barber had not prepared me for solo a leaderless trip around the track.  While I did not take too many risks, I was way off the line most of the way around, despite a steady stream of instructions from Loren, who was gracious enough keep his comments positive.  Out of the corner of my eye, though, I did catch his right foot moving towards the floorboard on multiple occasions as we made our way around the track.

In total, I drove about 80 miles on the track, and I improved throughout the day.  As I did, my speeds improved, too, though speed was not my main goal.  I was actually really good on two or three of the more technical portions of the course.  For a couple of these sequences this had more to do with Loren’s teaching, which included hand drawn pictures to illustrate where I needed to be than it had to do with my ability, though there was one sequence I just had an instinctive feel for and nailed it just about every time around.  What was really eye opening for me was how hard it was to stay focused for an entire lap, let alone a 25 minute lapping session.  As a result, I was way less than spectacular on some of the less technical portions, and more than once I wanted to head off onto a coned off section of the track.  I could not believe how mentally challenging this experience was.  I have no idea how professional race drivers do this for hours.  Clearly, I need to learn how to maintain my focus for longer periods of time before I do this again.

I do not have the desire to be really competitive on the track.  My goals were to enjoy the experience and to learn.  Thankfully, I do not see them changing any time soon.  Others have far different goals and desires, up to and including wheel to wheel racing.  I could clearly see how the pursuit of speed can cost thousands of dollars.  There were many track cars there, having been towed from various parts of California.  There were also highly modified cars that were still street legal but not meant to be driven on the street.  Lots of money had been spent on these vehicles, way more than I want to think about.

Of course, part of the reason I am skeptical about the cost to improve cars for the track is that I already have an amazing track car, at least by my standards.  I do not think it would be a misstatement to say my car will always be a better track car than I am a track driver.  My mid-engine Cayman GTS is just a spectacular car to drive on the track, and for an all around road and track driving experience, my Cayman is hard to beat.  Sure, its brakes could be beefed up and sure it could have better tires and maybe a retuning  ……

As I shortened the lifespan of my reasonably new tires and new brake pads during the day, I realized that I had no reason to have been nervous that morning.  I experienced a  freedom on the track that cannot be duplicated on a freeway, a street or a back road.  I have pushed it a bit and have had wonderful times on the canyon twisties, but those roads still have yellow lines, opposing traffic, limited forward visibility, bicycles, and steep drop-offs.  Paradoxically, I learned that the race track is a much safer environment and a lot more fun.

Afterwards, everyone wanted to know how fast I went.  The simple answer was I do not know.  My attention and focus needed to be way up the track not directly in front of my car and definitely not on my dashboard.  Everything came at me faster on the track than on the road.  Looking down at the speedometer would have been a bad idea at best and a horrible idea at worst.  I did catch a glimpse of the speedometer on a couple of turns and noted that I was in the mid 70s which meant I was going significantly faster on the straights, though the speed in the turns was much more exciting.

So I had a successful day.   I met my goals.  I had a great time.  I learned where to position my car on every part of the track without being a lemming.  I drove safely at high speed for long periods of time, which warped my perception of it dramatically.  Several times when I was driving home I thought we were just crawling along and could not understand why everyone was driving so slowly.  When I looked down at my speedometer, I was surprised to see I was going well over 80 miles per hour.  Ironically, as I noted how close together each car was and I watched the antics of the other drivers, I felt much less safe on the road than I had all day on the track.

4/15/17

I usually reserve one Saturday of the month for breakfast at the Spitfire Grill at the Santa Monica Airport.  It is an informal affair, unaffiliated with any organization, and really meant more for catching up with Porsche driving friends than anything else.  This month there was a conflict, and I opted to forego the Spitfire.  Instead, I had breakfast with the PCA LA Region at the Porsche Experience Center in Carson, primarily because it was the inaugural breakfast at the 917 restaurant, which is located on the second floor of the Experience Center.

We met in the parking lot at 8 AM for some informal conversation.  There were some great cars there, including a nice mix of air-cooled and water-cooled Porsches.  There was even one Ferrari.  It was’t a Porsche, but at least it was a California.  After a half an hour of kibitzing, we went inside the Experience Center and upstairs to the 917 restaurant.

I wasn’t sure what to expect in the way of food,  The price, including tax, tip and MotorsportReg fees was $49, which is about 150% more than I spend at the Spitfire.  So I hoped the food would be good.  I was not disappointed.  The quality was great.  The coffee was superb.  The eggs were not powdered.  And the bacon was damn near perfect.  I am not a huge lox guy, but that looked good, too.  The reality, though,  was that the small buffet line just did not justify the price.  On the other hand, the location and view did in spades.

I sat at a table of four.  Two of the other three, Chester and Ted, were friends from the Spitfire, and the third, Tim, was a new acquaintance,  a very nice guy who had an amazing 993 incarnation of the 911.  Our conversation was interesting and for the most part centered around Porsches and work.  The table we picked, like most of them in the restaurant, had an amazing view of the track at the Experience Center.  When we first sat down, the track was empty.  There was a nice assortment of Porsches parked just below us on the tarmac, but no one was near them.

Then we noticed some activity on the track.  Instructors and students were getting into the cars.  The Experience Center has a drivers education program, and we had a birds eye view of the learning process.  Car handling skills are a prerequisite for driving fast on a track, and the Experience Center has some great learning tools at their disposal.  We spent the rest of breakfast trying to predict how good or bad each student would do on the various obstacles.  The cost of the food, and the food itself, became a non-issue.  Just watching the students on the track was lots of fun, and worth the price of admission.

Pretty soon it was time to leave the restaurant and go about our days.  Some of the guys were hanging around the Experience Center to be driven around the track on a Hot Lap with a pro at the wheel and then have a box lunch.  I had not planned to do that activity, but I had some spare time.  Chester, one of my Spitfire cronies and an amazing video editor who has a beautiful 1984 911 Targa, and I decided to head up the road to Porsche of South Bay, as they have a decent Porsche Classics collection.

As I had driven my 1974 911 Targa, our cars looked really good parked near each other.  So we parked just outside one of the showroom windows.  We walked into the showroom.  We could easily see our cars from within it.  We laughed, called them entry level and not ready for prime time, and amused ourselves by just walking around and asking questions, generally wasting the time of those working there.

Soon it was time to head home.  There were a lot of cars on the road.  Traffic was lumpy, and we could not stay together, which would have added to the experience.  But it didn’t matter.  Our Targa tops were off.  The sun was out.  The smiles were plastered to our faces.  And, despite some slight protestations from our left legs, we each motored home in style.

4/8/17

I decided to hang out on Saturday of the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend with another of my friends named Marc, one I have not mentioned here before.  Marc and I are rekindling a High School friendship after 40+ years because we both have a Porsche obsession.  Marc’s is for street legal track Porsches, like the 911 GT3RS, mine is for more sedate, older, air-cooled and newer, mid-engine Porsches, though I wouldn’t kick a new, water-cooled, rear engine 911 of any kind out of my garage, assuming my 912 would allow me to make room for it.

I was never a huge fan of motorsports growing up, but as I age, I find myself more attracted to it, mainly because I like cars and really enjoy sports that are technical in nature and require tons of teamwork and strategy.  Car racing is one of those sports, a sport where the vast majority of the action takes place behind the scenes or in the pits.  So I was pretty excited as I drove my Cayman to Long Beach early Saturday morning to spend the day at the track with Marc.  Marc is fairly well connected in the motorsports world, and I suspected that I was not going to have a normal fan experience.  I was right.

As Marc and I walked to the Grand Prix course and surrounding areas, we caught up on each other’s lives.  My life is pretty low key.  I repetitively go and do the same things.  I am not complaining, as I like it this way.  Marc goes to a much wider range of places and events.  Part of this relates to his business as a lawyer with some high profile clients.  Part relates to his personality.  Either way, it was great to catch up and learn what he has been up to.

Once we got to the track and the exhibits, the real fun started.  I expected Marc to be connected, I just did not realize how connected.  Marc provided passes that let us go everywhere.  So we went everyhwhere.  And everywhere we went, Marc knew someone.  Clearly, we only went to the places where he knew someone, but we did go to a lot of places.  Though it did not come close to balancing the ledger, we did run into one person I knew.  Of course, it was my other friend Marc.  So I introduced Marc to Marc, and of course they made their mark on each other.

Behind the scenes at a major motorsports event is an absolute circus.  People wander around.  Mechanics work, sometimes all through the night.  Deals are made.  Cars and tires are transported to the track from the paddocks.  Drivers buzz around on scooters.  Horns blare.  Movement is unceasing.  Sitting and standing in a couple of the hospitality areas, eating, drinking, people watching and listening to various conversations enabled me to take in all there was to see and hear.

Through it all, though, I got a sense that change is on the horizon and motorsports as we know them are about to change in a big way.  The insiders talk about costs and rules and how too few owners own too many cars.  They talk about the insane cost to sponsor a team, and the swindling number of teams in the field.  They bemoan the rise of electric car races, with their absence of engine noise, something that I think would take all the emotion out of a race,  and the aging demographics of their customers.   But on Saturday those issues remained in the background, and the party was in full swing.

I had an awesome day.  One I will never replicate without Marc.  The highlights for me were hanging out in the pits during Indy Car practice, being driven on a Bondurant hot lap before the IMSA race, speaking with Patrick Long, one of the Wright Porsche drivers from the Pirelli World Challenge series, hanging out on the starting grid ogling the Porsches, not to mention the WeatherTech girls, before the IMSA race, and watching the IMSA race in the relative comfort of a covered grandstand with a couple of TV monitors right in our line of sight.  I met lots of people, including Motorsports TV personalities, ex Formula 1 drivers, and a host of other players in the industry.  Of course, we ate for free.  Like I said, Marc is connected.

Pam and I are planning a fall vacation, and I am lobbying for a trip to Austin, mainly for BBQ and country music, but also for the ability to spend a day at The Circuit of The Americas to watch the Formula 1 race.  Maybe I can talk Marc into meeting me there…

12/31/16

It is the last day of 2016.  Many are very thankful 2016 is just about gone.  With the surprising election results, the wide array of celebrity deaths, the ongoing terrorist attacks, the multitude of senseless killings by and of police, in some senses it has been quite a depressing year.  A fitting year to fauxtest outside of Trump Tower.  A fitting year to listen to “Pink Houses” by John Mellancamp, which I just did, a song which touches on the demise of the American Dream.

Or was it really a depressing year?  Negative news sells, and sells well.  Social media and the mainstream media thrive on it.  Positive news doesn’t get a fair shake.  In a year dominated by negative stories, it is easy to get a sense of despair.  But reality differs from what is being talked about in the media.  So In other senses, it has been just another year, no better no worse.  We still live in the land of opportunity.  All any of us have to do is look at the flow of immigrants to realize that.  The dream may be a little cracked, but it is still a long way from being a nightmare.  And opportunity still exists, it just takes work to grasp it.

As I sit here writing this and reflecting on the year, I cannot help but smile.  I am a lucky guy.  In my bubble, it was a damn good year.  I have a great family.  A great life.  Pam, the kids, Jake (our Golden Retriever) and I are healthy and happy. Need I say more?  Probably not, but I will anyway.

All of us are employed, and all are happy about it.  Pam and I went to see lots of great shows this year, and we took a couple of very nice, albeit short, trips.  Our friends are doing well, and their kids are doing well, too.  So I just have to keep smiling.

Sure we had a few speed bumps this year, but in general they related to material things, which are replaceable.  The low point for me was when my 1977 Porsche 911 Targa burst into flames in the garage.  As I have written about before, the car was a total loss.  The garage was damaged, needing to be rebuilt, a process that is still not complete, nine months after the fire.  But, hey, it was only singed and was still standing and the house was untouched.  Thanks to insurance I was able to get the garage rebuilt and to replace the burned Porsche with a 1969 Porsche 912 Targa, a car that, thankfully, I still have and which continues to make me smile.

Though not a low point but definitely a sobering point, I did come to the realization this year that my running days are behind me.  After 40 years, my body has had enough, and I have been exploring other exercise options.  I miss the feeling I get while running, but as I age, exercise is not as important to me as it once was, though it is most likely much more necessary, as I am burning way fewer calories.  Pam reminded me of this the other day, when she suggested I eat the candy I had sitting around before the end of the year, because I was going on a diet on January 1.  Ouch.  It rankled for a moment, then I smiled because she was right.

I still love my Porsches, my Porsche friends, and my Porsche experiences.  Some guys play golf.  I like to go on drives.  I like to read about Porsches.  I like to hang out with other Porsche guys.  Sure its shallow.  Sure its unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  Sure its self indulgent.  But as I age, I need to find ways to enjoy my free time.  I no longer play tennis.  I don’t really like to ski anymore, though I do go on one boys trip a year, mainly to hang out with the guys.  I never liked golf, of course that may be because I sucked at it or because my allergies went nuts every time I stepped foot on a golf course.  For me it’s Porsches.  They make me smile.

On Christmas day, I sat in the passenger seat of my Cayman while Kimberly drove us up the coast and through the twisties of Malibu and back.  It was another great installment of our Christmas drive tradition.  I made her stop at various points to take pictures.  And, of course, I took pictures while she was driving.  Our outing really made me smile.

Recently, my Porsche obsession resulted in the purchase of a Lego Technic model of the Porsche 911 GT3RS, a purchase I already wrote about.  I have spent a fair amount of my free time the past week working on it.  I am about 10% done, meaning I have completed about 86 of 854 steps.  Along the way I have gone from a Lego Technic neophyte into a mostly functional builder.  My inner nerd has blossomed, though some would say it has never not been blossoming.  Either way, I have read Lego blogs.  I have watched and re-watched lots of YouTubes about the subject.  I have made some mistakes, but I have fixed them before I got too far along.  I have been enjoying the build process.  And guess what, I have been smiling as I build it.

So it’s time to Lego of 2016 and embrace 2017.  I plan to smile as I do so.