Porsche Photography Class

Our local PCA chapter hosted a fun and educational photography class last month.  A big thanks to Charlie for running the class and to Park Place Porsche for hosting the event.

For me, the highlight of the class was the live photo contest.  Here were the contest constraints:

• 45 min to shoot in the Park Place Porsche parking garage
• Photos must the interaction of people and cars (in keeping with PCA goals)
• 15 min to choose your single favorite photo

The contest presented a number of challenges.  We were shooting mid-day on a Texas summer day -- harsh sunlight!  Inside the parking deck, this meant very bright light at the periphery with low light on the cars.  It was also a bit challenging trying to figure out how to work people into the photos as we were all busy trying to shoot.  The photos entered in the "contest" can been seen on the Maverick PCA website here:  http://mavpca.org/photos/MRPhotoGallery/Technical%20Events/Tech%20Seminars/2014/index.html

Thanks to a generous interpretation of "people", my photo won second place!  Click past the break for the prize winning photo.

FD Motorsport SSK and Goldenrod Install

FDM Goldenrod

Over the Easter weekend, a friend and I installed the FD Motorsports Goldenrod and SSK.  Despite having read many glowing reviews, I was somewhat skeptical that the setup would live-up to the hype.

Wheel Refinishing

Wheels have been Ella's weakest link ever since I purchased her.  The original equipment 17" wheels were, in my opinion, too small for the 993's wheel arches and their finish was also in poor shape.  Almost immediately, I began searching for replacements.  In January 2013, I bought a used set off eBay.  While the size and style were perfect, the wheels were beat-up.

Click past the break to see the before and after photos.

Bilstein HD + H&R Spring Install Revisited

Over a year after installing the H&R springs with my existing Bilstein HD struts, I finally measured the car's ride height (original install thread here).  The numbers confirmed what I had always suspected (and ignored) since the car came off the jack stands:  the front of the car was very low.  How low?  Way below RS low...

Garage Renovation: Lighting

With the garage floor done, the next major issue with the garage was the poor lighting.  One 2-bulb fluorescent does not light 500 sq. ft. well!

Click past the break to see how I upgraded the garage lighting.

Key Fob Replacement

Skiing, business trips and a baby made for a very busy winter season and left little time for Ella, but I still managed to squeeze in a little "project" - replacing the key fob and key head.  My excuses were crack in the key fob and a key-head light that didn't work.

Part numbers, pricing and photos after the break.

Garage Renovation: The Floor

When we moved into our first house last year, I was more excited about owning a garage than the rest of the house :-).  The garage was nothing special, but after years in apartments, I was thrilled to have it.

The floor was dusty when we moved in, and I thought no problem; I'll sweep it.  When I swept it and it was still dusty, I thought no problem; I'll hose it out.  When I hosed it out and it was still dusty, I learned that it would always be a bit dusty unless I specifically addressed the problem.  Our car interiors are black, so having light colored dust on our shoes every time we get in the car was not something I wanted to live with.

I did a ton of reading, mostly on http://allgaragefloors.com/ and the Garage Journal forum, and here's what I eventually decided to do.