CAPTURING THE MOMENT

In addition to being owner and Center Manager at Haron Jaguar Land Rover in Fresno, CA, Randy Haron is a highly-acclaimed photographer with over 95,000 Instagram followers. Here he tells us about his passion.

How did this love for photography begin?

It was just over three years ago. I was in London for the global reveal of the all-new Jaguar XE. After an evening event, I went out walking with a photographer

and started to see things in a different way. We ended-up staying out most of the night taking in London’s great scenery. It was one of those Eureka moments.

What sparked your interest?

Before, I'd never really stopped to appreciate the phenomenal urban landscapes that are all around us. I'd travel on business to great cities like London, or New York, or Paris. I'd stay at the hotel, work, get back on the plane and hardly remember where I'd been. Photography was a way of opening my eyes to these places, of capturing a memory, of seeing something from a different perspective.

How did your Instagram following start?

I have a good friend who knew all about Instagram and how it works. It seemed like a fun way to share my images with friends and the photographic community. Then Instagram took one of my photos - it was an aerial shot of Manhattan - and reposted it to 225 million people, with a caption saying they loved the photo. Yes, 225 million. That really shone a huge spotlight on my work and people began following me on the site. Right now I have more than 95,000 Instagram followers.

You are running this fast-expanding Jaguar Land Rover dealership in California. How do you find the time to go off taking photos?

I typically do it when I'm traveling on business. I'll get up at four in the morning, go out to do a sunrise shoot, and be back in time for the meeting. When my colleagues are heading to bed, I'm out capturing the city lights. My last big trip was to Graz in Austria for the world premiere of the Jaguar I-PACE. We had a day in the schedule to drive back to Salzburg before the flight home. I looked at the map, saw that Venice was only four hours away, so jumped in the car, did sunset and sunrise shots across the Grand Canal, and got back in time for the flight the next day.  These are amazing opportunities you can't miss.

On Instagram you go by the name 2ndFloorGuy. How did that come about?

I get asked that all the time. Again, it was at the Jaguar XE launch in London. There's a bunch of us at dinner and one of the guys says he has this amazing view of the city from his balcony on the top floor. I say "You have a balcony? I'm down on the second floor and I have nothing." After that I became teased as the 2nd floor Guy. Right now we're building our new Jaguar Land Rover store in Fresno, so of course, I had to locate my office on the second floor.

How is the new facility coming along?

It's going to be spectacular. We're going from 12,500 square-feet to 43,500 square-feet and it is all to the dramatic new ARCH global JLR design. The plan is to move-in some time in early fall. I'm excited because I hope to display my photography around the building - the reception area has 26-foot-high ceilings so there's plenty of wall space. I've taken lot of shots of our Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in and around Yosemite so they will give the store a real local flavor.

See more of Randy's work at www.instagram.com/2ndfloorguy