12 Hour of Sebring 2011

Saturday, 09 April 2011 21:16 William Dailey My Thoughts

Pre-dawn in the pits on raceday. I generally love every aspect of photography.  I love the challenge of getting a powerful image.  I love the challenge of turning that image into a mastered print.  And I even love the battle of turning the whole gamut of experiences into a profit so that my family can eat and live while I go out and "play."

Racing has led to photography for me.  When I was very young my father and I raced radio control cars.  Those were some of the best experiences for me. Racing has a lot of lessons on patience to be taught. As I grew, the radio control cars went away and real drag racing cars entered the scene.  We customized a few classic cars and even had piles of "parts cars" in the yard for good measure.  I began learning more about auto mechanics as I thought that's what I wanted to do with my life.  Finally one day in the garage, oil dripping down my face, I realized that I also loved computers & maybe that would be a "cleaner" way to be around cars.  So, my life took a huge turn, I quit my job and went after a degree in computer science.

My love for racing has never abated, just more of hobby now.  I think if time and money wasn't an issue I would still be on the track in some way.  Capturing racing has always been a challenge that I enjoyed.  One of my favorite events is the "12 Hours of Sebring."  We never miss a year, it's a week of racing followed by one of the most intense endurance races in the world.  I've heard many times that if a car can last 12 hours at Sebring; 24 hours at Le Mans will be a breeze.  The track is rough and old.


Since I've become a professional photographer I generally spend a bit more time at the track during race week then I used too.  And I generally walk away with 3,000 good images.  Not bad for a few days of racing. However, this year I was asked by the Sebring International Raceway to be one of their photographers!  I was given full press access.  It was one of the most exciting experiences I have had at a race track.  

Most days I arrived at the track around 8am and left at 7pm; Saturday I arrived at 6am; before any of the drivers had awoken.  And didn't leave until around midnight.  I took over 5,000 images on Saturday alone!


I realized several things about myself.  A few of which I already knew, but it's great to have facts back up what you know about yourself.

I'm not a journalist photographer.  I'm a nature photographer.  Nature is quite a different subject that journalism.  Journalist photographers must be on their feet at all times ready to shoot when they are on the scene.  During the race, there were a were many times of furious racing between drivers.  As the cars came by vying for 1st or 2nd place I might rattle off 15 frames while panning the camera. Telling the story of the race through my camera is quick and fast paced.

Telling the story of nature can be quite different.  Many days I go out to capture a scene, I might take a total of 10 images.  All thought out and all telling a story of hope and reason for our existence.  My images are relaxed.  Almost all shot from a tri-pod, almost all at the smallest f-stop that lens can handle.  And almost all with exposures lasting for more than 1 second.

Photography for me is about relaxation, for the viewer and for myself.  I'll keep shooting race cars, however, I think I know more now than ever, that I truly and meant to be out in nature, capturing the story that it so loudly exclaims!










Click below view the rest of the images from raceweek.  As of writing I have uploaded everything.  I'll narow it down over the next week.



 

Rediscovery - Part One

Saturday, 14 March 2009 20:45 William Dailey My Thoughts

Florida Grass Lands From Hickory Hammock in Lorida, Fl

I've lived in a small town most of my life. I've enjoyed the small town life and for the most part have been content. Not idly content, but just glad to be where I am. When going to the super market there is usually a friendly face to talk to and there are generally no surprises with the weather. However my surroundings have become common and lacking in excitement, the cyprus forest is an old friend, the alligators and great herons are as common as the day it's self.

Traveling outside of my borders has always brought excitement, interest and adventure. So many new thing to see, new towns, people, and wild life. My home has not a mountain, even the smallest hills are rare and too many Sand Pines to appreciate the flat lands of Florida. The swamps are just mosquito pits and those great herons are always leaving a mess on my car.

I can remember a weekend when I lived in Los Angeles. A great friend and I hiked up a long winding road to spend the weekend camping. The road was beautiful, old hickories, wildlife and a narrow rushing brook that was incredibly calming to our weary college minds. The hike was more than I had planed being completely unexperienced in "outside." I had been in college and had no time in the past for such frivolities.

Our only distraction was the native vehicles. Flying up that mountain road at break-neck speeds. My friend and I spoke so much about how much these poor people were missing, it made us angry. They lived right in the middle of one of the most beautiful places on earth, and could not see a thing; they just wanted to get home. Can't you just slow down we thought to our selves, and yelled out a few times!

Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, Santa Clarita, Ca

The last time I visited my great friend, many years after our weekend hiking adventure, I thought to myself, "I can't wait to get to that old road." The corners are fast, the long stretches are exhilarating and there is that lake at the top that is really beautiful. Half way up the trip to the top, I realized something. I was one of those drivers. I was completely missing everything! Sure, it's a great road, but the road is just another road with sharp corners. These people in the middle of Los Angeles are exactly like me in my small town. My surroundings are beautiful, there is unique wildlife here in my small part of Florida, and I'm just as blind as those people in that huge city.

My new goal, set out and find adventure, find something new right here in the old town that I know so well. Find beauty in things that are old and haggard to my eyes. Find greatness in those thing that to me appear common.

This is just an introduction and I'm a photographer, not a writer; so I will convey my findings in the best way I know how, with my camera. It will take time to change my vision, but I will accomplish this. I must; if I can't find beauty in the common things, how can I ever find the greatest beauty in the truly rare locations.