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.
I'm not talking about some worthless piece of real-estate!
Like my photography, this web site is a continual work! Here's another style update. The last new look was about three months ago and I think it really brought the site to a new level. This design that goes live right now however makes it one of the best looking photography sites I've seen.
