Welcome to the Blog!

I read in different articles how a good photographer needs to have a Blog.  Okay... I'd like to fancy myself a fairly decent photographer, and so, I'll start writing a blog.  So what am I going to write about?  Well... photography, of course.

I've been doing a lot of action photography lately, since I've become the photographer for the Terrace Speedway. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Push the button, let the camera go clickety-click as it snaps off three or four shots quicker than you realize, and then look at the results in your viewfinder and call it all good. That's part of it, but a big part of it also is learning to anticipate what's going to happen.

Gone for a ride OFF the track after losing a wheel.

Some things you simply can't predict, like a racecar losing a wheel between corners 3 and 4 and ending a team's racing for the day.  A case like this, you sort of end up going to check out afterwards, and hope like hell you're going to get something interesting.  Thanks to a proper roll-cage and harness, the driver of car number 12 came away from this little ride with nothing worse than a heckuva tale to tell.

Some things just sort of come across as being naturally interesting, like a couple cars that are neck and neck for the whole race and end up finishing the race with one winning by a BUMPER-length. Ask any racecar driver... THAT'S the way to win a race. It sure had the spectators excited, I can tell you. And the old joke about "rubbing's racing?" It's true. There aren't very many racecars out there that have all of their original paint left. Or that don't have some other color that wasn't there to begin with. But it's done in a gentle-personly fashion (I say gentle-personly because a lady friend of mine races... and she's learned to swap a little paint here and there, too... Good job, Tracy!) and all in the spirit of friendly competition. 

Winning by a bumper

Rubbing IS racing!!!



Some times when you're out there you can just TELL that things are going to happen... like when the track is a little bit wet and everybody's feeling a little bit of pressure. The oil starts to float up out of the asphalt and people are running a little bit harder than normal. And sooner or later, somebody ends up sliding all over the track. It makes for a great show for everybody, and ends up providing some really cool pictures.

Yeah... shooting at the track is a gas.  It's never boring, sometimes tough to get to where you need to be at the right time...  And you know what else?  The people are pretty cool.  All the people are interested in everything being safe and entertaining.  If somebody loses a belt, another person loans one to them so they can all keep on racing and making the crowd happy.  The whole place carries an atmosphere of goodwill, fun, and energy.  It's great being a part of it.