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I've found that over the years, there's better ways
to shoot at the track than others. Of course, I'm not the tell-all,
end-all authority on shooting NASCAR, but here's a few tips if you're
shooting on the superspeedways:
In the turns, shoot with a 200mm. When you look at it without a car in
the frame you'll think that it's very loose, but when the action starts,
it's generally easier to follow the accident with a slightly wide lens.
Most wrecks in the turns will also go up to the retaining wall before
they come down
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Haris DeVane takes 2nd
place and seems to be headed toward a top five finish. Late in the
race, the driver experienced car trouble and was forced to retire
his car. |
.On the tri-oval area, I generally shoot with a 300mm for track action
and get as far down as I'm allowed, so that I can follow them all the
way through this part of the track. This used to be my favorite area to
shoot and is generally where I shot for the AP, but in recent years, It's
become very congested and harder to get a spot to shoot from without someone
kicking you out. To their credit, NASCAR has installed a photo tower at
the Talladega track and it's helped ease some of the congestion. In the
pits, I normally use two lenses- a 24mm to shoot wide pit action (similar
to some of the shots you're seeing with this journal) and a 300. I like
a 300 for pit action (used with the Citgo pit shot) simply because it
isolates your subject better. It's not fancy technique, but it works.
The "jube" shots at the end of the race are shot with a 24 and
some fill flash- since the sun is facing almost directly into your camera
by races' end.
A panoramic view from the start/finish line area
at Talladega. The track is 2.66 miles long and to give you an idea of
just how big it is, the turn you see is only part of the tri-oval and
not one of the four major turns.
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From the outside of the track, shooting in the grandstands, I generally
like to use a 600mm. With a doubler, you can shoot most of the track
and if you're positioned right, you can shoot turns 1,3 and 4 without
much trouble. Before I started shooting for the AP, I used this
technique from the grandstand photo towers and was generally very
pleased with what I was aple to shoot. The black and white shot
of the group of cars going through the tri-oval at Talladega was
shot using this lens and position.
Don't be afraid to try something different. These are generally
"safe" ways to shoot a race, but there are other techniques
too. My brother, Mike Lent came away with one of the coolest shots
I'd ever seen of a race. He shot with a wide angle lens in the turns
and shot at a slow shutter speed- panning the cars. In the shot,
Ricky Rudd's car is tack sharp while all of the other cars have
a noticible blur. This is the result of Rudd driving at a different
speed than the other vehicles in the frame.
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At the last "Winston 500", I thought that the pace car
was one of the nicer looking ones that I've seen over the years.
At Talladega, the banks on the turns are so steep that a car must
do a minimum of 90 miles a hour- otherwise they slide down the track.
the job of the pace car is to regulate the speed of drivers during
caution periods and ensure that the cars follow a safe path if there's
an obstruction on the track during yellow flags (caution periods).
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Most of all, remember to be safe. Things happen very quickly at 200 mph
and the safety rules are there so that you can come back and shoot the
race again next year.
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Kyle Petty (44) drives
past a spinning Geoff Bodine (7) during the "Happy Hour"
practice after the ARCA race. I'd sat in the pits for the entire ARCA
race and didn't have a single action shot to speak of. This DOES happen
with racing photography, but doesn't make it any easier to go
home that night. The chances are that you as an individual will see
a major photographable wreck will only happen once every 5 or 6 races
(this means that if you're in the same spot each time). Since I hadn't
shot anything meaningful for the ARCA race, I decided to sit in the
pits during the happy hour to see if something would happen. Well,
Geoff started spinning and I was ready. I started shooting and suddenly
a big white, out of focus blob filled my frame. A "Spectator"
stepped right in front of me to shoot the wreck. This was the only
frame I had of the spin. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper... |
| There's a photographer who also shoots
for the A.P. Named Greg Slavino who, when not shooting for the A.P.
is a commercial photographer in Atlanta, Georgia. Greg had a shot
of one of the gas runners that was panned, so that the entire background
was blurred and showing motion while the runner himself was sharp.
It was an interesting way to shoot this and the shot really inspired
me to try something different in the pits. So, I thought "why
not reverse it?" and keep the background and foreground sharp
while the car blurs? To me it shows the "speed" of the vehicle
and is a little different from the normal pit action shots. This is
one of the frames that I shot that I really like. A.P. liked the photo
too, but decided to use a more standard shot instead. If I shoot the
pits again, I'll try this shot again... |
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I like shooting the Citgo
crew. For a while, they were always in the farthest pit down pit road,
so I went to their pit quite often. They always made me feel at home
and after going into other pits, you truly have an appreciation for
a team that lets you do your job. The Citgo team is owned by Wood
Brothers racing. Neil Bonnett, one of the drivers that I wrote about
in my journal, was a former Citgo driver. |
| Ernie Irvan and daughter
exit the driver introduction stage. One of the tasks that I regularly
do for the A.P. is to shoot the driver introductions. This way, if
something happens to one of the drivers and we don't have a picture
of the incident, we'll have a photo of them from that same day- which
is a very important concept in newspaper work. Current images are
ALWAYS better than one that's two weeks old and from another track.
As it turned out, Irvan was badly hurt at this race. |
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| Mike Skinner's crew and wife watch
his progress at lap 175. Since Talladega is 2.66 miles, the drivers
make 188 laps (which actually equates to 500.08 miles...). Skinner
was leading the race and seem to be the car to beat. I was hanging
around his pit because this would have been his first Winston Cup
victory. As it turned out, Dale Jarrett took the lead and won the
race. Skinner finished 3rd. |
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| Many of the drivers think of Race Day
as an opportunity to mingle with fans (and take home some money! ;-)
). Here, the current Winston Cup champion, Jeff Gordon, signs autographs
for some waiting fans. During the pre-race activities, Gordon gave
away $1,000,000 during the Winston "No Bull" contest. Just
imagine- not only getting yourself a million dollars, but from Jeff
Gordon to boot. Not a bad day. I have to admit, when Gordon first
started racing, I wasn't one of his biggest fans, but over the years,
I've come to admire not only his skills as a race car driver, but
his way of looking at things. One of the first things that my little
boy, Grayson learned to say was "Go Gordon!". Gotta raise
them right, ya know |
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Mark Martin shakes hands
with one of the drivers who will be manning the tow trucks during
the race. These guys are some of the unsung heroes of Race Day. The
endure sweltering temperatures, angry drivers and occasionally, dangerous
situations in order to get the drivers to safety and keep the field
safe for the rest of the drivers still racing. This shot to me, is
very telling of how most of the drivers act- not too busy to shake
a hand. I'll say it again- in a world of multimillion dollar deals
and sponsorships, it's refreshing to see a sport that appreciates
the fans as much as the fans appreciate the sport. |
| Dale Jarrett's team celebrates a win at Talladega.
This is also one of those "assigned" shots that I normally
do for the A.P.. Note the photographer in the background using the
"Hail Mary" technique. |
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This is Kevin Glykmier,
who's also a Pit Shooter for the A.P. at Talladega. The bad thing
about working the pits is that you're surrounded by a sea of asphalt-
so even if the temperature is 80 degrees outside, the track temperature
is usually well over 100 degrees. To add to this, the pit area is
usually blocked by the grand stands on one side and the infield pit/service
area and infield buildings on the other side- giving you little if
any breeze on pit road. A day of shooting in this kind of heat can
be tough, and at the end of the day, all you really feel like doing
is sitting down and getting something cold to drink. When Kevin isn't
shooting for the A.P., he's the official photographer for the Governor
of the state of Alabam |
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