Somebody's gotta do it.......

Don't Fall In Love With Your Monkey

2010-05-21T20:46:00.009-05:00

OK......I'll go ahead and admit it up front. The title does not have anything to do with the content of my latest post.
It was one of those "You had to be there" moments that I had earlier this evening.
It's the weekend. I'm going to Jamaica next week, so I'm in a very good mood.
I've been attacked by about a half dozen LandSharks. I'm listening to my XM / Sirius satellite radio.
And then, as I'm driving over the mountain, some local, low frequency radio station bleeds over my satellite radio.
It only lasted for a few seconds. The only phrase I heard was "Don't fall in love with your Monkey!"
For some reason, it's still bouncing around inside my empty noggin'.

Last week, I had the opportunity to shoot the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
I enjoy all types of motor sports, and each different series has it's own unique set of circumstances. It's such a pleasure to shoot at a laid back, easy going event that the NHRA puts on. Some of the other series have got too big for their britches.

All of the crews, drivers, and owners spend their time working on their cars and not hiding from the media. Drag racing legend and car owner Connie Kalitta sat on the track wall just a few feet away from me for about 10 minutes, and watched as his competion made their runs. He never turned away from me or never tried to hide.

I arrived on Friday evening, just before qualifying began. I wanted to get there in time for the 'Night of Fire".
I got a few decent frames during the night session.
I got a few more during the rest of the weekend.

Enjoy.

NHRA Champion Kenny Burnstein watches his son Brandon during an early qualifying run.

During Sunday's first elimination round, Steve Torrence scatters an engine against eventual winner Larry Dixon.

Funny Car driver Robert Hight wins the weekends event for John Force racing. His win left John Force Racing claiming the top three spots in the point standings.

Larry Dixon took the top spot for the Al-Anabi Top Fuel team.

You don't have to look too far at a drag strip to find something interesting. Bob Chandler and the original monster truck 'Big Foot' made an appearance.

As I was satching Ashley Force Hood getting ready for a qualifying run, I caught her looking in the mirror....errrr, or at least staring at the reflection in the glass on the crew car.

During some down time during Saturdays qualifying rounds, Tony Shumacher and Antron Brown shoot tee-shirts into the grandstands.

Al-Anabi Pro Stock Motorcycle driver Matt Smith watches his wife, Angie, during her qualifying run.

And finally, it's hard to believe some people would exchange money on the outcome of a drag race.
Maybe next time, they can exchange something like souviner tee shirts.
Just remember "Don't fall in love with your monkey".

I Keep Getting Rocks

2010-05-05T22:17:00.006-05:00

It was one of the better races at Talladega in a very long time.
Unless you were where I was.
The race from my vantage point was pretty boring.
Packs of cars rode around me for 812 miles. Plus overtime.
Remember my last Talladega post from the 'Hallow Dega" weekend?
My Charlie Brown feeling was still hangin' around, like a big ol dark cloud hangin over my head.
Like our favorite blockhead, all I keep getting is rocks!

When nothing happens in your little corner of the world, you have to learn to entertain yourself.
This guy was havin about as much fun as I was.

Just a pack of cars.

How bored can you get to be takin pictures of couples on scooters?

And pictures of people sleeping in lawn chairs?

I got a little excited when the boys started bumping into each other down in turn 3.

I got a little more excited when Jimmie Johnson got crossed up. Even if it was from behind, I was hoping he would bump into a few more cars.

Two races. 812 miles. No wrecks in front of me.
Oh yeah....they had some big un's, but not in front of me.
So I have to look for something different and interesting.
Late afternoon sun and dark clouds. Almost that classic 'Old Testament' light that looks so good. Don't understand what 'Old Testament' light is? Look at the dramatic lighting in the pictures in the older version Bibles.

My only action came during the fly-over after the National Anthem.
I watched a great race from Talladega, but I was hired to shoot wrecks.
Didn't get the first one. Again.
I getting tired of it. In fact, I couldn't decide if I wanted to post anything from that event. As you can see, I got NOTHING!!!!!!
I hate it when that happens.

But........I will be posting images from next weeks Southern Nationals NHRA event from Atlanta.

Stay tuned.........

INDY Grand Prix of Alabama

2010-04-14T20:09:00.010-05:00

I had the pleasure, once again, of shooting the most recent event at the incredible Barber MotorSports Park, just outside of Birmingham Alabama.
This time, it was the INDY Grand Prix of Alabama.
That's right. Deep in the heart of NASCAR country, and just 27 miles from the Talladega SuperSpeedway, Indy cars invade our little corner of the world.
And not only did the Indy cars run on Sunday, but the Grand Am ROLEX Sports Car Series ran the Porsche 250 on Saturday.
And both series brought their big name stars.
The Daytona Prototype series had Scott Pruitt, Memo Gidley, Max Angelelli, David Donohue, and Jon Fogarty. The GT series had John Edwards, Sylvain Tremblay, Joe Foster, and, oh yeah.....Patrick Dempsey.
The Indy Cars brought Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Marco Andretti, and some girl by the name of Danica Patrick.
It was easy to tell where Mr. Dempsey and Ms. Patrick were.
Just look for the crowds. You kinda feel sorry for these stars. If they want any kind of peace and quite during the weekend, they have to hide out in their transporters. But, thats the life they chose. Right?

OK....lets get the Dr. McDreamy, I mean Patrick Dempsey picture, out of the way and get on to the good stuff.

Here's the number 40 Mazda of Patrick Dempsey making his way through turn 15. This is one badass little RX-8. Most of the Mazda's run good on this track.

The more I look at this image, the more I like it. I like the late afternoon sun, the out of focus trees and leaves, and the diffused cars in the background. I don't even have a problem with the catch fence at the bottom of the frame.
I think it's kinda cool.

I had to get an image of a car going airborne over the curb going downhill towards the museum. The Daytona prototypes and GT cars are too heavy don't hit the curb and get airborne, so I waited all day when the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge cars began their race to finally get one with the tires off the ground.

And the winners of the 2010 Porsche 250. Memo Rojas and Scott Pruitt in the Chip Ganassi 01 TEL-MEX Dinan BMW.

Indy cars had a practice session and qualified on Saturday.
It's a different experience for someone used to the good ol boys of NASCAR qualifying.

As I was walking down behind the war wagons on pit road, I saw Helio Castroneves talking to his crew chief. He looked relaxed and didn't try to avoid the cameras that gathered, as I stopped to capture a few images.

The great A.J. Foyt. What more can I say?

OK.......You're asking me "where are the pictures of Danica"?
Let's get this out of the way, too.

Personally, I like Milka Duno. Not only is she a race car driver, she is the highest finishing female ever in the 24 hour of Daytona race. She finished second in 2007. She is also a fashion model, featured in adds all around the world. And lastly, she holds four masters degrees, from business, to architecture, to engineering. Not only does she look good, she's smart, too.

During driver introductions, the NASCAR drivers stand around backstage and shoot the bull. Here, I caught Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan having a serious discussion about Grand Marshall Charles Barkley's weight.

Tony Kanaan finally had to ask Sir Charles if he could still dunk a basketball.

A very good crowd arrived early for Sundays INDY Grand Prix of Alabama. People would set up umbrella's or awnings for the event. Some even spread out blankets and just enjoyed the good ol Alabama sun.

And all of the aspiring young photographers were trying to get good action shots down close to the fence.

Danica smokes her tires as she get on the brakes hard entering turn two.

There was an international crowd represented in the spectators and the media.

I was looking for something interesting to shoot on pit road, when I came up on these two crew members.

And the winner of the first INDY Grand Prix of Alabama........Helio Castroneves.
Unlike some winners in another racing series, Helio seems to truly appreciate winning.

After the podium awards, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon waste some perfectly good champaigne by pouring it over the head of Helio during the celebration.

I hope to see this event stay at the Barber MotorSports Park for many years. With over 87,000 spectators attending the event this weekend, I seemed like the promoters and the INDY car people were well satisfied.
Most things seemed to run smooth, but you can't have a first time event of this scale and not have a few glitches. I did notice a few shortcomings, and maybe before next years Grand Prix of Alabama, the good folks at Barber will have those bugs worked out, too.

I Love The Smell Of Nitro In The Mornings

2010-03-17T19:56:00.007-05:00

Nothing like a little nitro-methane to open your sinus cavities.
You should try it. I gar-run-tee.
Oh yeah......and the sounds.
Or should I say NOISE!!!!
Ear splitting, ground pounding, high octane, put your little fingers in your ears, but it ain't gonna do any good.
I let the first set of cars slip up on me Saturday. Well, my lack of attention got the better of me.
I just was not thinking very clearly. Not enough nitro in the air to wake me up.
Then the big boys came out to play with their big boy toys.
After the first pass down the track, I could swear my ears were bleeding. I've never felt that feeling before.
I didn't lose any body fluids, but it woke my brain up.
I quickly put my noise reducing headset on.

Shooting NHRA drag racing is a lot different than shooting NASCAR. We are allowed to walk the staging lanes and get close to the drivers.
That don't happen in NASCAR. The NASCAR guys are experts at keeping someone between them and the camera. Kinda like turkey hunting (a turkey will run through the woods keeping a tree between you and them).
The drivers from this series will put up with us most of the time.
They go about their business without trying to hide from you.

Last years GatorNationals Champion Bob Tasca III was fast all weekend. He was runner-up this year. He still ran a 4.192 in the final round.

Girls are fast to.
Karen Stoffer pilots the GEICO Suzuki.
She also was the number one Pro Stock Motorcycle this weekend.
She tied the national speed record with her final qualifying run.

I wonder if GEICO would insure her if they know she drives her motorcycle at 194.77 MPH. It takes her 6.855 seconds to drive a quarter mile.
She is fast. I bet she is so fast, that before she can explain why she can't, she already has.

As Ashley Force Hood lined up for her first pass on Sunday, I noticed her mom Laurie and dad Funny Car driver John Force watching from the side.

Unlike last year, this year I made sure I had ALL of my compact flash cards this year. No unplanned trips to Best Buy this time.
Everything went as planned, until I got to the track. I didn't seem to budget my time wisely. I got some decent images but my time just didn't seem to flow right.
In the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fur instance......as Ron Capps made a qualifying run down the track, the trackside announcer interviewed Michael Waltrip, who was standing back at the starting line.
I might as well have been miles away.

The 2010 GatorNationals Top Fuel Champion is Tony Schumacher. He was the number one Top Fuel qualifier with a new National Record of 324.98 mph for 1000ft.
That is fast.

In the second round of Funny Car action, NAPA driver Ron Capps beats John Force to the line by less than 3/100's of a second. Capps ran a 4.066 at 312.35 to Forces 4.135 at 310.05.

I found Tom and Jerri's motorhome just past the thousand foot mark, and they were gracious enough to let me on top of it to shoot from.
I really like this position. It let's me see the whole track, but still be close enough to get some good images if something happens.
This was all the carnage I saw during the weekend. Not much.
I guess they were taking a weekend off, since they used most of it up the previous weekend.
Doug Foley explodes an engine in a quarterfinal match with Tony Schumacher.

This little girl had a really good seat just past the finish line. And she thought this was loud? She should have been on the starting line.

Yeah.....it's that loud.

May the Force be with you............

I kinda like this image of Antron Brown. I like the way you can see his eyes between the reflections on the windshield.

I just liked this backlite image of John Smith's Funny Car. Something different.
It was fun. It was different. And I was in the wrong place all weekend.
But I still had a good weekend shooting.
It was reported that several NASCAR stars were in attendance.
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed.
Kurt Busch did race his 1970 Dodge Challenger Sunday afternoon. It happened while I was sending images to my editor. Watched him race from the third floor of the media center.
Just my luck.

I Got Mine......Kinda

2010-03-11T19:20:00.007-06:00

Well, It's been a long time since my last post, and i'm back and energized and ready for another few months of shooting motorsports throughout the Southeast.
I've got a lot of events planned (as I always do, but sometimes plans can change at the last minute).
This year, I've got more NHRA drag racing planned and less NASCAR scheduled. I'm still planning on shooting motorcycles and sportscars. I want to do some of all of it. I hope my plans don't change.
This was my first event of the year to shoot, and I knew when I scheduled this event, where I wanted to begin my weekend.
The OREO bus. It's a school bus modified for weekend excursions and painted like a bag of OREO's. Friends I made last year when I shot qualifying. They were accommodating again this year. And I appreciate it. The Image I captured from the top of that bus was exactly what I envisioned. Last year and this year.
I do need to apologize to Russell, the owner of the OREO bus. In last years post from this event, I stated that he was from Knoxville Tennessee. Wrong!!!! He let me know that he is from the Breman / Carrollton Georgia area. And to top it off, we even know some of the same people. Who knew!
OK......on to the show.

Much to everyone's suprise and enjoyment, Dale Earnhardt jr won the pole with the fastest speed ever obtained by the COT (car of tomorrow).

OK.......I just thought this image was cool.

Later that night, after Sprint Cup qualifying, the Southern Modifieds put a really great show.

The winner of the Southern Modified Atlanta 150 is 18 year old Corey LaJoie, in the white car, son of former Busch Champion Randy LaJoie. Here he fights off runner up Tim Brown in the closing laps of the race. These two put on a heavy fought battle for the last 30 laps. Made for a good race.

The E-Z-Go 200 was Saturday. I was shooting this weekend for the Associated Press. My job this weekend is to shoot wrecks. Period. Stay in my assigned spot for the day and shoot wrecks. That strategy has not been my friend the last couple of years.

Just a few laps into the race, my luck seemed to be changing. Ron Hornaday spins going into turn four. It's not where I would have prefered it happen, but at least my luck could be changing.

Then Todd Bodine gets turned coming out of turn two. He may be the length of the backstretch away from me, but I can feel a good weekend about to happen.

Shane Seig get a nose first drive down the length of the backstretch.

Then for the KOBALT TOOLS 500 on Sunday, I had visions of Daytona dancing through my head. A giant pothole appeared. Only this time, it was in the parking area for the third turn bath house and not on the track.

What I saw from the tower I was shooting from was empty stands. Very low attendance numbers.

I thought we were having a beer fest this weekend. These two drivers were fast. Very fast.

OK.......You know I had to do it. I always do it when I get a little bored. Drag the shutter and get a cool looking image.

During one of the cautions, I was looking around and noticed all of the white cars and trucks in the parking lot. I didn't realize that many vehicles were white.

Then I spotted this reflection in the windows of the third turn suite.

A handful of drivers like to run the very top groove of the race track. Here, Junior rides up against the wall.

Then, I got mine. Kind of. Mark Martin(5), Jamie McMurray(1), Brian Vickers(83), and Martin Truex jr(56) tangle in turn four.

During the caution, I caught this lady race fan stealing Kasey Kahne. He's got his Bud and she's got her Bud.

And the winner is........Just like last year, in the number 2 Miller Lite Dodge from Roger Penske Racing........Kurt Busch.
Like I said earlier, I have to stay in my assigned spot during the race, because the Associated Press don't want to miss anything. So I get to miss all of the fireworks on the frontstretch at the end of the race. Bummer. Just like Talladega last year. Maybe one day soon, I can capture me another airborne racecar. That would be cool.

A Cold Start To The New Year

2010-01-12T20:41:00.008-06:00

The temperature here in this little corner of Alabama dropped to 11 degrees this past Saturday morning. So, instead of staying at home and sitting by my warm and cozy fire, I headed down the road to go shoot the 19th Annual IceBowl at Talladega Short Track.

Now, I love all types of motorsports, but I must be out of my freakin' mind to want to stay outside for 2 days in these conditions.
It's not like shooting a football game where you get to go inside at halftime, out here, you get to stay out in the elements from the first green flag until the last checkered flag. No extended breaks between races, no quarter changes, just one race after another.

Now, it did warm up to a balmy 29 degrees on Saturday, and it felt like a heat wave coming through on Sunday when the temperature reached 34 degrees......BUT IT WAS STILL COLD!!!!!!!!!

I know that parts of our country have been snowed and iced in for the last few days, and I think that may have something to do with the low turn out of cars for this years Ice Bowl. I only saw a couple of cars from the Carolinas and one car from Missouri. The remainder of the cars came from Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. Local cars made up the majority of the field. Like I said, it was hard to tell if the low turn out was caused by the nasty weather or the nasty economy.

Despite the cold temperatures, the racing was still really good. It always is at Talladega Short Track.
This is where I developed my passion for photography. And motorsports was my focus(get it? develope....focus?). I shot several projects here when I was in photography school at The Art Institute of Atlanta. I even wow'ed one of my instructors with images from here and was even offered a photojournalism job from those same images, so I like to get back here every now and then.
Just wish it were'nt so danged cold.

As I was looking around for a different angle to shoot the days action from, I found this angle you don't usually see.

Everybody was bundled up tightly. It takes a real race fan to sit out here all day in this weather.

This is another new angle you don't see everyday. With the limited amount of equipment I took to the track, the amount of 'keepers' from this angle was low. But I still like it. Next time I'll go better prepared.

I think this little guy was pulling for car K9.......

I also found this little guy entertaining himself with his little yellow race car....or maybe he was replaying the last few laps?

These safety workers are looking for something that just buzzed by.

Yeah.......maybe that is what buzzed by. A barstool on a shortened racing go-cart frame. The driver told me it would run about 30 mph. I've gotta get me one of these.

The track workers have to water down the track to make the dirt tacky. Those big ol tires on the cars stick really good to a tacky track. Too bad the track was so cold the water didn't sink in.

And the winner is......Randall Walker from Pell City, Alabama.

One driver I missed seeing this weekend was the Legend himself, Red Farmer.
Red had someone else drive his car this weekend while he recouperates from double pnuemonia.

As I was talking to one of the magazine editors I sometimes shoot for, this driver pulled up beside us in his car. His race car had a flat tire, and the body was a little wrinkled. We could tell by his colorful language(directed at us), that he wasn't a happy camper.
Just then, another car was driving by and our new friend tried to flag him down.

Just as the other car was driving by, our friend made a few hand gestures and was saying something about his momma, and tried to kick the back quarterpanel of the car.

Yep......busted his ass.
He didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did.

The Third Time's The Charm

2010-01-04T20:47:00.012-06:00

After a long, hard season, the Auburn Tigers made it to a New Years Day Bowl game. After finishing the season with 7 wins and 5 losses, they were invited to Tampa Florida to play in the OutBack Bowl.
It's not a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game, but it is one of the better bowl games to play in.

After arriving at Raymond James Stadium for a very early New Years Day game, I quickly found the photo work room and set up my computer and got my camera and other equipment in order.
I didn't have very much time to goof-off before the team arrived for Tiger Walk. This may not be original, but it is the biggest, the most fan friendly, and the best team entrance in college football.
Auburn quarterback Chris Todd and his mother share a moment before he makes his way through the thousands of people lined up for today's Tiger Walk.

Here is an excerpt from an ESPN article a few years ago.

The Best Walk in America

11/21/05 10:35 ET

By Ivan MaiselESPN.com

I have never covered a riot. I have never covered the police beat. The mayhem I witness is contained between the white lines.

I have covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals and the Final Four. I have covered the Olympics, Summer and Winter; the Opens, U.S. and British; the Bowls, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange , Gator, and GMAC.

I have covered nearly every major college football rivalry. And on nearly 90 campuses, from Hawaii to Boston College , Washington to Miami ; in six different countries, from Russia to Texas (It's Like a Whole Other Country), only once have I genuinely feared for my safety.

People pack the streets at Auburn for the Tiger Walk on game day, especially for Alabama .

That was at Tiger Walk in 1989.

In beginning, in the 1960s -- before Tiger Walk became "the most copied tradition in all of college football," Auburn athletic director David Housel said with pride, not pique -- it was just a bunch of kids running up to Donahue Drive to see the Auburn Tigers walk from their dorm to the game.

There are older pre-game walks at Stanford and at Williams College . But they don't generate the passion that builds as the Auburn team makes the turn from Donahue onto Roosevelt at the south end of Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Tiger Walk has become the signature event of Auburn 's pre-game ritual. It will be the highlight again on Saturday, when Alabama comes back to town. Those kids who lined Donahue Drive 40 years ago will be there again, and now they'll have their children and grandchildren in tow.

Tiger Walk goes on the road. Tiger Walk is listed on the players' weekend itinerary. Tiger Walk has spawned copycat walks at Tennessee , Georgia , Virginia Tech, and several other schools. Tiger Walk has spawned Tiger Walk Plaza , an enclosed courtyard paved with 6,000 bricks purchased by and inscribed for Auburn fans that serves as the entrance to the Tiger locker room.

Tiger Walk is also misnamed. It is no more a walk than a morning jog is the New York Marathon. A "walk" connotes peace, a stroll. But here, fans roll into Auburn on Friday night to park their cars on Donahue Drive for a prime viewing spot. They line up so deep that the street narrows to the width of a Venetian sidewalk. The Auburn faithful jam together so tightly that the university is concerned for public safety. They scream, they sing, they cheer, they fire up the Tigers and get fired up themselves.

Tiger Walk began to get legs a quarter-century ago, when coach Doug Barfield urged the fans to line the streets. Barfield, who now works at the Alabama High School Athletic Association, dismisses the notion that he has any ownership. But Tiger Walk didn't become Tiger Walk until 1989, when Alabama came to Auburn for the first time in the history of the sport's most fevered intrastate rivalry.

The rivalry between Auburn and Alabama is so passionate that the teams refused to play from 1907 until 1948. That year, the schools agreed to play every season ... but only at Legion Field in Birmingham , a neutral site. At the time, Auburn was so remote and inaccessible, and its stadium so small, that the Tigers played only one game a season there. But as Auburn football grew stronger and the stadium got bigger, and as the university's engineering graduates overtook the state highway department and built four-lane highways into the town, Auburn became a major university.

It was a major university, that is, everywhere but in Tuscaloosa . Coach Paul Bryant wouldn't deign to bring his Crimson Tide to "that little cow college across the state," as the Bear called it. After Bryant's death in 1983, one of his protégés, Pat Dye, built Auburn into a national power. Dye, wanting the symbolism of equal footing with Alabama , promised an ugly judicial or legislative battle if Alabama didn't agree to play home-and-home. The Alabama athletic director who agreed, former Tide All-American quarterback Steve Sloan, lost his job.

Jordan-Hare Stadium will be filled to the brim for the Alabama game this Saturday.

So on Dec. 2, 1989, No. 2 Alabama came to Auburn with a 10-0 record. The No. 11 Tigers were 8-2. Two hours before the game, an estimated 20,000 fans, nearly one-quarter of the 85,319 (a record that stood for 12 years), gathered on the east and west sides of Donahue Drive . A writer from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and I stood on the west side, about two-thirds of the way down the hill.

The Auburn fans roared, their eyes glazed with a mixture of fervor, pride, passion, and perhaps a touch of the Jack Daniels. We were five or six deep and couldn't get any closer to the street. We were also hemmed in, and didn't have the zeal-fueled adrenaline to ward off the elbows and other parts of the bouncing, heaving, deafening masses. I no longer had any interest in taking notes, which was just as well, because the noise and the lack of space made it impossible. My own adrenaline had kicked in.

Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka was a thorn in the side of Auburn all game long. He passed 78 times and had four touchdowns. I got lot's of pictures of him.

Early in the game, Kafka moved his team down inside the three yard line and attempted a pass to Zeke Markshausen in the endzone when Auburn defensive back Walter McFadden stepped in front of it.

Headlines and goal lines was all McFadden could see.

Northwestern receiver Lee Coleman gives Auburn defensive back D'Antoine Hood a handfull (i thought that was illegal).

After Auburn had scored twice to go up 14-0, Kafka hit Andrew Brewer for a 39 yard touchdown. OK, I know....too much lens.

Ben Tate runs for part of his 108 yards rushing.

Sherrick McManis (24) celebrates with is teammates after he intercepts a Kodi Burns pass.

It was raining all during the first half, and I had wanted a slow shutterspeed image of the raindrops streaking by the quarterbacks helmet. I didn't slow the shutterspeed down enough to get the effect I wanted. Or it may not have been raining hard enough to get what I wanted. I'll put that one in the memory bank for later use.

Here is another image of Kafka. It seemed like I was the only one gettin a shot at him. I was wishing the Tigers could get a shot at him too.

This is my favorite image from the day. It almost has a 3-D look to it. A foreground, middle, and background. Sometimes it works real well when you can layer your subject.

Synchronized tumbling, or a quarterback sack by Northwwestern linebacker Nate Williams. Why can't Auburn sack their quarterback?

Northwestern superback Drake Dunsmore gives Demond Washington a handful (didn't I ask earlier if that was illegal)?

And Dunsmore breaks loose and heads for the goal line.

Auburns Walter McFadden runs him down and tries to make the tackle, but slides off Dunsmore just before the goal line. This play went for 66 yards.

Finally, Auburn started getting to the Northwestern quarterback. Anytime Josh Bynes (17) and Antonio Coleman (52) start pounding on you, you're bound to be really sore.

See, I did get some pix of Auburn's quarterback, Chris Todd.

Chris Todd had 31 attempts for 235 yards. Not a bad day.

Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka completed this pass to Andrew Brewer as T'Sharvan Bell defends. Brewer made a spectacular catch on this play.

Here's the end of the play and the catch.

Sidney Stewart (5) almost brought this pass down in bounds.

Then, Coach C started working the officials.

Terrell Zackery took the ball around end for 50 yards late in the game to the Auburn seven yard line.

Ben Tate would score on the next play. Here he celebrates with tightend Tommy Trott.

The Auburn defense was starting to come alive as Josh Bynes (17) tackles Sidney Stewart(5).

Then Nick Fairley (90) started to get pressure on Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka.

As Northwestern's football team tried to close the score late in the game, I could hear their band doing what bands do best. I look around to see one of their drum majors / directors wearing his luck hat.

Auburn linebacker Antonio Coleman blocks the extra point attempt after Northwestern scored with 3:20 to play. The blocked extra point left an 8 point difference late in the game.

The Wildcats tried an onside kick but Auburn recovered it. On the next play, Onterio McCalebb ran for 11 yards.

Neiko Thorpe and Andrew Brewer continue their on field battles.

On a fourth and three, Auburns Nick Fairley sacks Mike Kafka for a 17 yard loss. Fairley was penalized for a facemask on this play. The unsportsmanlike conduct penality would give Northwestern a first down at the Auburn 18. The Wildcats would score on the next play.

Auburns Demond Washington (14) would fumble at the 50 yardline with 1:03 left to play.

Antonio Coleman is making it hard for Mr. Kafka to complete a pass.

As time runs out in regulation, Northwestern placekicker Stefan Demos reacts to missing a 44 yard fieldgoal.

Ben Tate carries the ball in overtime.

After Auburn kicked a 21 yard fieldgoal, Northwestern ran several plays which Auburn stopped short of the goal line. On a fourth and goal from the five, the Wildcats lined up for a fieldgoal, but faked it and pitched the ball to Zeke Markshausen. Auburn's Neiko Thorpe wasn't fooled and made the game saving tackle at the Auburn 2.

As the on field celebration was taking place by the Tigers, I noticed that a cooler of Gatorade was being carried by Darvin Adams (89) and Mario Fannin (27).

Clinton Durst (18) and Darvin Adams (89) gave coach C a Gatorade bath for his first bowl win as a head coach.

A Cat Fight At The Music City Bowl

2009-12-28T21:50:00.005-06:00

Yes it was.
The Wildcats of The University of Kentucky and the Tigers of Clemson University.
A good old fashioned knock down, drag out.
I thought this would be a hard fought game, and I wasn't dissapointed.
Both teams seemed to be evenly matched. One team just didn't get it done when it counted the most.

I had a chance to shoot Clemson football earlier this year, and I didn't do it.
I think the editor from that company wanted me to cover them all year.
It's just more of a drive from my house than I want to take every Saturday.
After I saw the Clemson team walk the field with head coach Dabo Swinney, I began to second guess myself.
One of the things I love about college football is the traditions and ceremonies that surround the game. I've got a lot of them that i've yet to mark off my to-do list before I can quit taking up space on the sidelines.

The game started out with Kentucky seeming to have the upper hand. Here Wildcat runningback Derrick Locke runs around left end early in the game.

Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker passes from the pocket. As you can tell, I've started to get bored and started to drag the shutter. Maybe bored is not the right word i'm looking for. I was cold, it had started to snow, me knees were starting to hurt, I had a couple of decent images. I was just looking for something a little different. I do that sometimes. I love dragging the shutter at night games when both teams uniforms are colorful.

Kentucky quarterback Morgan Newton drops back to pass.

Derrick Locke takes a pitch and runs around left end as I drag the shutter again.

Music City Bowl MVP C.J. Spiller looks good as I finally catch a slow shutter speed image of him.

One of the problems with televised games and especially bowl games is the dead time between change of posession, time outs, quarters, etc..... I know the schools, conferences, sponsers, bowl committees, and who ever else that has a claim to the TV rights need to sell air time(commercials), but dang if it don't make for long lapses in concentration when you have your mind on the game. During one of these lengthy lapse of concentration, I noticed the reflection of the high definition scoredboard / video screen in the windows of the pressbox. Nice and colorful, right?

See......I did shoot something besides slow pan images. Quarterback Morgan Newton of Kentucky.

One thing I kept on noticing was the bottoms of the Clemson players cleats. They wuz shiny. I ain't never seen shiny bottom shoes. What will they think of next?

Clemson would keep pluggin' away. Sometimes they would come up a little short. Here Tiger tight end Michael Palmer almost makes the catch. But that pluggin' away would pay off for Clemson, as they would later score to go ahead.

As time was winding down, Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks begin to work the officials.

With about five and a half minutes remaining in the game, Kentucky was facing a fourth and nine and lined up to punt, when they called for a fake punt. I kinda had a feeling that would be a good time for one.
The Kentucky punter, Ryan Tydlacka, received the snap and pulled the ball down and ran around right end. After gaining enough for the first down, he was introduced to the game of football by Clemson safety Spencer Adams. I bet he wont fake another punt again.

I was across the field on the Kentucky sidelines waiting for the Clemson players to give a Gatorade bath to head coach Dabo Swinney. Just as they dumped the bucket of Gatorade over his head, Clemson runningback and Music City Bowl MVP C.J. Spiller walked into my frame. You know.....the more I look at it, the more I like him being in the frame. I think it adds something to it.

All I Got Was A Rock........

2009-11-05T21:30:00.007-06:00

They moved the second Talladega race weekend to the last weekend of October.
Yep, Halloween weekend.
Or, as they say around here.
Hallo-Dega.
They are tempting the gods.
That's what happens when you build on top of an old Indian burial ground, as legend says.
Then they have this race on Halloween weekend.
Enough strange stuff happens here, you shouldn't laugh in the face of it.
We should give praise to the Almighty so he will protect us through the weekend.

Strange things do happen here.
Nobody can explain it.
Then the weekend started off crappy. Rain. And more rain.
Rained out Cup qualifying. And final practice.
And the Truck Race started late.

After the rains stopped and the Camping World Truck race got under way, I caught the trucks of Dennis Setzer(8), Matt Crafton(88), and Jason White(23) coming out of turn two, three wide.

It was a good race with a lot of action, but not the wrinkled up fender kind of action I was looking for. Here the lead pack of Todd Bodine(30), David Starr(24), Kyle Busch(51), and Aric Almirola(15) comes out of turn two.
So much for my kind of action.

I was kinda bored and started looking for person celebrating Halloween before the sun set. Then I saw Jason....I mean Freddie.....uhhhh, Michael Meyers...no, no, no....what made me scream was the 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide Sugar Bowl sweatshirt he had on. I remember the University of Utah whooping somebody's behind.

Then I spotted a spotted cow. I hope those are his teats.

I noticed as it was getting darker, more crazies were coming out, not that Fred and Wilma are crazy.

After an uneventful Truck race, the sun sets on Talladega SuperSpeedway.
I've got this feeling the night will not be uneventful.

I had a special assignment for this race. I had to find people tailgating and dressed up for Halloween. Because of the late start of the race, most of the tailgating was over before I could make my way to the infield. I did find lots of people dressed for the Trick or Treating that was about to take place.

My new friends from Canada, but I can't tell you what their costumes were.
It's not what you're thinking.

Look....cows cook chickin.

And there's always a fat chick in a bikini that thinks she looks good, plus there ain't enough beer in Talladega.

Some of us survived Hallo-Dega better than others.
Maybe we have more practice.

After just a few laps had passed, I begin to feel lucky.
Paul Menard(98) and Joe Nemechek(87) tangled as the were exiting turn two.

But it became appearant early into the race that it would be a loooonnnnggggg and booorrrrriiiinnnngggg day. NASCAR had told the driver earlier in the drivers meeting, not to bump draft through the turns. Boy, they really know how to sell tickets, don't they?
Anyway, something told me Halloween was not over just yet.
I didn't know I was about to turn into Charlie Brown.

Nothing seemed to go right for me all weekend. From Thursday until the end of the race on Sunday, nothing went right. I was having a Charlie Brown weekend. Everybody was Lucy. They always seemed to pull the football back as soon as I was kicking it.
Even my standard blur shot didn't come out like I wanted it too. I was beginning to think I was gettin rocks in my Trick or Treat bag.

Most of the people on the tower where I shoot have been there for years. Here Brian Hallman of NASCAR SCENE and Cody Crisp of the local Talladega paper are hoping they don't get any rocks.

Then the pack started to tighten up and run three wide.Maybe our luck would change.

As the race was winding down, we saw a little bumping as the pack got even tighter.

Jeff Robinson from NASCAR ILLUSTRATED was waiting for some treats, but like the rest of us, all he got was rocks.

We were watching as Jamie McMurray(26) and Dale Earnhardt jr(88) would lead the pack off of turn two. Then they went down the backstretch.

I watched as the cars made there way into turn three. Some cars changed lanes at the end of the backstretch and Ryan Newman(38)had no place to go. As I saw him making a hard left, I started shooting again. Now remember, I'm more than a half mile away from them, but I do have a 400/2.8, but it's still not enough lens for the distance. I did the best I could, but sometimes it's still not good enough.

After a short red flag to stop the race, as the safety crews cut Mr. Newman out of his car and then cleaned up the mess, some drivers just couldn't get started again.

Then the excitement happened. In the tri-oval. The people shooting in that area got another treat. Just like Charlie Brown......"All I got is a rock".
Jamie McMurray won. Then ran outta gas. And got a push from Greg Biffle.

Who got the treats?
My buddy and Associated Press photographer Glenn Smith.

And Associated Press photographer Skip Williams.
This just didn't seem to be my year shooting wrecks.
I don't have another one scheduled this year.
Maybe next year.

These Tigers Have The Blues

2009-10-20T21:21:00.004-05:00

For the last few days, I've been trying to think of something witty or clever to describe the game between Kentucky and Auburn.
I can't!
It was bad.
Auburn had their chances, they just didn't take advantage of them.
Kentucky took advantage of theirs.
Auburn's passing game didn't look sharp and the running game had to carry the load.
And for the first time this year, special teams earned their keep when they blocked a first quarter fieldgoal attempt and returned it for a touchdown.
Just like most of the other photographers, I was positioned downfield and didn't get a shot of the block.
All I got was the back of Neiko Thorpe as he was seeing headlines and goal lines.
Oh well......

The game started out like it might go Auburn's way. Then the wheels slowly started to fall off.
Here, Kentucky cornerback Randall Burdon knocks the ball away from Auburn receiver Quindarius Carr.

Ben Tate was the bright spot for Auburn. He rushed for 132 yards.
Tate and Kentucky linebacker Micah Johnson fought some hard battles all night.

Auburn ran a reverse to wide receiver Terrell Zachery, which gained a bunch of yards. Then Kentucky cornerback Paul Worford got in the way.

That Paul Worford guy seemed to be everywhere. Darvin Adams got seperated from the ball by him.

Yep....Ben Tate is THE workhorse. He moved up on Auburn's rushing chart to 6th all time. And with another good game against LSU this Saturday, he could climb a couple of more spots.
He scored Auburn's only offensive touchdown. Things were looking good at this point.

And the fans went wild after Ben scored.

Ben celebrated with Mike Berry.

The cheerleaders celebrated.

And Kentucky just would not quit. They kept plugging away.
Wildcat receiver Gene McCaskill got his hands on the ball as Auburn's Neiko Thorpe was a step behind.

Kentucky started their comeback, mixing pass plays with running plays.
Wildcat tailback Derrick Locke is tripped up by Auburn's Zac Etheridge.

Kentucky's number one quarterback, Mike Hartline, was injured last week. Saturday night was quarterback by committee. Kentucky runs the Wildcat offense with Randall Cobb as quarterback. Here, he dives for the endzone as Auburn linebackers Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens close in. He didn't score, but it was only a matter of time.

Kentucky brought in Junior quarterback Will Fidler on the next play. He stretches the ball out over the goal line to tie the score with 4:57 to play in the fourth quarter.

Auburn couldn't move the ball and Kentucky didn't waste any time movin the ball downfield. Randall Cobb ran the Wildcat offense again, and scored on a four yard run with 1:51 left in the game.

The Kentucky ball players got to celebrate with the Big Blue fans that made the trip down to Auburn.
Maybe Auburn can stop the wheels from coming off this week before heading to Baton Rouge or it could be a long night.

Some Days You're The Windshield, Some Days You're The Bug

2009-10-12T21:25:00.006-05:00

That's kinda how I felt this weekend.
Like a bug splattered on the windshield of a big ol' truck.
I was just flyin' along minding my own business, when SPLATT!!!!!
Right out of nowhere, my camera started having major problems.
Just as Saturdays game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers was about to begin.
I got the dreaded ERR99 message.
The note on the digital back of the camera told me to turn the camera off and replace the batteries.
WOW....maybe it'll go away when I do that.
So, I turn it off, change the batteries, and hold my breath as I turn the camera back on.
It powers up, I look through the viewfinder and it focuses, I squeeze the shutter button, and it fires!
One time.
And one time only.
And ERR99 shows back up on the digital back.
This is how my day was going, and it ain't even got started yet!
Every time I shot a frame, I had to shut it down, change the batteries, fire it back up, hope I time the shot just at the peak of the action, and do it again.
Instead of firing off more than a thousand shots during the course of the game, Saturday, I only fired off 68 shots. I had to very carefully pick and choose which images I wanted as I was watching through the viewfinder.
I also discovered that I am more impatient than I thought I was.
It was a frustrating day for me.
Very frustrating.

Tennessee's Montario Hardesty played a big part in Saturday's game. He is one of the SEC's top backs this year. He always runs hard.

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton came alive and could do no wrong for this game. He was a windshield Saturday.

Volunteer fullback Kevin Cooper gets stripped of the ball by Georgia linebacker Darius Dewberry as Bryan Evans hurries in to get him some action.

Look....I'm doin' the best I can. It's difficult trying to get a good usable image when you can only shoot one image per play. How did the old timers shoot such great images with the equipmet they had.
Here, Georgia quarterback Joe Cox sets up to pass.

Bulldog receiver Michael Moore is wrapped up by Tennessee safety Prentiss Waggner, with All-American strong safety Eric Berry and cornerback Art Evans helping out.

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton looks to pass to receiver Gerald Jones.

OK....it's not the same play, but the same drive, Gerald Jones dive into the endzone for a Tennessee touchdown.
See....I could have lied about the TD and told you it was the same play, but what good would that do me?

On the next drive, Tennessee receiver Demarius Moore tries to do a Gerald Jones impersonation, but his dive for a touchdown wasn't as impressive.

I'm beginning to like Lane Kiffen. He can get animated, which is good!

See.....I'm looking for any type of easy image as I'm getting more and more frustrated.

I've been sitting back behind the offense hoping for a good easy image of a quarterback sack when Eric Berry blitzed from the far side. Mr. Cox didn't see it coming, but I did.
Even a blind hog can find an acorn.

Volunteer receiver Gerald Jones runs for extra yardage after making a catch.

I almost caught this image like Mr. Jones almost caught the ball.
Close, but no cigar.
Or, close only counts in horseshoes, handgranades and napalm.

See how bad my day was going. Now i'm stretching it trying to find good images one at a time.

It's not a good image, but sometimes if it's newsworthy, you have to include it anyway. Here Tennessee All-American safety Eric Berry takes the ball away from Georgia split end Michael Moore. This play set the all-time NCAA record for interceptions. It's not the best image i've ever shot, but I did manage to capture it while history was being made.

And last but not least, Georgia's AJ Green may be the best receiver in the Southeastern Conference.

OK....just for funsies, before my camera died, I was walking around Neyland Stadium just looking for something to get into, when I spotted the drum major changing shoes. One shoe was shiny patton leather, the other shoe was dull and black. So....I checked it out.

He was putting on his cleats. I never thought about the drum major wearing cleats, but considering the condition of the field, slick sole shoes would have been ugly about half way thru his goose march across the field. Or it may have been hilarious.

Too Much Tigers, Not Enough Volunteers

2009-10-05T21:11:00.005-05:00

I made the long drive to Knoxville Tennessee for Saturday nights game between the Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers.
Auburn came into the game undefeated, and Tennessee had lost a couple of close games to UCLA and Florida.
After the opening drives by both teams, I felt like I knew who the better team was.
You got the sense that it was not gonna be a runaway, but you knew the outcome before the final gun sounded.
I felt like my Tigers should have scored a couple of touchdowns, instead they settled for fieldgoals.

Ben Tate did some hard runnin'. Tennessee has a really good defense, but Tate did manage to run for 128 yards.

The Volunteers held Darvin Adams to only two catches. That's OK, because Auburn spread the passes around to eight other receivers.

Tennessee lost this first quarter fumble. I think it was the only turnover in the game.

Onterio McCalebb has proved to be another kind of workhorse for Auburn.
He finished the night with 51 yards.

If two quality backs aren't enough, the Tigers may have found a third back in Eric Smith. At 237 pounds, it don't take much pounding from him before the defenses start to get tired.

Ben Tate runs up the gut of the Volunteer defense.

And scores after an 11 yard run in the secound quarter.

It was a hard hittin' game all night long and tempers were starting to get short.
Auburn defensive end Michael Goggans (49) and Tennessee left tackle Chris Scott (79) were doin' some ya-ya-ing.

You have to have a coach picture. Lane Kiffen calls in a play (or encouragement) to the Vols.

And the quarterback everbody loves to hate, Jonathan Crompton. I think I know why.

Mario Fannin had another big night with six receptions, and ran a reverse for 32 yards.

Early in the fourth quarter, Terrell Zachery caught a wide receiver screen for an 11 yard touchdown.

I gotta do the same for my Tigers and give coach C some pixel time.

Tight end Tommy Trott made his presence known. He's got good hands, I just wished they would use him and the other tightends more.

It was late, and time was running out, and the game was already decided, before Tennessee coach Lane Kiffen and quarterback Jonathan Crumpton would make a mini comeback. Too little, too late.

Ben Tate and Auburns running game ate up too much clock for any comeback hopes the Volunteers had.

Denarius Moore scored on a 32 yard pass when the clock struck midnight (well......the clock did read 00:00 in the fourth quarter).
Too little, too late.

Auburn quarterback Chris Todd thanks the fans for supporting them.

Darvin Adams made his way down the receiveing line. There's just something about this bunch of Tigers. They've got their swagger back. You might better watch out for them.

Rain, Rain Go Away

2009-09-29T21:24:00.004-05:00

I went down to Auburn this past Saturday night to shoot the Ball State vs Auburn game for my wire service.
It's the first football game that I've been able to shoot this year.
I hope I get to shoot a lot more.
Like next week.
I've got to go to Knoxville to shoot the Auburn vs Tennessee game in Neyland Stadium.
A hundred thousand Big Orange fans in one place.
Jeepers.
I hope my Tigers can makes lots of orange juice.

I always plan on shooting 'Tiger Walk' when I get the opportunity to shoot an Auburn game. No matter where they are playin'.
It's always good. It's the original. Now everyone want's to do it.
Tiger Walk takes place two hours before gametime.
Guess what happened as soon as Tiger Walk got near the stadium?
Rain. And lots of it. Lots.
Game time was held back about 45 minutes for the second time in two weeks.
Lots of rain.
This stadium grounds worker decided to give up and come back in, but it was too late.

I don't know how much water came falling down out of the sky, but many buckets full fell in a very short period of time. Not like last week, when over four inches fell in about thirty minutes, but enough that it was beginning to back up in just a few minutes.

This storm drain was backed up with about four or five inches of water in just a couple of minutes. One of the local police told me during last weeks rain event, that the water backed up about a foot deep in this same storm drain.
So much for the water.
On to the main event.

It is my first game to shoot this year, and I was a little rusty, but sometimes I was in the right place at the right time.
Here, Auburn defensive end Michael Goggans chases down Ball State quarterback Kelly Page.

After Auburn spotted Ball State a touchdown early, Tigers receiver Terrell Zachery stiff arms Kyle Kuntz after making a catch.

Auburn quarterback Chris Todd sets up to pass as the rain keeps falling.

Mario Fannin had a decent night for Auburn. He had three catches for 55 yards. Here he's on his way to a 36 yard touchdown.

Chris Todd passed for five touchdowns on Saturday night. He also had 287 yards passing with 19 completions. Not bad for someone that had shoulder surgery during the off season.

After Darvin Adams scored on a long pass play, Terrell Zachery helped him celebrate in the endzone. Here they strike a pose.

Ben Tate always runs hard. He's beginning to carry more of the load when the game winds down.

Eric Williams of Ball State reaches the ball out towards the goal line, but it was late in the game.
Too little, too late.

And it wouldn't be football without a picture of head coach Gene Chizick in action, now would it?
Ball State put 30 points on Auburn, but most of them came when the backups were playing late in the game. A lot of people around here seem to be concerned about the Tigers defense. They are a little thin, but I think coach is trying to get his troops a little 'sperience.
Maybe it'll be enough Saturday night in K town.

No. No. No. No. No. No. OK, Yes I Will

2009-09-22T20:51:00.008-05:00

A couple of weeks ago when I was shooting the night race in Atlanta, I was asked by someone from my wire service if I wanted to shoot the race in Richmond.
I told them 'No'.
Later that night, they asked me again.
Again, I said 'No'.
This happened a couple of more times after the race as we were working trying to get our images out.
Monday was Labor Day and I was at the river, kicked back relaxing, eating some BBQ and par-taking in some adult beverages, when my cell phone rang.
My wire service was calling me to personally ask me about shooting Richmond.
I said 'No'.
After I got home, I got on my laptop to check my e-mail, and I had an e-mail from the owner of the wire service, this time with the schedule for the weekend.
It didn't take much more to convince me I needed to go to Richmond for the weekend.

I got there about middle of the afternoon on Friday, a little later than I wanted, but I had plenty of time to shoot Cup qualifying. I walked into the photographers work room, and all of the places were taken. One of the other photogs told me I had a reserved spot, but some old wannabe, know-it-all, camera pointing, nerve wracking, button pusher, was sitting in MY reserved place. The old geezer told me he didn't think someone from my wire service would be there. Damn him!!!!

It's a much different atmosphere from some of the other tracks I shoot at.
You get more access. Here Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth share driving secrets.

I was looking for something a little different, someway to shoot the pole winner that was not the ordinary, standard image we usually see. I tried my luck at adding the people on pit road, the venue, and the sky and clouds.
I didn't think it worked.
Mark Martin went out early, and I was looking through my shots from his run to see if I had anything to post when I found this one.
It worked better than I thought.

The Nationwide race started later that night.
Here is the standard Kyle Busch images from that race.

Not much happened during that race. Kinda boring for Richmond.
The only action I was was when Jason Leffler blew a tire and left a trail of sparks behind his car.

As luck would have it, I was standing in an empty pit stall that was next to the 38 team. I shot a bunch of images of the crew working on Leffler's car. As I turned to watch him drive off, I noticed his left front tire come off.
When it rains, it pours.

Just a boring image of Brendan Gaughan (62) and Carl Edwards (60) racing side by side at Richmond.

Carl Edwards won the Nationwide race. As we all know, he has a broken foot, so that means he can do his customary backflip from his car, right?
Well, this old wannabe, know-it-all, camera pointing, nerve wracking, button pusher, came back into the photographers workroom after the race and said in a very loud voice 'Hey ya'll, I must be the biggest dumbass of all, 'cause I just crossed the pit wall and ran out the track to get a shot of Carl Edwards doin' his backflip, and after he just drove on by, I remembered he's got a broke foot'.
Yep.

Saturday promised to be a long day. I got there early. Not much happening in the garage, but I had to post something anyway.

Pit tours and all the other B.S.
No drivers.
Anywhere.

Later in the afternoon, the pre-race concert began.
Today's band was All-American Rejects.
Here lead guitar player Nick Wheeler plays his Gibson Firebird (I've always had a soft spot for this guitar).

All-American Rejects lead singer Tyson Ritter.

Finally, after a long race and a short rain delay, the 'Chase For The Cup' sould be decided in a few hours.
Kevin Harvick (29) and Scott Speed (82) race early in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.

Just looking for something different. Brian Vickers works had to make the 'Chase'.

Just a few laps into the race, Scott Speed spins his Red Bull Toyota. It's Richmond, and a short track, you have to expect a few spins, right?

During the caution, I was in position to shoot a few pit stops from my high vantage point. Denny Hamlin's crew works on his car.

Jeff Gordon (24) leads Denny Hamlin (11) during the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.

I'm beginning to feel lucky. Tony Stewart (14) gets turned by Reed Sorenson (43).

Well, while I'm still up there, why not shoot more pit stops during the caution, right?
This image of Jimmie Johnson was used by USA Today and several other papers.

OK.....it's starting to get boring. Side by side action of Juan Pablo Montoya (42) and Jeff Burton (31).

Just the standard slow shutter speed image i've been doing lately.
It's getting old. Kinda.....

You gotta have a Jeff Gordon Image.

I thought the brake dust coming from the wheel made this A J Allmendinger pit stop a little different.

Kurt Busch during the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.

Denny Hamlin would win tonight's race. I got a shot of him as he crossed the finish line. Not much to it. He did his customary burnout. Way too much tire smoke, I could hardly see his car.
Then he got out of his car, stood on the window ledge, and pumped his arms as he was celebrating.
This image was picked up by ESPN.

USA Today and several other papers and website used this image in victory lane.

After waiting what seemed like a very long time, well after midnight, NASCAR finally got the 'Chase' driver together for a group photo.
I had been transmitting earlier, but decided I needed to go out early so I could get a good group shot of the drivers. I was way late. All I could do was stand to the side and do a 'Hail Mary'.
I missed the one shot I was in Richmond for.
I hope my editors will forgive me.

OK....A lesson to NASCAR.
Don't give champagne to the drivers.
They waste it!

Hot 'Lanta at Night

2009-09-16T21:34:00.008-05:00

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign.
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.
That old song from the Five Man Electrical Band was what I was thinking when I was looking through the viewfinder at all of these pit signs.
I don't know why, but stuff like that just fills my head sometimes.
It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and a load of stuff has happened in between.
It's my favorite time of the year. Football is in full swing, NASCAR is in the Chase, baseball is making it's way to the playoffs, the weather is trying to turn cool, and everything is right with the world. Well.....almost.
High school, college, and pro football every weekend, and I ain't shot the first game yet.
Too much other stuff going on. Just wait. I get around to posting it.
First things first.

I was the only photographer at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday for my wire service. Everyone else was shooting football.
I got to shoot Martin Truex jr getting out of his car after he won the pole for Sunday's race.

Just a head on image of Martin Truex jr during Sunday's race.

And a head on shot of Tony Stewart (you can tell I ain't put too much effort into this latest post).

Sunday's race, as are most Sprint Cup races in Atlanta, can get a little bit boring. I spent most of my time walking around looking for something out of the ordinary.

I was almost as bored as this NASCAR official. I just wish I could have propped my feet up.

Pit stops are much easier to shoot from the outside, but sometimes they don't show the action or drama involved taking place in the pits, like an image shot from the pits.

Later in the night, as I was still looking for different angles, I shot a pretty cool image of Jeff Gordon. I knew it was what I was looking for, so I turned away from the opening in the fence and started chimping (OK....I admit I chimp).

Even though I had my head set on, I heard a loud 'BOOM' just behind me, and when I looked up, I saw Kurt Busch, smoke, and sparks. I knew from the sound I heard, he hit the wall close to where I was shooting from. It could have been a really decent photo.

This is my view from the opening in the fence. Notice the tire tracks left by Mr. Busch as he was screaming and hollering and driving right at me. Kinda made me feel like I was the target.

This is the view from inside of turn four showing where I was shooting from. Notice the scuff marks on the wall where it says 'ATLANTA'. That is where he hit the wall.

This is a close-up of the same frame. The opening in the fence is outlined in white. This is shere I was shooting from seconds earlier.

OK......kinda like my night, the excitements over.
Back to the boring race images, this one of Kasey Kahne. He led late in the race.

Maybe my luck was finally changing. I got this image of Joey Logano spinning coming out of turn four.

I wanted to try to capture the intense look of the pit crews as they prepare to service the car. Oh well... I'll keep trying.

Like I said, Kasey Kahne, led most laps late in the race. Yep, he won.
He appreciates the wins.
Sometimes it seems like some of the other drives don't.

Keith Howard Took A Victory Lap Tonight

2009-09-01T21:26:00.003-05:00

I had my 51st birthday today.
I attended the funeral of a friend today.
It's not how I wanted to celebrate my birthday.
Instead, I celebrated the life and death of my friend, Keith Howard, with the thousands of other people in attendance.
The funeral was on the new football field at Lincoln High School.
Keith was the head football coach at a rival high school.
Keith Howard was THE head coach at Lincoln High School.
Keith died this past Friday night after leaving the first game of the season during half-time with chest pains.
Keith never made it to the hospital. He died at 9:02 pm.
Keith was 48 years old and left behind a wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, a grand daughter, mother, sister, and lots of loved ones.

There was a time, many years ago, when we went to the same school together. I was three grades ahead of him, but we knew each other and became friends.
Keith always made friend with everybody.
Keith Howard always made you feel like you were special.
He never failed to speak when I saw him in public.
I saw him just last week at a local restaurant. Just sitting by his self. Eating a salad. Me and the missus stopped to speak to him.
Come to think of it, the last half dozen times or so i've seen him, it's always been in a restaurant. I think he liked to eat. HHmmmmmmm.
We even took friendly jabs at each other, just because we were from rival high schools. That's what friends do.
I used to shoot the game film (or video)for my high school for many years. Keith was an assistant coach then for another school, but he never failed to look me up after the game, win or lose, and tell me that if it wasn't for my video, and the good quality job I did, his team would have been less prepared. This carried on until after I stopped filming for my team.
One of the speakers at the funeral today talked about the dash that will be on his headstone. You know, the one between his date of birth and the date of his death.
Keith Howard's dash will be long and full.
Keith was a good family man. He was a good Christian man. He loved Lincoln and everyone that lived and worked there. He loved his football team. He loved his school.
Keith loved life.
Keith has spent tireless hours recently overlooking the progress on the new SprinTurf surface for their new football field.
I've been told that Keith would stand at the top of the stadium and look out over the new field. No doubt he was daydreaming about his first game on the new field and what it would be like to win that first game on it.
Keith raised the Lincoln program up a couple of notches.
The Lincoln Golden Bears are ranked #5 in Class 4A in the State of Alabama.
Just being around Keith seemed to raise anyone up a couple of notches.
I'm honored to have called him my friend.
At the end of the funeral, they gave Keith the victory lap he worked hard for and deserved.

I Can't Catch A Break....Or Can I?

2009-08-25T21:27:00.008-05:00

I was fortunate enough to spend this past weekend at 'Thunder Valley'.
That's the little speedway that's tucked away in the northeast Tennessee hills.
Almost in Virginia, but in Tennessee.
The little racetrack where tempers get as hot as the hot August nights.
Bumping and Grinding.
Rubbin's racin'.
Sheetmetal flying.
A Saturday night shootout.
Like flying a fighter jet inside a bathtub.

Every race fan needs to go to this race.
More than 160,000 of them were there Saturday night.
And I was there with them.

No, it's not my first time there, but it has been a few years.
And mmmyyyyyyyy........how things have changed!!!!!!

I was kinda dissappointed when I first got there Friday afternoon. I was stuck down in the infield for both nights. I didn't get credentials to shoot on the outside of the track. See, at some tracks, you have to have a special pass or credential to get to shoot from outside of the track. Speedway Motorsports Inc is really good about enforcing this policy. SMI owns Bristol. I didn't get to shoot from outside. And the photo positions from inside are kinda limiting.

I found a place to shoot the Nationwide race about mid way between turns one and two. It didn't take long for Matt Kenseth to turn his car around. This was the only contact he had with another car.
He got lucky.

Brad Keslowski collected a little front end damage, but was able to come in to the pits where his crew put a bandaid on the boo-boo and he went on his way.

I got bored of shooting the same images with different cars in them, so I moved to the opening in the pit wall. I was still a little bored, and was shooting with a slow shutter speed, when Kyle Busch got knocked off the track. He came sliding up to within a few feet of my shooting position.
I'm just glad I pulled it off. Busch's car is sharp and the ones in the background are blurred.

With all of the water and oil on the track, it took a long time to clean this mess up. The track crew worked hard and fast.

They dumped out lots of kitty litter, and the jet blowers and sweepers created a huge cloud of kitty litter dust.

When the racin' got started back, it didn't take me long to get bored. With the limited shooting positions, I was trying to get something different.
OK.... I know you've seen this Getty shit before, but it beats looking at the same image with different cars.

Then, another one happened right in front of me again. Instead of having my 70-200/2.8 lens on my camera, this time I had my 400/2.8 mounted on it.
Way too much lens for something that close.
So I shot details of the wrinkled sheet metal.

And more wrinkled sheetmetal.

And the puddles left by the drivers.

And more wrinkled sheetmetal.

And the track crews added more kitty litter.
A lot more.

And they swept up the kitty litter until the jet dryers and sweepers came by to make another large cloud of kitty litter.
Now.....I ain't got enough brains in my head to move when the jet dryers come by. Again. And for the second time tonight, I'm at ground zero for the toxic oil dry dust storm. I'm trying to hide down behind the inside retaining wall, but you can't hide from something like that.
It gets in your eyes. It gets in your ears. It gets in your nose. It gets in your mouth. It gets in your hair. It covers you and your camera equipment. It gets in to the little nooks and crannies of your equipment.
And it gets in your hair.
That shit was all in my hair. It sucked all of the moisture out of my hair. Now, my hair is not greasy, but it was hot and humid, and I was getting sweatty.....until the kitty litter. It took my all night and part of the next day to clean my hair.
Next time, I'll run far away. Fast.

David Ragan, in the number 6 car, won the Nationwide race.

After spending a partially sleepless night counting the lightning bolts, I was up kinda early, and was waiting for my turn in the shower. I was still picking kitty litter out of my hair and eyes.
I finally got to the track after lunch, and was walking around looking for something different. I found this couple sitting on the track.

There is no garage at this track, so the teams work on their cars in their pit stalls.

So when the race started, I picked up where I left off the night before.
And I started in the same spot I did on Friday night.

When it was time for the cars to pit, I slowed the shutterspeed down to blur the crew as they changed sides of the car, and maybe to show a little action during this stop.

After waiting most of the night for any kind of wreck, which Bristol is known for, I finally saw Michael Waltrip (55) get into Martin Truex jr (1).
I couldn't catch a break all night long. It happened everywhere I weren't.

Finally, as Kyle Busch was taking the checkered flag, I spotted the M&M's crew celebrating on pit road. Nobody else was around.

I knew what shot I wanted in Victory Lane, and I knew where to stand to get it.
I also knew it would be different from the other photographers.
And I also knew I had to be the first one to get mine out.
I hope I won the race back from Victory Lane.

Where Were You Forty Years Ago This Weekend?

2009-08-14T22:00:00.002-05:00

I'll tell you where I was!
My parents took me to Woodstock!!!!!!
Not for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Not for the 'Summer of Love'.
Just so we could see 500,000 people!

Seriously!

We ain't never seen that many people in one place at one time.
A half million hippies in one place.
We had to see that!

I had an aunt, uncle, and cousin who had just recently moved to Atlanta from a small town in South Carolina, but they were born and raised in Alabama, too.
Forty years ago this weekend, we went to the big A town to visit them.

All weekend long, we kept hearing on the local news reports about all the hippies that were gathered in Woodstock.
A half million of 'em.

Like I said, we ain't never seen that many people in one place at one time. The town I grew up in had maybe a thousand or fifteen hundred folks if you counted them twice.
So 500,000 people would be a sight to see.

Listening and watching all the news reports on TV that weekend was more than a bunch of naive, country folk from Alabama could stand.

Thats why we made the short drive up to Woodstock, Georgia!

On a more somber note, the father of the solid body electric guitar died yesterday.
Les Paul was 94 years old.
He also discovered multi-track recordings.
Both changed the recording industry forever.

The musicians in my family, and around the world will forever be grateful to him for both gifts.

Both images in this blog are of my sons SunBurst Custom Premium Plus Les Paul.
Like most Les Paul guitars, it has a beautiful full, hearty, and mellow sound.
Just like the master intended.

Mama ain't happy

2009-07-12T21:03:00.009-05:00

I found out about 9:30 on Thursday night that I was supposed to be in Daytona for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races.
Boy....talk about short notice.
I've had short notice assignments before, but not for a NASCAR race.
Luckily, I was being furnished a hotel room, so that major obsticle was overcome by the company that I was shooting for.
Now, the only other major hurdle standing in my way to Daytona was Mama.
She was not happy I was going off for the weekend.
She still ain't quite got over it.
Maybe she will get over it when the check comes in.
That always seems to help.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I've got to shoot this kind of image just about anywhere I go. I can't help it.
I had to wait until the bank opened before I could leave on Friday morning, so that didn't leave any time to goof off on my way to Daytona.
I arrived in Daytona with six minutes to go before the credential office closed. Talking about cutting it close.......
I got to the media center and set up my computer with just enough time to make the long walk to the backstretch where I would be shooting for the weekend.

There were a couple of incidents on the backstretch during the Nationwide race, but they were too far away. The images were too grainy or pixalated or too much noise to be usable.
This guy came by me about mid way thru the race. He didn't look like he was in too much trouble. Maybe just a little damage, but not much.....right?

After he went out of sight, I heard the MRN announcers get really excited talking about a car erupting in flames as he was entering turn four.
Guess who?
This was what it looked like from my vantage point.
That was all the excitement I would see on Friday night, and that was OK because I was tired and ready to hit the sack.

Saturday morning I got to sleep in and take my time getting to the track. Me and my roommate for the weekend decided that we deserved a really good meal before we got to the track, so we went to an Olive Garden before we headed to the track.
He had lasagne, I had the Marsala Stuffed Chicken.
Basically, it was grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, and of course, a salad.
I tell you this, because for the pre-race meal at the track, they served grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad.
Like I've said before, if you're a photographer, it's all about the food.
In the meantime, back to the race.
I went back to the backstretch to shoot part of the Rolex race because I wanted to get a little close action between cars.
I figured the chicane was the best spot to get that. Here, a GT class Porsche locks up his tires trying to make the turn.

Now the 99 Gainsco Daytona Prototype drives through the grass after entering the turn to fast.

And the winner. The number 10 Suntrust Ford of Max Angelelli and Brian Friselli.

I got bored of shooting the same ol head on car shots, so I decided to walk around and see what I could find. Not much. But I did get this interesting image. It was shot between the guardrails as the cars entered turn three.

As I was walking back to the media center, I was well aware of the temperature in the upper 90's. What I didn't notice on my walk to the backstretch, was all of the swimming pools set up in the infield.
Here is a group of race fans having fun in their pool.

After our pre-race meal of grilled chicken, mashed taters, and salad, this time I drove my truck out to the backstretch. I gave myself plenty of time just so I could find a place a little closer to the exit of turn two.
While I was waiting on the green flag to drop, I noticed the sun setting behind the pressbox.
I thought this image was really cool.

This image was just a few minutes later, looking back to the east.
I thought it was cool, too.

Then, just a few laps into the race, the car of Mark Martin(5) breaks loose and forces the car of Juan Pablo Montoya(42) to dive deep inside to avoid him.

I know.....I get bored and start doing stuff like this.
I can't help it!!!!!!!

Just before it got completly dark, these thunderheads started moving over the track. It would occasionally light up from the lightning inside it, but I was waiting on 'The Big Un', so I couldn't play around trying to catch lightning bolts.
That's my truck parked next to Lake Lloyd and across the road from my shooting position.

See....if I had been playing around, I would have missed David Ragan spinning in the middle of a group of cars.
I don't wish anyone any bad luck, but I would have liked to seen more cars involved.
For my sake......I know moving more toward the center of the backstretch would be to my advantage.

I tried to follow him as much as I could, and he was too close to me when he came by, but he got loose again as he slid over the chicane.
What can Brown do for you?

Next, I got Scott Speed coming by me in a shower of sparks.

Then....'The Big Un'!!!!
Too bad it started right directly in front of me.
All I could see, when it started, was the front fenders of the two cars involved.
As I quickly turned to follow the action, I had to move around a light pole to see the cars involved.
You know, they're travelling about 200 MPH, so they had moved down the track, and all I could see was smoke and dirt.

The wall told the story.
I do remember one car trying to climb the wall here.

Just like at Talladega, the real fireworks came as the cars were taking the checkered flag.
Where am I?
On the backstretch.
Looking at these two wires. They are connected to the tubes under the tarps.

This guy told me I may need to move my truck.

He was connecting the detonator for the fireworks display that is discharged after the race.

I thought, if he could stand there, so can I.
I stood there shooting almost straight up at the fireworks.
Cool, huh?

Until it started raining fire.
I remembered now he told me to move my truck.
I did, but I was back in my place on the backstretch, about 50 yards from my truck.

So much for my firework pictures.
At least I had a little action from the race.
Even if it was Daytona.
We got back to Valdosta, Georgia about 4 a.m. where we had another room waiting for us.
I got up about 8ish, got a shower and hit the road for the ride back home.
I got home around 1 Sunday afternoon.
Guess what Mama had ready for me to cook on the grill.
Chicken breast.
Mashed taters.
And salad.

Out Of The Box

2009-06-23T21:15:00.004-05:00

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned....photographically
It's been four weeks since my last blog.
I think........
I've thought about it a lot.
Just ain't done nothing about it.
Ain't even picked up my camera.
Until this week.

One of the local photography organizations that I belong to has a print competition each month, and the theme of the competition this month was 'OUT OF THE BOX'.

Most of the other photographers are the portrait type.
I'm the total opposite.
I'm not very good at portraits.
It's just something I never shoot.
So......
I like it when the playing field is leveled.

I thought about this months theme for a couple of weeks.
I had an image I wanted to make.
It involved the abuse of a 'Jack-in-the-box'.
I visited all of the Thrift Stores in the area with no luck.

I don't know when or why I thought about FROOT LOOPS.
That's just the way my little 'ol mind works.

Lot's of color.
A box to come 'out of'.
A couple of props.
Then I started to think about a composite image.
How's that for 'Out Of The Box'?

I set up a couple of studio lights (yes, I have studio lights).
Made some final adjustments on my new idea.
Shot a bunch of different angles.
Picked out one I liked.

And put it together using sixteen different images cut from one main image.

OUT OF THE BOX.

Allways an Allstar

2009-05-21T22:09:00.007-05:00

There was some really exciting racing at this past weekend's ALLSTAR event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Despite what you think of the outcome of each race, all three of them had their moments. Too bad I was in the wrong place for most of them.
That's just the way it goes when you're trying to cover a mile and a half of racetrack, and a special no-points shootout event from the ground by yourself.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about missing any action.
I saw plenty of action.
I just hope it transfered digitally.

The weather threatened to rain all day Friday and into Friday night.
You could tell a storm was a-brewin' as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race was getting started.

Dark clouds were all around the track.

At one point just before the race begin, a few rain drops fell, but officials were determined to get the race in.

Luckily, we got through the night without another drop falling.

And the excitement was just beginning to start.

It's been about three of four years since I've shot a race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, so I decided to play it safe during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and shoot most of it from the grass area behind the infield wall going into turn one.
From here, I can cover all of the front stretch, part of turn one, and some pit stops. Here, eventual race winner Ron Hornaday jr. gets serviced by his pit crew.

After a number of laps, I started wondering around looking for something different.
Lowe's Motor Speedway has a small hill almost dead center of the infield between turns one and two. From the top of this hill, you can follow the action around most of the track. The only place you can't see is pit road and the front stretch.

From this vantage point you have an unobstructed view of Ron Hornaday jr(33) and Kyle Busch(51) as they enter turn two.

I went back to my turn one position just in time to catch Mike Skinner(5) spin comming out of turn four.

I'm focused on Mike Skinner as he trys to get his truck under control, when I notice another truck sliding through the grass in the tri-oval. My little brain starts to thinkin' 'bout grass being thrown up in the air by the truck in the grass. Well, don't you think this would make a more dramatic image than Skinner regaining control of his truck?

As I was following the truck in the grass, I see Mike Skinner sliding by me on his side.
When I first started shooting NASCAR many, many years ago, Atlanta Motor Speedway track photographer Ted McMahan told me only to shoot wrecks if they are upside down, on fire, and the drivers tongue is hanging out.

It's pretty dang close.
I hope Ted's proud of me.
(As I was following the truck in the grass, I missed the dramatic images of Skinner in the wall as his truck is on top of another truck. I was shooting with a 400/2.8, so It may have been too close anyway).

Later in the race, the 6 truck, driven by Colin Braun, was wrecked by Kyle Busch while he was leading.

Do you remember me talking about the truck sliding through the grass?
Where do you think the grass sprigs landed?
Yep.....on pit road, all the way down by me.

Lot's of divets to replace.

And the winner of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is......Ron Hornaday jr.

Saturday's race weather was a bunch better.
Blue skies as the race started.

They had a burnout contest before the race started.
Kevin Harvick won.

But leave it to Kyle Busch to steal the show.
Here, he crashes into the columns marking the finish line of the burnout area.
I think he realized he had no chance of winning after Harvick burned the tires off of the car, so he had to do something dramatic.

He was proud of his effort, as seen here by his shit eatin' grin.

The ShowDown before the AllStar had some good racing action. Here they go four wide as they enter the tri-oval.
Sam Hornish jr would win the ShowDown and transfer to the ALLStar.

The crowd seemed impressed as the ALLStar was about to begin.

As the drivers and teams were being introduced, the Miller Lite team of Kurt Busch sprayed the crowd with what else???? Miller Lite!

This race was broke up into four segments of 50 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, and a 10 lap shootout.
I found a high vantage point from outside in the grandstands going into turn one.
This is what the start looked like as I shot from that point.

No matter where I go, my 'Inner Getty' has got to come out.

There's something about this pitstop of Denny Hamlin that I like.
Maybe it can be cropped tighter, but I think it will lose something if it is.
I think I will leave it just like this.

And for the first time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup car owner, Tony Stewart wins the 2009 ALLStar race.

And not as in the Tony Stewart tradition(he was stopped on the backstretch by NASCAR until the Victory Lane stage could be moved and set up at the start/finish line), is pit crew climbs the fence to celebrate their first victory.

Tony Stewart celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday nights race.
He looks like he's enjoying himself.
I bet the party lasted well into the night.

The Lady In Black

2009-05-13T21:38:00.008-05:00

I had the opportunity to visit with an old friend this weekend.
Someone I had not visited with in a few years, and is looking good despite her adding a few more years.
Darlington Raceway and the return of the Southern 500.
I don't get to make it back as often as I would like, and a few changes have been made since the last time I visited with her, but overall, it was a good trip.

The Lady In Black was not the only old friend I visited with.
I had a good long conversation with a friend I've lost contact with for the last couple of years.

It's good to get back to a place like Darlington Raceway and re-visit past history.

Eric McClure(24) fights to stay on the lead lap before getting passed by leader Kyle Busch(18) in Friday nights Nationwide race.

Jason Keller gets pit action from his crew during the Nationwide race.

Kenny Hendrick earns his Darlington stripe.

This boy tried to knock the wall down several times Friday night. Here is a better view of his Darlington stripe.

I was shooting from the photo tower at the turn one end of the grandstand. Joe Gibbs Racing used this position for their spotters. Here is Mike Alexander spotting for Kyle Busch. Mike was a really good race car driver until he had an accident that ended his career.

The Toyota's of Scott Lagasse jr.(11) and Kyle Busch(18).

Erik Darnell and his crew at work on his Rousch-Fenway Ford.

Late in the race, after an incident with another car, Scott Lagasse jr brings his car on pit road to work on the damage on his front end.

With two laps remaining, Kyle Busch has to give up the lead to change a flat tire.
Matt Kenseth would win the race.

Now....on to the main event.
A late start to this event, and ho-hum skies, had the sun setting on Darlington.

Max Papis(13) and Joe Nemechek(87) get tangled up early to ruin their day.

Michael Waltrip(55) slide thru the field early in the race.

I noticed from my shooting position in the grandstands, that when the drivers would back off the throttle going into turn one, the unused fuel would burn out the ends of their headers. I started trying to capture the flames from their cars as they would come by me.
Here, Joey Lagano(20) and Kevin Harvick(29) race side by side going into turn one.

Finally, some real action.
Michael Waltrip lights up the night sky as his car erupts in flames.
Too bad he is on the far end of the track from me.

I decided to shoot from this high vantage point because I wanted to capture a slow shutter speed / blurred action pit stop.
Here, the crew of Matt Kenseth works their magic on his car.
I work mine, and get a decent image like I wanted.

What would Darlington be without a typical Darlington race fan(well.....maybe not typical).
Talladega has ta-ta's......Darlington has many of these guys.
Just one of the differences I've noticed.

A rare sight at Darlington.
Three wide racing.
Very dangerous here.

I thought this was a cool image of Joey Lagano entering his pit for service.

In the later stages of the race, Mark Martin(5) lead Jimmie Johnson(48) is some close and exciting racing.

Here is a close detailed image of Carl Edwards pit crew at work

What would race coverage be without a standard image of Little E in his race car.

I did find some good race fans at Darlington. These are more typical. The other image is more of an inside joke between me and my buddies at ISC.

Another image I wanted to capture was another slow shutter speed / blurred action pit stop, this time from a low angle.
I like it. It's what I wanted. It just seemed like every single time I was in place for a pit stop, I was next to Kenseth's pit stall.
Sometimes it just works out that way.

One of the big stories of the Southern 500 was when Kyle Busch wrecked his car late in the race.
Here is his crew trying to get it ready to go back on the track.
I was scolded by J.D.Gibbs for shooting a couple of images at a low angle to show his crew members working in the wheel openings.
It seems they don't wan't anyone seeing the suspension parts and pieces.
They're very sensitive about something down there.

And finally, an image of the 2009 Southern 500 race winner Mark Martin.
You may have seen this image in Sunday's edition of USA Today.

Cool, Huh?

There Ain't No Chicken's In This Bunch

2009-05-05T22:32:00.018-05:00

That's what the Public Address Announcer said during Sunday's Honda SuperBike Classic at the Barber MotorSports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

Not only were the riders braving the wet and storming conditions that Mother Nature was throwing at them, thousands of die hard motorcycle racing fans endured the heavy rains, lightning, and even tornadoes that passed through the area on Saturday and Sunday.

All three of Sunday's events were delayed by a couple of storms that moved through, so officials had to shorten each of them to make sure they had enough daylight to get them all in.
They may have been shortened, but I think the outcome in each race would have been the same.

As the SuperSport Bikes were on the grid and ready to take the track, the track announcer came over the P.A. and said that a tornado warning had been issued for the immediate area, and one was spotted on the ground a few miles west of the track and everyone should take immediate cover.
Well....I was loading up my gear to go shoot at my truck, so I just put it all back and decided to wait it out there when it started to pop lightning all around.

I was still sitting in my truck, trying to capture a cool lightning strike, when the rains started falling harder.
I managed to get this image of a close lightning strike through my rain soaked windshield.

You can see the storm front passing just east of the track behind the scoring tower.
It rained harder than I have seen it rain in a long time.
From my truck, I couldn't see across the track, and the scoring tower and media center were just dark objects through the rain.

After the storm passed, a light rain fell for about thirty more minutes, but you could begin to see more activity in the paddock and on pit road.

The teams started to bring the bikes back out and set up their equipment in the pits again.
Fans begin to wander around and it slowly started looking like a race was going to happen.

But the track and pit road were still soaked and would need a lot of attention to get race ready.

Even as the light rains continued to fall, riders came out, anxious to check out the track conditions.

Just a light rain was falling, so that would mean rain tires would be on the bikes and riders would need to be a little more cautious.

Everywhere you went, it was hard not to step in a poodle...uhhhhh I mean puddle.

Track workers tried their best to sweep the excess water off the track.

Even the fashionable got their boots wet.

Storm clouds and rain couldn't keep these SuperSport riders from putting on a good race.

Not even a giant spider could keep these rain soaked fans from Sunday's activities.

This group of bikes speeds into turn two.

It didn't take long before my 'Inner Getty' came out.

American SuperBike riders Mat Mladin (7) and Blake Young (79) lean into turn three.

Daytona SuperBike rider Mark Crozier catches a wheel as he comes out of the hairpin.

American SuperBike rider Neil Hodgson on his Honda CBR1000RR checks out the traffic behind him.

The skies opened back up during the SuperSport race, but it looked like the riders were having fun despite the wet conditions.

These guys hardly slowed down, and put on a good race between themselves.

At least I could seek shelter if the rain got to be too much. The TV camera pointers are stuck there all day.

Russ Wilke (5) on his Suzuki GSX-R600 leads Ricky Parker,s (96)Yahama YZF-R6 through the hairpin.

The Yahama YZF-R6 and RED BULL rider Josh Herrin.

The rains fell during most of the SuperSport race on Sunday. Too bad I was limited to the west side of the track.

As the track started to dry out, the clouds were still hanging out during the Daytona SuperBike race.

There were still wet places on the track, but that didn't slow down these riders at all. This is the section of the track where you carry the most speed, and these guys never slowed for the water.

Jamie Hacking (88) on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R leads the Suzuki GSX-R600 of Martin Cardenas (36). Hacking would get passed three laps from the finish by Cardenas to finish second.

Tommy Hayden (22) and his Suzuki GSX-R1000 leads Michael Laverty (8) on his Suzuki into turn 15.

Mat Mladin (7) leads Blake Young (79). Didn't we see that earlier?

The Beull 1125R of Michael Barnes.
See......Harley's are welcome here, too!

Aaron Yates rides his Michael Jordan sponsered Suzuki GSX-R1000 ahead of Gulfport Mississippi's Josh Hayes' Yahama YZF-R1.

A cool image of race winner Mat Mladin on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
FYI.......Mladin has won ALL 7 American SuperBike events this season.

Wouldn't you know it.....when all of the races were over, the clouds broke, the skies cleared, the golden afternoon light came shining through, and all I had left to shoot was the scoring tower with the final results.

I just had to throw this one in there.
Nope......it wouldn't be one of my three wishes, either.

Well gang, please forgive me for the later than usual post.
I was staying up late last night, and had posted images down thru the scoring tower, just above the last image, when I lost all info I had spent hours working on.
Everything just went blank.
An empty page.
By the time I figured out how to recover my nights worth of blogging, autosave had saved the empty page and I lost everything I had been working on. Forever.
So I did a do-over.
Kinda.
It's close to what I had originally posted.

Enjoy.

Somedays you're the hero, Somedays you're the goat

2009-04-28T23:22:00.012-05:00

At Talladega, where the 'Big One' can happen at any time and any where, if you're lucky, and in a good location, you can get some very good images of 'The Big One'.
I spent all weekend patiently waiting.
I kept telling myself that it would happen in front of me.
It has so many times before, and it would this time, too.
I've been blessed with 'The Big One' many times.
I've got the money shot of the weekend many times.
I've been the hero many times.
This weekend, I was the Goat.

I picked up a little something extra this weekend when a friend asked me to help them out when they couldn't be at the track until Saturday.
I should have known things were going bad when I came up on this horrible accident Thursday during lunch.
Poor guy. I hope he's feeling better.

Sometimes, passing notes is still the best way to share information.
Check 'yes' or 'no'.

Later in the weekend, like Friday afternoon, Jeff Gordon is showing off his new colors. Or is it the old, throw back colors of drivers past?

Robby Gordon after Friday's practice.

I think I caught Tony in an awkward moment.

My bad luck started Friday during the ARCA race when all I could get were images of smokers.

Another smoker came by me.
It's not like they were not trying to crash in front of me, bless their little hearts, they were slippin' and a slidin' and a beatin' and a bangin' almost every lap when they came by me.
They finally made it all the way down to turn four before bumping into every thing.
My buddy, Jeff was the hero Friday.

Things started looking up on Saturday.
The 61 car spun in front of me. RIGHT in front of me.
Too close to be shooting with my 400/2.8.
Oh well, maybe next time.

Justin Allgaier (12) and Bobby Gerhart (75) spin in together.
I've changed lenses and now have my 70-200/2.8
It helps when the cars spin right in front of you, but when they are a thousand feet away, it's not much good.

Another image of Steven Wallace after he crashed RIGHT in front of me. I'm getting lots of crash images from him.
I mentioned this phenomenon to a friend last year, and he told me everyone with a camera has a picture of Steven Wallace crashing.
I'm beginning to understand what he was talking about.
We had a Talladega Virgin shooting with us Saturday and Sunday.
Now she has a shot of Mr. Wallace crashing.
Way to go, girl!

I was all over this crash that involved Matt Kenseth.
He rolled his car three of four times before he went out of sight around turn three.
I was in the tower in turn two.
3500 feet away.
I've got my 400/2.8, but I'm too far away.
Now i'm Oh for three.

Finally, Michael Waltrip spun, again RIGHT in front of me. Too close for my 400/2.8, but he's sliding fast down track.
He's also kicking up lots of dirt and smoke.
This is all I got.
Oh for four on Saturday.
Thats OK.....I can wait until Sunday.

Most of the day, Ryan Newman (33) and Dale Earnhardt jr (5) were the class of the field.

On the white flag lap, this is how they came by me.
It's hard to believe that David Regan (6) came from fourth to win the race.

Finally, Sunday got here.
The day I had been waiting for all weekend.
MY DAY!!!!
It started off good when I got a decent shot of the fly-over after the National Anthem.

Even during these bad economic times, race fans still filled the grandstands.

But you could still find empty seats.

But, Hold on to your hats, the action is just fixin' to start!

As always, when the green flag started waving, the cars all bunched up into a really tight pack. Everyone was feeling racy early on.

Then on lap six,'THE BIG ONE'!
Again, I was in turn two. This time it happened going into turn four.

When Kevin Harvick came back by me, you could tell his day was gonna be long.
Just like mine would be.

Jeff Gordons car never looked better.

After a few laps, it turned into a boring race. Lots of good cars out of it.
Everybody else was cautious.
This gentleman just couldn't stand any more of it.
Something tells me, this is how he watches the races when he is at home in his recliner. Only his wife can't change the channel.
I bet she's wishing she had the remote.

Sometimes when they would come around, you could get a shot of them bump drafting.

My day was going downhill fast.
The only action I could find was a pack of cars.

Our little corner of Talladega Super Speedway was gettin more boring.
Some folks couldn't handle it.

Then finally, something to divert my attention from a boring race.
I SMELL CHICKEN!!!!!!

Finally, some action.
Robby Gordon gets bumped and spins out about half way down the superstretch.
Too bad it's going away from me.

Even the fans on top of the Allison Grandstands found something else to keep them amused.

Then I noticed this little boy peeping through the screen over the fence.
My inner Getty was beginning to come out.
It seems to do that when I get bored.
I get looking for ways to entertain myself.

I don't think he has an inner Getty.
But I did entertain myself for just a few minutes looking for images like this.

Just another boring pack of cars.

My buddy, Dale Barbee, was bored too.
Dale shoots for NASCAR SCENE/ILLUSTRATED.
He was also the photographer that got run over by Santonio Holmes during the Pittsburgh Steelers vs San Diego Charges game back during football season.
You can watch it here. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=54462&displayPage=tab_recap&sea...

Remember Newman and Earnhardt from the Nationwide race?

And the white flag lap, Carl Edwards had everyone covered. Right?

When they came back around, Carl Edwards was nowhere to be found.
The shot of the day happened on the last lap.
Edwards was tagged from behind and was spun into the catchfence.
Mr. Keslowski got his first Sprint Cup win and Mr. Earnhardt congratulates his driver.
Nowhere but Talladega.

The final finishing order.

Did you ever wonder what a bunch of tired photographers do after a race.
They sit around and tell lies about todays events, the good and bad.
Kinda like a debriefing.
Only with cookies.

And they play with their toys.

Here, Associated Press photographer Glenn, talks about the awesome images he got of Carl Edwards as he got into the catch fence.

As we were leaving the track later Sunday afternoon, I got a shot of the Talladega start/finish line as I was crossing it in my truck.

And I also got a shot of the turn one high banks as I was exiting the track.
WOOOoooo00000ooooo!!!!!!

And the sun finally set on another fun, but this time, mostly unprofitable, Talladega weekend.

Next week, I'll be posting images from the Honda SuperBike Race at Barber MotorSports Park.

See you then!

A New Sheriff In Town?

2009-04-08T21:25:00.008-05:00

Well, not really........
It's just been so long since this familiar face has made the trip to Victory Lane that everyone, including Jeff, forgot what it was like.
But the old dog did learn a new trick during his absence.
After doing a burnout at the Start/Finish Line after he won the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff rode around the track with the checkered flag.
During the post race interview, Jeff admitted that he had not done that since his days when he was racing quarter midgets when he was 8 years old.

I wasn't sure he could win this one. He seemed to be good on restarts and short runs, but the Rousch cars of Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were really good on long runs.

Tony Stewart showed some muscle on long runs, also.

But a caution with about 25 laps to go and some bad pit luck and strategy by the Rousch cars kind of sealed the deal for Gordon.

Sometimes you gotta gamble. When it works, you look like a hero, and if it don't.....well, I guess you're a goat.
The Rousch cars never could make up the deficit.

After a while, especially during a really boring race, I get looking for something different. Something to entertain my brain. Something you don't normally see.

Joey 'Sliced Bread' Logano pits during the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Just another different look to entertain my brain.

I got caught at the head of pit road with my 400/2.8 when Kyle Busch made a pit stop. So, when life deals you lemons, you gotta make lemonade. Right?
This shot worked as a candid portrait for the front tire changer.

My inner Getty is trying to escape.

Just another different look down pit road.

The pit crew of Denny Hamlin services his car during the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

I can't help it.......I need to be exorcised of my inner Getty!!!!!!!

You just have to look around. Artwork is everywhere

I want to know, what the hell is Tucan Sam doing on pit road.

During a walkthrough of the garage area on Saturday, I caught Matt Kenseth and his crew chief Drew Blickensdorfer (or something like that) discussing shocks and springs. I know, because I watched them change both sides.

Joey Logano and his dad share a smile before little Joey goes off to play with the big boys.

Elliot Sadler gave me a moment for this quick portrait.

Did you ever wonder what happens to all of the lugnuts that comes out of the air gun after a team changes tires during a race?

During the Victory Lane celebration with Jeff Gordon, they shot confetti up in the air. At Texas, the confetti is shaped like the state of Texas. Yep, they're proud of their state.

Even the pavers in Victory Lane and throughout the Media Center is shaped like the state of Texas (and interlocks).

As we were driving through Fort Worth, we saw this billboard advertising the Texas Lottery..........9 Dollars?

On Friday night, we ate at a really cool steak house. Great food and decorated smartly. All kinds of eclectic signs, decorations, and chickens.

Yep....I said chickens. After they had visited the local taxidermist.

SaltGrass Steak House.
If you're ever in this part of Texas, or if you ever get a chance to have dinner at one, you won't regret it.
Best steak I've had in a very long time.

And what would a Texas bar be without a cowboy?
We found this one in the Stockyard district in Fort Worth at the Internationally known Cattleman's Steak House.

This place had a couple hour wait, so we ate in the bar.

We should have known what we were getting in to when the waitress walked up to the bar.

But we were distracted by the sights.

Don't waste you hard earned money on this place.
I've had better steaks at buffett's.
This place was the biggest disappointment of the trip. And costliest.

Springtime in Alabama

2009-03-24T21:06:00.004-05:00

Well, It's springtime in Alabama, when a young mans thoughts turn to.....
IRL testing at Barber MotorSports Park.
Yep, the whole crew was here Friday thru Monday.
Lot's of track time to get familiar with the hills, valleys, twist, and turns.

They even had an Indian Chief watching over them from one of the hill sides.

Hideki Mutoh is being chased down by a girl. Not just any girl. It's Danica Patrick.

Dario Franchitti accellerates downhill in the long, sweeping turn three as the cherry blossoms frame his car.

Robert Doornbos enters turn two early in the first practice session on Sunday morning.

Scott Dixon is framed by our friend, the Indian Chief, and a pine sapling.

Yeah, I know.......you only want to see Danica.
OK!!!!!

And again.

And Ed Carpenter closes out this latest post.

NASCAR in Atlanta two weekends ago.
NHRA in Gainseville last weekend.
IRL at Barber this weekend.

I'm just glad I got to spend some time at home this weekend.
Don't get me wrong. I love shooting all types of motorsports, but sometimes you just gotta have time to chill at home.

I've got plenty scheduled for the month of April, and I'm trying to schedule the months of May and June.

The upcoming months should have lots of adventures ahead for me.
I can't wait.

Full Throttle Ahead

2009-03-17T20:53:00.010-05:00

I had a new adventure over the weekend.
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing at the 2009 A C Delco GatorNationals in Gainesville Florida.
And I've got the tan to prove it.

Last weekend, I was shooting at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is billed as NASCAR's fastest track.
OK, OK......I know that Talladega is the fastest closed course superspeedway in the world, and I'm not gonna argue the point, 'specially since I live in the shadows of the speedway, but NASCAR has choked the speed down way too much at Talladega and Daytona.
So that makes Atlanta the fastest(unrestricted) speedway on the NASCAR circuit.

This weekend I was shooting at the NHRA's fastest track.
Many of drag racings milestone barriers were broken here.
The first 275 mph, the first 300 mph, the first sub-seven second run.
You get my drift?

These boys and girls are fast.
And unrestricted.
That's what makes NHRA drag racing so exciting.

Pure speed.
Run what you brung.
Last man(or woman) standing wins.

Any time you're around the eye burning, lung filling, suffocating smell of nitro methane, you know were gonna go fast.
Just keep your eyes on these ground pounding, heart stopping, ear splitting nitro cars.......if you can.

I just found out Wednesday that I would be shooting this event.
The photo editor of one of the publications I shoot for called me and asked if I was interested.

DUH!!!!!

You know how screwed up things can get when you try to do something at the last minute?

Yep......I thought I had everything under control, too. Or maybe the feeling that something ain't right carried over from last week at Atlanta(see the previous post).
OK....I keep all my photo gear together.
2 bodies, 400/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 35-350/4.5-5.6, wide angle, I charged my batteried Thursday night, I've got my Think Tank belt system, my scanner and noise reduction headset, assortment of battery chargers, laptop, card reader and cords for transmitting images.
I've got my bags packed and ready to leave at 3:00 am Saturday morning for the 5 1/2 hour drive to Gainesville, Florida.
It;s about 6:00 am Saturday morning, and somewhere south of Macon Georgia,
SHIT......Sonofab@*ch!!!!!!!
I've left every one of my CF cards at home laying in the desk beside my computer.
Aaarrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Nothing to do now but find somewhere in Gainesville to buy another card. I didn't have one budgeted in this trip. Thank God for my Best Buy card. I got a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III for $39.99.

Now i'm running about an hour late when I get to the track. I find the credential office, tell the lady my name and the orginization I'm working for, she checks my ID, and confirms that I have two tickets for this weekends event.
Wait...wait...wait.......
I should have full credentials, not just a couple of tickets.
No......nothing under my publications name, just a couple of tickets left for me by Funny Car driver Ron Capps.
?????????????????
Something ain't right. It's a carry over from Atlanta.
After a couple of phone calls to the head NHRA guy, it seems there were 2 Greg McWilliams there this weekend.
I never did get to meet my clone.

After securing my credentials and parking pass, I pulled down to media parking and found a good, close parking spot. When I looked up, the parking attendent, the one I passed to get into the media parking area, the one that waved me thru, came running up to my truck and told me I couldn't park there. I could get towed, I needed to find another place to park.
He said I didn't have a yellow parking pass hanging from my mirror. It should say 2009 GatorNationals-Media Parking.
Thats funny, I've got one just like he described stuck to the inside of my windshield.
I guess he was standing too close to see it. Dumbass.

Anyway......step back upon the curb and enjoy the parade of images.

I told you these cars were fast.
Folks, thats 311.77 mph.
At the one thousand foot mark.

And the economy didn't hold back this record crowd for the GatorNationals.

With the temperatures in the upper 80's, you had to find a way to keep the sun off of your back.

I was shooting down close Saturday, when one car broke loose and lost control.
See the tire tracks about 2 foot from the wall.
About six or eight photographers were standing against the wall, including me. I was focused on the car in the opposite lane and didn't see how close he came by, at this point, he's moving really fast.

When I turned to see what was going on, he was crossing the double yellow line.
Kinda reminds you of NASCAR, don't it?

And you know, you have to clean up after you make a mess.

I also made more new friends this weekend.
I borrowed the top of someones motorhome to shoot top end from.
It was in a great spot.
Just past the thousand foot mark. Maybe by 75 or 80 feet.
They've had this spot for years.
Maybe I'll see them again if I can get back down there.

As I was leaving the track after the finals on Sunday, I was walking back to my truck and passed a group of race fans who offered me food.
They had lots of burgers, bratwurst, all kinds of fixins', cookies, rice krispy treats.
I can't pass up free food, 'specially when I'm hungry and tired.
They're my new friends, also.
Thanks guys.

One last thing before I go......
When I was heading back up to the media center after the trophy presentation, Funny Car driver Bob Tasca, who had just won his first professional race, got on the elevator with me for the ride to the third floor.
He was standing beside me, holding his Wally(Get your mind out of the gutter. It's the NHRA's winners trophy, named after NHRA founder Wally Parks).
He was holding it so tight, his knuckles had turned white.
I asked him if this was the only way he could get a 'White Knuckle Weekend'?

OK....I guess you had to be there.

Later dudes and dudettes!

A Busch, a Miller Lite, and a Bugaboo

2009-03-10T21:13:00.006-05:00

Well, it was a long, hard, and kinda weird ending to this past weekend.
The Miller Lite Dodge of Kurt Busch dominated the race.
Dominated!
He was in a class by himself.
I'm glad the driver that won appreciates winning.
Some of them have won so much recently, they don't seem to appreciate it.
Or maybe they expect it.
I'm just glad it was someone different.

At the beginning of the day Sunday, it was just a pack of cars riding around. I think they were still a little skiddish about the tire situation that happened last year.
Tires were still in question, but this time they were so hard, the cars skated around like they were on ice.
I was shooting from the roof of the tower at the end of the backstretch, and could read the numbers on lots of cars as they came sliding around turn two.

And it's not very healthy to come out of turn two three wide.

It was so boring for the first half of the race that I begin to shoot some wide angle stuff.
I thought the blue sky and the big ol white fluffy clouds looked good.
I just wish the grandstands had more racefans in them.

Finally, going into turn four, Bobby LaBonte spins.

I watched Sam Hornish jr. get out of shape most of the first half of the race.
I could read his number almost every time he came out of turn two.
He was in turn one when his right rear tire blew.
This is whats left of his car when he came by me.

Then in turn two, pole winner Mark Martin explodes a tire. That was the end of his day.

When I see a group of cars racing hard into and out of turn four, I try to follow the action around the track just in case something happens.
Sometimes you get lucky.
Here Greg Biffle gets tagged and spins out. In the frame before this one, he is airborne, but he is also hidden behind the Sunoco fuel sign.

Then the engines begin to explode. David Reutimann is dropping an oil and water mixture on the track from his exhaust. When oil and water mix inside an engine block, the churning of the crankshaft makes a foamy gray mixture.
It's not good when hot, oily foam and slick tires meet.

Then the 20 car of Joey Lagano starts to smoke.
He was in the way most of the day and the other drivers kept hitting him from behind. I saw him get booted up the track numerous times.
I think someone got into the back of him and caused a tire rub.
He'll have to put up with a lot more of this until he gains more experience.
It may be a long time. He ain't ready.

Like I said earlier, Kurt Busch won.
I'm glad.
So is his little bro, Kyle.
Here, Kyle congratulates his big brother.

As I said at the top of this post, I like to see someone win that appreciates winning.
Kurt drove around the track in reverse with the checkered flag flying out the window.

What did a Bugaboo have to do with this post?
After every Saturday race in Atlanta, me and Skip go eat at Bugaboo Creek Steak House in Fayetteville.
You can find us sitting in the bar(we get seated faster).
We usually hang out and shoot the shit with the Petty bunch. No, not Richard and Kyle, but Robby Loomis and his posse'.
They didn't show this time.
Oh well.....

Gotta have red meat.

Skip thought i've gone crazy since i've got a new little point and shoot.
Maybe I was a little annoying.

AAaaahhhhhh..........
Life on the road as a sports photographer.
It's kinda neat until you get back to your room.
Download images, do any corrections that are needed, burn disks, do whats necessary.
It's not all glamour.

Something don't seem right......

2009-03-07T21:42:00.006-06:00

Everybody feels it.
Maybe the world has tilted off its axis.
Maybe time changed last week instead of this weekend and nobody notified us.
Something ain't right.
Nobody can explain it.
It just does not seem like race week in Atlanta.
It's not 30 degrees with a thirty mile an hour wind blowin in your face.
It's not raining.
In fact, it was 76 degrees at the end of today's truck race with only a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.
To make matters worse, the fastest truck didn't win.

It was just a boring race.
Very little action.
A couple of phantom cautions.
And not enough race fans to keep me entertained.

Even the stoopid duck got bored and left the premises.

The Jeff Gordon bus looked a little bored, too.

This early model Dale Earnhardt Wrangler bus was parked directly in front of the Jeff Gordon bus, and it seemed that they didn't even notice each other.

Finally, things started looking up.......get it? Looking up. As up in the sky where the airplanes are pulling the banners. This one got my attention. After a short discussion, we decided that the Cheetah Lounge(a local strip club....er gentleman's club) would only except ticket stubs and not race credentials.

Finally a real caution happened when Jack Rousch driver Colin Braun turned ex motocross/supercross superstar turned truck driver Ricky Carmichael. When he spun, he was collected by Dennis Setzer who got the worse end of the deal. Everyone else continued to race.

I've always hated to see some tow-up race cars, but it's a sure fire way to make money at a boring race. Here Colin Braun hits hard into the wall on the backstretch.

After a hard hit, Colin Braun is helped from his truck by track safety personel.

This is a close-up of Colin Braun's truck as it was towed by the tower where I was shooting today's race.

And everyone knows that you have to clean up after the party's over.

See.........not much happened today because something ain't right.
I can't put my thumb on it, and it could be the sum of a lot of little things.
I just hope it don't snow on Labor Day weekend when we get back here for the next race.

The old guy can still do it

2009-03-06T22:27:00.006-06:00

Oh yeah......it's been a while since my last post and i've been looking forward to this weekend for a while.
It's NASCAR.
It's Atlanta.
And it's not freezing ass cold.
And it's not raining.
Kinda odd for race weekend in Hot-Lanta.
I wonder what the next race on Labor Day weekend will be like?
The truck race is tomorrow, so they had Cup qualifying tonight.
I wanted to try something different, so I found a place in the infield that would possibly do what I envisioned(see, even a good ol Munford boy can use those $10 words).
It kinda worked.
Or as our photo editor would say.....'Getty shit'.

Super rookie Joey Lagano races down the front stretch on one of his qualifying laps.

Kurt Busch drives his car across the finish line to qualify on the outside of the front row.

One of my favorite images from tonights Sprint Cup qualifying. Next time i'll try harder to get the horizons level.

Same thang with this one.......even Smoke in the background can't make this one look good.

I made new friends tonight.......this bunch is from Knoxville and was watching qualifying on TV. I shot everything tonight from the deck of the Oreo Bus. Russell, the Oreo Bus owner, invited me up to the deck as I was walking by, looking for an elevated place to shoot.

They seemed to be having a good time, but promised me they would keep it quite and turn in early. I failed to ask if it was early tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Good images were happening everywhere, not just on the Oreo Bus.

Oh.......the old guy I was talking about.......No other than Mark Martin.
Just because he is over 50, like some of us, don't mean he is slowing down.
It's his first pole for his new Hendrick team.
I bet it's not his last.......

Be Careful Who You Trust

2009-02-17T21:02:00.003-06:00

You just can't trust anyone anymore!
No matter where you go, or what you do.
People we were taught to trust as we were growing up.
Nurses!!!!!!
You can't trust 'em no futher than you can throw 'um!

What am I getting at?

I've been having some stomach problems, lately.
Nothing that seems serious, just something ain't right.
I think its because of the aspirin that I have to take once a day.
I think its irritating my stomach a little.
I had a check-up with my cardiologist a couple of weeks ago and mentioned to him how my stomach was acting.
He immediately set me up with an appointment to see another doctor that knew more about tummy's than he does.
This morning, I had a date with a flashlight.
And a small video camera.
He shoved it down my throat.
I had an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy.
Or EGD for short.

What's this got to do with not being able to trust a nurse?

Dr. Shovethelightdownmythroat has a great supporting crew of nurses.
Each one of them has many years experience of being a nurse.
In fact, my wife trained a couple of them, and every one of them worked for her, one of them up until a few weeks ago.

That's where the trouble comes in.
I've personally known each and every one of them since they started work at this hospital.
Personally!!!!

They are very professional, and I was just one of thirty to forty cases they worked on today.

But I'm the one that got special treatment while I was 'Out like a light'.

After my procedure, even tho I was still somewhat groggy, I found this stuck to the rails of my hospital bed.
Now, when you go in for a minor tune-up or something, you ain't 'specting no surprises.
Medically, I didn't get suprised.
It's the things they do to you, to entertain themselves, while you are knocked out.
I bet i'm the only patient to get one of these.

After a quick check, I found this tatoo on the cheek of my ass.

Git R Done!

If you can't trust a nurse, and your friends, who can you trust?

Oh, and what did Dr. Shovethelightdownmythroat find?
Just a little irritation. Nothing that a spoonful of Mylanta can't cure.

Are You A Slave To Your Equipment?

2009-02-03T23:22:00.007-06:00

I've been thinking about that question since the beginning of the weekend.
It's been stuck inside my empty ol' noggin bouncing 'round like that old Atari game 'PONG'.
I heard this question Friday night as I was bored and sitting at home with the missus. I was looking through our assortment of DVD's to find a movie to pass the time, when I came across a DVD of PINK FLOYD - Live At Pompeii.

Now , I've always liked good music of any kind, and i've always been partial to classic rock, so I thought 'Why not'?
From the very beginning of the DVD, these guys didn't hold anything back. And they know how to get the sounds they wanted using the equipment available. You just have to listen to their music to hear how tight and creative they were.
But if you really want to know how far 'out there' they can get, find a copy of this DVD and watch it for yourself.

It's not all music. There are some segments that are broken up into interviews, recording sessions, and various behind the scene footage.
During one short clip, the interviewer ask David Gilmour what creative forces he used to come up with the sound and music that he was looking for.

Gilmour smiled and said 'You can't be a slave to your equipment'.

WOW!!! - It hit me!
I'm a slave to my equipment.

Or maybe not my equipment, but my thought process.

You see......I shoot everything on manual. I rarely use any automatic functions on my cameras. Automatic is the devil.
I know of a man who calls himself a professional, and even teaches some college photography courses, who shoots his cameras on Program mode.
To me.....that's just plain lazy.
And almost blasphemous.
I like to have more control over my images than that.

But then, most of the publications, organizations, people that I shoot for, only want the 'SAFE SHOT'.
OK...OK... I get that part(you know, correct shutterspeed,correct aperture, tack sharp, centered in the frame, mostly boring shot).---you can exchange the O for an I....same thang!!!!!

But what do you do when you're stuck down in turn four?
Your job is to get a good image of the wreck, when everyone's favorite driver comes by you on fire, upside down, his tongue flappin in the wind, and his eyes closed.
I've got that many times.

But what do you do when you're standing there, cocked and ready to fire, and nobody gets out of line, lap after lap after lap after lap after lap after......

Me?
I get bored shitless.
My mind get wandering.
I get playing with slow shutterspeeds and increased depth of fields, and short lens, tilted frames and.....OH SHIT!!!!!
Tony Stewart comes flying by you doing somersaults!
You position his car perfectly in the middle of the frame, squeeze the trigger,
And you nail it!!!!!
At 1/30 sec.
With a wide angle lens.
I know from experience.
This happened to me a few years back.

Or your shooting stock at a major College Football Bowl Game, both teams are in the middle of the field and you know neither one of them can move the ball, and you start dragging the shutter, 1/20 sec at F32.
Cool images. Nice blurs.
Sharp edges on the helmets and numbers.
The guy standing next to you looks over your shoulder while you're chimping.
He's impressed, and takes a few shots just like yours.

Do you possibly waste yours and a photo editors time with abstract images during Bowl season?
I didn't send them to my wire service.
I also didn't know at that time, that the guy looking over my shoulder submitted images to the same wire service that I did.
I figures that out months later, when he thanked me for the idea and told me he had made a couple hundred bucks off of the blurred images.

You just never know.

You cannot be a slave to your thoughts or equipment.

Experiment.
It's only pixels.
Waste as many as you need to, to get the shot right.

Thinks outside the box.
Find a different angle.
Know how to use your camera, don't let your camera use you.
Take it off the automatic functions and really get to know it.
Break the rules!!!!!

Don't shoot the same thing as everyone else.
Sometimes you have to. When I shoot for the Associated Press, I'm constantly being told 'No Getty Shit'.

But with a couple of publications that I shoot for, and my new wire service, they welcome anything different.

Play with your camera settings, get your flash off camera, do something different.
Don't be a slave to your equipment!

Shout Bamalama

2009-01-27T20:41:00.004-06:00

I have been looking through some old slides that I've got, and found some of what has to be my very best and favorite Rock and Roll Band of all time.....WET WILLIE.
Who is 'Wet Willie', you say?
They were a Southern Rock / Funk / Blues band out of Mobile, Alabama. They later moved to Macon, Georgia, when they signed on with Capricorn Records.
This is lead singer Jimmie Hall blowing on one of his many harmonica's.
He's still around.
Playing harmonica for lot's of big name acts.
Me?????
I just wanted to update my blog again before the months over.
I'm not shooting much. It's kind of a slow time for me right now.
Hopefully, I'll be shooting a bunch of races this spring and summer, along with some other events.
But right now, I'm just looking through my 'Mexican Suitcase'.

I'm not sure who these two guys are. Me thinks the one on the right, his last name is Montgomery. Me thinks.
I've slept a lot since these images were taken.
In December 1979.
At a show in Cedertown, Georgia.
This band line-up was after some of the original members left.
The members as I can remember them at this show.....
Lead vocals, harmonica, saxophone.......Jimmie Hall.
Bass guitar, back-up vocals.........Jack Hall.
Keyboards, back-up vocals........Michael Duke.
Drums........T. K. Lively.
I don't remember who the two guitarist are.

Another image of Jimmie Hall.
I used to carry my camera to just about every show I went to.
Back in the day, nobody cared if you had a camera at a concert.
I've seen these guys, I bet, twenty times in my lifetime.
If they ever get back together again, and I'm around to hear about it. I'll see them again.
I've got lots of memories of WET WILLIE stored in my little ol noggin.

An Encore??????
What better way to end this post of a Rock and Roll Band than an encore image.
And what the hell is 'Shout Bamalama'?
It's an Otis Redding song that Wet Willie covered.
About stealing chickens in Alabama.

SHOUT BAMALAMA!!!!!!!!!!!

Ice Bowl.... (or Mud Bowl)

2009-01-05T20:45:00.005-06:00

I spent most of this weekend shooting the 14th Annual Talladega Short Track Ice Bowl.
Except this year, it resembled a Mud Bowl, with all of the rain that we've had in the first week of January.
I didn't want to wear my good boots out there because of the trouble cleaning them up before I go back to work would have been(OK.....I'm a little lazy when it comes to things like that).
So instead, I ruined a good pair of Asics running shoes.
And possibly a good pair of Levi's.
But I was better off than others.

Just check out the mud in the staging area.

More mud at the dirt track.

I think mud tires woulda been better in this slop.

You never know who comes along for the ride.

I would try to scrape mud off of my shoes, and this crew member was trying to scrape mud off of his drivers tires.

"Ya'll watch this mud puddle right here, now".

Mud stalagtites or dingleberries hanging from a damaged cowling on the front of this racecar.

You had to work on your racecar in these conditions, so you might as well suck it up, get muddy, and not worry about it.

OK......everythings groovy.....boogity, boogity, boogity.....let's go racin boys!

OK.....I appologize. Too much bullshit. I'll have to do better. Maybe I can make that one of my New Years Resolutions.
But I do have to admit, I love any kind of motorsports. Always have.
And I love to photograph motorsports.
And I learned to shoot pictures right here at good ol Talladega Short Track.
I've been shooting here since the mid seventies.
Back when I helped my best friend with his racecar win the track championship.
That's thirty plus years ago!!!!!
And I have to say, this is my favorite angle at this track.
And I've never seen anyone else shoot from here.

Over the years, as you can tell, no matter where I shoot a race, that 'Getty Shit' just seems to come out.
Just a trick I learned for shooting in low light.
There again, no one here does anything like that.

A local boy and past track champion and past Dale Earnhardt protoge, James Cline.

One of the photographers covering the race(there were over 400 cars from over 20 states at this event).
He just stands around while cars spin out all around him.
Is it any wonder all of his images look just alike?
Why doesn't he waste a bunch of pixels and start experimenting with shutter speeds and apertures?

I thought the rooster tail look cool.......

And the winner is???????

I don't know. I had to leave during the middle of the day for some quality family time.
I got back at the track with less that 15 laps left in the main event.
Sorry.....didn't catch the winners name, but he was in car number 53. But I did get some good stuff of him.
Maybe the next time I go dirt racin', I'll pay more attention to the winners name.
So now, I'm all fired up to shoot the big boys when their season starts.

I can't wait........

What's in your wallet?

2009-01-02T23:07:00.003-06:00

Well, it's bowl season again, and I spent New Years Day in Orlando Florida shooting the Capital One Bowl.
It has to be my favorite non-BCS bowl.

This years match-up was the Georgia Bulldogs and the Michigan State Spartans.
I think this is my favorite image from the game.
I love the low angle and how Jevan Ringer is parallel to the playing field.

This game featured possibly the nations two best runningbacks.
Knowshon Moreno from Georgia, and this guy, Jevan Ringer from Michigan State.

Michigan State quarterback Brian Hoyer passes from the pocket.....

If you remember from my post earlier this football season, this seems to be a standard shot for me this football season, so what better way to close out a successful season shooting football. Just like I started it.

I'm kinda glad football's over for this year.
I'm tired.
My bones hurt, and I'm tired.

Now I'm planning my NASCAR season.
I'm beginning to feel energized.........