Outside The Box

Like most photographers I have a speciality, I shoot nightscapes. I can do portraits, headshots, prom shoots and I've even done a wedding but the night sky, especially where the ocean meets the land, that's where I live.

The problem with specializing is that it's often easy to stagnate or lose that creative spark when you are doing the same thing over and over. Sometimes you have to step outside the box and really challenge yourself with something different. Labor Day weekend means NASCAR and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and that was where I chose to shake things up for myself.

I had the opportunity to swap my 14-24mm for my 150-600mm and capture images of something moving a little faster than the stars slowly creeping across the sky. After 2 days of wearing a dual camera harness and carrying both of my bodies all around the blazing hot asphalt I ended up with over 12,000 images.

I shot race cars, drivers and crews in the daylight and under the lights in the dark. Of course I enjoyed it much more when the sun was down. It wasn't quite as hot and the cars under the lights seem to pop right out of the images. It was the exact opposite of what I usually do. Instead of having time to plan and setup and prep I had to be ready to rapid fire in a couple of seconds as drivers, celebrities and race cars swirled around.

There was something about the noise, the speed and the chaos of pit road that got me excited to just have a camera in my hand. As hot and tired as I was at the end, I was ready to get home and see my images and ready head to another track. I'm not sure if I will make it to another race this year but I know I'll be back next year.

In the meantime I'll be headed back out under the nightsky soon as well as heading up to Cataloochee Valley to photograph the elk rut. Racing photography is great but I think I'm ready to slow down again and get back to doing what I do best. Below is a gallery of images I captured Sunday night at the "Track Too Tough To Tame".

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