Dale Earnhardt Jr. on pit road before qualifying, members of his team stand in front to shroud him from folks like me with cameras ruining a solo shot of him so I chose to shoot the scene as it was.
Recently I had an awesome weekend of shooting the NASCAR event in Las Vegas with Mark Rebilas and US Presswire. I have admired Mark’s work for a couple years now and he and I have shared emails back and forth and we talked about the chance to become a student/intern; because of his schedule and mine it proved to be tough to link up but while home on R&R I got the call and off to Vegas we went.
I have to admit, I was a tab bit nervous about the weekend, I hadn’t touched my camera in 4 months and since I work overseas I hadn’t shot a motorsports event since 2006 so shaking off the rust was a concern of mine and boy was I rusty. Also, being a HUGE NASCAR fan it can be tough to separate yourself from a fan having a blast and there to work the event.
We arrived at the track mid morning the first day, picked up our Media Credentials and Hot Pass then headed straight to the Media Center to get settled in, then straight to the garage and turn four to catch the cars practicing.
First things first, find Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick….. Dale Jr and the rest of the cup field was getting a practice in before qualifying so I hit up a Dale Jr shot first. Word quickly spread through the media center that Danica was scheduled to be next door giving an interview; I never had the chance to shoot in the media center like that before and I was surprised how big the room was compared to Phoenix International Raceway. I was getting some really nice light in there as well as some good facial expressions she had and got to see first hand how redundant the questions from reporters can be, it’s almost like they think fans will forget what was asked last week.
Dale Jr straps on his safety gear as he readies himself for Cup qualifying. I love his helmet and Hans device and how they are painted.
I can't remember exactly what was asked when Danica had this reaction but it was cool to see nonetheless. She is bold inside a race car and outspoken outside at times but has a shy or humbling quality about her at times if you look for it.
Back out to the race track! The thing I like about shooting motorsports is that my models are going 190+ mph so it’s a challenge to get your timing down to “pan” with the cars and get a good shot that is in focus. Below is an example of freezing the action too well and the car just looks parked; says a lot about the quality of the camera but fails in portraying the speed and fast action.
Blown shot of a fast moving car but it looks frozen, not something you want to do shooting a race event.
This shot of the #16 Greg Biffle is a tick better getting movement in the tires but not enough panning in the background. Oh yeah, it would be nice too, to get the car under the correct sign for the series... GEEZ
This shot of #28 Kenny Wallace in his Nationwide Series car, better movement and all but still not what I was looking for.
#26 Brian Keselowski and Danica Patrick on the track during practice.
#07 Danny Efland and #70 Shelby Howard dialing in their car while I dial in myself and camera.
#7 Danica Patrick, it's easy to get caught up in driver hype but it also adds to the magic when she is in Jr Motorsports car.
Cup stars head out for practice and home town boy Kyle Busch in the #18 M&M's Toyota
#33 Clint Bowyer in the RCR Cheerios Chevy, I finally got the panned motion shot i was looking for. Tires and back ground reflect high speeds as well as mask a cluttered back ground.
The heavy overcast and weather coming in posed a challenge for getting a good shot, all the natural light was hidden behind clouds for most of the day and it being practice and qualifying there wasn’t a lot of action on the track so I spent most of my time in the garage area getting shots of drivers out of their cars.
Penske driver Kurt Busch had something to smile about as he took the pole for the 2010 Shelby American Sprint Cup event.
Dale Jr. sat on the row of honor for a little bit as he turned in a solid qualifying lap. Love the helmet and gloves
Mark Martin's car gets pushed back into the garage after his qualifying attempt.
Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Reutimann
Tony Stewart wheels his car back into the garage after qualifying
Jeff Gordon waits for his turn in qualifying the #24 Pepsi Max car
Clint Bowyer watching the scoring tower before he takes a lap
Crown Royal driver Matt Kennseth gathers his thoughts alone outside the #17 Ford
Tight squeeze for the self proclaimed fat kid of NASCAR Tony Stewart as he climbs in his car for qualifying
Mark Martin appears to be giving me the evil eye just before he gives an interview to Fox and Speedway Illustarted's Dick Berggren
Former Rousch teammates Matt Kennseth and Jeff Burton wish each other luck
Paul Menard stands outside the family sponsored RCR Chevy
Jeff Burton and crew share a laugh on pit road
Kurt Busch in the media center talking about his pole run for Sunday's Shelby American.
Kevin Harvick and his crew discuss changes as fans behind them in the Neon Garage look on.
With cars coming in and out, crews running around you really have to keep a close eye on whats going on around you
Steve Addington and Kurt Busch compare notes in the garage, drivers are often seen taking notes before they climb from the car when thoughts are still fresh in their minds; then talk it over with their crew chief to convey what they felt at certain parts of the track
Danica Patrick listens intently to Tony "Pops" Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr's advice. What impressed me by watching her in the garage with the Jr Motorsports team is that she listened more than she spoke and wouldn't hide out in the hauler. She's in it to learn and not just be a pretty face.
BOOM.... Hi, I'm Kenny Wallace. This guy is one of my favorite drivers, gives you the time you want without making you feel like you're bothering him. You Da Man Kenny
Dale's crew crawl over and under his car making changes. Behind you can see fans peering through the windows in the Neon Garage.
Dale and his crew go over notes while fans behind them snap pics and shout "JUNIOR"
Ryan Newman sporting the Tornados sponsor colors, wonder if he drops by David Reutimanns to get some Tums
I struggled with myself and the settings most of the day, I ended up with a lot of blown shots and pics generally out of focus. I couldn’t find my happy place at all so I was glad to see the end of the day come so I could go back to the hotel and figure out just what the heck I was doing wrong… after looking things over I decided that trying to shoot in Aperture Priority is not something I felt comfortable with just yet and an event like this is certainly not the place to try something new and expect to get shots you know you are capable of. Aperture and Shutter priority is something I want to become proficient at instead of being in full manual mode all the time but I have a ways to go yet.
Robert Butterfield - Butterfield Photography - Sierra Vista, Arizona
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