A day at the track

Well the past 4 days have been fun and some of today was just shooting for fun as well as work. The first three were shot with a 16-35mm f2.8. Several shots from the Tony Stewart pit stop will be in papers tomorrow as well as some from the victory celebration and Tony and crew climbing the fence. It wasn't a bad day considering I had only 4 hours of sleep between last nights Busch Series race and having to be at IMS for the 400.
Oh, the remarkable thing is that from the time I left home til I returned home it was it only 11 1/2 hours, and 2 hours of that was sitting in traffic trying to get out of the track.
JS

AWSOME PICS !!! These are sharp and the colors are great.

I wish I could have been at the track.... I am trying to get to the Detroit Indy car race....

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Originally Posted by ciddog91

AWSOME PICS !!! These are sharp and the colors are great.

I wish I could have been at the track.... I am trying to get to the Detroit Indy car race....

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Thanks, although the color is off a bit on TS's pit stop, but I think it's just the way the light is hitting it as another one of this series has the correct color on the drivers side but the hood and roof are off. I could adjust it but I'm too tired... the papers will fix it for print if they, but it takes them 2 seconds.
I liked the 16-35mm lens, and I may have to get one, although it's a bit steep at $1800. I'm just glad I didn't break this one as Canon wanted $2500 for it!

JS

John once again a super series of images. Love the perspective of the first image and the second one is a wonderful day in the life type shot. I envy your adventures around IMS but not the hours you log. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

These are awesome JS. The first photo is my fave. I love the angle with the fencing. It's like we are peeking in. Very cool indeed.

Thanks OT and JETA.
That first shot was during the final pace lap and those are not really clouds for the most part. It's actually the smoke from the sky writer and the word ALLSTATE as it disipates.
The second shot was a bit tricky to get as I had very little space to work with and get Tony's car in the shot. Also I had to watch the big screen to see when Tony was coming and then used the sound of his car to time the shot as my view was blocked and I couldn't see any more of the track than you see here.
I have some others where I played around a bit. During the flyover I knelt down behind some of the track saftey crew and shot over them and part of a bleacher to get the aircraft.

JS

Where did you shoot the fence climbing from - track-side or grandstand-side? Just curious, as I think I might have seen you on TV. My wife insists I'm the only person in the world who watches racing to see what photographers I can pick out and identify...

I was on the wall right next to the track. Wearing a dark blue hat, lt blue shirt, jeans. I almost fell off a couple times... lol Oh, I was just North of the flag stand.
There are only two of us with long hair....mine isn't white.... yet.
And your not the only who spots photogs at races on tv.

JS

some great shots JS ! I am going to michigan august 19. Will be just sitting in the stands. Hope to see another TS win so I can see the fence climb! Where are your shots of his climb in indy ? Them are the best when the whole team is on the fence !

Thanks Ben, it was fun to shoot but dang did my feet hurt after the miles I covered on that hot cement! And yeah, I got some of the fence climbing.... see below (the papers got all the good ones though.

I could go to Michigan, however since I am going to Kentucky the week before I figure I better spend one weekend at home this month. I'll be in Michigan Sunday for a funeral, then home the weekend of the 19th, then off somewhere the next weekend and the end of the month I think I am going to the US Nationals....busy busy busy.... :thumbsup:

JS

man that is great!! The big old donut on the "20" from Harvick!!!! I remember when he won it the first time 2 years ago, great to see the team on the fence! You got some SWEET shots there and the one with JR's crew pushing him down pit road:thumbsup: :D I can imagine the photos the media took from ya. :thumbsup:

I was going to get the prerace pit pass but opted not to. Just going to enjoy the race, will have the camera with and take a few shots but mostly just on vacation. It starts our week long trip - we head to dc, norfolk for the navy base, north carolina on the coast, gibbs racing, then the smokey mountains to head back towards home.

Another great batch John. Kind of funny about the time they where pushing Jr behind the wall I turned to my son and said, "I know a guy who's shooting this race I wonder if I can spot him." I didn't but I can tell you were right there. Nice going.

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Originally Posted by WsW-WYATT-EARP

man that is great!! The big old donut on the "20" from Harvick!!!! I remember when he won it the first time 2 years ago, great to see the team on the fence! You got some SWEET shots there and the one with JR's crew pushing him down pit road:thumbsup: :D I can imagine the photos the media took from ya. :thumbsup:

I was going to get the prerace pit pass but opted not to. Just going to enjoy the race, will have the camera with and take a few shots but mostly just on vacation. It starts our week long trip - we head to dc, norfolk for the navy base, north carolina on the coast, gibbs racing, then the smokey mountains to head back towards home.

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Unless you have a hot garage pass you won't get too many driver shots. During the pre race you don't get too many drivers as they kick everyone out who doesn't have hot pit passes very early. The Brickyard started at 2:20 but pre race passes had to be off pit road by 1pm. About when drivers intro's were to start.
They have different type of hot pit passes too. The media version has better access which allows you by the pit wall, while the general allows you in the walkway only.
One of the papers I shot for was Tony's "home town" Columbus In. they are owned by the same company that owns the paper I shoot for regularly and they were very happy with what they got, and are running stuff every day this week :)

JS

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Originally Posted by Old Timer

Another great batch John. Kind of funny about the time they where pushing Jr behind the wall I turned to my son and said, "I know a guy who's shooting this race I wonder if I can spot him." I didn't but I can tell you were right there. Nice going.

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My cousin said she saw me towards the end of the race, she called to see if it really was me, then the next day she called and said some of my photos were in her paper in Columbus In. She's sending them to me :) Access definately makes a difference! Glad you liked em OT.
And hopefully we can meet up in a couple weeks....ooopppssss thats a week from Saturday!

JS

The first shot is really cool.

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Originally Posted by adamsti

The first shot is really cool.

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Tim,
Not sure which one your meaning, the one of Jr being pushed or the one through the fence? The one through the fence was with a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 loaner from Canon CPS at the track. I really like it and may just make a 20x30 print to hang on the wall.:)
It does make me curious though what a fisheye would do there????????

JS

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Originally Posted by JSPhoto

Tim,
Not sure which one your meaning, the one of Jr being pushed or the one through the fence? The one through the fence was with a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 loaner from Canon CPS at the track. I really like it and may just make a 20x30 print to hang on the wall.:)
It does make me curious though what a fisheye would do there????????

JS

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The one through the fence.

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Originally Posted by adamsti

The one through the fence.

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When that section of fence was first installed they didn't have the holes to shoot through and they stood outside the fence. That didn't last long as they got a scare when an engine and transaxle wound up in the creek. The next year these holes were installed and go from the entrance of turn 1 to the South short shute. DRG shoots the 500 from atop the grandstand roof just to the right of this photo.... he can have it up there, although it is an awesome view and you can get some awesome photos up there.

JS

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Originally Posted by JSPhoto

My cousin said she saw me towards the end of the race, she called to see if it really was me, then the next day she called and said some of my photos were in her paper in Columbus In. She's sending them to me :) Access definately makes a difference! Glad you liked em OT.
And hopefully we can meet up in a couple weeks....ooopppssss thats a week from Saturday!

JS

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Still hoping that can happen. My daughter called from Nashville last night and there is a possibility she will be here with her two sons that weekend. I'll be making a flying trip through Indy this weekend. I'm leaving about noon to take my wife to a family reunion in central Ill. this weekend.

Well it's a good thing that I took that shot the way I did through the fence because that section is gone now! Due to the motorcycles they tore that whole area up and it's all gone :( Not sure what we'll end up with, time will tell and I may know by September what things will look like, or at least have an idea by then. Sad to see it go, it was a great spot to shoot from! Even t he spectator mound is gone.

JS