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Light Painting with the Twins 11-11-07 - Off Road Race 11-03-07 - Bryce Canyon 10-12-07 |
This off road race took place on 11-03-07 near Buffalo Bills Hotel Casino in Jean Nevada. Jean often hosts concerts and events as a way to get people out to the casinos and outlet mall. Jean is the first set of casinos you see if you're driving in from California. The weather forecast called for very light breezes of 14 mph or less. They were SO wrong. It was like a hurricane out there with strong sustained winds of 30-40 MPH. To make things worse the grandstands were lined up perfectly to catch every speck of dust kicked up by the racers. Yes the wind was blowing straight into the stands all day and it was cold. Despite these annoyances, I was happy with the racing and walked away with hundreds of cool images. I started out in the grandstands with everyone else but I kept noticing guys standing on the side of the track with point and shoot cameras. I could tell they weren't professional photographers but somehow they got into the roped off area. After the first few races I located the breach in security and walked in like I belonged there. I was pretty proud of myself until the first wave of trucks flew directly at me 4 feet off the ground. Having over a thousand pounds of metal whiz past my face at 90 MPH at a distance of about 3 feet had me second guessing my decision to camp out on the sidelines. Eventually somebody noticed I didn't have the right color arm band and informed me I would have to go after the next race. I was happy to oblige. |
Click each image to enlarge.
It was a bright sunny desert day so the shutter speeds were high. The sun seemed to be at the perfect angle. No matter where I pointed my lens, the contrast looked good. I positioned myself right next to a double jump. Immediately following is a long sweeping corner. Most of the track was bright but this corner was a full 1-2 stops less. Because of the fast pace of the race and varying light levels I was forced to use aperture priority. The D2X handled the situation quite well.
By accident this minor explosion was captured in a 5 frames per second series.
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I left the camera on 5 frames per second mode for most of the race. Whenever something cool happened I would keep the shutter button pressed for 5-10 shots. I knew I would need a long lens for a race like this but I also wanted to get up close and personal for some crazy action shots. I didn't even consider changing lenses out there or bringing a second camera body. Instead I brought my Nikon 18-200VR wonder lens. All images on this page were shot with the 18-200. After about 2 minutes the lens was completely covered in dust. Later the lens had big blobs of mud stuck to the front glass and everything else. I can't see any negative effects in my images can you? I didn't remove any spots from the images on this page. |
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This corner is where all of the action is. It is the first corner after the long straight away. It is also the first corner after the starting point of each race. Racers ran into each other repeatedly and flew off of the track. I believe I had the best location on the whole track yet most of the other photographers who were actually getting paid to shoot this race, were spread out all over the place. |
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This is what I had envisioned for my close up action shots. These trucks are flying by at 80-90MPH a few feet from my lens. After reviewing my first few shots I noticed that the wheels of the airborne truck framed racers on the other side of the track. My new goal was to capture more images like that. With the help of 5 frames per second it wasn't long before I had a handful of really cool images. For these images the camera was about 6 inches from the ground.
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Here is another high speed sequence of images. The black truck looked like it was going to hit me. It was about this time that I realized I might be pushing stupidity to new levels. I was standing next to a large concrete barrier but it couldn't protect me from the rocks, clumps of dirt and dust that nailed me at 70MPH. Every time a truck flew by, a large collection of nasty debris followed in its wake. I would set my shot up and then at the last second turn my head away and close my eyes. Rocks to the back of the head sounded better than rocks to the face. Ah... the lengths I go to for photography. |
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This is the last corner before the big straight. Racers slide sideways around this corner at about 70MPH. These trucks sound like nascars. This racer caught some nice air. |
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I noticed the sun reflecting off of the officials rescue trucks. I liked the way the light pierced the dusty atmosphere. I waited for the yellow truck and snapped a quick succession of 3 shots. I like the combination of yellow truck and yellow shirts along with the bright spots of light. The fact that the officials are all looking in the same direction the truck is traveling is icing on the cake. |
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II believe I captured a large collection of usable images from my day at the track. I certainly paid the price for my stupid stunts along side of the track. By the time I left, my entire body was covered in a thick layer of dirt, dust and mud. I was one solid mocha color. It took me a while to wash my camera, lens and neck strap off but once I did, they were good as new. I will never attend a race like this again on a windy day. Nor will I ever stand that close to flying vehicles without getting paid a lot of money. I hope you enjoyed reading about the successes and the pitfalls of my day at the track. |
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