James Hylton Relaxing Before the Race

Yesterday I covered the Herr’s Chase to Taste 200 at Winchester Speedway. I really enjoy covering ARCA races because everyone involved is so nice. One of those guys is James Hylton. James has been involved with racing since the 50’s, and he still is today. He has made the transition from owner/driver to just the owner of his car. He really is a cool guy to talk to because of the span of history that he covers. While I was making some photos of the pre race ceremony I noticed James just leaning against the entry gate to the track. I went over and made a quick portrait of him. To me his relaxation looked like a pose. I guess after so many years being in the public eye you even relax posed. To me this portrait is what racing used to be before the sponsors really changed things. You could just be yourself without worrying about a corporate image.

Brandon Jones wins an Exciting ARCA Race

For most of the day yesterday I knew that Kenny Schrader was going to win the Herr’s Chase to Taste 200 at Winchester Speedway. Even when he was not in the lead you could tell that he had things under control. He would let the kids go out and wear down their car, and then reel them back in. With ten laps to go I was positioned near his pit to get the victory celebration. A late caution changed all of that though. A mistake in his pit cost him valuable track position at a time when you couldn’t afford to lose any. Brandon Jones and Mason Mitchell came out in the lead with just a handful of laps to go. With one lap to go Jones was right on the bumper of Mitchell, and you knew that something interesting was gong to happen. On the final lap in turn four the two made contact send Mitchell into the wall. One of my photos of the contact is above. Jones cruised to the victory with Mitchell showing him his displeasure during the cool down lap. This was the first ARCA race for Jones, and he may have made an enemy early on. The late caution did provide the shootout that racing fans love. A photographer who had a spot staked out for another photo though is not as excited.

 

Having Fun With the Rokinon 8mm lens

During the pre race ceremonies I had two cameras and lenses on me. I had the 5D Mark III with the 70-200mm lens on it. I also had my 60D with the Rokinon 8mm lens on it. The 8mm on a crop frame sensor really gives you a unique view. The fisheye look is a gimmick, but it is one that I like to play with. You can only take so many normal pictures on the day. This gives me a way to be a bit creative and try some things out. I think that I was able to make a couple of cool pictures with it. One of them is above.

Using Exposure to Tell a Story

I have really come to like the format of the Exposure website. The site really helps you tell a story in a way that is very pleasing to the eye. I have created an Exposure page for the races this past weekend here. It is a little long, but it was two full days of racing.

Bonus Video

Here is a ten minute video showing some of my shooting locations from this past weekend at Winchester.

Photo Sale!

This image and all of my others on my website here are now 50% off until Labor Day. I thought that after the long winter that we endured a photo sale was in order. If you like the photo above just click on it, and you will be taken directly to the image on SmugMug. If you just want to browse my online portfolio you can click on the link below. At the checkout enter the code ‘summer’ to get 50% off of my images.

50% Off