I’ve reached a crossroads of sorts. I am completely burned out on racing photography and at the same time I have a renewed interest in a much broader spectrum of photography including nature photography. I’ve been doing the racing photography thing for ten years now. During that time I ran a major news web site for Micro Sprints, gave that up and concentrated on full size Sprints and Midgets and met a lot of great people along the way. I’ve also met more than my fair share of assholes, spent countless thousands of dollars on travel and new equipment to replace older equipment destroyed by the conditions you shoot under as a racing photographer and have been the scorn of many a track photographer who hated me because I offered free, large sized (some would argue “printable”) photos on the Internet.
I’m can’t begin to express how frustrated I am at this point with the entire racing photography business model which dictates that as a member of the press, you cannot sell photos. I have sold a few photos over the years but not in the last several. In all honesty, I probably made enough profit for a tank or two of gas. Nobody gets rich at this. I’m not a marketing person. It’s not my style and I never wanted to measure my success at this in terms of monetary gain. I have a well paying full time job so I don’t need to be selling racing photos. My measure of success has always been could I someday be mentioned in the same sentence with shooters like Al Consoli, Travis Branch, Dennis Krieger, Jack Kromer, Randy Jones or Dave Merritt. I think I got close but there are always some goals that remain out of reach and maybe it’s supposed to be that way.
I won’t miss the wasted dollars, the shitty hotel rooms, the pit gate sign in people who after you travel 700 miles at your own expense, seemingly “can’t find the fax” with your credentials request from the paper. I won’t miss the two hour trips home, covered in dust and sweat. I won’t miss the pissed off moods I would find myself getting into when the nights seemed to drag on forever while we watched five car heats of support divisions. I won’t miss getting hit in the face by stones and the underage drunks at the outlaw shows stumbling and falling all over my camera equipment. I won’t miss being a pawn in a petty, unnecessary political squabble between promoters and having a deliberate show being made of throwing me out of Susky several years ago.
What I really won’t miss are the people who, upon seeing a good photo, inevitably ask “what kind of a camera did you use to take that”. Doesn’t it ever occur to anybody that maybe the photographer makes even the slightest bit of difference in the equation and that maybe he/she has worked their ass off to learn things over the year to improve their art ? I seriously hope these people are not going to go buy the same clubs that Tiger Woods uses and expect to go out and match his handicap on the course at Augusta !
What I will miss are the great friendships I’ve developed over the years with some car owners, track owners, fans and a lot of really good photographers. PA has some of the best photographers in the business and there are some that are on their way up that really deserve your respect because they are going to be the next Consoli or Kromer.
I’m keeping all my gear and I do plan on shooting a few select shows here and there but weekly shooting will be a thing of the past. I thank Lenny Sammons and Earl Kraus at Area Auto Racing News for the opportunity to shoot for them for the past six years.
Jason Walls has agreed to take my place Friday with photo coverage for Daikon Children Adoption Services Night. Thanks Jason, I owe you buddy. Wednesday nigh at Kutztown will be my last night at the races for a while. I was going to go to Indiana Midget week next but have decided instead to go on a series of day hikes and some camping to do some nature photography and clear my head a bit. You know it’s funny, an eagle never has to sign a model release and you seldom have bears and raccoons jump all over your shit on racing message boards. I look forward to some peace and some exhilarating hiking and nature shots. Hell, I might even have time to find a girlfriend now, LOL.
The photo galleries will remain online for your use. Thanks for stopping by over the years and checking them out.
I won’t be giving up racing entirely. I’ll still be shooting Kutztown Fairgrounds on Wednesdays when I can. K-town is practically in my back yard so that’s a no-brainer and their show is very well run so it is a pleasure to shoot there. I’ll also be popping in on several other races every now and then to shoot those but whatever I shoot will be on my terms and it will be have to be more fun than work from now on. That’s the only way to keep my sanity or whatever little is left of it. :–)
