Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Shoe mount flash? I have tried taking photos barefoot but I prefer to have my shoes mounted because you never know when you're going to step on a piece of sharp metal.

I can't believe that this "I'm better at my part time hobby than the rest of you are" thread is still going on. Seriously, I use an SB800 and it works fine at the short tracks around here but I'd probably need a Norman if I went to the big half miles more oftn. Flash photography isn't the only way to catch a photo, there's plenty of opportunities in available light.

This month's magazine shot is included in the Justin Fegers piece in Dirt Late Model and was taken (heaven forbid) using available light with a kit lens, camera mounted on a monopod.

It was an honor to have my photo of Justin used for this article. Justin, his Dad Steve, and brother Marshall along with crewman Donco are good people and their hauler is a frequent stop whenever I make it to a big Late Model race.

I hope you serious photographers know that I'm just messing with you. Even though I don't make it a goal to sell I take it pretty seriously and know that you all do as well.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog

StanM

I wanted to make it 100 posted

Brian 

"TURN AROUND; MATE !"

So Brian have you bought your new flash pack yet?

Steve

SHHH I didn't want anyone to know

Monday I go to Seattle

Brian 

"TURN AROUND; MATE !"

Steve you found your way over. How did your shots come out from Saturday? I have been doing a little reading on www.dpreview.com and seems you are not alone with that lens.

Oh and no Tulare. Open house this weekend.

Spot, that TX photographer looked me right in the eye and denied it, I should have flattened him. I also saw my stuff on mailboxes, the back of vans, wheel covers and tons of clocks as well, never got a penny from that stuff either, arghhhh.

Nice thread but Mr. Hill is taking too much of a beating for his opinions which were asked for methinks. If you don't want an honest opinion from someone else in the bizness don't ask. Take It Easy.....

My shots turned out decent.... I got what I needed... thank you for the use of the camera... My lens should be back by next week... If not I have a loaner from a friend up here who I did not know had the same lens as me...

Oh, I have been watching this thread... it has been quite amusing...

I may have to go to Tulare then.....

Mike - I have to agree. If you don't want to know what someone is thinking don't ask. And this is a pretty good thread.

Steve - Glad I could help you out. You helped me a ton from the other side of the lens over the years just glad I could give a little back. Tulare is really not that much farther for than me.

I just did some reading over there at http://www.dpreview.com/ about my lens....

hope it comes back fixed....

Now I have found out that there is a car show in Pleasenton and a swap meet.... then I could head over to Tulare.....

What ever happened to promoting the sport??? Some of us do just that.

I think what some don't realize is that there's different approaches and different levels of experience. From the fan in the top row of the stands with an old AE-1 and a zoom shooting time trials for his personal scrapbook to people making a living doing photography and graphics. Nothing short of banning cameras and making the infield off limits without press credentials is going to change that.

The fun of this sport has always been it's accessibility and fans being able to take snapshots during and after the races. Nowadays people can take a cell phone pic of their buddy getting Steve Kinser's autograph and post it on their personal blog for all the world to see. A pro photographer is probably going to look at the fuzzy under exposed image and cringe but the guys racing buddies are going to overlook the poor quality and think it's cool. I think for the availability of good quality low price digital cameras just makes the pros have to "get their elbows up" a little more.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog

Nelly and John, thank you for the concurrence......and Hill, ask anyone, I never have taken myself too seriously and don't expect anyone to take my opinions for gospel either. Apparently thou dost not receive as well as thou disheth out.

Nelly....always enjoyed looking at your stuff you had for sale when I was in Knoxville. Take it easy.....

All this guys knows is when 8x10s were 3-4-5 bucks=buying a frame around $10 to create and showcase a nice display.

Now with that size getting into the $12-$15 dollar range, I bulk buy the cheapest dollar-store frames I can get ahold cause I just can't see nearly $30 to display my photos.

Oh yeah, Sump Pump failure and subsequent damage ruined a folder of some unframed and I am calling out to those shutterbugs to dig through their 1998 archives for some the lost treasures as some loose cash can be on your way if ya can replace the following: Did I mention I am only an 8x10'er.

Dollansky in his 1X

Pittman in the family 11.

Larry Neighbors in the 29N.

Joe Gaerte in Holbrooks 8H, the victory lane pic from Battleground would be really cool.

Danny Smith in Steve Brazier's No. 21.

Not sure what else was in there, as the inks turned the prints into friggin' mush.

But help is appreciated.

I've read a bunch of stuff in this thread and I'm really not sure where to begin. With the onset of cheap equipment and the abundance of people willing to try new stuff we find a whole new slew of photographers out there. I do call them photographers, because hey, they're going out of their way to try and do something. I'll give them credit for that. The one thing that hurts all of this more than anything is the willingness to give work away. People instantly devalue their work by thinking it has no value and handing it out to anyone and everyone, just to get a pat on the back.This hurts the overall value of a lot of photographers work. With that in mind though, any photographer that has true talent, and skill, will survive, regardless of how many Jane Dick and Harrys there are out there shooting... The only photo I've "given" away was the Steve Kinser shot thats hanging in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum. Only because it was a milestone for myself, not for anyone else.

Everyone always focuses on wrong thing when it comes to photography... the equipment. The equipment doesn't mean jack... It is a tool. A photographer should be able to adjust and adapt to that tool whether it be a nice new 1DsMrkIII or a silly WallMart point and shoot. I use an older body, I use no ImageStabalization/VR anything... It's this understanding of the equipment that really helps an image come together in conjunction with how the photographer sets up the shot or captures it. I can't even begin to count how many people have seen me not blasting the cars with a huge ol' flash. It doesn't bother me. What gets to me is that a lot of these people ask that, and it's like they're offended by it, like I've just taken something very personal way from them. Especially when they ask me what im doing to capture the shots I take... I say i twist some knobs and press a button, and you know, thats all I'm doing. Granted I understand whats going on when i twist knobs and press buttons, but a lot of people don't. This hurts them more than anything. Rather than understanding what the camera is doing, they just copy settings or equipment that other people are using.

So it's not so much they are bad photographers, it's more a lack of knowledge and understanding of the basic rules of photography and the basics of the equipment or tools at hand. I can gaurentee you with time anyone can learn how to be a good photographer. People have this preconcieved notion that you wake up one morning and you're an artist, or you just have an eye for it. Yeah I have an eye for it, yes I'm an artist... No i did not wake up knowning this stuff... It's taken many years for me to get where I'm at right now, and I still have a -huge- distance to cover to reach the point where I want to be.

I'm no better than anyone else, I'm also no worse... I have a handfull of photographers I value more than a lot of other photographers. These guys and gals have a specific style that apeals to me, and from studying their work, I can figure out how certain shots are taken, or how things are composed and I can learn from it.

So many people here are soo pissed off at so and so or reason A and reason B. I'm here posting to defend the overall hobby/job/art/yadda/yadda what ever. Get out and shoot. Stop getting into pissing matches on the internet... Don't be jackasses...

Alex

www.figzphoto.com

Pretend Photographer...
www.figzphoto.com

Welcome to the Jungle Alex.

I've seen your work and watched you shoot without a flash. Tried that myself and found out that my panning motion sux. I consider your style as another method that works great for you, not right and not wrong, just another style of shooting. People laugh at me when they see me aiming between the fence weave with a monopod and not many have that style down or consider it a valid option but it's got it's time and place. Likewise all the guys standing up in turn two during hotlaps blowing them away with their Normans, just another style of shooting.

You're an artist so I'll bet you don't limit your photography to racing. Have you seen the work that Rob guy from western Minnesota does? He takes photos in the farm fields, fences, scenery, that type of thing, frames it and sells them in art galleries. Been making some money at it so he hasn't been able to shoot many races for the past year or so.

There's no right or wrong way to do this. I started so I could have something to supplement my articles in a racing paper and still mostly submit to publications. You'll never see me going from hauler to hauler with a bundle of photos like a lot of them around here. See you at the races.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog

I was going to get quality pictures from a race today at Evergreen Speedway but the 5 inches of snow has stopped me

Brian 

"TURN AROUND; MATE !"

dang Brian that sucks, we got called today too but the weather out here is damn near perfect to be racing right now....

"Just a hack with a camera" :) Yea Right!!

www.baphotos.myphotoalbum.com 

Same here right now; it's not official yet

But here is what it look like hour and half ago of my back yard

Brian 

"TURN AROUND; MATE !"

Posted By: tkaphoto on March 30 2008 at 02:00:17 AM Here is something I took at Manzy tonight. I thought it might remind some of us how difficult it used to be. I shot in B&W for the vintage race. Might bring us all back down to reality!

That's my biggest regret that I didn't start taking racing photos until I was 48 years old. If I'd have started when I was younger I might have caught a few cars this before they put the cages on.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog