A Night at the Races

I work as an EMT in a rural area. As such, I sometimes go out on standby to special events. One of the assignments that our crews go on weekly (in the warm months) is to stand by at the local NASCAR dirt racetrack. To be perfectly honest, I've never been a race fan. Growing up I'd see an occasional Sunday afternoon race on TV, but only paid full attention if there was a crash. Maybe that propensity suited me for this assignment.

To keep myself entertained during my race shifts I started bringing a camera along. This also gave me the chance to learn more and hone in my photography skills, especially working in low light and taking action photos. The best vantage point for shooting cars going up to 120 mph is the roof of the fire truck next to our ambulance. And I get to learn more about each specific driver from the firefighters, who carry an abundance of knowledge about the sport.

The track photographers shoot with DSLRs and high-powered flashes as the cars go by. My hot shoe flash isn't powerful enough to reach out very far so I've had to improvise without it. There is a delicate balance between a shutter speed quick enough to capture the cars in focus and slow enough to let in light, while still keeping ISO noise at bay. At first I was frustrated because I was getting a low percentage of good photos. The solution was a handy feature in my Canon G15: the HQ burst mode. I'd find a single car in the viewfinder and follow it while holding the shutter button down, and get up to 10 shots in the span of about a second. While not every photo turns out, this has improved my success rate enormously.

Since becoming part of the pit personnel I've gained a new appreciation for the sport, but also for the racers and race fans as people, not just a bunch of beer-drinking hillbillies as they are widely painted by more "sophisticated" people. Race fans come to see their driver win, for sure, but they also want to see a fair race and for every driver to get home safely after the dust clears. And that is where my partner and I turn on the lights and get to work.