Follow Me On My Photography Adventures
It seems the only time I pick up my camera anymore is to help the local South Dade News Leader cover the NASCAR races at Homestead Miami Speedway. This years race experience was still overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic resulting in lower crowds, less pre race pomp and circumstance and an overall subdued feeling. Despite this, it was still an enjoyable experience and I was able to capture some good images for the paper.
This years NASCAR race had a different feel with the many COVID 19 protocols in place. Gone were the fan experiences and driver interactions replaced instead by social distancing. Also, only a limited number of fans were allowed to attend making for nearly empty grandstands and less overall excitement. Despite these restrictions the racing was just as good.
I made some time to help out the local newspaper and worked the Sunday NASCAR Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway again this year. I always like getting into the pits and watching the crews tinker with the cars and the fun and excitement that always accompanies the championship race day. This year was another great race full of excitement in front of a sold out crowd. I was able to capture some good shots of the four (4) race car drivers vying for the Championship and made the front page of the newspaper.
I missed last years NASCAR Championship race at Homestead Miami Speedway due to being out of town and spending time with family. This year however, the local newspaper asked if I would be willing to help them out again and capture some images of the race. I of course agreed and dusted off my camera for a fun filled weekend.
I got some great images this year, especially of retiring driver Matt Kenseth during a pit stop with the sun setting through the grandstands. I forgot how much fun shooting a racing event can be. I had gotten so used to going that I took the experience for granted until I took a year off from the event. I will likely go again next year if life allows me time.
I had the opportunity once again to do some freelance work for the local newspaper and photograph the 2016 NASCAR Championship race at Homestead Miami Speedway. This year proved to be more exciting than last year. I also managed to capture a signature sunset shot with sunburst under the sky boxes over turn 1. The image also captured the last lap led by Jeff Gordon prior to his retirement.
The 2014 Ford 400 Sprint Cup Championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway was one the of the best races I have witnessed over the last 10 years at the track. There was a lot of excitement and electricity going into the final race this year and it did not disappoint. This was also the first year I was able to use my new Canon 5D Mark III camera to shoot motorsports. Compared to my old T3i it was like night and day. The autofocus was much faster and therefore easier to track the cars as they flew by at 200 mph. Also, the ability to shoot at higher ISO’s without photo degradation was also much nicer. Last year the highest I would dare shoot was 1600, this year many of my shots were 4000 and looked cleaner than last years shot at 1600. Here a few photos I captured at this years event.
A few photos from the 2014 Homestead-Miami Speedway Truck Championship race a few weeks ago.
I brought my camera to this years 4th of July celebration of Homestead Miami Speedway in hopes of finding time to photograph the fireworks display. I have brought my camera the last 3 years but have yet to find time to use it. One downfall of being an elected official on the 4th of July is that you always end up being part of the programming. The last few years the program has occurred right before the fireworks have started leaving me no time to grab my camera and tripod and get to a good vantage point.
This year however the program concluded early enough to head outside and set up my camera to watch the show. This years fireworks were great and the City of Homestead Parks and Rec Staff did not disappoint. It took me a little while to get my settings right, and in the end I still did not figure out exactly the best method to capture the explosions, but still managed to get a few keepers.
My biggest problem was that I was so close to the fireworks it was hard to set my aperture and shutter speed correctly so as not to get blowouts to frequently. This was especially true during the grand finally in which I did not successfully capture a single usable shot. I will research the techniques better next year before trying it again.
A few shots I got of the drivers at the Ford 400 Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. While I was shooting the practice on Friday I was able to get a few shots of the drivers getting into or out of there cars.
Click on thumbnail for larger image.
Finally got a chance to pick up my camera and do some photography after an almost 6 month hiatus. Took the opportunity to head out to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the NASCAR Championship races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I got a few good shots of the Friday night truck race and one or two of the Nationwide series race. Unfortunately, I had other commitments on Sunday and although I was able to watch the race could not sneak away to capture any images. This was also my first time shooting a night race.
For the night time shots I used an ISO of 1600. My goal was to keep my shutter speed around 1/125 to 1/160 of a second in order to show the movement of the cars around the track. I used the 70-200 IS II with a 1.4x iii teleconverter.
Click on the Thumbnail for the full size image.
