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My new tradition, Credential Shot

Last week I headed out to Sonoma, California and once again meet up with Mark Rebilas and capture the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Infineon Raceway.  Once again had a BLAST hanging out with Mark but more importantly learning more about Sports Shooting from one of the industry’s best, without Mark and U.S. Presswire I wouldn’t be able to obtain access to the events and venues to improve, each time out I learn more and more and I hope you (the visitor) can see the improvement….. If not… blame Mark.  (LOL, kidding)  I had a great time and got a lot of good shots, choosing the shots I wanted to post on the Blog was tough; over 30 images might be a bit much for some so I apologize ahead of time for the slow load and long post.

Day 1:  Today consisted of picking up credentials and getting a layout of the track as the Cup 1^st practice and Qualifying was on tap for the day.  WOW…. What a facility, it’s big but not as big as you would think and it has hills, lots of them.  At first look it doesn’t look that bad but you soon realize how small you compare to the landscape as you walk around.  Lugging weighty gear up and down hills make you think about a few things:

(1)  Why did I bring so much stuff and how can I trim it down?

(2)  Man, I am out of shape.

(3)  I really need to quit smoking.

As I eased myself around the track, finding the places I wanted to shoot for Sunday’s race is just as much practice for me as the teams in the race.  Here are some “Stock Photos” I shot on day one once I caught my breath.

#24 Jeff Gordon

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/400th, manual

My FAVORITE regular paint scheme in Cup this year, too bad it’s driven by #2 Kurt Busch.

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/500th, manual

#33 Clint Bowyer

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/500th, manual

My second favorite Cup driver, #42 Juan Pablo Montoya

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/500th, manual

Day 2:  Moving around is key at any venue, being stuck in the same spot is not only boring but at a place like Infineon there are so many too choose from but also factor in lighting so I went to the inside and shot some coming off of turn 3a, here I caught Travis Kvapil getting off track just a tick kicking up some dirt and right behind him, Carl Edwards getting a little loose in the crap Travis kicked up on the track.

#37 Travis Kvapil

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/7.1, 1/400th, manual

#99 Carl Edwards

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/7.1, 1/400th, manual

These were taken on the outside of the track and by taking Mark’s advice by staying on the move, sometimes it could be just a few more feet or simply turning around and get them going away, whatever the case… it works.

#18 Kyle Busch

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/400th, manual

#31 Jeff Burton and #71 Bobby Labonte (this was the last race for Bobby and team as he opted out of his contract, good move IMO.)

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Canon 5D, 100iso, f/6.3, 1/640th, manual

#48 Jimmie Johnson

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Canon 5D, 28mm, 100iso, f/4.9, 1/1000th, manual

Day 3:  I started the day high up in turn 2.  To give you an idea of how this track is layed out, T2 is some 10 stories higher than the start finish line and where the media center is; with that being said, I took the shuttle bus this time.  With the exception of the National Anthem which was sang by CNN’s very own Robin Meade and a decked out tractor flying 2 Old Glories’, I didn’t enjoy the pre-race at all, for one thing the fly by totally SUCKED… only (2) F-16s which I see every day at work but I really didn’t enjoy the pyrotechnics, it caught me off guard and I almost assumed the fetal position.  An uneventful first corner, first lap (of course I wanted massive carnage, as Mark says, “Wrecks Sell”) it did give me a clean capture of the whole field snaking uphill.

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Canon 5D, 28mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/640, manual

After 5 laps, I move down to the same vertical line but closer to the fence; see what moving just a little can do?

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/8, 1/1000th, manual

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/8, 1/1000th, manual

Shots from the outside, just down from the crest of T3a.  Mark had mentioned to me how this track will give you some car shots with clean sky backdrops, clouds would have been cool but I really like the clean blue sky too.  I found out real quick after many blown shots, you better be ready because there is no warning they are coming as the hill shields the cars noise, so you BETTER be ready.  Here is my rendition of NASCAR “whack a mole.”

#47 Marcos Ambrose who had the race won until he suffered from brain fade with a handful of laps to go, conserving fuel by shutting off the engine and coasting… then the damn car wouldn’t refire.  I blame Toyota.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/6.3, 1/4000th, manual

#5 Mark Martin

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/6.3, 1/6400th, manual

#31 Jeff Burton

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/6.3, 1/6400th, manual

#14 Tony Stewart

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 200iso, f/6.3, 1/4000th, manual

Sitting outside of T4, I shot from a photographers hole that really gets you close to the action, I mean really close but man what a RUSH.  I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see the black specks just above the rear of eventual race winner #48 Jimmie Johnson, but those are “marbles” that fly at you as they whiz by.  One of these little buggers came through the hole and popped me in the forehead, it stung like a SOB but I love it.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/2.8, 1/2500th, manual

Heart break of the day for me happened as I made my way to the roof to get the finish and burnout, which sucked too but more on that later.  While I was in the elevator heading to the roof, “the big one” happened right at the start finish line that involved several drivers ending Mark Truex’s day.  Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped and taken this shot of #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a couple other drivers, otherwise I would have gotten the crash shot of the day.

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Canon 5D, 195mm, 50iso, f/2.8, 1/2500th, manual

I was able to get some pretty good shots from the roof once I got there though, so all wasn’t totally lost.

#29 Kevin Harvick & #7 Robby Gordon

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/6.3, 1/800th, manual

#12 Brad Keselowski looking a little worse for wear.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/7.1, 1/1000th, manual

Teammates Jamie McMurray #1 and Juan Pablo Montoya #42

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/7.1, 1/1000th, manual

For the poker fans out there, here is my “3 of a kind” (9’s) Carl Edwards #99 and #9 Kasey Kahne.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/7.1, 1/800th, manual

But it was Jimmie Johnson with the winning hand in the end after he had the race handed to him when Ambrose screwed the pooch as I mentioned earlier.  Jimmie did his victory burnouts at multiple spots around the track for fans around the track and exploded his left rear tire in the process leaving all of us photographer on the roof with this….

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 50iso, f/6.3, 1/400th, manual

Heading back down the elevator I wasn’t able to get Jimmie coming out of the car and making it rain Gatorade, I did get the confetti and champagne shot.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/6.3, 1/800th, manual

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Canon 5D, 95mm, 50iso, f/5, 1/640th, manual

Now for a little voting contest, those of you that know me already knew I was going after the cars getting up on two wheels and the flames coming out of the pipes.  As a side note I was surprised at how many drivers don’t hit the curbs as in years past, so I wish there could have been more.  It used to be, everyone would hit the curbs and get the car up on two wheels trimming the corner to make the track smaller resulting in faster lap times but road course racing has changed, with how the suspension on the cars are built now days, transmissions are built now where they don’t use the clutch to shift so no more heel toe as it used to be; even the so called “road course ringers” are working anymore.  Here are my favorite 2 wheel hops from the whole weekend, so please click the vote button on your favorite 2 wheel shots.

#37 Travis Kvapil & #9 Kasey Kahne

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/6.3, 1/640th, manual

#39 Ryan Newman  (Shot in Practice)

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Canon 5D, 200mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/400th, manual

#43 AJ Almendinger

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/9, 1/500th, manual

#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/2.8, 1/4000th

#17 Matt Kenseth

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/2.8, 1/4000th, manual

#77 Sam Hornish

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/2.8, 1/2500th, manual

#39 Ryan Newman  (Shot in the Race)

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Canon 5D, 300mm, 100iso, f/2.8, 1/2500th, manual

That’s it from last weekend, I have some pictures from the NASCAR West Series race and also some city shots from San Francisco but I’ll post those later.  Once again, HUGE thanks to Mark Rebilas and U.S. Presswire for the chance to live a dream…… next time I’ll shoot in my home state of Arizona @ the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Feedbase

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Just exactly what is a Man Cave?

Most of you may have already read about one or heard about one, chances are good nowadays that you either own one yourself or know someone that has one but just exactly what is a Man Cave?

The source of all knowledge www.Wikipedia.org says…. A man cave (also sometimes mantuary) is a male sanctuary, such as a specially equipped garage, spare bedroom, media room, den, or basement.

www.dictionary.com defines man cave:  n…An area within a house frequented by a man, as a workshop, garage, basement, or den.  “He went off to his man cave to carve and stain wooden boxes.”

The earliest anyone can trace the term “Man Cave” was an article that appeared in The Toronto Star written by Joanne Lovering on March 21, 1992 called “Hers and hers closet is far more precise.”

Evidently, basements are equipped with various power tools and an assortment of sharp bits of hardware that take men hours to examine and the knowledge of which they feel women should not share in. This ensures that on those Saturday afternoons during which there is no televised football, he can slip the surly bonds of day-to-day chatter and chores and disappear into the basement with the simple statement “I have to do a few things around the house.”

He can stay submerged for hours, emerging with a satisfied look on his face (which now sports new growth), claiming success in that he “finally got the dang thing working,” when really, all he did was plug it in. But with his cave of solitude secured against wife intrusion by cold floors, musty smells and a few strategic cobwebs, he will stay down there for hours nestled in very manly magazines and open boxes of tools.

Let’s call the basement, man cave. —-Joanne Lovering

I had to dig a little to find that little history lesson but for those of you that have asked, “Why does it have to be Man Cave, what about the women?” all I can say is I suggest you talk to Joanne, she started it.

And so it shall now be known, the term “Man Cave” was coined by a woman.

So how did you end up with your Man Cave?

My Cave didn’t really start off as one, what I mean is mine just sort of happened.  My wife and I had a space in the house that really we didn’t have a plan for.  It was a catch all storage area for construction materials we bought as we remodeled the house room by room.  I also had a growing collection of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. memorabilia and she actually had the idea of turning it into a room so I could display my collection; to say that I am an Earnhardt fan is a huge understatement.  I guess she thought it was better than my idea of using the entire house and believe me, that’s not a stretch form the truth, I not only have enough to fill a house but the thought did cross my mind.  Now that I think about it, she out smarted me since I got so excited about remodeling that room it motivated me to finish the rest of the house so I could start on it.  Women are devious little creatures sometimes.

The space is an addition to the main part of the house and constructed of brick, so that helped by being solid, sound deadening and a decent insulation factor.  First thing was to rip out the Brady Bunch, 1970′s shag carpet and paneling.  We also planned for removal of the sliding glass door, replacing it with new metal door, framed in the second exterior door and 4 windows so I would end up with more wall space inside.

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Prior to installing the dry wall, I used ¾” Styrofoam in between the furring strips for additional sound deadening and what ever R-value, if any, I can get out of it.  Once the dry wall went up, I taped and mudded the joints and shot the texture, I could see things really coming together.  At this point I was thankful for having a construction background because money saved on the remodel in labor would go towards other cool stuff.

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Things were moving along pretty fast so having an idea or vision of what I wanted way ahead of time really helped.  I am an “Out of the box” type collector (I invented that phrase by the way) so I wanted all my stuff to be on display as my collection is private and will never be for sale so I could care less how much the value of this or that went down when I tossed the boxes.  I knew the when I “engineered” the Cave (because guys don’t decorate) I wanted to make sure to pay attention to all 6 sides of a room, ceiling and floors a like.  The look I was going after had a Hard Rock Cafe, T.G.I. Friday’s, Smithsonian Institute, NASCAR Hall of Fame kinda feel to it.  I wanted a room that would bitch slap all 5 senses and maybe even expose the 6^th.  Items like the Dale Jr. cardboard cut out made much better sense to put on the ceiling to draw you eyes up instead of left standing in the corner and the diamond plate flooring from Race Deck garage flooring to draw your eyes down.

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I chose mirrored gel case to display the 1/24 scale diecast cars, the mirrored back not only reflect light but also make the room feel bigger by creating the illusion of  being more open than what it is.  Then I ran across a guy in Slinger, Wisconsin that hand makes bookshelf displays to look like sections of a racetrack.  He sold them in 18”, 24” and 4 ft. sections….. So naturally I bought 16 feet worth to cover the one wall with plans to fill it with a full field of NASCAR Cup cars featuring legendary drivers and paint schemes from days gone by creating a pretty cool Diorama .

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It wasn’t long and I figured out that I didn’t have as much as I thought I did, cool….. BUY MORE STUFF.  My wife has been bitten by the Man Cave bug too, she has purchased several items for the Earnhardt Room; she even sewed the curtains for me.  The level of detail I built into the room is what people notice the most when they see it in person and I’m glad that gets noticed, I took pipe insulation and wrapped it around the exposed shelf struts that are holding up the 16 foot race track, I used two box end wrenches as door pulls on the French doors (by the way, kudos to Husky tools found at Home Depot, it took 4 carbide bits to drill 4 holes through those things) I used a Craftsman Workbench as a bar to stay consistent with the racing theme.  I didn’t like the idea of everything being symmetrical and flat on the walls or ceiling and I wanted stuff to stick out in 3D fashion to grab your attention even if it meant mounting a 1/6 scale #8 Dale Jr. Budweiser Chevy and the Dale Earnhardt Monopoly game glue together so it looks like it’s being played mounted on the ceiling. And last but not least, believe it or not…. Dale Earnhardt Sr’s baby pictures…. Rabid fan or addicted to detail, you be the judge.

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The great thing about the Earnhardt Room is it’s ever changing, as every time Dale Earnhardt Jr. changes a paint scheme Action diecast makes a replica car; it seems like anytime Junior sneezes in the racecar they come out with a raced version.  But I buy them all and I’m not complaining one bit, it’s been a lot of fun collecting and I learned things about the Earnhardt family along the way.  At “The Winston” in 1995 Dale Earnhardt Sr. and car owner Richard Childress are credited with starting the special paint schemes in what was then Winston Cup as he revealed the now famous Silver #3 Goodwrench Chevy commemorating the 25^th year Winston sponsored the premier NASCAR series and subsequently blew the doors open for marketing NASCAR collectibles.  Most of my diecast were purchased through White’s Pit Stop and they are an awesome bunch of guys with fair prices and no hassles but I also have many that were hand painted by Todd Card at Tec3 Customs.  Todd recreates NASCAR Cup cars and they truly are works of art.  Dale Sr. drove many cars and paint schemes throughout his career that you simply won’t find from the big diecast companies.  His customers will send him pics of cars Dale may have only drove one time, sounds silly but it means a lot to a private collector like myself.  He uses the correct paint codes and decals used are not only era correct but also correct for that car, a lot of times mass production diecast don’t capture things correctly, the level of detail is incredible.  There is one car in particular that Dale drove back in the 70’s and Action Diecast really screwed up the paint scheme and it’s not correct at all.  Todd knows it means a lot to a true blue Earnhardt fan so I had him redo the car and make it correct.

My Cave has taken a life of it’s own over the past couple years, especially since I first put it on the internet when I joined Tim Repass’s www.mancavegroup.com and www.mancavesite.org where web site owner Mike Yost created the site so guys could showcase their creations, sharing ideas and concepts, battle plans and homemade kegerator designs.  He has amassed one heck of a collection of man caves where he’ll post your images for nothing and membership is only $15.  (See the website for more details if you’re interested) Since then my Man Cave has gotten some pretty neat attention, a production company from California used pics of my Man Cave as part of a presentation they made for a software company, recently I was interviewed by a publisher out of New York doing a book about Man Caves and I still chuckle with pride when I find The Earnhardt Room on websites like these below that pay special attention to a Caves that are around…..

Woman’s Day Magazine – 10 Magnificent Man Caves

10 Ultimate Man Caves

The Best Man Caves On Earth | ZootPatrol.com

The Jewel Box Home man cave

12 Man-tastic Man Caves My Bad Pad

He wants a Man Cave?

Many “How To” articles written on them in magazines and the internet, there are a couple cable TV shows dedicated to Man Cave designs and the men who own them such as Man Caves hosted by Jason Cameron and Tony Siragusa as well as The Man Cave Television Show.  Guys all over the place are turning their basements, garages, converting storage sheds, attics and spare rooms into Man Caves.  You are only limited to their imagination and budget but I have seen some great creations out there that cost very little as there are some pretty good deals to be had if you look hard enough.  It’s really all about you and your passions and favorite things; it could be a collection of sports memorabilia, movies, guns, antique commercial advertisements what ever you want.  The freedom of design engineering is encased around what you want to create,  a nice place for your friends and family to watch movies, watch your favorite sport or play a game of billiards or that antique pinball game you bought at a great price from eBay.

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As I round out this post, I wanted to share a few details or stats about my Man Cave.

• 52” DLP Samsung flat screen TV
• Surround sound system using a 7:1 Yamaha Amp and PSB Image Series speakers
• Dale Earnhardt couch and tool chest replica coffee table by Race Fan Furniture
• Diamond plate flooring by Race Deck
• 16 foot 1/24 scale racetrack decaled to look like Daytona Speedway
• Over 300 1/24 scale diecast bought from White’s Pit Stop and Tec3 Customs
• Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. statues, figurines, pictures, clocks and misc diecast memorabilia
• Sears Craftsman Workbench as a open bar
• Kegerator, compact fridge, 6 bottle Shot Steward and misc bar utensils from www.beveragefactory.com

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On April 11^th 2009, one year ago today Phoenix, Arizona’s Manzanita Speedway, one of the top 3 dirt tracks in the country was sold and subsequently closed after 58 years of operation.  Also known as “Manzy” this track was instrumental in the early careers of Al Unser Jr., JJ Yeley, Billy Boat to include Hall of Fame racers such as Roger McCluskey, Mario Andretti, Gary Bettenhausen and AJ Foyt also raced and won here.

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Roe Mounts celebrated victory in what was the first auto race held on 25 August, 1951 after disgruntled drivers from the “South Mountain” track convinced owners Lawrence Meskimens and Rudy Everett to convert their failing Greyhound dog race track into a stock car track.  At seasons end they honored the very first champion, Avery Doyle racing in the Jalopies.  Later in 1954 they added what became the famous and lightning fast ½ mile.  Arizona race drivers, team owners, sponsors and fans were proud of the reputation they built together as being one of the top race tracks in the country and often hosted World of Outlaw (WoO), California Racing Association (CRA), United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned events.  Manzanita offered 18 different divisions at the facilities two tracks.

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Mel Marin and his son Bobby took a lot of heat last year for buying the facility and then turning around and selling it.  The county has had a stack of complaints against the track for noise and dust by surrounding businesses and homes, what really irks me is that people would choose to move next to a race facility only to file complaints about noise and dust.  I don’t know what the final sale was and could care less but I am sure they more than recouped the 1 million they said they invested in the race track before finally giving way to commercial development.  Many are still sad, mad and frustrated but life goes on.

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I wanted to share these images I took back in 2006, of course at the time it was not known that the track would close 4 years later but I sure regret not taking the time and taking artistic shots of the facility.  After hearing an interview that Mark Rebilas gave recently to www.lensflare35.com you can listen to here when he spoke about just that very thing, taking artistic photos of the event, fans and facilities.  Lessoned learned…. One improvement I’ll make with my work in the future.

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