The Sharpe Image

Storm Clouds move in on Final Practice

The Storm Clouds moved in real quick on the final practice.  I really hated that, because when the light is nice in the afternoon at LOWES Motor Speedway, you can really get some dramatic, cool stuff.  I was running back to the MEDIA Center trying to beat the rain, and I happened to look up and see the leading edge of the storm cell heading over the speedway.  I was not really liking the idea of going out and getting a rain shot once the shower started, but I needed something to post up to show that rain was a factor in the final practice.  I really thought that this was a pretty dramatic shot, so I went with it………hey, it kept me dry, and it got the point accross!

Thanks for looking,

Sam

I was getting a real sense of “urgency” from the Crews as the rain was getting closer…..I shot these images trying to show the “pace” of practice:

#48 Car during Practice

#42 Car during Practice

One this Image below, I used my wide angle fish eye lens, and held it up over my head.  It was like a “Hail Mary” pass.  Sometimes these things work out, and sometimes they don’t.  This one just happened to work out:

The #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet during practice

I had a chance to shoot Portraits before practice, which is one of my favorite things to do.  Anybody that looks at my work knows that I HATE a flash…..so I try to use Natural Light as much as possible. People like David Allio www.DavidAllio.com and Joey Millard: www.TheSportsWire.net have really influnced me when it comes to portraits.  These people have always shot with natural light, and if you get a chance, you should check out their sites.  I really need to use the flash more, but it just seems so intrusive, and using it just ultimatly frustrates me and pisses me off.

Ryan Newman Prepare for practice

Greg Biffle covers his ears as the team works on his motor before practice

Denny Hamlin prepares to practice

Mark Martin prepares to practice

The shot below of Jimmie Johnson was right before he got into his car to practice.  I was staying back away from the Team because the rain was rolling in…….but I still wanted to catch something to show that he was practicing:

Jimmie Johnson prepares to practice the #48 Chevrolet

Since the rain was rolling in, I decided to shoot some running car shots from inside Turn 4.  I really wanted to go outside and shoot packs of cars, but there was no sense in it because of the rain.  I did not want to get cought out in it.  This is about the only thing good that I came up with.  I wanted something other than single running car shots, but getting 2 cars together was a trick.  They just were not together very much.  Here is what I got:

A.J Allmendinger and Dave Blaney race through Turn 4 during Final Practice

Here are 2 other shots that I found interesting.  The one of the 24 car being worked on was what I was trying to accomplish last week.  This time I cought a guy over in it working.  I like the shot of the gloves……just something different:

#24 Car being worked on during practice

Safety Gloves of Tony Stewart

Thanks for looking!

Sam