The Sharpe Image » Motorsports

November 22, 2009 The FORD 400 at the Homestead Miami Speedway

Sam Sharpe — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:07:16 +0000

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well, the last race of the season came and went in Miami. I think that everyone knew that Jimme was going to again win the Championship about 4 races ago. To say that this Team is STRONG is an understatement. These guys know what they are doing, and I’ll bet they may pull it off again next year. Since everyone knew that Jimmie had it wrapped up, the whole weekend was somewhat boring, but hey, I was in Miami, so there is always fun to be had………..In the above shot that I took of Jimmie, he was posed with his 4 Championship Trophies. The reason I took this shot and like it so much, is because he is looking skyward towards the heavens as if to say “Thank-You” to his friend Ricky Hendrick. Ricky was very instrumental in Jimmies career early on over at Hendrick Motorsports, and he was killed in a plane crash that cut his life short way too soon. Jimmie always makes this gesture whenever he wins. I just thought that it “spoke” more to something than just a plain Victory Lane shot.

I really wanted to catch the Burn-Out this year. In the past, Jimmie has ALWAYS done his burn-out down by Turn 4. The reason for this is that because the stage is brought out for the Championship, and there is really no place for him to do it. So I decided to hang loose off of the stage and shoot the burn out. The following images is what I got. All of these were shot with my Nikon D300. I used a 70mm~200mm lens on the far shots, and my 17mm~35mm on the broadside shot with the flag. The ISO was 1600, the shutter speed was 1000 and they were all shot at f2.8. The one shot with the flag where the car is still spinning around, and the flag is not unfurled somewhat disappointed me. I really wanted to see the flag flying in that shot. But what can you do. I still like the shot. The broadside shot of him coming into Victory Lane was run on ESPN.com. I have a screen shot of that later in the Blog posting.

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) does a burn out after winning his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot is the one that was used on ESPN.com

Nov.22, 2009. Jimmie Johnson wins his 4th Sprint Cup Title at Homestead Miami Speedway. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Victory Lane at these things really runs on a schedule………you see, it is all about TV and their interviews. The Writers will Bitch REAL Loud if they do not get the driver soon after he gets out of the car. So that leaves us still photographers not much time to do what we need to do. NASCAR will do our thing real quick, then they take the driver to do all kinds of stupid stuff for the next 2 hours, then they bring him back for his single Trophy Shots. By this time, I am plenty aggravated, so I try and get something different. This is what I came up with. All of these images were shot with available light. The below shot is the Champagne Shot. I love these when they work out. Jimmie usually turns away from the camera on this shot, but he did good this time on this one. The shot after this is the one of him and the trophy up on the upper stage. Thas shot received some “air time” also.

Nov. 22, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson celebrates as he wins his 4th consecutive Sprint Cup Title. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Nov. 22, 2009. Homestaed Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson wins his 4th Consecutive Sprint Cup Title. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 2 shots are of him with the trophies. Nothing really all that special……just trying to pull something different off.

Nov. 22, 2009. Homestaed miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson wins his 4th Consecutive Sprint Cup Title. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) wins his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I had a chance to see the Trophy by itself. I like to shoot trophies when I can……..I think that they can be an important part of any story when it comes to racing. I wanted something different other than just the straight on shot of the Trophy, so I went around to the side and shot it. The black night sky makes a very dramatic backdrop for it. I really wish that I could have got more of the NASCAR Sign directly in front of it……but if I panned out more to get it, I also got other junk that I did not want in the shot. So this is what I got.

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy goes to driver Jimmie Johnson (48) after winning his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot was taken after all was over with. I just thought that it was a neat shot of Jimmie in a Relaxed moment. I really do not know who he was talking to, but he seemed very “at ease” for the first time in a while. I thought that it worked out well with the SPRINT Logo, and the fact that he was talking on a SPRINT Phone. I wish that I could have got more of the “S” in the pictuse, but the light was not right as I moved over. The ISO was 400 on this, I shot it at shutter speed 100 at f2.8. It was available light with no flash.

Nov. 22, 2009. Jimmie Johnson talks on his mobile phone after winning his 4th consecutive Sprint Cup Title. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next images are some portraits that I shoot over the course of the weekend. I LOVE to shoot Portraits, but one problem that I have is capturing a really good Editorial portrait. You see, I shot for a Trading Card Company for years, and the type of portraits that they want are different from the type of portraits that are generally used in an Editorial situation. There are are a lot of similarities which is true ( a good portrait will always be a good portrait) but I am always trying to find that one thing that will make the portrait “tell the story.”

This is some of the images that I really liked and that stood out at me. The first is of Mark Martin. I really feel for him. He has finished in second place to the Championship Winner 5 times! That has really gotta be tough on him. He is a hell of a driver, he just can’t seem to close the deal. In the shot below, I could just read the disappointment in his eyes as he thought about this fact. He just seemed to have a look on his face of “what could I have done different to put me over the top.” This image was shot at ISO 400, shutter speed 200, and f3.5. It was shot with available light.

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next image of Martin had the same look to it. The thing that I really like about this image is the reflection off of the face shield, and the fact that you can only read one eye. This image was shot at ISO 320, shutter speed 50, at 3.2. I used my 70mm~200mm lens.

November 20, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next image of Gordon really grabbed at me. Jeff looked really “pissed off” the whole weekend. I think that he realizes that he may never win a Championship again………..and I think that it really eats at him. This shot, to me, really somewhat sums up his mood the whole weekend. The ISO is 320, the shutter speed is 125, and it is shot at f4.

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

The #26 Crown Royal Team of ROUSH Racing will be closing it’s doors for 2010. Yes, the economy has taken its toll even in Auto Racing. This is really no fault of the Team, the Sponsor just does not have the money to put into the program……..and as everyone knows, if you don’t have money, you can’t go racing. The Team is a solid Team for the most part, they even won a race this year. No one on that Team should be ashamed of anything, they are just like millions of other Americans, they have been layed off. This image of Jamie McMurray kind of says it all. I think that the whole Taam was just ready for the season to be done so that they could move on. I shot this during Qualifying with my 300mm lens.

Nov. 20, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Jamie McMurray waits to qualify for the FORD 400. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Of course during Qualifying, Jimmie Johnson won the Pole………what can you say, the cream was rising to the top. These next two images were of Jimmie interviewing. I thought that they worked out well.

Nov. 20, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson interviews after winning the Pole for the FORD 400. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 20, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) interviews during qualifying for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next shots are portraits that would be considered as good portraits for Trading Card usage. There are good solid portraits, but I don’t know if they will ever be used as “openers” for any kind of article. I liked them, so I am including them in this post. I really like the one of Juan Pablo Montoya. I like the fact that there is so much red in the image. Kinda fits his personality.

Nov. 20, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Jeff Gordon waits to qualify for the FORD 400. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (42) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.theSharpeImage.com

Nov. 20, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Joey Logano prepares to qualify for the FORD 400. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This shot, you either like it or hate it. I really wanted to shoot something that described the season that Carl Edwards and the 99 Team have had. They did so well last year, and this year they just made it into the chase. They did not win a race this year, and everything seemed to just be “spinning” out of control. I came up with this. Probably will never be used, but t the time it seemed right. I shot it at ISO 400, shutter speed at 1/6 of a second, and I spun the camera.

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards (99) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next images, I was trying to capture something that gave the feel of being down in Miami and at the final race. The Palm Tree shot was probably my best attempt at it, but I like the shot of Jimmie coming out to practice because of the sun, the “coral” colors of the speedway buildings, and just the dramatic effect that the wide angle lens gives it. I shot this with my 10mm~17mm fisheye.

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Miami is a really great speedway, but for stock cars, it has always produced some really boring racing. Let me say that I love the speedway, but I hate the racing there…….it is just terrible. This race was no exception. 10 laps after a restart, the field is strung out, no getting around it. In my opinion, the best shot at the whole track is the start shot. There are some speedways that the start shots are great, and this is one of them. This next shot is probably one of my favorite from the whole weekend.

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) leads the field to the start during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Like I said, this speedway really does not produce “dramatic” race action. But I did like this next shot. I kept an eye on Kurt Busch all weekend. He was not going to win the Championship, but he was in a very good position to advance his position in the final points standings. I really liked this image of him working traffic and racing around his competitors. I like to get shots like this…..they are different from the normal race action shots.

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (2) makes his way through race traffic during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next shot, my thoughts were the same with Jeff Burton and the #31 car…….get him sneaking around and heading to the front.

Editors like “dramatic” looking stuff. With the race action being what it is at Miami, sometimes it can be tough to produce something that looks really good. I shot these images with my 10mm~17mm fisheye lens. The reason I picked Jimme is simple…….the weekend was all about Jimmie. I chose to shot Tony stewart because he had done so well for the year. Lets not forget that he was in the points lead at the start of the chase, and I think that if NASCAR had not reset the points, he would have been the 2009 Championship. But the rules are what they are.

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart (14) during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

During the race, my coverage area is Pit Road. Working with US Presswire to cover the event (www.uspressire.com ) we work as a team to tell the story. As a team, we try and cover certain parts of the track. That way we can get a complete coverage of the “story” of the race as it unfolds. The two main players in this whole deal were Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. Knowing that Jimmie was going to win the Championship, I really wanted to do something different with the stop. I shot the pit stop at a normal shutter speed to freeze the ation. But as he got ready to pull out, I lowered the shutter speed to a 30th of a second. I was using Shutter Priority so as to not have to mess with the camera much. This is what I got. Here again, you either like it or not, but I liked it.

Nov. 22, 2009. Homestead Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson and the #48 LOWES Team pit on their way to winning their 4th consecutive championship during the FORD 400. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) comes in for a pit stop during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

The other big story of the weekend was Juan Pablo Montoya. Since he is from this area, and the Miami area is a big Latin Community, naturally he is going to be in the headlines. The only thing that I got of him from the whole weekend that was good editorial imagery was the crew working on the car after he hit the wall in practice. I also posted a race action shot from the race. But in sense I did not get him fighting with Tony Stewart, it really became nothing more than a pretty shot of him on track.

November 21, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (42) hits the wall during practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

November 22, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (42) during the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Funny thing about this final race, no one ever really remembers who won it. It is only because it is so over shadowed by the Championship. Well for the record, Denny Hamlin won it. I could not be in both Victory Lanes at the same time, so I got the burn out that Denny did. I think that I nailed it pretty well. From a News point of view, you can tell where it is from, and technically it looked pretty good. It won’t win any awards, but it got the job done.

Nov. 22, 2009. Denny Hamlin and the #11 FEDEX Toyota do a burn out after winning the FORD 400 at Homestaed Miami Speedway. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot I took at the beginning of practice on Friday. I think that it somewhat sums up how everyone on all of the Teams were feeling………….lets get it done while we still have the strength. It is a LONG Season!

November 20, 2009; Homestead, FL, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team of driver Martin Truex Jr (1) before practice for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next image is a screen shot from ESPN.com. It is my burn out shot of Jimmie coming into Victory Lane. I want to say Thanks to my editor Jerry Lai for getting it up fast. God knows I can be slow at posting. At big events like this we like to bring in an “on site” editor…..and boy does it help. Thanks for the help.

ESPN.com Screen shot.

Well again, thanks for reading. The NASCAR Season is over………..what a long season. I really hope that you have enjoyed my pictures and postings from the season. I am looking forward to Daytona 2010.

Now it is on to the NFL and the NBA. It is all about Football and Basketball for a while. Please be sure to check back.

Cheers!

Sam

October 25, 2009 TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Sam Sharpe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:52:46 +0000

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Denny Hamlin wins the TUMS Fast Relief 500! He had to battle all day against Jimmie Johnson to do it, but he was able to pull it off at the end. I was glad to see this. Jimmie has won this race the past 4 times that it has been run. I was glad to see someone else win besides Jimmie. Martinsville has become a very difficult track to photograph in the past few years……….

There have been so many changes to the track that it has made it very difficult to really get good photography there. It is a short track to begin with, so that means that there is not room anywhere inside it. With the Teams bringing more and more equipment to the track every week, it really makes it hard to get around. Here are some of the images that I was able to capture from the race. All were shot with my Nikon D300. Like I have said before, I love this camera.

Victory Lane at Martinsville is somewhat like pulling teeth. They really do not have a Victory Lane at Martinsville, so they do it on the front stretch, which can make for a very crazy time. You have to run out on the track after the race is done, and crowd around the car. It is unsafe and stupid. Who would believe a sport of this magnitude would have something like this go one……but here it is. The shot below was taken just as Denny got out of the car. As you can see, I had a drop of Coke on the lens, but I still sent it anyway

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) wins the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

It is what it is. If we had a decent Victory Lane, we would not have to deal with such issues.

The next shot is just your generic Victory Lane shot. Nothing special, but I did like the way the colors of the background, and the clock, and the trophy all worked together. It “fills the bill” for what the intention is. I shot it wiht a Fill Flash and moved it right afterward.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) wins the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

It really was a battle all day long between Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. The following images were what I moved to US Presswire www.USPresswire.com to show this battle. These Images were all shot with my 300mm 2.8 Lens. I shot all of them from up top just walking around the grandstands. That is about all that you can do these days. It is a shame that we have to work this way. This is what I got.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Denny Hamlin (11) and Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

With the above shot, I really wanted to catch the two competitors in front of the “Martinsville” sign……..I thought that it was important because it showed the venue and gave a sense of “place.”

This next shot was on the last restart of the race. There were less than 8 laps to go when this restart occurred. Whoever won this race off of turn 4 after the start was for sure going to win the race. It is so hard to pass at Martinsville with that little time left, you better be in the lead before that first restart lap is done if you want to win the race. Denny was able to pull it off. Here he is leading everyone off of Turn 4. He got a great restart, and at this point, no one could do anything with him. I thought that this was the shot that really told the story of the race. I thought that it was a good shot from an Editorial standpoint. I shot it with my 70mm~200mm lens. ISO 200, shutter speed 1000, and at f4.

I just liked this next shot. It is of the Penske Cars racing together. David Stremme who drives the Verison Car is just rooting his way under the MOBIL 1 Car driven by Sam Hornish, Jr. It really had no bearing on the race, I just liked it.

This next shot was one that I took to “Hedge” my bet in case Jimmie Johnson won the race. You have to do something like this, because Jimmie is always a threat to win Martinsville. Here again, I wanted to use the “Martinsville” painted on the wall to give a sense of place. I shot this at a shutter speed of 60, and used my 70mm~200mm Lens.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next Image I shot looking back up the back stretch. This is not an easy shot. The weather conditions really have to be right to pull it off in the Fall of the year. It is a COMPLETELY backlit shot at this time of year. The only way to pull it off is to shoot it when it is cloudy. Fortunately it was cloudy at this point in the race. Not only do the conditions have to be right, but you are shoot through a break in the fence which makes it even that more difficult. I was really wanting to show how Mark Martin was working his way through traffic. It was critical for him to have a good run if he had any chance to stay in the hunt for the Championship. I thought that it got the point across.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) takes a peek for second place during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I tried to focus my efforts on Mark Martin through out the weekend. He lost ground to Jimmie at Charlotte in the Championship Hunt, but he still had a shot at this point. I shot his car in practice, and wanted something different other than just a plain “running car” shot. I used a shutter speed of 30, zoomed while shooting with my 70mm~200mm lens, and this is what I got.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I did the same thing with the #24 Car of Jeff Gordon. Some will like it, and some will not. Here is the #24 Car.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Like I said, from and Editorial point of view, it was important to keep an eye on Mark Martin. These next Images are portraits that I shot across the course of the weekend. These are the ones that I moved to US Presswire. In the first shot below, I thought that the look on Mark’s face says it all. He realizes that he has a real “dog fight” on his hand. To say his thinking about it is an understatement.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I really don’t think that this next shot really shows anything that is really “strong”, but I just liked it so I moved it.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I caught this next shot right before the race. It is a shot of Mark Martin’s Pit Crew “Rallying” before the race. These guys are 100% behind Mark. I don’t think I have ever seen the 5 Team want a championship so bad. I shot this with my 10mm~17mm Fisheye lens. I put the camera on shutter priority at shutter speed 250, held it up, and threw a “Hail Merry.” I think that it worked.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team of driver Mark Martin (5) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Shooting Pit Stops at Martinsville can only be done one way………..from the outside. This speedway used to be a joy to shoot, but in the past few years, the Series has just managed to cram so much stuff in the infield, you can’t move inside of it. It is really just shameful the way it has turned out. I shot the following Pit Stops from the outside. They were both shot at an ISO of 400, and both shot at shutter speed 1000. I used my 300mm on the #24 Car, and I shot the 5 car with the 300mm with my 1.4 converter on it. I was in the grandstands somewhere, just trying to stay out of the way of Race Fans.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) comes in for a pit stop during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Marfk Martin (5) comes in for a pit stop during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

One cool thing about Martinsville, you really can get some nice portraits there. You are close to the cars at Qualifying, and the Garage is somewhat open, so the light is always nice there provided that it is not raining. These are some of the Favorites I have from the weekend. I LOVE Shooting Portraits. No flash was used on any of these.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (2) during qualifying for the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I got lucky with this next shot. Jimmie was running past me (as he does with ALL of the MEDIA) and I jut pulled the camera from the hip and fired. The team was working on the Motor, and that is why he is covering his ears.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle (16) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I love this next shot of David Stremme………..it just kin of shows how his career has gone at Penske Racing. He was released from the ride after this race. I shot this with my 70mm~200mm Lens, ISO 400, shutter speed 1000 @ f4.

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Stremme (12) during qualifying for the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr (1) during qualifying for the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I really like this next shot of Dale Earnhardt Jr. I shot this with my 17mm~35mm lens right before the race. I really wish the sky would have had more blue in it. I think that it would have made the whole image more dramatic.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr (88) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I shot this next shot while on Pit Road before the race. NASCAR had placed the Sprint Cup Trophy on a pedestal at the head of pit road. I got down and shot up at it. If I had not done the shot in this way, there would have been people, cars, and all kinds of “clutter” around. I really wanted a “clean” shot of it, but there was SO much around it, it was hard to get anything. Plus the sky really looked “ugly” in the background……just an overcast day. I did what I could with what I had. Just wish the sky was more “dramatic”……….but you do what you can when you can.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Championship trophy during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These last 2 shots were shots that I just plain found interesting when I shot them. I shot the Haulers from the Grandstands during the race. I just like the shot. I have seen it done before by other people…..so I AM NOT the first to shoot this, but I do like it, so I shot it. It was posted to US Presswire, so let’s hope that it gets some play. The other is of Juan Pablo Montoya. The thing that I found interesting about this image is that the ignition switch is not located in the traditional spot on the dash………….I think that this image is very good from an Editorial point of view because it shows a difference in his race car as compared to others. Editor’s LOVE that kind of thing.

October 25, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series haulers parked in the infield during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 23, 2009; Martinsville, VA, USA; The safety glove of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (42) during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well that is about it from Martinsville. Look for my next Motorsports Blog to be from the last race in Homestead/Miami. I think Jimmie is going to seal the deal again. That will be 4 in a row. Like him or not, that is truly an incredible feat in Sport. I would really like to see Mark Martin win it……but there is always next year.

Again, Thanks for reading.

Sam

October 17, 2009. Jimmie Johnson wins the NASCAR Banking 500

Sam Sharpe — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:22:36 +0000

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) wins the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This race was not the best race that I have ever seen at LOWES Motor Speedway, but it did have its moments. After being dominated by Jimmie Johnson and the #48 LOWES Team, it is really hard to pick those moments out and remember them. The above image is about as good as it gets for a celebration. One thing is for sure about the LOWES Car winning at LOWES Motor Speedway, it is a Dream Come True for capturing an image that really makes the LOWES Corporation happy. I know all too well about that, I shot for LOWES for years. This image that is above always made them smile. To bad Jimmie has forgotten how to really celebrate when he gets out of the car……………

Maybe that he has won too much, or maybe the arrogance of being a Hendrick Driver has just ate him up, but he just never seems to realyl look at the cameras anymore when he gets out of the car. And of course, this makes for such a “Great Picture” that is usable around the world……I just can’t wait for him to win again. The pathetic shot below was taken with my D300. It was shot at ISO 400 at shutter speed 250, and at f3.2 with a flash. Not a great shot, but considering that I really do not control what he does, I don’t feel too bad about it. Hey, at least we got a side view, he usually turns his ass to us.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) wins the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

To say the race was boring is an understatement. Jimmie pretty much ran away with it. There were some moments when someone else took the lead, but for the most part it was the Jimmie show. Restarts were about the best for race action, and even then, the field became very strung out very quickly. NASCAR really has to do something about the racing at LOWES. It is such a beautiful facility, but the racing can become very strung out very fast. I went and shot from the outside. I have learned at LOWES Motor Speedway, the most dramatic shoots come from the outside. There was really not much to shoot once the field became strung out, but here is some of what I came up with. These images were shot at ISO 2500, at a shutter speed of 1000, at f2.8. I used my 70mm~200mm lens so as ro try and catch packs of cars. Here are some examples:

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I really like the “LOWES” on the wall behind the LOWES Car. I am big into that type of stuff. Branding is everything to the commercial client.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Lagano (20) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I just really liked the wat the cars “stacked up” in the above frame.

If teams are going to do a special paint scheme, they at least should at least do one that shows up at night! These dark colored paint schemes kill me! The next shot is of the #24 car, but as you can see, it really blends in to the track. The person who thinks these things up should really be fired and consider another line of work.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next image, Juan Pablo Montoya was really fighting to get passes traffic with his damaged race car. I just wanted to catch him (with the focus on him) fighting his way back. It ain’t perfect, but this is what I got.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (42) fights his way through traffic during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Since it seemed to be all about Jimmie Johnson, I figured that I better go and get a pit stop of him and the Team. The really thing about LOWES Motor Speedway is that you can shoot a pit stop from dead nuts in front of the car. This was really nice when the race was run during the day. The way all of the colors of all the cars would just “stack up” behind the front car was really amazing………but this is what we have now, so this is what we work with. I shot both of these images at ISO 2000, shutter speed 500, and f2.8.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

As long as we are on the subject of pit stops, I included these images of pit crews in action. I love to shoot things like this, but they really do not seem to get much “air play” in the editorial world. I don’t care, I will continue to shoot it and post it, someone will use it somewhere.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bill Elliott (21) and hid pit crew during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pit Crew of driver Tony Stewart (14) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

There were some pretty sinificant wrecks during this race, but unfortunately I was where they were not. I did get this image of Greg Biffle spinning. I thought that it was good for editorial usage, but nothing that was going to win an award. My main concern is reporting the news, so it is what it is.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle spins during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next series of images, I was shooting cars in practice, but I was trying to paly with them. I played with the motion blur, as well as where the cars were positioned in the frame. I wanted to leave room for text in each shot. I love when an Art Director has enough creativity to place text in the image. I also wanted to play with the colors. I wanted the colors to lend a dramatic effect to each shot. That is why I tried to get backgrounds where there was a great mix of colors. I also wanted to target the “LOWES” on the wall. It is a way of letting the viewer know where the image was shot.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby Labonte (96) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (29) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 2 images were just stuff that I shot with the intention of shooting a nice image that may be used for stock down the road.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The crash helmet of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby Labonte (96) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bill Elliott (21) starts his car during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

At this point in the Season and the Chase, Mark Martin was in second place only 12 points behind Jimmie Johnson. I thought that it would be good to get as many portraits of him as possible. I really wanted him to win the Championship this year, but I do not think that it is going to happen. I thought that he would at least hang with Jimmie as far as the points hunt, but he seemed to fall off during the race. Anyway, I thought that it would be very “news worthy” to get as much of him a spossible. Here are some that I shot. As always, these are shot with the natural light at the time. No flash here, I just hate the flash.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next portraits, I just wanted to post something that was really cool. Whether it was the light, the eyes, or what, I just liked these next images. I really like the on of Kasey Kahne interviewing. I really like the way his red uniform seems to grab the attention from all of the darkness around it. I also like the shot of Bobby Labonte looking at me through the window net. This is a real hard shot to catch………I got lucky.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby labonte (96) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne (9) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot just seems to capture the spirit of Bobby’s career right now……….not much going on, and real boring. God I wish he could start winning again. He is a super nice guy, he deserves better that where he is today.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby Labonte (96) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot of Gordon I just liked. Nothing really all that special about it……but I just liked it. I shot this with my 70mm~200mm lens. I shot it at a shutter speed of 40 at f4. I was at ISO 800.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these last 2 images, I was trolling the Garage area tring to get something new other than guys just working on Race Cars. Even though these ARE guys just working on race cars, I tried to pull off something dramatic. In the case of the FEDEX Car, I used my Fisheye lens. In the case of the 99 car, I tried and played with the light. I really like the shot of the 99 car, I just thought that it really looked the way that garage area looks at night. I think that I did OK with that one.

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota of driver Denny Hamlin (11) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

October 17, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards (99) during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well, that is it from Charlotte. Look for my Blog from Martinsville to be put up soon. After that, it is Miami, and the season will be done.

Thanks for reading!

Sam

September 20, 2009. NHRA Carolina National at zMax Dragway

Sam Sharpe — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:56:04 +0000

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Brandon Bernstein during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I really like Drag Racing, problem is, I just do not get to shoot enough of it. It is always either too far away, or it conflicts with something that I already have a commitment too. So when the NHRA comes to zMax Dragway here in Charlotte, I am ALL over it! Some of you may know that I shot Drag Racing on a pretty regular basis back in the early 90′s. I got my motorsports start with a small racing paper called Inside Motorsports. Inside Motorsports was a great little newspaper, but made the mistake of trying to cover too much “grass roots” racing with ignoring the big Series such as Sprint Cup, NHRA, IRL and some others. They skimmed over these Series, but never made any real attempt to cover them in the way that they should have been covered in order to generate cash flow. When they did cover them, they sent me. That is really how I got my start in all this crazy stuff. Anyway, least I digress. This is about the Carolina Nationals. I LOVE this event. I am so glad that NHRA has put it on the schedule twice next year. What a great move! But enough of that for now, lets look and see what I came up with……….I really wanted to come up with more than just cars “launching” off the starting line for the weekend take. It is just soooo damn easy to sit at the line all weekend and shoot cars taking off. I certainly did do my share of that, but I wanted to capture the kind of images that showed a different side of the competition of this sport. Things that occur all around us each weekend, but somehow never seem to get captured. I hope that I was able to accomplish this to some degree.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car of driver Cruz Pedregon during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Shooting in the garage area of a Drag Race is just so different than the garage area of a Cup race. These guys are actually really glad to see you coming! They really don’t mind if you take pictures of the cars or the motors, it is all an open book. In the above shot, the thing that really cought my attention was the big images of Cruz Pedregon on the side of the hauler. This was just so powerful to me. I had to shoot it. I shot this with my Nikon D300, my 10mm~17mm fisheye lens, at shutter speed 100. I was at f3.5, and I under exposed this by 1/3 of a stop.

I really wanted to get some good portraits of these guys getting ready to race. They are way more laid back that the Sprint Cup drivers when it comes to taking a picture of them. I shot all of these with available light. Those of you that know my work know that I am big on available light. I HATE A FLASH! It just looks so unnatural. And with these guys, you better not even think of using a flash. Not much makes them mad, but that will.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the above image, Cruz Pedregon puts on his Nomex. This was shot with my 70mm~200mm lens, f2.8 at a shutter speed of 125. It is under exposed by 1/3 of a stop.

The really cool thing about these cars is the way the body lifts up for them to get into. This creates endless possibilities. In the image below, I really liked the way the window in the body created a light source. It is just something different that you do not normally see with a race car.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car driver Robert Hight during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Getting in and out of these cars is not an easy trick. That is why they have an escape hatch on the roof. When John Force suited up in all of his Nomex, it seemed as if it was very awkward for him to move. Here he is getting into the small cockpit of his Funny Car to do 300+mph. Things are really tight in these cars for these guys. It almost reminded my of when I was kid and I watched the Astronauts from the old Apollo Space Program get ready for a Moon Shot……the image just had that “feel” to it. This image was shot with my 17mm~35mm lens. It was shot at f2.8, shutter speed 160. The exposure was straight up.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car driver John Force during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next Image of Tony Schumacher, I was really thinking in my “commercial image” thought process. I wanted to capture his eyes, as well as the “Go Army.com” on his helmet. I really liked this image.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schumacher during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the next image of Schumacher, I was thinking more along an Editorial line. I included his name on the side of the car. This seems obvious, but if you do not know Drag Racing all that well, it is a way for the Driver to be recognized when seen in a magazine, news paper article, or on a website.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schumacher during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Enough about portraits. Like I said earlier, I just did not want to sit around and shoot cars launching off of the starting line. But the truth is, you have to do it to some degree in this sport. So when I do this, I want the shots to be as spectacular as possible with a lot of fire………here is what I got.

The thing that I like about these shots is that I caught flames coming from both sides of the car. I think the flames make the shot way more interesting if you can catch the “launch” with that going on.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA funny car driver Robert Hight during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Both of the above images were shot at night. ISO 2500, Shutter Speed 1250, f4. I used my 300mm lens with my 1.4 converter on it.

In the shot below of Ashley Force Hood, I was thinking along the lines of a commercial photograph. I wanted the focus to be on the Castrol Logo on the hood, with room for text in the right hand part of the frame. I also liked the fact that I caught the fire coming out from the opposite side of the car.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA funny car driver Ashley Force Hood during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 2 shots are of Top Fuel Dragsters taking off. I do love to shoot these things. They just look so frekin cool…..different than anything else in Motorsports. I love to get down the track and shoot them with long glass. These two shots were amongst my favorite for the weekend. I really like the shot of the Budweiser car.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Top Fuel Dragster driver Brandon Bernstein during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster driver Tony Schumacher during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next shot, I wanted to show the launch, but I left room for text in the shot. I tilted the camera slightly…..I think that it worked out well, especially with the car pulling the wheels off of the ground. I shot this at ISO 320, f2.8, shutter speed 1600. I really like the “JEGS” billboard in the background.

September 19, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster driver Spencer Massey during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I got board with the traditional launch shots, so I went hunting for a different angle. Something different to set things apart. Having shot round track racing for years, I am used to getting up on a tower and shooting over the whole event. So my instincts took over and I looked for something to climb. Here is what I came up with. In this image, the car itself is not out of focus, but suffers from the heat waves coming off of the engine. I think that it is way cool looking.

September 19, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster driver Antron Brown during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next shot is going to draw a lot of flac to me. I don’t care……I like it. And yes, it was never ment to be in focus. I shot it at 25th of a second at f22. Think of it what you will.

These next images are of some really “cool” moments that I caught. I was really lucky on some of them.

September 19, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster driver Brandon Bernstein during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Have a Bud at zMax? I caught this image from up top when they were rolling Brandon Bernstein out to make his run. I was really lucky to catch it with no one else in the frame. I really like this shot.

In the image below, Shawn Langdon’s Car and Crew were waiting in the shadows before his run. They had just started the car, and you can see the exhaust coming from the headers. I just really like it.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, The USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster of driver Shawn Langdon waits in the shadows during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next image, Cory McClenathen’s crew stops for a moment of prayer before the start of the Finals on Sunday. I shot this with my 300mm lens with my 1.4 converter on it. It was shot at f5.6 at a shutter speed of 1000.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; The NHRA top fuel dragster team of driver Cory McClenathen pauses for a prayer before the start of the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 3 images were shot from the top of the top of the tower. They are just different angles of things that go on during a drag race. Here again, I was trying to accomplish something different than just sitting on the starting line and shooting the launch.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Top Fuel Dragster driver Brandon Bernstein during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Shawn Langdon during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I also really like shooting “burn-outs.” In the next series of images, I wanted to do more than just capture the car with a whole lot of smoke coming from behind it. I decided to shoot these at a slow shutter speed to try and do something different. My favorite is the next image below. It is of Bob Tasca III and the Quick Lane car. I was really in the right place at the right time for this. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. I shot this at shutter speed 40, at f22. I was using my 10mm~17mm fisheye lens.

September 19, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Funny Car driver Bob Tasca during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the next two images below, I left room for text by making the cars smaller in the frame. I also did not place them in the middle……this leaves room for the creative guys to operate. Both were shot at shutter speed 40 and f22.

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Car driver Ron Krisher during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

September 18, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Car driver Kurt Johnson during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next two images I shot with Long Glass. I wanted to get out in front of the car as much as possible to get the smoke behind it. On the MACO Tools car below, I wanted the focus to be on the driver and the motor. I was attempting the same thing in my opening shot of Brandon Bernstein in this Blog entry. The only thing that would have made this shot better is if I would have caught the whole Sponsor Logo in the frame. I was able to do that on the opening shot of the BUD Car burn-out.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Antron Brown blows a motor in the first round of the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the shot below of Tony Schumacher, I used my 500mm f4 Lens. The only thing that I really dislike about this image is the guy standing in the backgroung on the right hand side…….but what can you do? It is what it is.

September 19, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Dragster driver Tony Schumacher during qualifying for the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next shot……I got lucky again. I shot this with my 10mm~17mm fisheye. I actually was screwing with the camera when the burn-out started. For some reason I put it on Shutter Priority real quick, held it up over my head, hit the autofocus and just let it rip. This is what I got. I like the way the word “relentless” appears in the frame, and I like the space between the car that the text. This leaves room for Ad Text in the image.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; a NHRA Pro Stock during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In this next shot, I used my 10mm~17mm Fisheye lens. I wanted to catch the car right in the middle of the frame. The whole point of the shot was to make the Logo on the side very prominent. Here again, I was thinking “commercial” usage and sponsor visibility.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA funny car driver Matt Hagen during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next 3 Images, I caught the Motors blowing during the competition. In the past 2 years that there has been competition at zMax, there has never been a crash, but there has been a lot of engines grenade. Here are 3 that I captured. This first one I shot of Antron Brown’s car, I really can’t decide whether I like it or not. I put a creative caption on it that kinda says it all. I sent it in to US Presswire and they posted it, so I guess that it could not be all that bad. I will let you decide.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Antron Brown blows up as his points lead melts away during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next Image is of Brandon Bernstein as he blew up on the starting line. It was as if one side of the motor worked, and the other just pulled the grenade pin……….boom!

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Brandon Bernstein blows a motor during round one of Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I shot this last image from the Top End. I like to go up and shoot at least 1 round from the Top. I usually go up and do this early on Sunday. If there is going to be a big crash, this is about the time that it will happen. So I always want to be prepared. Tony Schumacher won the race, but towards the end of the run, he blew the motor. I thought that this was a very dramatic image.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schmuacher wins his second round race but blows his motor during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next Images, I was using my Fisheye to try and capture a really “exaggerated” view of the Top Fuel car. Something that had a really “large” feel to it. I love to get these things from behind, it just feels big.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schumacher during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schmacher during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Shawn Langdon during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster driver Tony Schumacher during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Now I have to say that Bruton Smith, his Son Marcus, and the whole SMI Organization are really masters when it comes to innovation and promotion. This whole Speedway was built to run 4 cars at a time, and they did it this year! They ran 4 Top Fuel Dragsters at once, and 4 Top Fuel Funny Cars at once. These were not “points” passes, but they are taking about using this format next year in one of the Qualifying Rounds. I have to say that it was really something to behold. I really do not think that these images do the whole thing justice. It was such an assault on the senses, you just can’t really make it work with a still shot. But here is what I got. I shot it from up top purely for the Editorial value of it. I knew that these images were going to run everywhere, so I wanted to Document them as simply and clear as possible. Here they are.

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA top fuel dragster drivers Antron Brown Morgan Lucas Spencer Massey and Brandon Bernstein race four wide during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Sept 20, 2009; Concord, NC, USA; NHRA funny car drivers Del Worsham Tim Wilkerson Mike Neff and John Force race four wide during the Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well that ‘s it. I hope that you had as fun looking at these images as I did shooting them. Like I said before, I do LOVE Drag Racing. I want to thank the NHRA for thinking enough about zMax to come here twice in 2010. If you have never been to a Drag Race, I encourage you to get out and go. It is really a great time!

Thanks for looking.

Sam

August 27, 2009. Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

Sam Sharpe — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:24:36 +0000

Kyle Busch wins the SHARPIE 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway!

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) wins the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Kyle Busch was able to hang around the Top 5, and when it was time to go……guess what, he went!

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) wins the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Kyle Busch was able to get his car right at the end of the race. He held off Mark Martin at end in a 5 lap shoot-out to win. The above image is one of his burn-out after winning the race. Kyle likes to do really nice burn-outs, and really “smoke” the place up. I love it when he wins. The image was shot with my D300, ISO 2000, Shutter Speed 640 @ f2.8

The next image is of Kyle out of his car on the front stretch after his win. I love when he does this……it is really a pleasure to see a driver do something different to salute the fans after a win. God knows, most of them just get out and face the team and give High 5′s to each other.. What good is that to the Fans? The following image was shot with my D300, shutter speed @640, and @ f2.8. I used my 70mm~200mm lens

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) wins the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I love shooting Bristol from the Roof. That is really the only place that you can move around that is really unencumbered. The following 2 images were shot from the roof. In the first Image, I just wanted to get an “over all” images of the place. It is truly something to see.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I this next image, I wanted to do something different. I held the camera up over my head and shot a “Hail Marry” with my 10mm~17mm fisheye. I wanted to show how high up the spotters are in the event. I shot this with my D300 at 10mm, F3.5 @ shutterspeed 80.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Spotters during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next Image I shot totally with Sharpie in mind. I actually shot several different competitors at this angle hoping to get the winner. I guess that it worked out. This was shot with my D300, shutter speed @ 1000, F2.8 at ISO 2000. I used my 70mm~200mm lens

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

The next 2 images are of pit stops. I really did not shoot a whole bunch of pit stops, but with what I did shoot, I was fortunate to get Kyle’s pit stop. You really are tight when it comes to shooting pit stops inside the speedway, that is why I prefer to shoot them from the outside. I really love shooting them from the roof……I think that it gives a different angle to which I like to take advantage of.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon (24) comes in for a pit stop during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) pits during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the next 2 Images, I used my 10mm~17mm lens. This is really one of my favorite lenses. In the shot of the 5 car racing through turn 1, I was really trying to give a sense of this place. It is almost like a college football game in a way. In the other shot of Martin preparing to go racing, I thought that it was cool how he prepared to race with so much going on around him. I wanted to capture that feeling.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) before his 1000 NASCAR Start before the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe

In this next Image, I wanted to catch Martin leading the race with his car number at the top of the scoring tower. I must have shot this 20 times to get what I got…….I as still not totally happy with it, but this is how it turned out. I shot it at shutterspeed 125, f5.6 @ISO 2000. I shot it with my 70mm~200mm lens.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

The following Images are of Race Action shot from outside of the speedway through holes cut in the fencing. I especially love the image of Jimmie Johnson and the #48 Chevrolet sneaking past the Furniture Row Car. I was lucky with this shot. I was able to show from an “Editorial” stand point how Jimme really worked his way to the front from a poor starting position. All of these images were shot @ ISO2000 at Shutterspeed 1000 with my D300.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Jimmie Johnson (48) and Mark Martin (5) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch (18) amd Mark Martin (5) during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next image was taken in the final 3 laps of the race. I wanted to show the sense of how Mark Martin and the 5 Car were “diving” under Kyle Busch and the #18 Car to make the pass. I think that it worked as an Editorial Image. By the way, Mark did not pull it off.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Mark Martin (5) and Kyle Busch (18) battle for the lead during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These last 2 images are about all I got for crashes. I shot the 20 car spinning from being on the roof. It is a great place to shoot from if you are looking for crashes. You can see the whole Speedway, I just have to move around too much to sit and wait for a crash. I was lucky to get this one. The only other one that I got was the 1 car blowing a tire. Nothing spectacular, but good for Editorial usage.

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Lagano (20) spins during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 22, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr (1) blows a tire during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Yopu can view the whole “take” from the race at www.USPressire.com, or at my site, www.TheSharpeImage.com under the “Race Wrap” setion.

Thanks,

Sam

August 21, 2009 Qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

Sam Sharpe — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:26:27 +0000

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin (5) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I LOVE Bristol Motor Speedway! The Night Race in August has a “Medieval” feel to it. There is no other race on the Series that really compares to it. I was unable to get to the Track in time to shoot either of the practices for this weekend, but I was able to get there in time to shoot Qualifying. It is mostly portraits, but that is really all one can get during the Qualifying. I can’t wait for the race tomorrow night.

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (2) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Like I said in the opening, you really don’t get a lot of things other that portraits in the qualifying session. I was using my 300mm f2.8 a lot since NASCAR was keeping us some distance away from the drivers. The above image was shot with a 300mm lens, Shutter speed @ 160, and f8. The exposure was straight up

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Lagano (20) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Here again on the above image of Joey Lagano, my 300mm came into play. I shot this at shutter speed 160, @ f11. Here again, the exposure was straight up.

The 2 images below were shot with my 300mm lens without any Crop. I almost wish that I had used my 70mm~200mm so as to have had the ability to crop them. Such as life. Both of these images were shot at a shutter speed of 1000, and at f6.3. They were shot straight up on the exposure.

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr (88) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I decided to switch to my 70mm~200mm lens so as to be able to crop. NASCAR was not letting us go down to where we needed to be to shoot the driver in the car…..so the best thing to do was to shoot and try to get drivers talking with crew, or shoot drivers into the cars. I figured with the 70mm~200mm, I could crop as needed All of the following Images were shot with my 70mm~200mm. They were all shot at a shutter speed of 800 @ f9 at 200mm.

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart (14) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Martin Truex Jr (1) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (88) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.theSharpeImage.com

In the folling Images, I was playing with my Fisheye 10mm~17mm zoom. Tokina makes this lens…..and I love it. It does not work as well as I would like it to in low light, but I have learned to to get the most out of it in almost any light condition. It was very bright today, so I really had some fun with it. The following images were shot with it.

On the above image of Dale Earnhardt Jr, I actually got very lucky on this shot. He was walking up pit road to get to his car for qualifying, and I turned around and there hw was. I shot this from my hip, just relying on the auto focus, and hoping the exposure was in the ballpark. I did not even have time to put the camera up to my face……guess even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and again!

The following images were shot with my fisheye in an attempt to do something different. I really wanted to make something dramatic, don’t know if I succeeded, but here it is.

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dodge of driver Kasey Kahne (9) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Sam Hornish Jr (77) pushes his Dodge during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 21, 2009; Bristol, TN, USA; The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford of driver Matt Kenseth (17) during qualifying for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well, that is it for now………..look for a blog after the race. Thanks for looking.

C-ya,

Sam

June 11, 2008. Book Review from the Editor of National Speed Sport News of “Man Made Thunder”

Sam Sharpe — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:14:42 +0000

"Man Made Thunder" by Godwin Kelly. Photography by Sam Sharpe and The Sharpe Image

National Speed Sport News reviewed “Man Made Thunder” this week and posted the following review. Needless to say, I am proud of it. Again, thanks to Smyle Media, www.SmyleMedia.com, and Dakini Books, www.dakinibooks.com
Man Made Thunder
By Godwin Kelly
“Written by veteran auto-racing journalist Godwin Kelly and supported by the breathtaking photojournalism of the late Don Hunter and The Sharpe Image, this hardcover 320-page book captures the heart and soul of NASCAR stock-car racing.
The book tells the story of stock-car racing’s heroes, including three-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, through up-close visits with the drivers behind the wheel, the mechanics and the team owners.”
$49. Produced by Dakini Ventures and Speed. Available from www.speedtvbooks.com and www.dakinibooks.com.

Thanks for looking!

Sam

June 9, 2009 Asked to submitt for another book cover

Sam Sharpe — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:10:58 +0000

I was asked to submit some images for another possible book cover for a high profile publisher. The client wanted something from putside of a turn, and that was fairly dramatic. I love to shoot outside of Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway. Usually I have to shoot this at night due to the races being Night Races, but with the Rain Out of the Coke 600, and the race being run during the day, it made for some pretyy damn good pictures. These are what I submitted to the Editor for possible Cover. Sometimes I get lucky and get something good.

Thanks for looking,

Sam

Kasey Kahne in Turnn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Kasey Kahne in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Matt Kenseth works Race Traffic in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Joey Lagano in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Jeff Gordon and the #24 DuPont Chevrolet work thru Race Traffic in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Jeff Burton and the #31 CAT Chevrolet lead in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman and the #39 ARMY Chevrolet race through turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Jimmie Johnson and the LOWES Chevrolet in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Jimmie Johnson and the #48 LOWES Chevrolet race through Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Sam Hornish Jr and the #77 MOBIL Dodge in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

Dale Earnhardt Je and the #88 AMP National Guard Chevrolet in Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway

June 5, 2009 My latest Book: Man Made Thunder by Godwin Kelly for SPEED TV Books

Sam Sharpe — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:15:40 +0000

My Cover Shot of Dale Earnhardt Jr for Man Made Thunder by Godwin Kelly for SPEED TV Books

I LOVE Book Deals! They can be time consuming with the research involved, but it makes me feel very special when someone cares enough about my work to include it in a book that will most likely out live me. Sports related books are a documentation of History, and I have always considered it a privledge to work on one. Not to mention, they can be very lucrative!

This book was written by Godwin Kelly who has worked in racing for some time now. You can find him on FACEBOOK. Go there and find him, sign up as a friend, he will love it. Tell him I sent you. He can be contacted at GodwinKelly@aol.com.

The book is being produced by Dakini Books out of London. Their site is www.DakiniBooks.com. The Book is being sold through SPEED TV at www.SPEEDTV.com.

Dakini Books produces only a limited amount of title each year aimed at selected Markets. Their books have been considered “works of Art” in their own right. I am just proud that they chose me as one of the Partners on this Project that is in conjunction with SPEED TV.

Here is the Back Cover from the book:

Back Cover of Man Made Thunder

The Images that are mine are 1) Jeff Gordon from The ALLSTAR Race, 2) Mark Martin and the ARMY Car, 3) Dale Earnhardt Jr putting his helmet on, 4) Kyle Busch standing on top of his car, 5) Tony Stewart winning The Brickyard 400, and 6) the pit stop shot of Kevin Harvick in the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. The Book contains over 100 images that are mine from 1993 to present day.

Here is the actual shot that the cover was made from:

Dale Earnhardt Jr wins the 2008 BUDWEISER Shoot Out at Daytona International Speedway

I had converted this image into a Black and White and worked with it from there. I used to hate Black and White Photography, but it seems the older I get, the more I like it. Here is the same image in Black and White:

Black and White Image of Dale Earnhardt Jr winning the 2008 BUDWEISER Shoot Out

Anyway, please take some time to check out the book. www.SPEEDTVBooks.com. I think that it is a nice piece of work. I would also like to put out a big Thank-You to Don Smyle and Smyle Media. You can check out Smyle Media at www.SmyleMedia.com. His company handles content from years of racing, both historical and present, and from Open Wheel to NASCAR. Without Don and Smyle Media, this project would have not taken off.

Again, Thanks for looking!

Sam

May 25, 2009. David Reutimann wins a WET Coca Cola 600

Sam Sharpe — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:16:41 +0000

David Reutimann celebrates with his daughter after the race is called by NASCAR

All Right, let me get this out of the way right now……………..I have read several different articals basically taking something away from David Reutimann because he won this race due to a rain delay. That’s Bullshit! David played by the rules of the game and won fair and square! The other 13 drivers that were ahead of him and pited when the red flag was thrown for rain could have (and should have) elected to stay out and hold their position. It is just that David’s team played the best move for them, and it just happened to be the best move for the “end game” of the race. He won it fair and square…..no two ways about it. Not only did he win it, but he won it in a very spectacular, and very “smart” fashion. Good going David………..job well done!

As far as this reaction shot to winning the race, the above shot is really nothing all that great. NASCAR made all of us stand out in the rain for more than 2 and 1/2 hours before they called it. And when they did finally call it, they would not let the MEDIA anywhere near David to get his reaction. This shot was made AFTER we were allowed to run over to where David was standing. His daughter had just gotten to him, and this was the resulting Image.

Thanks for looking,

Sam

Here are some images of David Reutimann and Team owner Michael Waltrip waiting out the rain:

David Reutiman and Michael Waltrip waiting out the rain

David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip waiting out the rain

Micheal Waltrip looks up as the rain falls

David Reutimann looks up at the rain........wonders when NASCAR will call the race

I think that the above shot speaks a lot about the day. We all kept looking to the sky to see what was going to happen. David just happen to have an expression on his face that reminded me of “when is this ever going to end.” Kinda the way we all felt that day.

Pit Stops played a major role in the race for the day. After all…..if David had come in to pit, he would have lost the race. Both Ryan Newman (39) and Kyle Busch (18) were players all day long in this race. when I went to get pit stops, I really wanted to capture them, I really thought that Kyle was going to pull it off. Here is what I came up with:

Kyle Busch and the #18 MnMs Toyota come in to pit

The #18 MnMs Crew of Kyle Busch pit the car

The following images of the #39 car were taken from the end of Pit Road where you can get out in front of pit road due to the configuration of the pit road wall. I am sure that the Track did not intend for this position to work out like it did for photographers, but I am glad it did. This is one of my favorite places to shoot pit stops on the whole circuit. I love the aggressive look of the whole scene:

Ryan Neewman and the #39 ARMY Chevrolet come in for a pit stop

Ryan Newman and the #39 ARMY Chevrolet come in for a pit stop

The following 2 Images are of the #5 Team pitting the car. The one of the “catch can” man at the rear of the car is especially interesting. I believe that Mark Marting thought that there was a problem with one of the lugs on the rear tire. He started out of the pit, then put the car in reverse and backed up. I don’t think that he was aware that the crew member was there. He lifted the guy slightly off of the ground. It could have been worse than what it was. I was so stunned that he did it, that I almost did not fire the shot. But I guess that my instincts held out:

The #5 Team pits the Kelloggs Chevrolet of Mark Martin

Catch Can man gets backed into by Mark Martin

The next 2 Images are just general “over all” images to show the cars coming in to pit. I just wanted to get a sense of competition and the expanse of Pit Road at the Speedway:

Cars come down pit road as Teams wave the pit board signs in order for the driver to find his pit stall.

Cars pull out and leave pit road after their pit stop

Outside Turn 4 at LOWES Motor Speedway is one of my Favorite shooting positions on the whole circuit. When the cars come past you at 189mph, you can feel the air pressure suck you towards them. They come so close to the whole in the fence where you are, that if you reached out, they would take your arm off. It is truly a “one of a kind” shooting postion in all of Sports Photography. One that I am glad to have had the pleasure of experiencing. Shots can be very dramatic from the position. Especially when they are photographed during the day. This was a ral treat, because both Charoltte Races are Night Races, so I took full advantage of this situation. I hope that you like them as much as I liked shooting them:

Jimmie Johnson (48) leads Brian Vickers (83) through Turn 4

Teammates Jeff Gordon (24) and Mark Martin (6) race through Turn 4

David Reutimann worked traffic all day long to stay on the lead lap…….here are 2 shots of him getting it accomplished:

David Reutimann (00) working Traffic

David Reutimann (00) working traffic

This next shot is a shot of Kyle Busch (18) working Traffic on the inside to gain a postion. I really wanted to create a sense that he was “sneaking” around the competition, here is what I got:

Kyle Busch (18) works traffic in turn 4

Some of the other “Players” in the Deal were the #48 Car, The #99 Car, and of course the #18 Car who lead most of the day. Since I was shooing mostly from the front stretch after I came back in from the outside turn postion, I wanted to stay on pit road in case it started to rain (which it did). This is what I posted to US Presswire for Race Action:

Kyle Busch and the #18 Car. Race Action

The #48 LOWES Chevrolet and the #99 AFLAC Ford Race for position

The final Images that I wanted to show are just some portraits that I found nice. The one of the crew member stretching before the race was real interesting with the UPS Logo. I LOVE to shoot Mark Martin, he is really a nice person. Just a joy to work with. Of course I had to post something of Reutimann…..nothing great , but it got the job done:

Mark MArtin during pre race

A Crewman for David Ragan (6) gets some help stretching while on pit road duting pre race.

David Ragan wins the Coca Cola 600

Thanks for looking. It will be a while before I get back to a race. Bristol in Aug. is my next one. I am getting prepared for the NFL Pre Season to start. I LOVE Football……it keeps me close to home, and I just am a fan of the game. Sailing is also kicking up. Look for posts from the Charleston Ocean Racing Association’s Race Week 2009. I myself am a Sailor and Yacht Racer, so needless to say, I love to shoot the sport.

Thanks for looking……C-ya soon.

Sam