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

The Sharpe Image » Bristol Motor Speedway Sharpie 500 Qualifying Practice

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