My Life as a Photographer

I’ve been working on galleries from the HMSA event that I attended a few weeks ago.  I have been posting the galleries as I finish them to nwspeedshots.com and Smugmug.  I decided to split the galleries into the run groups since it makes it easier for people to locate the images they are interested in.  It’s a bit more work, but I think it is worth it.   As always, I touch every image (crop, adjust, spot,…) before they get posted.

I have been very slow at getting my galleries done so far this year.  Unfortunately my “day job” and some family matters have been taking precedence over this work.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up soon.

This afternoon I called Pam at Victory Lane Magazine to check on my credentials for the CSRG Season Opener that I will be attending next week.  I always like to make sure things are in order before arriving at a track.  It’s so much easier than trying to scramble once I get there and is a lot less stressful.

I took the weekend off from shooting motorsports.  Noreen, the dogs, and I went to Yachats, one of our favorite places on the Oregon coast for some rest and relaxation.  It had been a while since we had been there and I was hoping to get some new landscape images for my portfolio.

From almost the moment we arrived I felt pretty out of touch with this style of photography.  Since I have been focusing so much on motorsports photography these last few years, I found it extremely hard to shoot landscapes again.  I felt so out of my element.  It is definitely a different style of photography and requires a lot different mindset.  It is true that “practice makes perfect” and I felt far from “perfect” this weekend.

I started going through the images on Tuesday evening. I’m not able to work on the images during the day since I have work at my “day job” and that is my first priority. That is why sometimes it takes a week or two to get my galleries up on all the sites. It can be frustrating but that is just the reality right now.

I first wanted to get a DVD together for submittal to Victory Lane magazine. I haven’t yet submitted images from the first two events of the year so I figured I would do it all at once and get it sent off to them before leaving for the coast this weekend. Victory Lanes likes shots with multiple cars in them. For cover shots, they want vertical format images. I’m trying to get better at these type of shots. I’ll get the DVD sent off in the morning before we head out.

I also got an image of myself sent off to HMSA so that they can make my credentials (hard card) for using at their events this year. I signed the waiver at Thunderhill, so they just needed an image to finish it up. I should get it by the time I get back next week.

Before heading off to bed, I made flight reservations for the HMSA event at Laguna Seca for the third weekend in April and rental car reservations for the event at the beginning of April at Infineon. So much to do, so little time.

Our original plan was to leave the track after the race on Sunday and drive all the way back to Portland. That was probably a little bit too optimistic (even though I had it easy since Bob was doing the driving!). We made it as far as Medford last night and checked into the cheapest hotel we could find (a motel 6). I was able to go through a few images but since my master Lightroom catalog is on my desktop at home, it was only to just review them and to see what I had captured at the event. Fortunately I have a bit of time when I get home to go though them all.

We arrived at Bob apartment in the early afternoon. I transferred my gear to my truck, got on the freeway, and headed for home. I arrive home in the early evening happy to see Noreen and all our animals. Tomorrow the real work begins once again.

I posted the first of three galleries from last weekend’s event in Fontana.  When the images are ready to go I still have to add a watermark to each image.  Then I can create the actual gallery images.  Once that is done, I post a gallery on the nwspeedshots site, create a entry in the nwspeedshots blog, and upload all the images to Smugmug.  This being the first vintage event of 2010, I also needed to create the “carousel” page for 2010 vintage events on nwspeedshots.com.  I didn’t have the correct software to do it so I called Walt and he quickly built a page for me.

I will be leaving for Thunderhill Raceway Park in northern California tomorrow so I‘ll have to finish up the other galleries next week.   It is always a challenge to get the galleries completed and posted before the next event rolls around.  It is especially hard when travel days cut into the time available for editing.

Started going through the images from the weekend.  I shot 2,500 images during the event.  First I have to go thought all the images and mark the ones that are usable.  Then comes the hard part of going through all those images and narrowing them down further.  Eventually, I will get them down to a reasonable number of images for posting. Once I’ve selected the images I want I still have lots of work to do to them.  I touch every images before they get posted to various websites.

I’m hoping to have a least one gallery posted before next weekend.  It is always a challenge to get the work done before the next event comes around.

And so it begins!  The start of a new racing season is upon us.  I have high hopes for the the upcoming year as I’m planning on shooting a lot of events.  Many more that I have shot in years past.  Opportunities should not be squandered when presented to you.  So I will take advantage of them while I can.

I’ve been been getting ready all day. Organizing gear, doing laundry, packing my suitcase, charging batteries, etc.  It is always hard to pack at the beginning of the year when you have been out of the routine for a while.  I always pack way too many clothes.  The important things are the cameras and lenses!  Oh and memory cards too!  I just don’t want to forget any of those.  I also need to make sure I have all my paperwork.   Airline ticket, drivers license and such.

I’m not a morning person but 4 AM here I come.  I’ve got to get the airport for my 7:15 AM flight.  I’ll try and sleep early tonight.