[Leica] a day at the drag races

[pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig)]

tend to agree with BD! I think that 57 is far and away the strongest.

Keep at it,

Peter

Arche, Harvey wrote:

> B.D. wrote:
> Hi, Arche - 49, 51, 53, 57, and 58 are your winners. So what were you
> shooting with?
> 
> 
> On 6/21/06 6:05 PM, "Arche, Harvey" <Harvey.Arche@jp2hs.org> wrote:
> 
> 
>>Of all the various paid sporting events I?ve ever been to, the drag races 
>>have
>>absolutely the least separation between spectators and participants, at 
>>this
>>track anyway. There is a small parking lot for fans right next to the 
>>stands,
>>for convenience, but you can park wherever you want. At the drag strip 
>>there
>>is no ?pit? area, just big parking lots on either side of the track. This 
>>is
>>where the racers line up their trucks and trailers, and unload the cars. 
>>Any
>>mechanical work takes place here, as well as warm-up driving. Everyone is
>>walking around visiting and checking out the competition. The only parking
>>rules are custom and courtesy.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/parking_pits
>>At this track there is a broad lane from the parking lots, along back of 
>>the
>>stands, leading to the bottom of the track. This is where the racers queue 
>>up
>>waiting their turns to run. The fences are present only to define lanes, 
>>and
>>there is no avoiding moving in and through the mass of cars and drivers.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/lane
>>Even though the line moves fairly quickly (each race only lasts seconds),
>>there is still a lot of standing around and waiting, trash talking, 
>>haranguing
>>the officials, and running to the concession stand for snacks (send the 
>>spouse
>>or kid). Interestingly, to me anyway, there is a much higher proportion of
>>black participation in drag racing, by far, than any of the other motor 
>>sports
>>I?ve witnessed.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/car_driver1
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/car_driver2
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/car_driver3
>>The concession stand sells sodas, junk food, and earplugs (but this evening
>>the sign said: ?No Earplugs tonight - Don?t even ask?). The noise can be
>>shattering. Small boys stick their fingers in their ears
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/noise
>>and grown men shelter behind their spit cups.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/burnout
>>This is the ?burnout? at the bottom end of the track, when drivers spin 
>>their
>>wheels on water-slicked pavement in order to get the wheels hot so that 
>>they
>>become soft and offer better traction. Immediately after this the cars 
>>come up
>>to the starting line, and usually there is no more than 10-20 seconds 
>>between
>>the burnout and the actual race.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/downthetrack
>>All the watchable action is at the starting end of the track, and 
>>spectators
>>are separated from the cars only by a chain-link and a low wall. This is 
>>where
>>most of the crowd is all evening. This Toyota truck stomped that Camaro
>>turning in a time of 6.99 seconds for the quarter mile.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/start1
>>Then again, that Toyota truck is a Toyota  truck like I?m Arnold
>>Schwarzenegger. Wait - I?ve got that backwards.
>>Time trials take up most of the daylight, and actual races begin in the
>>evening. One of my students, whose dad races a Chevelle here, tells me 
>>they?ll
>>run races, sometimes, until 3 in the morning. As the wind dies, the pall of
>>tire-smoke hangs at the starting line.
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/night1
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/album404/night2
>>Still smelling of burnt rubber,
>>Arche
> 
> 
> Thanks, B.D. I was shooting my usual M2/35 'cron bugeye rig, but for film 
> used, progressively as the day wore on, APX 100, Tri-x, and then P3200. 
> Trouble was, I ran out of daylight film before I ran out of daylight. 
> Lesson: don't shoot P3200 in the daytime without being willing to process 
> it differently from the stuff shot at night - I got lazy.
> While you're OK with 49, I dislike it for technical reasons (see above). 
> Which brings me to my real problem with editing this stuff. Sometimes to 
> get one image or another I like out there, I feel the need to establish 
> context, or often continuity, and end up pulling in weaker images to 
> support the narrative. I'm waffling between ditching any narrative and 
> axeing ruthlessly, or keeping the story to add dimension. Us Southerners 
> love our stories, but us photographers want the 1000 words to stay in the 
> picture.
> 55 may not be a series-keeper, but could have outside life as a document 
> of a time and place. 58 almost didn't get in, but 57 works both in and out 
> of the series context, when taken as a portrait. Fortunately I happen to 
> know who the guy is, and came get prints to his family.
> 
> That last 'T-shot' was definitly not 'simply a photo of people on a 
> train'. I'd tell you to GOYA & Shoot but you don't need to hear it.
> Arche
> 
> 
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