A golden ticket gets Charlie and Grandpa Joe into the chocolate factory, but an Orange Ribbon gets you into the prime photo spots at Infineon Raceway.
I thought I might be able to sneak into some of the best spots since I was carrying around a huge L lens. I arrived early and parked at the far end with the rest of the common folk. I entered the track area by Turn 7 and saw a beautifully open area at the turn where I could get great shots. I paused at a hay bale to assemble the lens and camera and monopod, and I think that was my first noob mistake. Pros don’t put their stuff together on hay bales. They do it in the car and are ready when they arrive at the track.
As I tried to attach the big lens without getting dust on it, a golf cart raced over to me and two men demanded my credentials. I was busted. I went on my way without a fight and started noticing that everyone on the other side of the fences had hanging from his or her waist a large orange ribbon that was visible from far, far away. Sneaking in did not look like a promising possibility.
I went to the high ground and relied on the 300mm lens to get me close. Sadly, I found that even that monster was a bit too short for the distances from which I was usually shooting, and when I got home and edited the pictures, I usually had to crop much of the image out to get what I wanted. I was hoping the big lens would give me full frames of action that would require little or no cropping.
Having orange ticket envy, I approached a man wearing one as he passed me and spoke to him for a few minutes about how he got that treasured item.
I had the pleasure of meeting Malcolm Slight, from El Sobrante, CA (not pictured above). When I asked him about how to get an orange ribbon, he kindly explained that one needed to be sent to the event by a newspaper or magazine that wanted pictures for publication. He went on to say that Infineon has tightened up on the number of photo passes issued due to the extreme popularity of their NASCAR event. He attends in the good graces of the Benicia Herald, which he said has used quite a few of his photos. To get his pass this year, he was required by the raceway to submit at least four published images of races. He got his start by contacting sports editors to inquire about interest in shots of upcoming races and being persistent. Amazing how often that word comes up, huh?
With Mr. Slight’s information in mind, I watched the many orange ribbon bearers with new interest. Not only was I developing a new appreciation for how many of them lug these heavy lenses around, but I started to wonder about some of those wearing photo passes. Some seemed clearly to be pros, judging not just from the equipment, as we know that any hack can rent a big lens, ahem. But many of these people knew each other, knew where they wanted to be on the track at certain times, and went about their business in a very familiar and methodical way. In other words, I didn’t see any of them trying to sort out their gear on hay bales.
Others, however, looked like anything but pros. One ribbon bearer had a tiny single camera, practically a compact. A woman in a fancy jumpsuit had one small SLR that she seemed to be learning to use by occupying one of the best spots at Turn 2, a gap in the metal fence just meters from the edge of the track. If I had been there with my big lens I could fill the frame with a rider’s single hand on the throttle! So I am now of the opinion that there are other ways of getting orange ribbons. I suspect that knowing the right people, perhaps being related to one of them, will also get you into the right place if you have a camera.
Since I am not likely to get where I want to go that way, I will someday have to take the persistence route. I am slowly building a collection of photos I could show to editors when trying to solicit a job. But at the moment all of my persistence is directed at getting a book published, so it will be a while at least before I’m chasing in earnest my own orange ribbon.
As a compromise, I have added to my reservation of the big lens the 2X converter for Laguna Seca. That will give me 600mm to work with! Maybe I’ll be able to compensate for my distance from the track with that.
0 comments:
Post a Comment