Like all BITD races qualifying happens before the race to determine starting positions for the Trophy Trucks and Class 1 cars. I drove up in the morning to Las Vegas to the qualifying area which was off Apex Road where the SNORE Mint 400 course is ran. I knew it was going to be a long day the second I stepped out of my truck and felt the heat of the sun.

I got there a little early so that I could scope out the course a little bit, and look for some potential photo spots. About half the course was run on the mint course so I know what was there, but the first half of the qualifying loop was new. About a mile from the start line there was some orange danger markers so I made the trek to see what it was. It was a 10 minute walk, I always time myself so that I can factor that in on how long I can stay at a spot. If I know I need to be on the road after an hour, I have to factor in the time it takes to get back to the truck.

At the danger markers there was a nice drop off that was about 10 feet tall, and had a pretty good grade to it. Honestly I figured that spot wouldn’t be that great thinking most would just slow way down, but it turned out to be a great spot and I got some photos that were my favorite from the weekend. A few jumped off it, most slowed down but not enough to where they left the ground a bit landing hard at the bottom, and even those that slammed on their brakes would throw some silt at the top.

On Thursday Bink and I spent most of the day looking for photo spots since there was no prerunning before the race. I always like to be prepared on where I’ll be going race day, usually over preparing, but I think its important to have a game plan ready. We spent about 5 hours going from spot to spot to try and find the best spots that were fairly easy to get to, and would let us get our clients multiple times.

The first spot I went to was right off the highway before Pit 1 at race mile 32. Its not an exciting spot but its early in the race and far enough from the second spot that I could catch the top 20 guys, and still catch the leader at spot #2.

The next spot I went to was about 30 minutes up the highway, with another 5 minute drive down a graded road to race mile 116. I chose this spot because it was a nice 90 degree turn, and also that less then a quarter mile back on the graded road the course crossed at race mile 167. So this would let me get everyone I needed to at RM116, with enough time to run over to the road crossing and catch them again.

I started on the inside of the turn with my wide angle.

After a few more cars I moved to the outside to get a little different perspective.

After all my clients went by I drove down the road to RM167. I hiked backwards a little on the course and found a decent chicane in the road. Wasn’t anything special but was able to get everyone one more time.

The last spot that I went to was up before Pit 9 near race mile 318. Looking at the race course on google earth there was an access road that led to a 90 degree right hand turn. Like the first spot I shot if from a few different angles to mix things up.

Head on.

Larry Roeseler in the Terrible Herbst Trophy Truck came by with only reverse, just cruising by on a sunday drive. They would make it to Pit 9 and get the transmission replaced and go on to finish the race.

Congrats to all the racers who put on a great show as usual, and thanks to BITD for putting on another great event. You can check out all my photos from the race by clicking on the link below. Enjoy!

2011 BITD Vegas 2 Reno Photos

Our day (Myself, Scott Smith, and Curtis Guise) started off at the Ojos Negros road crossing, where we would be shooting for the first 12 vehicles until we had to leave for our next spot as we would be following the main pack all day. Being that it was at mile 33, everyone was pretty much in the same order as they started, except that Roger Norman didn’t come through, and Rob Mac has moved up a spot passing TSCO.

The next spot we headed to was near KM77 where they get back on the dirt from a pavement section. We’d shot there at the 1000 last year and we knew if we timed it right we’d be able to catch the leaders there for a second time. By now we were at race mile 80 and the racers were starting to get spread out, with a few people nowhere to be seen, and a few jumping or falling back a few positions. Robby Gordon had moved through the pack in his Dakar Hummer to 16h physically with BJ Baldwin right behind him, still unable to “open up the back of it like a bag of cheatos”. Also by now some of the Class 1 cars had been working there way to the Trophy Truck pack going for the overall.

After an hour went by we got in the truck and drove down to Borrego to shoot at the mini zoo road / Ojos jump. With the racers having to go through the summit, and with a lot of rough sections before the jump we knew we had plenty of time to beat them, and we got there with about 20 minutes to spare. When we first got there the crowd didn’t seem to be as big as years past, but as soon as that first helicopter came around the mountain, and dust could be seen in the distance people came out of nowhere and we were now rubbing elbows with fans wanting to play chicken with a trophy truck.

Bryce Menzies was still holding his lead strong with Andy McMillin right behind him, A funny moment came when Bryce went by and all the locals thought Vildosola was in the lead because of the Redbull paint job. When Vildosola did come through he hit the jump the best, launching his truck to the crowds delight. Robby Gordon also launched his Hummer off the jump coming in a respectful second place in the air department. At this point, which was about race mile 200, it looked as if Robby had made up the most positions again coming by 6th physically.

We shot near Borrego for about two and a half hours before heading to our last spot which was at the meadow before they cross over near Ojos, near race mile 419. By now the sun was getting close to the ridgeline and the racers were only a short time away from racing at night. Bryce still held his lead showing that in his first full season in a Trophy Truck he is a force to be reckoned with. The team of Larry Rosseler and Tim Herbst had gotten around Andy McMillin and came by in second place. While Justin Davis was the first physical Class 1 car, the single seater of Euegino was close behind on his way to the win.

Like every BITD event qualifying was held before the race, this time in Henderson, NV at the old start finish for the Henderson 300 race. The 3 mile loop was pretty uneventful since it was on a flat piece of land that was more of a man made course. Instead of complaining the course was boring, I took it as a challenge to try and make something interesting. With Trophy Trucks and Class 1 cars and 700+ horsepower, its hard to make them look boring.

I spent most of the qualifying session walking from spot to spot trying to find something I liked and here are a few of my favorites from the day.

I like this shot of Riot Racing because of the different layers between the two sets of mountains. greenery, and the dust trail.

Monster Energy / General Tires’s BJ Baldwin always puts on a good show.

As the day went on the turns started getting more chewed up.

On Friday Bink and I did a quick loop around contingency in the morning, and then we headed up to Alamo to start scouting for spots to shoot on race day. I’d shot this race two years prior, but the course was a little different and if you know me I like to be prepared the day of the race and know exactly where I’ll be going. I spent time the week before “prerunning” on Google Earth to look for various access roads, so we had a pretty good idea of where to go.

A lot of the spots ended up being nothing great, but like we kept saying that day, “you don’t know if you don’t try”. We ended up spending 6 hours and driving about 250 miles for the day before we settled in Alamo for the night and slept in our trucks. We could of stayed in Vegas that night but we wanted to shoot the bikes which started at 6 am, which meant we would of had to wake up around 4 to get there in time. Did we shoot the bikes? Nope, woke up at 5:30am after waking up every half hour to stretch my legs and decided to go back to sleep. Sorry bike guys.

Race day was upon us, and the first spot we went to was around race mile 61, which was a nice sweeping turn with a good view of the cars going through the forest before it. We labeled it our “scenic” spot.

There are trees in Nevada?

Here is a shot of the sweeping turn. Its 43% scenic.

After most of the vehicles went by us, we packed up and headed to Pit 5, which was race mile 201. We got there with about 15 minutes to spare, so far our game plan was working out nicely. More on that later. We chose this spot because at the end of the pit they jumped onto a graded road, which then transitioned into a tight 180 degree turn into a sandy wash.

Putting on a show again.

Also started to get some nice cloud cover which always helps.

We wanted to catch the leaders one last time so we only stayed at this spot for about 45 minutes before heading towards the dry lake bed at race mile 290. There was a pole line road that took us right to it so it worked out perfectly, except our timing. Because the course is so fast (prerunning we only found one whoop, not whoop section, one whoop) the leaders were making great time and we missed BJ Baldwin, and just caught the eventual overall winner Kyle Conlon.

While prerunning the day before we found a small silt bed about 1.5 miles past the dry lake, so when I got there I made the not so quick hike to that spot. It turned out that the spot wasn’t the greatest, and I didn’t get that great of shots of the first 20 vehicles. But like we said before, you don’t know if you don’t try. I’d rather risk trying to find a good spot and failing, then spend my time wondering if it was. (Thats what people say when the spot turns out to not be that good ).

So after working that spot for a bit I hiked back to the dry lake bed and shot that for the rest of the day. The nice thing about dry lake beds are that it gives you a lot of options.

Here is the not so exciting silt section.

This is the right hand turn after the dry lake bed. The lighting was also getting nice since the sun was getting lower in the sky.

You can also get some nice far away shots on the lake bed.

That does it for this blog post, you can check out all my photos from the race by clicking the link below. Thanks for reading!

HighRev Photography – 2011 BITD Silver State 300 Photo Gallery

The course is a 140 mile loop filled with all types of terrain, which for photographers means we get a lot of options and variety. Qualifying was set for Thursday morning so Scott Smith and I headed up Wednesday night. The qualifying session is always a lot of fun to shoot because you get two laps so you are able to get more shots for your clients, and also the racers are going all out so you are bound to get some great action.

Before it started myself, Scott and Brian from Bink Designs was able to scout the course out and we found one area that we thought might be good. However the more we hung around waiting for the session to start, my gut told me to move to another spot down the course and I’m glad we did. For the practice lap we shot at a nice sandy s-turn where the cars would throw up a nice roost.

It was a nice spot because you could work a few different angles.

Camburg Racing

Strobel Motorsports

Ray “Ray Ray” Griffith

Another angle that I liked was after the vehicles went by they would shoot a nice roost right at you. I have the sand in my pockets to prove it. I know some people are going to think why put yourself in that position, but it was actually very safe. We never put ourselves in a position of danger for a photo.

Riot Racing

Herbst Motorsports

Bilek Racing

For the second lap of qualifying we moved down course a bit to an off camber g-out, our thinking behind it was let it get dug out more on the first lap, and that they’d also be hitting it faster this lap. It was another good spot where you could work different angles.

Here is Shannon Campbell proving us right

Adam Householder

Andy McMillin

Robby Gordon

Friday was pretty uneventful as the only thing going on was contingency which is like watching paint dry, so Scott and I took most of the day to scout out spots along the course. We wanted to try and find some new areas on the course to shoot, and we were able to find some good spots, but logistically it just wouldn’t work out. The only “negative” about having a few clients to shoot is that you need to make sure you get them multiple times. If you’re just shooting on your own you have the freedom to do whatever you want.

The 5:45am wake up call Saturday morning marked the start of a long but fun day. That alarm clock sets in motion a day of running around spot to spot, eating only nutter butters and sunflower seeds, facing the clock trying to beat cars to the next spot, and the big exhale at the end of the day when everything comes to a close.

The first spot we went to was at race mile 5, which is at the end of a long wash that has some nice sized holes that creeps up on the racers. Everyone knows its there, but in the heat of battle sometimes you tend to put your prerun homework aside.

After the majority of the race vehicles went by, we got back in the truck and headed to our next spot around race mile 130 to catch the lead group finishing up their first lap. It was another spot we have shot at before and its a nice spot to go to because the loop is so long, the majority of the vehicles are still going on their first lap. We hustled to get there and with a few minutes to spare we were able to catch the leaders.

After the majority of the lead group went by we got back in the truck and hustled to race mile 125ish to catch them once again at a quick sweeping turn. We only stayed there for a few cars so that we could run to race mile 5 which was down the road, but far enough on race miles that we’d be able to catch the leaders again.

At race mile 5 is a long sandy downhill into a right hand turn that always gives you some good action. At the bottom there is some big sand whoops, or if they go wide some soft sand to get some dirt in the air.

We finished off the day by heading deep into the course around race mile 90 that not a lot of media go to because of access. There isn’t anything too exciting out there, but its something different and is a bit scenic.

Well that wraps up this issue of “Blog post from two months ago”, below you’ll find some more photos from the race that I liked, as well as a link to the full gallery on my site. Thanks for looking!

http://www.highrevphoto.com/photos/

As time went on I slowly got better, and with the SCORE Laughlin race getting closer and closer I was itching to get back out there and do what I love. Laughlin is also a special race for my wife and I because its where we met 8 years ago. She was scheduled to come out but because she was sick she had to stay home. I also have to give her a special shout out, because while I was injured she ran the household when I wasn’t able to do anything. She is an amazing women.

The weekend started off with qualifying Friday afternoon for the Trophy Truck class. They each do one lap around the 6 mile course to set their starting position for Saturday. If it was up to me I’d have the Class 1 cars also qualify on Friday.

Qualifying was the first time I’d have to walk long distances with all my camera gear strapped to my back, so I took it easy to see how it felt. Thankfully I wasn’t bothered by it so it was game on. HighRev is back!

Here is Robby Gordon during is qualifying run, and turned out to be one of my favorite photos from the weekend. The time of day was just right to get a nice blue sky, and the dirt was lit up real nice by the sun. You always seem to get the best photos during qualifying versus the actual race.

Here is another photo from the same spot of Greg Nunley / Ken Losch. I decided to shoot this spot from this angle towards the end of the session, wish I would of shot it sooner.

This is a different angle from the same spot just more head on.

Redbull’s Bryce Menzies

Cameron Steele

Another spot I shot at was a little jump after they come around from the high school jumps.

After qualifying we went and hit up the pits to get some shots of the clients we were covering. Friday was Corky McMillin’s 82nd Birthday.

Friday night is when the Laughlin Leap was to be held. I was just going through some photos from 2005′s Laughlin race and the difference between the leap then and now is disappointing. In 2005 the jump was twice as wide, and you could actually call it a leap. The past few years its been more of a Laughlin Dropoff. If you have the most horsepower you’ll win the Laughlin Leap [ / end whining ]

My leap experience was basically a failure. Like years past I just use a Canon 550ex Flash setup on a tripod and fire it with pocket wizards. I don’t own a strobe so I use that, plus I like the harsh light it gives compared to the big strobes. One problem I’ve had with it in the past, is that when I’m far away from the light, because there are so many people lined up it blocks the signal. So this year I geeked out and setup a relay with two other pocket wizards set across the track so that I could eliminate that problem. Everything worked good in testing before the leap started, but for some reason the whole night it was very spotting and maybe only 1 out of every 10 clicks would fire the light.

The event virtually has no breaks so I just decided to use the ambient light and if the flash fired it was just an added bonus. My Canon 1D Mark 2 isn’t very usefull past 800 ISO, which left me to use a slower shutter = not many usable images lol.

This is how it was supposed to look.

And here is how it looked 90% of the time.

Here is me being artsy. Artsy is the term most photographers use when something goes wrong and they didn’t expect it to come out like that.

I headed over to the opposite side of the course to try and at least get something decent with all the other people in the background. This is me being artsy. I promise.

Race day quickly came upon us, and with having a client in all 5 groups it meant a long day of shooting and walking. My back still felt pretty good from the day before so I didn’t see it being a problem. To play it safe for Friday I shot near the infield section where the vehicles would leave and enter, so I’d have a little less walking to do then Sunday.

Here are a few select highlights from Saturday that I liked.

The story for the Trophy Truck class for Saturday’s start was Robby Gordon and BJ Baldwin first off the line together. Old Monster vs. New Monster.

Justin Lofton throwing it into a corner.

For Sunday’s racing I decided to shoot near the high school section on the north part of the course. The nice part about shooting here is it gives you a few more options as far ask spots to shoot then near the infield. I would start off shooting each group near the high school jumps, then walk around the course going from spot to spot. Here are some more of my favorites from Sunday.

Thanks for looking once again, we are excited to see what 2011 brings. Up next for me is the BITD race in Parker this weekend, then King of the Hammers, Battle @ Primm, and the first NHRA of the season in Pomona. So stay tuned!

Since this year is coming to a close, I thought I’d share with you what I think are some of the better photos from 2010. This year I shot the usual desert and short course races, along with King of the Hammers, some mountain biking, and the NHRA finals thrown in towards the end of the year. In total I went to about 28 events, and took around 40,000 photos. So be patient! Its a pretty long blog but hopefully worth the wait!

Before I begin I’d just like to thank my wife Jamie for putting up with another busy year of photography. I’m usually gone a few times a month which leaves all the responsibility of running a household on her while I’m gone. She is incredibly supportive and unselfish to let me do what I love and enjoy, and she is the backbone of our family.

First off I’d thought I’d show some of my favorite photos from mountain bike races I went to. I shot one endurance race called The Vision Quest / Counting Coup, and also covered a local series out in Irvine called Over The Hump Series. I started riding bikes myself the past few years and I’ve grown to really love the sport. Its man versus nature at the basic level, and the time you spend on the bike can be very relaxing.

The Counting Coup runs through the Santa Ana Mountains, and gives some great backgrounds and also some really good light in the morning.

The Over The Hump Race is held at Irvine Lake and also gives you some great backgrounds to chose from. OTH is a local series with great support from the community, and is a lot of fun to shoot. Its held every Tuesday for about 2 months so you get a lot of opportunities to play around with different angles.

The races are held during the end of the day so you get some nice lighting to work with.

Among short course racing, Crandon Offroad Raceway is the grandfather of all tracks. Its where the traditions and backbone of the sport started. Crandon is a great track with its wide open speeds, great scenery, and even better people. Here are a few from this years Labor Day race that I liked.

Here are a few of my favorites from this years LOORRS season. At the Surprise, AZ course one turn I like to shoot at is this photo below. Its a wide sweeping turn and during the race the sun is behind the corner so it gives the light a cool look to it.

Robby Woods flies through the air and into the sunset.

A course worker flags down the field silhouetted by the sun.

Ricky Johnson has the Santa Ana Mountains in the background has he hits a jump at Glen Helen Raceway.

Sean Geiser goes for a ride in his Prolite Truck.

Here is one shot from the King of the Hammers, this was taken at one of the more popular spectator spots called Sledgehammer.

At a few races this year I was able to mess around with remote flashes and cameras during the race, and was able to get a few interesting shots. At the SCORE Laughlin Leap I set up my Canon 550ex flash to the right of the trucks and walked farther down the landing area to get a nice head on shot.

At a LOORRS race this year Kyle Leduc let me put my flash inside his truck, so that I could fire it from the track. My goal was to get some interesting shots with the background and truck dark with the cab and him all lit up. You can see my blog about it here.

Here are two shots that I liked the best from the series.

That same weekend I also mounted a Canon 20D on the back of Kyle Leducs truck. Here is a blog about that as well.

I also had the opportunity in 2010 to help out a friend who runs the company Dirtbagz with some product photography. It was my first time doing product shots and I enjoyed it a lot and hope to do more in 2011.

Shooting desert racing is my first love. Its not just going to a track and shooting photos, its the adventure of racing from spot to spot to beat your client. Its prerunning before hand to find the best spots along the course, and the logistics of putting it all together with a game plan for race day. The course is constantly changing as more vehicles carve into the dirt. At a Nascar race you can go to the media center for lunch, in Baja you live off the local taco stand and Doritos.

I’d say overall one of the best desert races of 2010 for photos was the SNORE Mint 400. The course is rough with a lot of great spots, but the qualifying session the day before the race was a photographers candy jar. One spot along the qualifying loop was a jump at the bottom of a long downhill and the racers put on a great show, both intentionally and unintentionally. Here are three photos, one of Cameron Steele crashing his Trophy Truck after landing in a deep hole after the jump, and Roger Norman launching his truck in the air, and a Class 1 car who surprisingly saved it and just ended up breaking his front a-arm.

Here are some more of my favorite shots from the 2010 desert racing season.

Another photo from the Mint 400 where Zorba Racing blows their front bumper into the silt.

Overlooking contingency at the SCORE San Felipe 250 race.

Wilson Motorsports races down the town of Ensenada at the Baja 500.

Mastercraft’s Robbie Pierce and COPS Racing blast through a silt bed in San Felipe.

KING Shock using a Macro Lens.

BJ Baldwin launches off a jump at the BITD Vegas 2 Reno race.

Andy McMillin during qualifying for the BITD Parker 425.

Well thats it for the best of 2010, thank you for taking the time to look over my blog and photos for the past year. I enjoy showing my work to all of you and hope you enjoy checking them out. 2011 looks to be an even busier year then the last so make sure to keep checking back for updates! Thanks again and see you at the track/desert/mountains/dragstrip/rocks and more!

Jason Zindroski
HighRev Photography

One of the first things we came across when we got there was a local security guard. He also doubles as a photographer.

Our main goal for Wednesday was to get a few shots of all four vehicles (Andy/Scott #31, Mark #23, Dan #103, and Luke #1648), and a few lifestyle shots of the team and the overall atmosphere of the day.

Here is Beau enjoying his time down in Baja. Beau is a hard working part of the McMillin team who spends countless nights at the shop prepping and fabbing.

Here is a shot of Mark, Dan and Luke’s cars going through town. I got up on the PCI Race Radios trailer to get a higher vantage point so that you can get a good feel of the crowd.

While walking through contingency admiring all the T-Shirts with my stolen photos on them, we came across a life size driver cuttout for people to take photos with. Scott wanted in on the action so he made his best Tom Selleck impression.

Johnny gave it a try but he is a little height impaired, but luckily they had a pink and yellow plastic stool for kids to use.

A lot of the drivers and team members get asked by the locals for autographs, stickers, and posters. For some reason a little boy came up to Scott to ask him for an autograph, I’m pretty sure he signed it, “Thanks for liking the mustache.”

With all our clients through tech, and after strolling through a few times we decided to head back to the Hotel Coral so Scott could get all McMillin’s incar cameras inline, and relax before a long day ahead of us.

Our game plan for race day was to follow the lead group and catch them three times before the sun went down over the mountains. It would be a tough thing to do in the first part of the race course because it basically paralleled the highway for the majority of the first 145 miles before they turned down and headed towards Diablo Dry Lake. After we caught them a 3rd time we were going to head down to San Felipe and meet up with our friends who were pitting for some friends.

Race morning came around and the first thing we did before heading out was to get some footage of the McMillins getting ready before they headed over to staging, and then go to the start line to get some more shots before the start of the race.

Legend Larry Ragland teamed up with Jesse Jones and was good to see him out in a trophy truck again.

McMillins crew chief Greg Williams talks with Mark McMillin before heading over to staging.

Over at staging near the start line we caught up with the McMillins to get a few more shots before we had to head out to the course. Our plan was to leave about 15 minutes before the start of the race so that we could beat the leaders to the road crossing at Ojos.

Here is an overview shot of the staging area.

A racer taking a breather before the start of the race, preparing for the long journey ahead.

Team McMillin nice and relaxed about 20 minutes before the start of the race.

Here is a shot of Andy and Dan. Dan the camera is over here.

Andy is one of the more popular drivers down in Baja, a lot of the younger fans of the sport look up to him and he always takes the time to sign autographs and receive kisses on the cheek.

11:15am hit the clock so it was time for us to get on the road towards Ojos. We wanted to get to the road crossing before the leaders went by because once they do they stop traffic for a while to let racers go by. If we were to get caught there we would miss both Andy and Mark there since they started 4th and 9th respectively, and also run the risk of missing them at our next planned spot. Luckily we timed it right and didn’t hit any bad traffic and were able to catch the leaders pass by.

We knew the photos we’d get here wouldn’t be anything spectacular, our goal was to catch them hear early because they’d still be clean, and it was at a spot where we’d be able to catch them again down the road. For this spot I just wanted to show the crowd at the road crossing to get the feel for a Baja race.

Roger Norman was first off the line and first car to go through Ojos.

Andy McMillin gets on the gas after crossing the pavement at Ojos.

After the first 10 trucks went by, we hurried back to the truck and headed to our next planned spot which was where they get back on the dirt after getting on the first pavement section after KM77. Here is a Google Earth shot of where we went. We didn’t know what the spot would be like so we just walked down the graded road until we hit the right hand turn marked by the blue dot.

It turned out to be a pretty good spot as the turn was a little soft and already grooved out from prerunning.

Roger Norman

Vildosola Racing

BJ Baldwin

We could only stay there for the first 4 trucks so that we made sure we beat them down to near San Matias for our third spot on the course. At this spot we were able to catch the leaders, and stay through the Class 10 cars. We originally planned to head towards Checkpoint 2, but the only way to get back to the highway would be to back track on the course, so instead we decided to shoot near the highway before they make the turn and head towards Diablo Dry Lake.

You can see in the Google Earth shot that the course is literally next to the highway, and that there are a few washes that the course crosses making a few good bumps and whoops.

The cars and trucks were coming at us head on at a pretty good pace, and with the highway on one side, and bushes on the other it would be hard to get a side shot, so I decided to shoot this area head on. It was another shot that you could show the spectators in the shot to get a feel for Baja.

Spectators look on as Robby Gordon makes his way down the course. Some spectators didn’t know it was him after he went by because of the new Specialized, Speed Energy paint scheme. Apparently they don’t read RDC.

Troy Herbst flies down the course with Jimmy Cook of Sinister Films hot on their tale videoing the action.

Mango Racing making a clean pass on the AGM Class 1 car.

By this time the sun was getting lower in the sky, and the next spot would be in the dark. Once Dan McMillin went by us, and after the 10 and 12 cars started to pass by we hit the road another time to try and beat Luke McMillin to the Puertocitos area south of San Felipe where we would meet up with another group of friends. This was another spot where we didn’t really know what the area would be like, but since it was at night it wasn’t as important because the background would be irrelevant.

We unfortunately missed Luke there, but I was working with two other photograph friends of mine to trade out photos so not all was lost. Both Brian from Bink Designs and Art from Art Eugenio Photography were able to catch him earlier in the race.

For my setup I used Pocketwizards to fire a Canon 550ex flash. The flash was set to manual at 1/2 power, and my camera settings were ISO 400, Shutter Speed 1/160th, and Aperture 7.1. Because the flash isn’t as powerful as a full strobe, I had to set it right next to the side of the course, but I actually prefer the look it gives lighting up only the car.

Here car #1608 has some mechanical problems, so the co-driver sits on the front passenger side to keep weight off the rear.

The benefit of firing a flash remotely instead of having it on the hot shoe is that it gives you a more realistic shot, but more importantly it gives you the freedom to walk around.

You can shoot it from the driver side.

Jesse James

Eco-Boost Ford Raptor

You could also shoot from the passenger side, giving you a little more dramatic look.

And finally you could shoot from the driver side again, but this time from behind the vehicle.

As time went on we decided to call it a night and head back to our friends house south of town. After a few fish tacos near Miramar, and trading a few stories from the day with friends we called it a night. Overall our game plan of catching the lead group three times worked out great, we didn’t have any problems, and made it home safe. Congrats to not only everyone who finished the Baja 1000, but also those who braved to attempt it.

Before our drive home Friday morning we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise on the beaches of San Felipe. It was a great way to top off another great Baja experience.

Known as the second biggest desert race in the world, the SCORE Baja 500 is a warm up race for the grand daddy of all offroad races, the Baja 1000. Held every year in June, the 2010 Baja 500 started in the town of Ensenada, and would work its way through the Baja peninsula until it finally came back around and finished where it started. This year saw a huge entry list in the unlimited classes, with 39 Trophy Trucks starting and over 20 Class 1 cars.

As usual I made the trip down with friend and fellow media goon Scott Smith of Paradigm Productions. We decided to make it a quick trip, so we headed down early friday morning to get there for contingency. We made good timing and arrived in town just when they started letting race vehicles through the contingency line. My main goal for the day was to get shots of my clients vehicles going through town. At a race like Primm or Parker contingency photos aren’t that interesting, but the flair of Baja always makes for good photos as the trucks drive through the streets of Ensenada. Here are a few shots from the day.

Canidae Racing passing out “steekers” to the crowd.

Klaus Rasch from Race-Dezert.com passing out flyers with the race course map.

Tried something different with a technique a lot of wedding photographers use. You lower the shutter speed, and using a flash you rotate the camera. The result is a photo that makes you dizzy when you look at it too long. The idea is to get something in the center in focus. Close enough!

Taco Meat

After only a few hours contingency got surprisingly dry with race vehicles, so we decided to just rest up before the big day. We headed over to the Coral Hotel and hung out with the McMillin Racing crew as they made last minute tweeks to the vehicles, and so Scott could get all the GoPro incars setup. Both Scott and Andy McMillin were presented with rings by BFG Tires for their win at the Baja 1000 last year, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple photos of it along with a few other feature shots.

Male model Dan McMillin

We didn’t have to shoot the bikes this year so we were able to get some decent sleep before the start of the race (sorry bike guys your race starts too early). We got up, headed to the truck, made sure our Baja survival kit was all set, and headed to the start line. A Baja survival kit consists of the following:

1. Case of water
2. Cheeze Its (midday snack)
3. Nutter Butters (lunch)
4. Nacho Cheese Doritos (24 hour snack)
5. Sunflower seeds (afternoon snack)
6. Chocolate Donuts (breakfast)
7. Cash for tacos (carne asada con queso por favor)

Oh ya, satellite phone, gps tracker, race radio, blah blah blah.

We started the day at the start line to get some dirt nation shots before the start of the race.

Cameron was tired.

I decided to shoot the start of the race at the second turn of the course where they are still on the pavement before they hit the dirt and leave town. I’ve never shot there before, and you always hear stories about someone spinning out or hitting a fence. No such luck this year, but still managed to get some cool shots in town.

Vildosala Racing

I moved around a bit to get some different angles.

Once the last car that we were covering went by we hauled ass back to the truck and made our way threw town. The plan was to head down to Borrego and shoot the area before the popular jump that we shot at last year for the 1000. Its a great place to shoot because of the jump and the large crowd there, but since we’ve shot there in the past we wanted to change it up a bit.

As we were heading down and got to the road crossing at Ojos, the military decided it would be a great place to setup a checkpoint. Ojos at 11am always has pretty slow traffic but this caused even more delays, so we were starting to get a bit worried that we’d miss the leaders where we wanted to shoot.

Back home my mom was following the race on IRC and the weatherman stream, so I asked her to start texting us updates on our Satellite phone. This proved to be a big help because we knew where they were about every 10 minutes, and if we didn’t have the updates we would of for sure missed them. When we were getting pretty close to Valley T, the updates showed what we feared, in that they were getting very close to Borrego. We made a judgment call and decided to pull off along side of the road sooner then expected so that we didn’t miss the leaders. Its always better to get a so so shot of someone versus missing them all together.

We stopped at a spot on the course we’ve shot before right next to the road. It was a straight away with a little drop down into a wash where the trucks will catch a little air. Here are a couple shots from that spot, the leaders came by us probably about 5 minutes after we got there. Close one!

Overall 4 Wheel race winner Andy and Scott McMillin of McMillin Racing

Monster Energy’s Robby Gordon

Bryce Menzies of Menzies Motorsports

Roger Norman of Norman Motorsports (he went the farthest)

We stayed at this spot until the lead group came through, then we headed back a little ways up course to where the course crosses a dirt road. There is a nice little rise when it crosses the road so makes for some good air shots.

General Tire’s Rick Johnson

All German Motorsports Armin Schwarz

A Class 1 car bottomed out at the base of the jump slamming the skid plate into the ground.

Mr. Tecate was in the crowd.

Borrego was one of the farthest points from Ensenada, so we knew we couldn’t stay too long there if we wanted to catch the leaders for a third time. The next spot we wanted to shoot was near the highway again when they cross back over through Ojos at about race mile 400.

On the drive we stopped for a little bit to shoot the road to Mikes Sky Ranch.

We kept getting updates back home as to where the leaders were, and we were going to be playing it pretty close on time. A lot of the pacific side of the race course is pretty fast, but luckily a section called Urapan is a slower and more technical part of the course, so that would help us on time. We arrived at the Ojos crossing with about 30 minutes to spare so we timed it pretty good.

This part of the course the racers come down a small hill and drop down into a little valley before crossing the road and heading towards the last 30 miles of the course.

Jesse Jones (also known as the guy who buys a trophy truck after each race)

Wilson Motorsports

By now the sun had started setting giving some pretty cool lighting.

Adam Householder

TSCO Racing

On the walk back to our truck there was a Dan McMillin sighting.

And thats all she wrote! Congrats to Andy and Scott McMillin and the whole McMillin Racing for another overall win. Next offroad race is the LOORRS race in Salt Lake City, stay tuned!

To see all our photos from this race check out our photo galleries.

2010 SCORE Baja 500 Photo Gallery