Photography by David S. Wallens
Memorable pictures from the track don’t always require the photo vest and corresponding heavy lens–which usually comes with an aching back.
[Insider cheat: How to take race photos without press access]
How so? Concentrate on the short game.
During IMSA’s recent pre-season testing at Daytona International Speedway, I kept it light and simple, just carrying a Fujifilm X-Pro3 and a 50mm lens. I left the usual big stuff in the truck.
What did I find? A new look at a familiar place.
I stuck to the pits and garages and concentrated on capturing life off the high banks: cars in for service, gear at the ready, crew members enjoying a quiet moment among the chaos. It’s the part of the weekend that many seem to overlook.
It also forces you to work for–and sometimes wait for–that perfect shot: waiting for the shadows to fall in your favor, waiting for a bystander to get out of the way, waiting for a crew member to slide into the frame.
But when it all comes together, I think it captures some of my favorite images.
Everyone who's ever switched to doing something bizarre and inexplicable when you're working on a car and a photographer points a camera at you now has a new final boss to beat: "doing something on a laptop that doesn't require a wired connection while underneath a Mustang apparently only supported by air jacks" guy.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
He's winning at hide and seek. They totally don't see him under there.
I'm a sucker for those kinds of photos.
Not to toot my own horn (or my friends'), but just look at this framing!
Dust in the distance, frantic last minute rewiring in the middle distance/center frame, and Official Rallycross Hat hanging from the jack handle in the foreground
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Paris and I had a pit lane discussion about that. I call it fake telephoto–when you use something in the foreground to force the eye to the subject in the background.
Like this:
Gotta share some of mine too. 
In reply to GameboyRMH :
It's a very funny feeling when your the photographer taking a picture of someone doing something totally normal, they notice, instantly stiffen and try to look even more into the task their doing. Or if you take the photo and the vision isn't right and you delete it and that person will never know. They will forever think "there is a picture of me out there looking so cool."
Those are always the shots I forget about.
This is one of my favorites. I didn't take it because I'm in it. Driver change at a Lemons race in a Civic wallpapered with several hundred pages of the SCCA GCR. The theme was Senior Citizens Club of America.
David S. Wallens said:In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Paris and I had a pit lane discussion about that. I call it fake telephoto–when you use something in the foreground to force the eye to the subject in the background.
Like this:
That works when the foreground stuff is out of focus. Short focal depth is your friend here.
In reply to Msterbee :
Yup. These were taken with an f/2.0. If everything is in focus, the effect is lost. 
Also, this article's photos are more focused on people than details, if you ask me. Nothing wrong with that other than a somewhat misleading headline.
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