Click THIS LINK to view my promo video I made to help get the word out , enjoy !
Direct link to "Colephoto Services"......click HERE .
1/2/12
2012 Updates
Well 2012 is here and I'm waiting on racing to start ! But during this slow time I updated my site www.Colephoto.net for this new year. I added a "Colephoto Services" page displaying galleries that give info for each type of service I currently offer. From touch up's to video capture . So swing by and check it out sometime , I added some cool newer images to keep it interesting .
Click THIS LINK to view my promo video I made to help get the word out , enjoy !
Direct link to "Colephoto Services"......click HERE .
Click THIS LINK to view my promo video I made to help get the word out , enjoy !
Direct link to "Colephoto Services"......click HERE .
11/29/11
Behind the lens
I've been shooting motor sports for a few years now, figured I'd pump my brakes and blog about why I'm behind the lens . Although I've never really thought about it , because as of now I realize it just came so naturally...don't know exactly why,don't care haha. The love of speed ,fast cars and the need for more just blended together at a time when camera was in hand. Those first few captures up on the hill at Paradise Dragstrip just made me feel behind the wheel you could say , and it steadily grew from shot to shot. I remember taking 200+ shots from the bleachers on Sunday and hurrying home to view them on the computer to see what awesome shots I caught. Most was total crap haha , but a few...maybe 5 just had to be my desktop screen-saver slide show for all to see when they came in the house.
(Below- My 1st awesome shot haha)
But now here I am , behind the guard rail...behind the lens with these beast unleashing all their brute power right in front of me. The rush of anticipating the launch, just waiting for that mean machine to stand up like a nightmarish monster , only one thing on my mind for that 1/500th of a second...capture it ! And then as the shutter clicks and the build up peaks I get a ear full of raw power as these machines rip by me at the 60' mark and leave me with the scent of high octane or some nice smelling (but eye burning) alcohol lol . Ahh how I love the first 60' , such a rush for a photographer.
(Below- In my "high end" point & shoot days haha)
Now , although I might look comfortable or over confident leaning on the guardrail I assure you my feet are not positioned for the best angle , but for the quick escape in case the oil pan puts a target on me haha. I found myself in the habit (good one) of taking the shot and smoothly leaning away as if I'm about to run away in a direction of some safety , so if you witness me looking like a drunk all but falling on my butt grabbing the guardrail to keep myself up...well that must have been a real mean machine and my instincts out weighed my balance haha.
But all in all I just simply love being a part of the scene, this "scene" of controlled bombs , untamed beast and chest pounding power. Let it be w.o.t in a straight line or full lock out of a turn, it's all about catching the sight of man and machine in controlled chaos. So the answer to why I'm behind the lens...... the same reason you're behind the wheel .
(Below- Running my Fairlane 500 on street tires)
(Below- My 1st awesome shot haha)
(Below- In my "high end" point & shoot days haha)
But all in all I just simply love being a part of the scene, this "scene" of controlled bombs , untamed beast and chest pounding power. Let it be w.o.t in a straight line or full lock out of a turn, it's all about catching the sight of man and machine in controlled chaos. So the answer to why I'm behind the lens...... the same reason you're behind the wheel .
(Below- Running my Fairlane 500 on street tires)
Yes...I lost this race ;)
11/22/11
Update...
Fyi , I have upgraded my site to play video directly in the galleries and I have a few up already but plan to do way more with it next year. PLUS I'm putting together a lil' "ColePhoto Services" page/gallery so everyone can see what all I have to offer.
Thanks for checking out the blog and I hope to see ya back here again ;)
9/21/11
Time to RELAX
Sometimes cool night air is good for more than just horsepower , it's perfect for relaxing . Took a little break from the action to go enjoy Chattanooga this past weekend and it was well worth it. Being a photographer I had to bring along my trusty sidekick...the Nikon , and figured I would try a new shot/edit from the view of the Delta Queen Hotel on the river. The idea was to take a day-time shot then hours later take a night-time shot from the exact same location and then merge the two together in Photoshop. It was a close call on the night-time shot , I had a 30 minute window to catch the correct "time" for the night shot, but night life picks up in Chattanooga quickly, I lost the first long exposure due to a couple walking in front of the camera...no biggie , I set up for it again and see a tug boat coming through , yeah I had to wait a good 15 mins on that one haha . Finally I nailed the shot and packed my gear up anxiously awaiting the my seat on the Texas deck so I could kick back and enjoy the view and the live music playing across the river ,who we didn't find out till a certain song played was...Paul Thorn , you know...the guy that sings "It's a great day to whoop some body's %&*" yeah....it was all awesome !
Anyhow... below is the highly edited shot and below that one is the night-time shot in whole that I cropped in a panorama.
View these shots in my portfolio, which displays them better & LARGER . Below link...
http://www.ColePhoto.net/nature
Anyhow... below is the highly edited shot and below that one is the night-time shot in whole that I cropped in a panorama.
View these shots in my portfolio, which displays them better & LARGER . Below link...
http://www.ColePhoto.net/nature
9/15/11
Race the cops... No ticket ???
That's right and it happened many times this past weekend at Brainerd Dragstrip . A three day event , two of which was spent burning rubber at Brainerd , where the "Beat the Heat" organization held their 2011 world finals . Now , so that you all know... "Beat the Heat" was established in 1992, a national non-profit organization consisting of Police & Firefighters using marked emergency vehicles to pull in attention and interest of the public for educational purposes. No tax dollars fund this program , it's all done by donations ,sponsors and straight from the pockets of each member in this awesome program. As the BTH website states...
GOALS of BEAT THE HEAT, INC.
1. To EDUCATE the young people of our communities about the problems of illegal drug and alcohol use and the horrors of impaired and distracted driving,
2. To ENCOURAGE young people to stay in school and be an achiever in life,
3. To PROMOTE a better UNDERSTANDING between the Police and the communities they serve and,
4. To EDUCATE the general public about the sport of drag racing, and encourage everyone to race on the dragstrip NOT IN THE STREET.
On a more sensitive note , I ran into a story that puts a lot into perspective. As I was closely checking out the amazing paint work of a 1985 S10 owned and operated by Lt. Rey Alonso (Crew chief -Andrew Alonso) I noticed many faces in the work , as it turned out , Lt. Alonso told me he went to a local shop to ask about getting some fresh paint and among the conversation the shop owner of Split Image asked about the use of the truck and after he heard it was for the BTH program tears came to his eye's and he proudly stated he would paint it for free...if Lt. Alonso didn't mind him painting a girls face on the truck. This "girl" he wanted to paint was a passenger ,victim of a fatal street racing accident and was also his Niece. A very touching story that I'm thankful Lt. Rey Alonso shared with me , so I could share with all.
On to the burning rubber and cutting tree's part. Friday was the time to see these mean machines test their rides before the big "Showdown" Saturday. During Friday's fun anyone with a set of wheels could challenge a BTH member to a heads-up race on the strip, a "good guy vs bad guy" scenario... which was always fun to watch as the spectators rooted on their favorites , whether it be a cop or local street car with some go fast parts under the hood . It was a day long battle that drove late into the night which made for some awesome sights when BTH members flipped their lights on and lit the track with red & blues! And no one will forget the test pass Friday night of the Tulsa Heat Wave jet car , driven by Sam Ives , that made the most unforgettable sights & sounds...along with a blistering 175mph pass.
Saturday started with more crowds filling the track and scoping out all the cool rides close up. Everyone there was happy to let you in on all the details of their machines , Camaro's to a slick 1974 Porsche 911 RSR from Fort Worth, Texas. All waiting to battle it out in the BTH 2011 world finals "Showdown" . With two classes in this event (Mod cop & Pro cop) running the field down in a bracket format to a final race between the winners of the two classes for the chance to be the 2011 TOP COP . All of which kept spectators excited in the bleachers and on the fence , as they watched "The man" rip the strip for the chance to be Top Cop . As the day ended (with exception of another awesome pass by Heat Wave-video posted) the results came in as....
Mod Cop Champion, Mike Carroll
Mod Cop Runner Up. Gerald Cooley Jr
Pro Cop & TOP COP (2 time world champion) Rick Wilkin
Pro Cop Runner Up, Jose Ayala
GOALS of BEAT THE HEAT, INC.
1. To EDUCATE the young people of our communities about the problems of illegal drug and alcohol use and the horrors of impaired and distracted driving,
2. To ENCOURAGE young people to stay in school and be an achiever in life,
3. To PROMOTE a better UNDERSTANDING between the Police and the communities they serve and,
4. To EDUCATE the general public about the sport of drag racing, and encourage everyone to race on the dragstrip NOT IN THE STREET.
On a more sensitive note , I ran into a story that puts a lot into perspective. As I was closely checking out the amazing paint work of a 1985 S10 owned and operated by Lt. Rey Alonso (Crew chief -Andrew Alonso) I noticed many faces in the work , as it turned out , Lt. Alonso told me he went to a local shop to ask about getting some fresh paint and among the conversation the shop owner of Split Image asked about the use of the truck and after he heard it was for the BTH program tears came to his eye's and he proudly stated he would paint it for free...if Lt. Alonso didn't mind him painting a girls face on the truck. This "girl" he wanted to paint was a passenger ,victim of a fatal street racing accident and was also his Niece. A very touching story that I'm thankful Lt. Rey Alonso shared with me , so I could share with all.
On to the burning rubber and cutting tree's part. Friday was the time to see these mean machines test their rides before the big "Showdown" Saturday. During Friday's fun anyone with a set of wheels could challenge a BTH member to a heads-up race on the strip, a "good guy vs bad guy" scenario... which was always fun to watch as the spectators rooted on their favorites , whether it be a cop or local street car with some go fast parts under the hood . It was a day long battle that drove late into the night which made for some awesome sights when BTH members flipped their lights on and lit the track with red & blues! And no one will forget the test pass Friday night of the Tulsa Heat Wave jet car , driven by Sam Ives , that made the most unforgettable sights & sounds...along with a blistering 175mph pass.
Saturday started with more crowds filling the track and scoping out all the cool rides close up. Everyone there was happy to let you in on all the details of their machines , Camaro's to a slick 1974 Porsche 911 RSR from Fort Worth, Texas. All waiting to battle it out in the BTH 2011 world finals "Showdown" . With two classes in this event (Mod cop & Pro cop) running the field down in a bracket format to a final race between the winners of the two classes for the chance to be the 2011 TOP COP . All of which kept spectators excited in the bleachers and on the fence , as they watched "The man" rip the strip for the chance to be Top Cop . As the day ended (with exception of another awesome pass by Heat Wave-video posted) the results came in as....
Mod Cop Champion, Mike Carroll
I want to give a big thanks to Marty Dunn (hosted event), all the cool members of the BTH
program and Brainerd Dragstrip crew for putting on such a awesome event !
View photo's from both days here....
8/29/11
Horsepower meets the mud...
A mud slingin' fun time was had by spectators , hobby trucks and huge mean monster trucks at Seney Mud Bogg in Cedartown ,Ga , this past weekend . The dirt road entrance opened up to an estimated 4,000 fans , mud boggers or just anyone wanting to see some Georgia dirt get thrown ! Spectators are able to enjoy this action from a few feet distance almost all the way around , close enough that the first bog run near me left some mud on my face ! The scene was laid back ,with people tailgating , kicking back near the fence or piled in the bed of their truck watching the fun from the parking area.
Plenty of mud slinging was going on all day , with multiple trucks rippin' it up together in the bogg's , testing their limits at this big muddy playground . As the Seney Mud Bogg website says " Seney Mud Bogg features 17 mud boggs,some of the best in Georgia. The boggs range from Hobby truck to Monster truck size." I have to say , it was a nice set up , plenty of parking , awesome spectating area's, staff willing to help you out and courteous enough to wet the dirt road keeping the dust off spectators.
I stayed busy shooting all the dirty action...and cleaning my lens about every 30 sec's haha, watching for the next wide open pass that would send a wave of mud in the air or good ole' donut's slinging mud a 100 feet in the air.
The muddy entertainment stayed going all day , up to the point of some "Hill and Hole" action , which brought out some of the big guns . The "Hill in Hole" is (video below) basically like a single timed race from A to B , but the area in between is no joke ! The first truck nose dived into the trench that slammed with a force of a headbutt to the dash kinda hit. Full throttle off a jump into a trench of water and thick mud , which leads to another jump and trench where most had a hard time getting out of , but many did and they did it with awesome power ,speed and skilled driving ! All in all , I had a blast and plan to go back whenever possible. This is one of those events you can really just kick back enjoy yourself and watch the action with friends .
View all 408 photo's from the event here...SeneyPHOTO's
Want to get more info on the track .... http://www.seneymudbogg.com/
Plenty of mud slinging was going on all day , with multiple trucks rippin' it up together in the bogg's , testing their limits at this big muddy playground . As the Seney Mud Bogg website says " Seney Mud Bogg features 17 mud boggs,some of the best in Georgia. The boggs range from Hobby truck to Monster truck size." I have to say , it was a nice set up , plenty of parking , awesome spectating area's, staff willing to help you out and courteous enough to wet the dirt road keeping the dust off spectators.
I stayed busy shooting all the dirty action...and cleaning my lens about every 30 sec's haha, watching for the next wide open pass that would send a wave of mud in the air or good ole' donut's slinging mud a 100 feet in the air.
The muddy entertainment stayed going all day , up to the point of some "Hill and Hole" action , which brought out some of the big guns . The "Hill in Hole" is (video below) basically like a single timed race from A to B , but the area in between is no joke ! The first truck nose dived into the trench that slammed with a force of a headbutt to the dash kinda hit. Full throttle off a jump into a trench of water and thick mud , which leads to another jump and trench where most had a hard time getting out of , but many did and they did it with awesome power ,speed and skilled driving ! All in all , I had a blast and plan to go back whenever possible. This is one of those events you can really just kick back enjoy yourself and watch the action with friends .
Want to get more info on the track .... http://www.seneymudbogg.com/
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