This past weekend I was invited to cover the annual Trail Gear Customer Appreciation Run by Matt Messer of Trail Gear. Trail Gear is a company in Fresno that makes aftermarket upgrades for Toyotas and Jeeps.

This Event is not really about extreme wheeling as much as it is hanging out with friends, and enjoying easy wheeling in a really scenic place.

It all started with amazing BBQ at the Trail Gear shop followed by some RC Rock Crawler hi-jinx and then we rolled out for the mountains.

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I think the temperature down in the valley was over 100 degrees so getting to higher ground was most welcome. Once we were up past Shaver and into the woods, I was a lot more comfortable. All in all, this event was pretty low key but watch the pages of CRAWL Magazine sometime in October or November. 

Portland Monthly

Recently, I did a training for Portland Monthly and Portland Spaces magazines at MacForce in Portland. I have to say that to date this was one of the best classes I've done from an instructor angle. I don't mean to pat my back, I'm actually referring to how awesome all the peeps in attendance were. I was floored that lowly little me could have anything of value to share with people of such obvious talent and skill. Unless you've been asleep at the newsstand you must have seen for yourself already but if not check both out.

Portland Monthly
Portland Spaces

Aperture as an image editor?

So, lately I’ve been thinking and playing more with some export plugins and other items for Aperture. I just finished editing a huge job for Off Road Magazine. I think I shot a total of around 2800 frames for the 2008 Oregon Trail Rally. Now, this is a ton by even my own standards. Partially, this was due to the fact that it was my first rally and I wanted lots to choose from. Partially, it was that there was just a ton of high-speed action. As usual I was pleased with Aperture’s ability to very efficiently let me sift the gold from the garbage. My 2800 images by the time I elliminated stuff I knew I wouldn’t use, was reduced to around 1100 images. From there I chose my selects and tossed even more imagery until I was at about 250 shots. I cringe to think what this would have been like in the days before really efficient RAW workflow tools.


Anyway, I was looking forward to completing the above process because I was eager to try out some of the new plugins on my images that Apple opened the door for with the 2.1 update to Aperture. Then, at the end I just decided that I didn’t care. Even I was surprised. It turns out that for a lot of what I shoot a ton of post processing options just get in the way of final delivery to the client. I think a lot of shooters that shoot in the volume necessary to make Aperture or Lightroom mission critical applications, just don’t care about getting too crazy with post processing. We just need basic stuff. I want to adjust levels, tame highlights, maybe adjust the white balance. I occasionally will do a black and white conversion. At the end of the day, I find Aperture’s tools to be more than equal to the task. So though, I welcome all the great stuff on the way from Nik and other software companies, I wonder really, how useful those plugins will be if we operate under the assumption that all anyone really needs is Aperture/Lightroom and Photoshop. The heavy lifting is likely to still be done with Photoshop and a complex advertising shoot is probably going to be a Bridge/Photoshop workflow.
Maybe not though. I’ve yet to try the new tethered capture in my studio and I do love how quickly I can compare several shots with Aperture...but I can imagine with clients standing around in the background chimping the monitor with me that it might be simpler to do it with tools everyone understands rather than Aperture or Lightroom. I don’t know too many art directors or designers that have picked up that software yet.
I’m just musing though. Just sharing thoughts. I have reached no conclusions. How about you?

Observations: Shooting the Baja 1000

Ok, here is a post to hopefully generate a conversation amongst other photographers or video guys who cover offroad motorsports. I've covered my third Baja 1000 this year, you can read about it in previous posts if you've packed a lunch and are full of caffeine... long read. Anyone who's been to Baja will understand the challenge the place itself provides in terms of logistics but if you are there chasing the race as race support crew or trying to photograph it you face a whole other set of challenges. I'll outline them as a sort of commented list. Please, leave a witticism behind if you'd like to challenge my preconceptions or offer a "what works for me" type of comment or if you'd like to add to the following list.

1. Night comes to Baja.

It's true. Even in sunny Mexico, night still falls. During the Baja 1000 this means I think for many of us trying to photograph the event that you either resign yourself to a lot of flash or tripod. It limits the number of action shots you can really get. Lighting a person or motorcycle in the dark is one thing, but try it on a race car moving at speed and you find yourself quickly much closer than you might like. Also, you tend to get the same kind of shot over and over this way. So far, my brute force solution is to avoid going too far South. As the race progresses, it gets dark. Better to stay in the North where the bulk of the action takes place in the daylight. This also has the advantage of getting you back across the border before the mad exodus from Baja at the end of the race.

2. Transportation

It's a bitch. No two ways about it. The best solution is to have your own ride, and a co-driver to share driving duties or at least to help you keep aware of some dangers in Baja. So far I've embedded myself with race teams to cover their personal story. The first year, I had a little more autonomy when I covered Dan Cook's bid to complete the race in his Mount Logan built expedition trophy truck. That was my first year and I have to say, I think I got more interesting action shots that first year than any year since, despite my greater experience now. Largely this is due to transportation. In short, your own wheels is the way to go. I've thought about bringing a bike or quad down but I'm no where near good enough shape to try and follow any portion of a live race course and expect to live... let alone have my camera gear live. I'm sure there are a host of people who would rightfully warn me off such an idea anyway. One interesting option I've considered is looking into an ultra-light aircraft. They require no pilot's license and can be hauled across the border on a trailer and assembled at a location of your choice. Just remember that the Mexican military takes their no-fly after dark rule very seriously.

3. Security

With the recent events in Baja, I think a lot more about security down there now. Unfortunately, I view police with the most suspicion and caution. I know that not all of them are corrupt, or even many of them. The problem is that ones who are or seem to be complicit in criminal efforts have acted with such bravado and savagery it gives one pause now when confronted with them. The fact that they openly accept bribes of all colors presents it's own issues. Ok, so what to do? Thievery being the biggest fear still, I tend to keep my camera gear locked in a chase truck at all times when I'm not using it. Chase crews get very nervous when locals approach an open truck and so you have a little built-in vigilance over your stuff if it is in their truck but keep in mind that t-shirts, hats, tools, parts or anything really do disappear off those trucks while they are sitting an open pit where locals can just walk through. Gear insurance is a great idea for trips like this. I can't wait till I can afford it.

4. Safety

Maybe this one should go first? Oh well. All kinds of bad stuff can happen to you when you are in close proximity to guys hauling ass through the desert. You could easily be run over as happened to a spectator at Ojos Negros in 2006. This guy was standing quite literally in the same patch of dirt I was in my first year down. One big difference though is that I manage risk which is sort of clear that fellow was not doing. By managing the risk, I mean I recognize and respect the danger and then see how I can still shoot but as safely as possible. Now, in that spot there isn't a lot you can do. I wanted to shoot from a low angle to capture cars jumping the rise. Given the crowd, there is only one place you can really be. However, I never drink when working, and I try to stay hydrated, fed etc. This helps me remain alert. Also, I practiced "dry" and exercised some skills you learn when riding a motorcycle to be aware of escape routes in case of something like this. To someone who hasn't been in the situation, this may sound kind of flimsy buy the important thing is that you think about it as that is what makes all the difference. I hate to beat this safety drum too much but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that when in Baja for the race, most injuries and fatalities happen on the highways to chase crews attempting to drive too long without sleep and that sort of thing. As long as you carry enough water and warm clothing the natural environment in Baja is actually pretty tame in my opinion so that isn't as much of an issue.

5. Logistics

This is partially a travel problem but you really need to spend some time in advance planning how much money, food, spare batteries etc you are going to need. Personally, I've always held that you ought to travel as light as you possibly can. As photographers we can't really go too light on gear. You really want the spare body and a good selection of glass, lighting stuff etc. However, you really can get by a week or so in mexico on two pairs of pants and 3 or 4 pairs of underwear, especially if you have the opportunity to wash your stuff in a hotel. There are all kinds of cool tips you could learn from backpacking, ultra-light hiking, the military and other sources about traveling light. If I have more than two carry on bags (I generally don't check luggage when I travel) then I've screwed up, is how I try to operate.

That is really all I can think of at the moment but if you you are making a trip down and are wondering about something drop me a line. If you don't see the answers here I may simply have left them out.

Baja Summary

Ok, well that's done. This year's Baja 1000 was something else. Unfortunately, I didn't get internet access again after my last entry so allow me to summarize briefly what transpired next...

Nov 13- We left El Rosario and drove about an hour South somewhat in the area of Cataviña where we set up a pit at the point where the race course swings back onto the dirt after about twenty miles or so of pavement. An interesting fact that the un-initiated may not realize is the cars may not exceed the speed limit while on the highway. The reason for this is obviously safety but it's not very intuitive when you think in terms of a race. Exceeding the speed limit will cause the car to be disqualified. Because all the vehicles must have a rally track device mounted on the car, it's obvious to race officials when this occurs. So anyway, we set up by several other pits and waited. We got a bit of news here and there about our two race cars throughout the day but eventually The Dominator roared into our pit. It needed little attention but we swapped drivers, fueled it and gave it a good looking at before sending it on it's way. Sadly, the massive V10 had oiling issues and while idling, became starved of oil. The engine threw a rod through the bottom about five miles after our pit and we had to fish it out of the desert on a rope. Data downloaded from the engine management system showed that issue lay on the engine builder's end and after receiving the file, he immediately saw the problem and promised to deliver a fresh motor before the Henderson race (which just took place as of this writing). Kudos to him for stepping up like that but we were bummed at the time, I really wanted to see the car finish. Still, we had one more car in the race.

The HMS car had encountered problems early on after hitting a booby trap dug by spectators at race mile thirteen. The left front wheel assembly was ripped loose but the team and drivers were able to get it together enough to run. Unfortunately this meant, that for the rest of the race, the car had brakes on only three corners. The car also sustained damage to the right front coil over. When it got to our pit at Cataviña the pit crew set about making the car as whole as possible before sending it into the dark desert. A new shock had been located so that went on and took a look at the brakes. Nothing could be done about the broken brakes, the whole assembly was gone. So, the line was capped off and system bled. Each set of drivers from then on would comment on the poor braking but nothing could be done about it. I snapped several pictures of the car being worked on but photography is tough at night and there is only so much variety one can manage so after a brief powernap, I bagged my camera and jumped into the mix. I helped change CV boots and fetched tools etc as much as possible, hoping I was helping and not hindering. No one told me to get out from under foot so I suppose I made a contribution. Our job would now be to chase the HMS car all the way to Cabo and provide whatever assistance was needed on the way. We broke down the pit and hit the road fifteen minutes after the car took off. As we rolled down the highway, I nervously watched the postion updates on our IonEarth display in the chase truck. The data on the screen showed little position change but it was difficult to trust the IonEarth unit since the servers controlling the system had crashed more than once during the race. Then came word on the radio; the car had been rolled a scant few miles after we left the pit. The other half of the crew who had remained behind to recover the fuel tower and finish cleaning up the pit called to let us know. A decision was made to weld the broken light bar and send the car into the desert with questionable lighting. I can't tell you how many cars I saw running one, two or three of their 10 lights or however many they normally had. Lights are a common casualty of desert racing so drivers are used to being thankful if they make it into the night with some lights still intact. Most teams opt to transport light bars separately and bolt them on at a pit before night fall for this reason. We just had the bad luck to roll our car right after dark.

Nov 14- The car continued on it's way without much issue. We shadowed it as best we could throughout the day, with minimal contact. No major issues were encountered after that one rough night but we kept a close eye on the CV joints, the front shock and any other bits that looked like they might come loose. There is little to report about this last section as it went fairly smoothly but after some fifty hours of continuous wakefulness most of the team converged on Cabo to wait for the car to finish. Finish it did. Sal Fish shook hands with driver Chuck Dempsey and the rest of the team that night late when we pulled in. As you can imagine, everyone was wiped so we retired right away to our hotel, El Mar de Cortez which I recognized as being a once grand but fallen on hard times establishment. Honestly, I couldn't have cared less as long as there was a bed and some quiet. I could have done without the cockroaches, but the bed was very comfy.
What followed the finish was a few days of winding down, catching up, swapping stories and partying in Cabo. None of it really of interest in terms of the race itself other than to just say that the one of the best things about this race is kicking up the dust with all your buddies once the thing was over and all survivors and casualties were tallied.
I could actually leave it there but as a post script I'd like to mention a couple sobering facts about this race, lest people forget for a moment the real dangers involved. Four people in total died during the 40th Baja 1000. Two in connection with a helicopter crash up North and two from a chase team driving on the highway that collided with oncoming traffic. I hate to sober this story too much but please, please, please remember when you go to Baja that aside from being a lot of fun with tons of stories, there are many ways of running into trouble down there. Other's have written plenty on the subject but you absolutely must operate with sobriety, caution and alertness while in Mexico. Best advice I think I could offer would be to get sleep if you can, and don't be proud. If you are tired, hand the wheel over. Save your partying for after the race.
There's a bit more to this tale for sure. If you haven't already, grab a copy of CRAWL Magazine to check out more photos of the race and some additional anecdotes about what happened down there.

Blood, vomit and fun.

I woke in the night, sweaty, pained, and nauseous. Sometime while emptying the contents of my stomach I must have blacked out because I woke up on the floor of the bathroom with blood all over the place. Chipped my front tooth pretty good, cut my chin wide open. I ought to get stitches but since I don't think there is a doctor around within a hundred miles to deal with me safely, I'm just going to apply first aid and hope for the best. Pretty sure it was food related. I feel better now. I think I’ll skip breakfast. Pleasant!
It’s morning, everyone is starting to stir and load out for pit setup. I can hear radio traffic from the three Speed Technologies chase trucks in the parking lot outside my little room here at the Tourista Motel.
Though there is no hurry, as we won’t see the car for several hours, I find myself anxious to be underway.

Contingency

Today started a bit later…. For that I am thankful. Unfortunately, it was also a day of small mishaps but happy endings. A little work had to be done to swap tires around after rolling the two race cars through contingency. Contingency itself was about like the first year, 2005, that I came down for the Baja 1000. Lots of people all packed in around a long line of race vehicles inching their way towards the SCORE officials who inspected each car to verify class qualification and safety. There was a live band that kept playing various reggaesque songs and inviting random girls up on stage to sing, dance or just make noise.
We planned on getting clear of Ensenada by noon but had several set backs relating to prepping The Dominator for the race. We didn’t pull out of town until around four o’clock. By the time we arrived where we are now at La Tourista motel in El Rosario it was well past dark. The drive down was uneventful, just the way we like it. Everyone is pretty beat and with nothing to really do in this little town, we are all heading to bed early.
We’ll get plenty of sleep and set up pits near Cataviña in the morning. Then we begin the long anxious wait, all ears straining into the dark for the sound of a distant V10 howling into the night. Tomorrow the 40th Baja 1000 begins.