Getting motorsport gigs

Depends on the track, but usually it's easiest to buy a ticket, take a camera and a long lens, then walk around the track and find a place with a clear view. That worked in these cases.

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The reason it's easier to just buy a ticket to a big race is that photo credentials are given at major events only to working photographers who are getting images for publications and agencies. Working for those organizations means you need to deliver images on tight deadlines, which is a type of work that most users of this forum aren't prepared to handle.

If you want to take pictures for fun, then avoid the credential chore. Even better, concentrate on the races that aren't the "bigger motorsports events," because those smaller events will give you good photo access for the price of a ticket or pit pass. You'll want access and photo opportunities, and the best images can come from the smallest events.

Big-time races also bring big-time frustrations for just trying to get the pictures you want, and most photographers on the level of this forum's users will want to avoid the troubles and limitations that major events can bring.

Part of the way to get work is to know and be known -- to be familiar with those people who are in a position to hand out the jobs. Here's a recent example.

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Here's a picture of a key moment leading to a pass for the lead in a weekend indoor auto race. This picture was made because the PR person for the racing series was familiar with my work and knew that I could get the shot, and could produce the images quickly as soon as the race was over. Knowing this PR person and the promoter for several years, and working for them at several tracks, led to the job.

Several pictures from this weekend's races have been sent to racing publications around the U.S. The images were in the hands of the people who needed them a few minutes after the races were over, since deadlines are important.

If you want to be in a similar situation, you need to have contacts with the people who can provide the work, and to have shown your ability to reliably produce what they need -- which is often far different from what photographers on this forum want to do. On Friday night, when many people were at New Year's Eve parties, this writer was finishing an upload of the final race pictures to the PR representative, because the work needed to be done right away.

Getting that reputation is going to take work, experience and finding the right people. It can't be done in isolation.