NASCAR | Bristol

All images © Getty Images.

I'm not sure where to start. Bristol was amazing.

After grinding the previous two weeks in Phoenix and Las Vegas, I found my stride in week three at the world's fastest half mile.

The entire weekend I felt the equivilant of being "in the zone" at the golf course. It was like seeing NASCAR for the first time again. I was on a mission to find pictures that others didn't see.

On top of my own personally created pressure, my bosses added even more by assigning me to the flagstand duties for the weekend. It's a pool position so Getty distributes the images to AP, Reuters and the track. The advice for doing the flagstand is simply "don't f**k it up."

No pressure.

On Saturday for the Nationwide race driver Carl Edwards was the honnorary starter so he was up there to wave the green flag. Somehow he forgot to bring earplugs and asked me for an extra pair. It was a good thing I was once a Boy Scout, "always be prepared." I'm not sure how a championship driver forgets earplugs but it made for a funny story at dinner that night with the boys.

Sunday my boss challenged me to make some features so I ventured out in the rain to work the situation and ended up coming back with a few that I was happy with.

Although I endured eight hours on a plane, four flight delays, eight hours in a car, skipping lunch once, and risking camera gear in the rain it was completely worth it.

More images from the weekend at Getty here.

NASCAR | Las Vegas

All images © Getty Images.

After a few short days at home I flew to Las Vegas for my second NASCAR weekend of the year.

Despite how it may appear I was extremely busy shooting all weekend with an assignment for one of our clients to follow a pair of contests winners as they got a behind the scenes look at the weekend. We ventured in and around the garage, haulers, ESPN network trucks, corporate suites, pit road, drivers meetings and victory lane, to name a few. Unfortunately I can't share any of those images with you.

I got to see a lot of things that most folks, and a lot of the media, don't get to see. I'm so thankful that we had a golf cart to transport us around because I'm pretty sure we covered every last inch of the property in two days.

Sunday I was in turn four to wait for any crashes and with the exception of Kyle Bush spinning out and saving his car, nothing happened. It's funny to think that a year ago if you would have asked me I would have guessed that they crash constantly and I'm slowly learning that these guys are extremely talented and it doesn't happen all that much.

NASCAR | Phoenix

All images © Getty Images.

My NASCAR season kicked off this past weekend amidst 70-80 degree weather down in Phoenix. Considering that it started snowing when I left Denver on Thursday, I'd call that perfect timing.

Despite the occasional nice pocket of light, the races were pretty lackluster. No major crashes meant that I had to really work the situation to create a few nice images. Even the K&N series which features lower level drivers completed their race without a hitch which, as I'm told, is unusual.

In fact, the most interesting thing that happened all weekend was walking into the media center on Sunday morning to find Randy Johnson sitting next to our Getty crew. Apparently he's been shooting since college and has found even more time to pursue his passion for photography now that he's retired. We chatted for a bit like any other photographers do about gear, technique, the race, ect. Other than the face that he's a 6'10" five-time Cy Young award winner, he's just a guy who loves to shoot and that was great to see.

I felt bad for him because he wanted to work just like the rest of us but his celebrity status, especially in the Phoenix area, meant that he was constantly being bombarded by fans wanting to shake his hand or take a picture. While we were out on the grid before the race he walked up to me and said "see, you can do this with anomnimity."

It's not every day you get someone like that wanting to switch places with you.