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Sports fans in Florida are spoiled compared to most states across the country. We have three NFL football teams. Two very good NBA teams (one of which won the NBA Championship two years ago). Two NHL hockey teams, and countless other college teams that consistently challenge for titles.

But if you are a NASCAR fan, you don’t first think of Florida. You think of North Carolina, Georgia or maybe even Alabama. Fans in those states can be considered borderline rabid for the sport. Still though, Florida gets the “Super Bowl of NASCAR” with the Daytona 500 in February. Not to mention the Pepsi 400 in Daytona during the summer.

But this last weekend, fans got the opportunity to come to South Florida to crown a champion at Homestead Speedway in Homestead. I am so lucky that I get to cover two of the biggest events that NASCAR has to offer every year.

When I arrive to the track on Friday and get my assignment, I am told by my boss that I will need to do an assignment for Direct TV on Sunday during the race. Then he goes on and tells me what that assignment will be. I will be photographing the Direct TV blimp in flight from a helicopter over the track, from the beginning of the race until just after sunset. Inside I am very excited. On the outside, I try and remain calm because you never know what can happen and change the assignment completely. The more I talk with the sales team and emails start flying, I realize, this is really going to happen. I start picturing what he images will look like and what equipment I will have to bring with me.

On Saturday night on my way out of the track, I get a call from our sales staff, explaining that there have been some changes. She tells me that TSA approval for the flight has been late and my not arrive at all. So what does that mean to our shoot? Well, we can fly up until one hour before the race and beginning again one hour after the race. I am given the pilot’s phone number and we are to connect sometime the following morning to make sure we are on the same page.

In the morning, I call my pilot Juan Carlos before he leaves his home airport. He tells me that he will meet me at the Homestead General Aviation Airport at 1 pm. Anticipating the usual race traffic; I get on the road early and arrive at the airport over two hours before Juan is to pick me up. As I drive into the airport, I see the Direct TV blimp is also docking there and hasn’t left to join the pattern over the raceway. This is my chance to get as much information as I can about how their flight might impact my shoot.

I find Ian Schwilk, and engineer that flies on the blimp when it is over the event. I start asking all kinds of questions; some pertaining to my shoot and some out of plain unadulterated curiosity. Ian is very patient as he tells me what their flight pattern will consist of and how we might be able to get a decent shot of the video screen on the side of the blimp. We exchange phone numbers as he prepares along with his crew to take off and do their job. Along with that phone number, he gave the the frequency they will be using while over the stadium. Not sure if I will need it, but it doesn’t hurt to have it either.

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Juan arrives a half-hour later in a Robinson R44 helicopter. This helicopter is known as a very affordable dependable aircraft that is used in a variety of purposes including law enforcement, training and a variety of civilian applications. In the military, I flew in much bigger machines that had tubine engines and power to spare. With a mere 260 horsepower (I had cars with more horsepower) to get us up in the air and keeps us flying, I decided not to eat breakfast that morning. The less weight the better I figured.

Juan had the doors removed so I would have a better chance to make images and he was right. The air was crystal clear as we left the airport. As we climbed to our operating altitude of 2500 feet, you could see the Florida Keys stretching south and still see Miami and Fort Lauderdale to the north. Conditions were perfect for the flight and the assignment.

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The closer we get to the track, Juan has to change frequencies and keep in constant contact with the local traffic controllers. He tells me all the rules that we are going to have work around during the flight. At the same time he tells me to keep an eye out for any aircraft that may come up on his blindside, which happens to be my side of the craft.

We spend about an hour shooting and moving and trying to get as close as we can without breaking any of the flight restrictions that have been place on us. But I really can’t seem to get a good shot of the opposite side of the blimp. Then I remember that I have the frequency that the blimp is operating on. I tell Juan that I have it and can we dial it in and call them? He gets them on the radio and I tell the pilot that I could really use the opposite side of the blimp and would he be willing to turn the blimp around and goes in a clockwise pattern for me? He tells me he will check with the tower and let me know. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I look down and see the blimp making a big wide turn out over Biscayne Bay. At the time, I get a call saying they will be able to make one pass in the opposite direction.

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After getting the shot, I tell Juan we have what we need and I call the Direct TV blimp and thank the pilot for his cooperation and we begin the 20 minute flight back to the airport. I thank Juan for his effort and I jump in my car and head to the track so I can shoot the race and festivities well into the night. My only regret is we couldn’t get a shot during the race. But we will probably work that out next year somehow.

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The NASCAR season has finally come to an end after 10 months, 36 races, more than 180 days on the road and a ton of Marriott points.

We saw a lot of big story lines this year such as, where will Dale Earnhardt Jr. go when he leaves DEI, the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow and the passing of Bill France Jr. In the end, we return to where we started in the season, with the domination of Hendrick Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon dominated the early part of the season, and by winning the last 4 out of 5 races and the championship, Jimmie had complete control of the end of the season. A lot of people have already started making predictions for who will win next season, but for the regular crew of photographers and editors that cover NASCAR for Getty Images, we only know one thing for certain. It’s only 90 days until the start of the 2008 NASCAR season.

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For the final race of the season we decided to do something a little different. Rusty Jarrett, our fearless leader, got permission from NASCAR to place a remote camera on the top of the stage where the championship is celebrated. Early Sunday morning, equipped with a full bag of remote gear more suited for an NBA event and a new Nikon D3 camera, we headed off to the stage to place the remote. After about 30 minutes we had the camera secured and ready to fire. Now all we had to do was wait 12 hours to fire it, and hope that not only would the camera stay in place, as the stage it was on was attached to an 18 wheel truck that had to be driven into place, but also hope that the car, the trophy and the hundreds of people would all line up properly.

Sometimes a remote doesn’t work too well. But sometimes you get something completely unexpected. The first image of Jimmie Johnson getting out of the car, spraying Gatorade in a sea of confetti and celebration is just what we were looking for. But when Johnson held up the trophy by himself at the top of the stage, we got what we were hoping for. Something unique.

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There are a lot of lessons to be learned when we look back at the season, but one of the biggest is that it takes teamwork to put together a successful season. On the track, it may seem like there is only one driver in the car, but there are hundreds of pit crew members, crew chiefs, mechanics that all put in to make a successful team. It’s no different for photographers. To coordinate flights, hotels, meals, let alone coverage of an event that moves from week to week, state to state, even cross country is a pretty big task. After my second full season of NASCAR, I still find it pretty amazing how many people it takes to run the sport.

The season is over, and I’m glad to have worked with a group of talented photographers both staff and stringer alike, and without the editor crew, we would probably be still sitting at the track.

90 days and counting – see you in Daytona!

From left, Jason Smith, Todd Warshaw, Chris Graythen, Maxx Wolfson, Justin Heiman, Marc Serota, Jason Arnold , Rusty Jarrett, Robert Meggers, Jake Harris, John Harrelson, Robert Laberge

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Growing up in Central California, you were either a Raider fan or a Rams fan, with an occasional closet 49er fan scattered in there. Being a Dolphin fan was tough from 2,500 miles away, but I always had the 1972 undefeated season to fall back on. No other team could stake a claim quite like it in any of the major sports leagues.

When I made the decision to move to South Florida from California, the Dolphins were not part of the equation. But deep down, the idea of standing on the sidelines while the Miami Dolphins made another run at the Super Bowl and made history in front of my eyes was very appealing.

In the past two years the Dolphins have gone through so much turmoil, from changing coaches, quarterbacks andto having a top running back suspended for failing a drug test. Even a high first round draft pick could not separate them from the controversy that has ensued, since Ted Ginn Jr. has so far not lived up to first round talent. It seems that the Dolphins are destined for mediocrity for years to come.

But, even with all of the team’s swelling issues, no fan could ever imagine that a team that once went undefeated could fall so far that they could go an entire season without winning a game. My first Dolphins’ game of the year was a game against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills came into the game winners of three straight, and quickly recovering from a very poor start. As a fan, I felt like this could be the first win for the Dolphins on the year. As a journalist, I wanted to document that win.

As I walked out of the tunnel for warm-ups, I looked up into the stands and could not believe my eyes. I really expected there to be far fewer fans in the stands. With a team on a losing streak like the Dolphins, you would expect a half-empty stadium. It felt very good to be a ‘Fins fan, and the feeling was that this would be the day our team would get it’s first win.

From the beginning of the game, the defense played like a championship defense, shutting down quarterback J.P. Losman and rookie running back Marshawn Lynch. The Dolphins appeared to be in control the entire game. I was looking for images that were going to show a Dolphins win and a Bills loss. The Bills’ players were hanging their heads and Dolphins were celebrating. Telling the story of the game was going to be fairly easy as the mood of the game dictated my images.

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As the fourth quarter started, the ‘Fins held a 10-2 lead. A victory was looking all but assured with the way defense was playing. The crowd was into the game as were photographers on the sidelines that could sense this would be the beginning of a turnaround to the Dolphins’ season.

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Not long after though, the Bills scored a touchdown and then went for a two-point conversion. And just like that, a game that was seemingly one sided was suddenly tied. Some were whispering overtime on the sidelines as the crowd continued to roar on every play. The Bills got the ball back, with a couple of minutes left in the game and drive down into field goal range with less than a minute to play. A look into the stands and you could see the deflation of spirit. More hands were together in prayer than were pointing or antagonizing the other team now. As the kick went up through the up-rights, some fans started filing out of their seats, and others just sat there and wondered if this would be a season for the record books.

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As a journalist, I was desperately looking for images that would show the jubilation of the Bills game-winning kick and the Dolphins hard luck loss. The jubilation from the Bills team was slightly less than might be expected. Although, they had got a win, they had several injuries in a game that they were held in check for most of the afternoon.

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Back in the photography trailer, where most of the local media transmits from, there was more silence. Most of the local journalist, no matter how un-biased they are while working, are lifelong Dolphin fans. Most that still cover the team, were here for much of the glory years with Dan Marino and other Hall of Famers. Seeing the team through this year will be tough, but we will always have an undefeated 1972 to fall back on. For now we will have to live in the past to forget the present.

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