Photo Illustration by Jason Smith/Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Cars that scraped the wall during practice are repaired in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dodge Challenger 500 on May 9, 2008 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

With a new track surface at Darlington Speedway, it looks like few are ready try and take on the “Lady in Black” this weekend. Both rookie drivers and veterans are getting their very own “Darlington Stripe” today during practice.

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The NCAA football season is finally over, and it’s been a roller coaster since the start. College football is always full of unexpected upsets, last second victories and intense rivalries. The Louisiana State University tigers had their fair share of all three, but somehow managed to end up on top in the final game of the season. The game itself was exciting, but as an LSU alum, and resident of New Orleans (which is only 90 miles from the LSU campus) This one was a little more exciting.

At the end of the game, I stayed with head coach Les Miles from the time the clock stuck :00 on the Tiger’s 38-24 victory over Ohio State until he left the field. The end of the game is always a giant confusing mess, and the bigger the game, the bigger the mess. I was fortunate enough to be in the right place for the coaches meeting at mid field, as well as when the team gathered to sing the Alma Mater.

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Once the team left the field, I was fortunate enough to get permission from the athletic department to be in the LSU locker room once the game was over. This was a once in a lifetime experience. The room was packed, just me, the staff, the players and the coaches. Coach Miles recognized the players, the hard work and effort they they gave through out the year to earn them the national championship. The seniors lead the team in singing the LSU fight song, and Coach Miles lead the team in a prayer. It was really amazing, and even with the widest lens on that I own, it still wasn’t enough to capture the feel of being there. I was very lucky to be there, and thankful to the LSU athletic staff for letting me in. I hope I get to experience this again!

Being the newest member of the Getty Images staff, as if having the BCS Championship in my town wasn’t enough, this was a great weekend for me as I got to show some fellow staff members around my town that is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. After the first night of customary trips down in the French Quarter to a great restaurant called Palace Cafe for dinner, and eventually to see the lights and sounds of Bourbon Street, where it almost seems as if nothing happened, I took everyone out on the ‘Misery Tour’ around the flooded areas of New Orleans. It’s a tour I’ve given a million times, to friends, family and reporters from all over the country, as I never left during “The Storm” working for Getty Images news as a freelancer. But this was special. For Brock Smith, Travis Lindquist and Streeter Lecka, it was also their first time in New Orleans - they never got to see it, as we say, “Pre-K.” We passed around the now empty lots where my parents and family used to live in the Lakeview area, as well as driving through mid-city and the Lower Ninth Ward. We saw waterlines from as low as 3-4 feet, to as high as 17 feet.

My parent’s house (from L-R) pre-Katrina, during the flooding, 3 months after Katrina, 2 years after Katrina

Travis Lindquist/Getty Images - Getty Images photographer Streeter Lecka looks around a house that was devestated in Hurricane Katrina.

As many times as I’ve given this tour, this was the most inquisitive group I’ve ever been with, and I tried as hard as I could to answer all the questions. We eventually stopped at a gutted out church, and stopped to take a photo of the four of us on a set of steps where a house used to be. In fact, there used to be houses and churches and stores all around, but most either floated away, or have been demolished.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images - Team Getty Images (from L-R): Streeter Lecka, Chris Graythen, Brock Smith and Travis Lindquist

I’m glad that I got to show my co-workers, and good friends that while the city is well prepared to handle tourists and put on a good show for the BCS, the NBA All-Star, the Arenabowl, and other major events, there is still a lot of work to be done, and recovery is moving forward, but is going to take a while.

So come on down, wether for a sporting event, Mardi Gras, or just to experience a little southern hospitality and some great cajun food. And let me know if you need a tour guide! Misery tour only on request.

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The BCS National Championship is quickly approaching the Big Easy, the teams have arrived, and the fans are coming in droves. As a local, its great to see the hotels, restaurants and bars filled to capacity again. We started off the year with a bang with the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Hawaii, and it’s only going to get better, as we have the BCS championship, the NBA All-Star game, NCAA Women’s regional basketball tournament, and the Arena Bowl Championship again.

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During the big year-end games, we have a larger crew which helps us not only ensure that we have every photo to help tell the story of the game, but in a way it helps us to be able to experiment a little when you know you have two other photographers out there. For instance, during the Sugar Bowl, I took a chance using a low angle viewfinder to place my camera directly on the ground and get as low of a shot as possible. Kneeling in the back of the end zone, I was lucky enough to have the Hawaii quarterback fumble the ball, and a Georgia player pounced on it, scoring a touchdown to really help put the game out of reach for Hawaii. The low angle was a unique look at a key play during the game.

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The BCS Championship is going to a great game between two tough teams, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Louisiana State University Tigers. We’ll just have to wait and see who is crowned the BCS National Champions.

See you at the game!

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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.

Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
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

There I am (blue shirt) shooting the race from the flag stand. Photo by Rusty Jarrett.

Four races to go in the NASCAR Nextel Chase for the Cup, and it’s shaping up to be a Jeff Gordon/Jimmy Johnson battle which many predicted the first time we came to Martinsville earlier this year. Martinsville Speedway, located in Virginia, is celebrating its 60^th year in operation, and is one of those tracks on the NASCAR circuit that not only provides some great racing, but also has a lot of tradition to it. There have been a lot of victories, tragedies, and hot dogs here.

This weekend, I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot the start and the finish from inside the flag stand which sits just above the track. I have been lucky enough to shoot from here before, and I’ve talked before about the holes in the fence, the roof, but really there is no place like the flag stand. It’s a completely unique shot, although a little tricky to pull off properly. The stand is only about 5ftx5ft and you’ve got 2 NASCAR officials, a still photographer and a TV cameraman in there as well. The stand sits just inside the catch fence and over the track, the cars can run right under you, and each time they go by, the force of the wind is incredible. You literally sit inside the track and all the HDTV cameras in the world can’t replicate the feeling of being there.

It’s a tight squeeze, but the best place to be for capturing pictures (that’s me in the orange vest). Standing next to me is Kim Lopez, she is NASCAR’s 1st female flagstand official.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

With 9 laps to go, I headed up into the flag stand, armed with the widest lens I could get my hands on, as the flagman, Rodney Wise would be waving the checker flag less than a foot from me. For those 9 laps, it’s got to be one of the most exciting places in all of sport. The cars roar by, the stand is shaking from the force of the wind, the green, white and checker flags combine with the cars coming 200mph right at you in a blur of color and as the checkered flag flies, it’s all over. You’ve got one shot to make the picture that will illustrate the end of the race. And once the race is over, it’s one of the coolest places to see a burnout. Ten feet below, Jimmy Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet spun the car in circles giving the TV cameraman and I a birds-eye view of his win. The new ‘Mr. Martinsville’ had taken his third straight win at the track.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

As I said before, Martinsville is a track with lots of tradition, not only on the track, but also off of it as well. And the one tradition that every rookie must endure at Martinsville is the famed hotdog. The Martinsville hot dog is simple – Bun, bright red hot dog, chili, mustard and cole slaw. Wrap in wax paper, charge $2 and you’re ready. Every rookie on his or her first trip to Martinsville has to at least try the hotdog.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

This weekend we had 3 rookies on our crew, Editors Justin Heiman, Robert Meggers and photographer Todd Warshaw. On Friday, we all knew what that meant. $16 later and 8 hotdogs richer, we gathered for a group photo, (around the Tums trailer as well) and took part in Martinsville history.

From left, Chris Graythen, Robert Meggers, Jason Smith, Streeter Lecka, John Harrelson, Todd Warshaw, Rusty Jarrett and Justin Heiman at bottom.

This weekend we head off to Atlanta Motor Speedway, winding our way down towards Homestead, Miami for the final race, and the crowning of the NASCAR NEXTEL Champion. See you on the road!