Photographing Events New & Familiar to Start Off June
Summary:
📸 Covered a community grand reopening, a major fundraising golf outing, and a full week of local events across Mid-Michigan.
🏁 A rainout at I-96 Speedway turned into a first-time visit to Flat Rock Speedway to cover CRA late model racing.
🎓 Worked alongside a photography intern at the racetrack for the first time.
🌅 Returned to I-96 Speedway for a perfect summer race night and some of the season's strongest images.
🤝 Strengthened relationships with clients, racers, organizations, and community partners while creating new photo and video content.
The past 10 days have been very exciting thanks to a fun, diverse calendar of events. With motor racing still at the focus, I've been able to get out and have fun photographing at a few community events in my area of Michigan.
A Grand Reopening in Downtown Flushing
When a pillar in your local community of Flushing, MI keeps their traditions going strong with venue updates, rebranding efforts, & more, it's a big deal. When you're personally invited to document the reopening event with photographs, it's an even bigger deal. That's what happened this week! I was invited to our local funeral home's grand reopening to capture the memories of our town coming together to celebrate this business carrying on its traditions as it refreshes its brand. You can see more from this great event with the link below:
https://biographyphotography.pixieset.com/catererribboncutting/
Wash Out & Replaced With a First-Time Visit: Race Weekend Summary
Michigan weather did Michigan weather things and washed out another highly anticipated night at I-96 Speedway, where I am the track photographer. However, Saturday offered a fun opportunity to go out to Flat Rock Speedway near Detroit to report on the CRA Super Late Model and Late Model Outlaw races that evening. These late model races are always great, no matter the class. I have a growing list of friends in the garages and various series from all around the region who are fun to catch up with. This track is a fun challenge, with a constant oval layout, meaning no straightaways here. I got to work with an intern, which was a first for me. I hope he learned something from our time together. The races were great, and I got some stellar images from the night that you can see here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E8B75zxKq/
Going Golfing with Scouting
I have a long-standing relationship with the now-Scouting USA organization in Michigan (Michigan Crossroads Council), which has turned into nearly 5 years of photographing their fundraising events, galas, & outings, as well as some fun marketing projects, across Metro-Detroit, the Great Lakes Region, & all of the state of Michigan. I kicked off the traditional work week by continuing this fun relationship by photographing their annual golf outing fundraiser in Flint, MI. It's a great day of catching up with old friends, spending a summer day outside driving a golf cart, and photographing with a kind of "home field" advantage.
Friday Night Race Night, Finally back
June 12, we finally returned to I-96 Speedway after a rained-out previous week. It was the perfect night for dirt track racing, and with a full lineup of local classes, we had a great show queued up. The sun provided some great lighting for photography, and the drivers gave me some stunning poses on track. I kept experimenting with some shooting spots I discovered a few weeks prior. This was the week I really saw consistent, intentional results from these locations.
I got to work not only for the track on this Friday night, but also for a driver, giving him some special attention on track and in-car video footage. He got the benefits of my new spot with a ton of stunning, full-resolution images from there and all around the track.
The night went smoothly, as far as I could tell, and we ended at an appropriate time. We've had some late race nights at I-96 so far this season, so it was refreshing to leave the property on the same day I arrived. Check out the full blog post from this race night with images and more details: https://www.biographyphotography.com/blog/june-12-recap-the-first-true-summer-night-at-i-96-speedway
It was a fun 10-day stretch of racing and event photography. I took a lot of images I'm super proud of, got to visit a new track, and built up connections I've been fostering for a while. The back half of June is somewhat light, for now, before some fun shows come to the area in July, so stay tuned!
