Auto Focus

I’d never shot IndyCar before this shoot, but what I learned in a couple days of running around St. Petersburg’s Firestone Grand Prix reaffirmed everything I thought it would be. The air smells of exhaust and melting tires with a hint of turkey legs, cheap beer and sunscreen. It’s extremely loud and painfully hot. And it’s so much fun to shoot. Luckily, access to the athletes (and yes, they’re athletes) is amazing, and they all want to promote the sport and engage with their fans whenever they can. Whether by capturing a car going 200 mph through a small chain-link fence or climbing a parking garage and laying on hot Florida cement, I approached this shoot the way I approach most shoots: find vibrant, colorful images in good light and make pictures I haven’t seen before. The farmer’s tan was just a bonus.