Growing up, my family was very into motorsport racing. I remember being a little kid, at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and meeting my Indy Car racing idols, sitting in their cars, and getting autographs. The smells, the sounds, the excitement got me completely hooked to motorsports.
After moving to Washington State in 2001, I discovered Rally America. (Rally racing) At the time I only had a small point and shoot camera, but loved trying to capture images of these amazing “street legal” race cars, whipping down a dirt logging road at full speed. In the early 2000’s, the American rally scene was very small, so it was very easy to meet and greet with some of American Rally legends, Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Dave Mirra, and Dave Higgins.
Fast forward to 2017, I had been living in Siem Reap, Cambodia for about 5 years, running photography tours at the amazing temples of Angkor Park. Living in a developing country there is no motorsports of any kind in Cambodia. Missing motorsports I began to research racing in Thailand. To my surprise I found Thailand Super Series (TSS). A wide collection of classes from small eco cars, to diesel pickups, all the way up to large teams running Lamborghini’s, Ferraris, Aston Martins, and V8 Chevy powered tube frame cars.
Now armed with a DSLR, lenses, and 5 years of professional photography experience, I decided to visit Thailand and try my hand at Motorsport Photography. The first race I attended in Thailand was the street circuit of Bangsaeng. Not having a Media Pass, I was limited to trying to shoot through the fence, or sneak onto a photographer platform and shoot until I was told I couldn’t. I managed to get a bunch of good shots, but I wanted to be closer to the action.
The next race a few weeks later was in Chang International Raceway in Burriram, Thailand. Being a smaller series, TSS has fewer spectators than at bigger events, but allows for easier access to many things. The first day of the races, I showed up to the track, and walked into the pressroom, (like I actually knew what I was doing) and went right to the sign in area and filled in some info, made up a company name (444 fotos), signed a waver, and was handed a Press Vest and Pass. I was so excited! My dream was coming true.
Having full access to the track, I mainly hung with other photographers finding the best spots on the track for good action. I felt completely at home at the track as a photographer. I really began to think… How can I do this professionally?
I met, photographed, and talked to almost every team that spoke English and managed to make a few contacts. But competing with TSS Photographers, and other big money teams with a few personal photographers, my work was seriously cut out for me.
As the season progressed, my photo skills improved vastly, and I made more contacts. Unfortunately the season ended and I had to wait until next season to have another go at it. As the 2018 season began, my personal funds were running dry from starting Siem Reap Photo Tours and I couldn’t afford to go to Thailand for racing. The whole season I sat at home, watching the racing live on YouTube. Hopefully 2019 will be a better year for me, and I’ll be back in Thailand for another TSS season.