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10 percent off all prints from BCPix.com thru March 31, 2010

Brian Cleary — 2010-02-26T19:10:08-05:00

BC Pix Photo of the Day - Images by Brian Cleary Many of the thousands of photographs appearing on bcpix.com are now available as prints from 4x6 all the way up to 20x30 inches. Customers are able to custom crop their selections during the order process and choose between a variety of finishes including lustre, glossy and matte. ...And now, through the end of March 2010, all prints on bcpix.com are available at a special rate of 10 percent off the regular price. ...To price and then get the option of purchasing a print, go to the image you desire on bcpix.com and click on the "add to cart" link to the right of the image. ...BCPix.com is the evergrowing online archive of Florida-based freelance photographer Brian Cleary, who's been shooting sports, motorsports, photojournalism, stock, nature and animal photography since 1981. Whether you're a a scale modeler in need of reference prints for a 1980's NASCAR project or just someone needing to fill an empty spot of your wall, you can begin your search through the online photo archive at bcpix.com by entering search terms in the box below.

39 Times around the Clock

Brian Cleary — 2010-02-08T09:20:52-05:00

...By my calculation, this year's race was 39th time I've braved the deceptively chilly Florida weather to watch the sports cars wind through Daytona's "roval" road racing course. Beginning in 1965, when my family had just relocated to Daytona Beach, my father took me to my first Daytona Continental, a 12 hour event which saw Ken Miles and Lloyd Rudy prevail in a Ford GT-40. Not only did this race mark the first time I took a camera to a race track, but it also inspired a ton of artwork that I produced in my 2nd grade classrom, just down Volusia Avenue from the speedway. ...I remember sitting in the grandstands at the entrance to the infield with my father on a cool evening during the 1967 race when the Porsche 906 of Walter Habegger crashed, flipped and exploded into flames right in front of us. As the car burned with the driver inside, I remember my father reaching over and covering my eyes when it looked like the worse could be happening, and I recall the feeling of elation when the driver was able to extricate himself and run from the wreckage, relatively unharmed. After we moved to south Florida in the early 1970's, there were a few dark years where we were able to travel north for the Daytona 500, but could not swing the trip to the sports car classic, then in 1977, having obtained my driver's license and the confidence to make such a long road trip, me and my friend ken Breslauer, now of Sebring fame, made our triumphant return to the event to watch Hurley Haywood, John Graves and Dave Helmick triumph in a race that saw Paul Newman co-drive a Ferarri to a 5th place finish. ...Not only did the 2001 race mark my first event as the official photographer for Grand American Road Racing (one of the best things that's ever happened to my photo career), but it also marked the great Dale Earnhardt's first and only appearance in the race, co-driving a Corvette with his son. So with Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel, and Mike Rockenfeller going to victory in this years' event, another chunk of sports car history has been added to my ever-growing sports car racing photo archive, not to mention a 39th installment in my round-the-clock memories of Daytona!

Loving a Plan that Came Together

Brian Cleary — 2010-01-22T23:13:17-05:00

STS102 Mission, Space Shuttle Discovery, March 2001 - Images by Brian Cleary Don't you love it when a plan comes together? I do and it did for me back on March 8, 2001. I was covering the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery and noticed that the Launch time coincided almost exactly with sunrise. I scouted a location along the Banana River in Titusville that also happened to have a group of spectators in the foreground. Mix in a few palm trees and the result was one of the more memorable Space Shuttle launches I ever witnessed. A new gallery of my photos of that event is up at bcpix.com (click here to view gallery) My online photo archive resides at www.bcpix.com, and features an ever growing, searchable database of editorial stock photography dating back more than 30 years.

Tiny Fish, Rising Cream and My Take on Photo SEO

Brian Cleary — 2010-01-04T09:08:00-05:00

As yet another faceless freelancer in an ever growing sea of photographers who are placing their archives online in an attempt to gain even a small share of the editorial stock photo market, I see myself as a very small fish in a gigantic pond. I look at it as a challenge that is worth the effort and am excited that after more than 30 years of surviving in the world of freelance editorial photography, I'm still up to the challenge of learning new tricks. ...6 months later, scrounging around for ways to promote my newly updated website, I read up on Twitter and ways in which business people can use this site to promote their wares. ...In the last few weeks, I've become more active on LinkedIn as I've discovered that this professional network offers connections to many associates in my profession as well as access to valuable info and articles on how I make a living. ...I know that a visitor who arrives from Facebook will spend 4 minutes and 47 seconds there and view 10.55 pages, while one arriving via Twitter will stay for only 45 seconds and visit 4.65 pages, and finally a LinkedIn visitor will spend 1 minute and 40 seconds there and view 8.72 pages. Although I'm still not sure what all this means and how I can use it to survive in this tough business climate, I do believe that it is important. As the volume of online photography for purchase(supply) grows and the value of stock photography plummets, the stock photographer will be forced to rely more heavily on a large volume of sales to make any money.

The kid in the red cap

Brian Cleary — 2009-12-23T16:32:11-05:00

...As the day wound down, Dale Earnhardt Sr. had put together another great season and wound up clinching his 4th Winston Cup Crown. I was photographing the festivities in Victory Lane when I noticed that Dale Earnhardt, and his wife Teresa, with their young daughter Taylor Nicole in her arms, were in the center of the group.... The only thing that bothered me was that there was a boy in a bright red Winston Cup cap standing right in front of the Earnhardt group.... I'll shoot the scene as it is and than do my best to crop the boy out later. ...I looked at the one frame that I had shot which included the boy's face and was stopped in my tracks. The boy who I'd been cropping out of the photos for years was none other than a 16-year-old Dale Earnhardt Jr.! At the time I had taken the photo I was not even aware that Dale Earnhardt even had a son, and now that he's one of the most famous sports figures alive, I have a photo of him and his dad celebrating a triumph in the past.

Triumph to Tragedy

Brian Cleary — 2009-12-17T10:40:37-05:00

As NASA's Space Shuttle program continues to wind down, I'm reminded of a launch I covered for AFP back in January 2003. ...I decided to drive down to Jetty Park in Cocoa Beach, just south of Kennedy Space Center and see what was going on down there.... Then, just moments before the launch, a group of 3 men caught my eye: Orthodox Jews Nachman Segal, Dov Kok, and Neftaly Hertzel were standing on the boardwalk waiting to view the launch. I introduced myself and the three men told me that they had travelled from South Florida to watch the first Israeli astronaut begin his historic journey in to outer space. The re was nothing profound in their presence at the launch, just there simple pride and there desire to be there as their countryman entered his name on the roll of space travelers form the planet Earth. ...A couple of weeks later I was sitting in an office at Daytona International Speedway preparing to photograph the start of the Rolex 24 at Daytona auto race when I heard the tragic news that the Space Shuttle Columbia had disintegrated on it's return to Earth, with the entire crew perishing in the accident. My thoughts went to the three men whose paths I had crossed on the beach in Cocoa a few weeks earlier and tried to imagine what their thoughts might be following the pride they had felt a few weeks earlier.

Practice Makes Perfect

Brian Cleary — 2009-11-30T18:45:02-05:00

iPhone Photography by Brian Cleary - Images by Brian Cleary Practice makes perfect , so they say, and that axiom is as true in photography as it is in any other endeavor. But it's not always practical to carry around a lot of photo and editing gear to practice your craft. I've found, however, that my iPhone camera, a photo editing apps and one cool web site helps to keep my eye and editing skills sharp no matter where I am. ...The idea is to snap a photo with your iPhone, perform some basic editing and upload it to the "Best Camera" site, where it will be instantly available for online viewing and judging. ...This can also be an interesting barometer for current popular photo tastes, which may in some way help you when it comes time to look for stock photo ideas and come up with self-assignments. I find the phot-taking, editing and uploading an interesting pastime when waiting for airplanes, sightseeing in unfamiliar cities and just hanging with the family on the weekend. ...I've also experimented with a variety of 3rd party photo editing apps available at the iPhone app store. So jump on the app store and search "best camera" and "photography", load your iPhone with apps and start shooting.

The Back-Stabber

Brian Cleary — 2009-11-25T18:20:44-05:00

I watched from the bank of the canal as the Blue Heron performed the familiar head wobble as it tried to focus on its prey. I'd seen it many times, but one thing wasn't right. This big bird was pointing toward the tall grass along the shoreline, not at the water. I was used to seeing this ritual whenever a blue heron was about to pluck a fish dinner from the water, but I realized that there probably weren't too many fish lurking in the shoreline vegetation. ...No sooner had I asked myself the question, when the bird dove awkwardly into the underbrush. It stood up with a plump Marsh Rat impaled on its bill.... The bird stood still for a few seconds and then took flight with its fresh rat dinner, sailing away to enjoy the meal in privacy.

BCPix.com launches Facebook Fan Page

Brian Cleary — 2009-11-17T20:08:35-05:00

BC Pix Photo of the Day - Images by Brian Cleary BCpix.com has launched a new fan page on Facebook. (

BCPix.com - Photo by Brian Cleary on Facebook

). The page will highlight selected galleries from the online archive of me, Florida Freelance Photographer Brian Cleary as well as provide links to pertinent and timely online articles on the state of the photo industry. Fans of the page and other Facebook users can access the galleries as well and comment on the the photos they contain. The launch is part of the ongoing efforts to make the my online archive more accessible to editors, publishers, writers and just plain old online shutterbugs. Please stop by to check it out at

BCPix.com - Photo by Brian Cleary on Facebook

Thanks!

Was that a finger I saw?

Brian Cleary — 2009-11-10T18:29:02-05:00

...I had worked my way to the outside of the enormous speedway and was shooting from a small photo hole midway between turns 3 and 4. It was a tough shot because the hole in the fence was very small, and the cars were moving very fast and passing very close to the wall. ...So as I stood there pounding away on my shutter button and peering at the speed-blurred race cars through my viewfinder, something caught my eye. What was that protruding from the window of the black car that had just sped through my viewfinder? I guessed that the driver my have been waving out the window, thanking a fellow driver for letting him pass, and made a mental note to check when I returned to the media center. ...When I got to the turn shots in question, I looked sadly as I rifled through one out-focus-picture after another, when suddenly, the above photo appeared on my laptop screen.... The black car with somehting hanging out the window had been Jamie McMurray, who was having a great day, playfully flipping off his team mate Sterling Marlin as he put a lap on him!

Cool iPhone Panorama Photo app

Brian Cleary — 2009-10-06T20:36:59-04:00

Was browsing the App store on my iPhone the other day and stumbled across the "Pano" app, which can be used to create wide panoramic photos on your iPhone. You can shoot up to 16 side by side pics in the app, then stitch them together to create a single, wide picture. It's all fairly automatic: you shoot the photo, then are prompted to either retake or use the picture you've just taken. Once you decide to use a photo it is saved into memory and you are ready to take the next picture in the sequence. About a quarter of the previous photo remains in a transparent form on your iPhone screen as an aide in lining up your next shot. Once all the photos are taken you are given the option to merge all the pics together into a single panorama. Click merge and the app automatically stitches them all together, after which you can either save the image to your camera roll or share it via email.

Cheap Plastic Camera pics - coming full circle

Brian Cleary — 2009-09-15T09:19:45-04:00

...The great thing about the camera was that you could happily snap away without any worries about shutter speeds and apertures (I had no idea what they even were!) ...The grey plastic camera accompanied my everywhere, to Daytona Speedway, to the beach, on vacations and I still have some of the negatives it produced. So on a recent vacation to Sarasota, FL, while making a mandatory stop in a toy store with my wife and kids, I couldn't resist when I spotted a cheap plastic Pop Cam 35mm film camera. This camera features 4 lenses, each with a different color filter, and snaps four pictures in rapid succession on a single frame of 35mm film, each through a different filter.... What I like about it is the ability to shoot away without any thought to shutter speed, aperture, focus, etc. Kind of like my childhood efforts with the old Diana. The little Pop Cam has developed a small cult-type following and even has some dedicated followers on Flickr. If you find your creativity bogged down in the daily grind of the technical and business side of photography, you might consider picking up a cheap plastic camera and go out to shoot some "just for fun" photos.

Bcpix.com included in Photoshelter's September featured photographers!

Brian Cleary — 2009-09-03T15:59:08-04:00

The above photo of our Australian Cattle Dog , "Layla", playing with her frisbee is included in this month's Photoshelter.com "Featured Photographer" slideshow . Photoshelter houses images of more than 40,000 photographers worldwide and each month selects 20 of these photographers to feature on the website. This month's selection includes my "Moment of Tooth" shot of Layla grabbing her frisbee in a Daytona Beach , FL park. The site also includes a link to my photo archive on their monthly "examples" page, which it uses to highlight selected photographers' Photoshelter sites. Bcpix.com uses the Photoshelter site to house and market editorial stock photography, rights-managed photography, and prints from an ever-growing photo archive of my motorsports, sports, photojournalism, editorial and stock photography currently numbering more than 5,000 images.

One of those weekends- Coming home with a bunch of broken stuff

Brian Cleary — 2009-08-20T12:04:36-04:00

Although this past weekend at Virginia International Raceway was a great shooting weekend (see my VIR AMA Big Kahuna Nationals Gallery), it was one of those weekends that the self-employed freelancer dreads: Lots of broken stuff! Fresh of my recent smashed iPhone episode, the after effects of which I'm still dealing with, I cut a fresh swath of destruction through my gear at an otherwise fine weekend at VIR. 1- I discovered that my scooter had some contaminated gas in its tank, which made it impossible for me to travel more than a couple of hundred yards before conking out. ...4- Early Sunday morning as I was unpacking and setting up in the media center, I fumbled the same 70-200 zoom and it bounced on the floor, now the front barrel of the lens wobbles unsteadily. Although the lens still shoots, I'm certain this effects the focusing and it will have to go in for repairs, probably another $200. 5- Later that day, in a hurry to get out on the track to shoot, I shoved my strobe in the pocket of my cargo shorts, and halfway across the paddock, it flew to the ground, smashing the transparent plastic piece on the front . ...Thank god the races came to an end before I was able to cause any more damage and now I'm scrambling to fix everything before heading out to next weekend's Grand-Am race in Montreal!

Being prepared for when you're unprepared

Brian Cleary — 2009-08-09T11:21:02-04:00

Have you ever stumbled across a great photo opp only to find yourself self camera-less and looking at the missed opportunity, trying not to think of the photos your not going to get? ...As I drove past a large Cabella's outdoor store, I decided to stop in and browse for a few minutes. The store featured an huge, incredible taxidermy display and I soon found myself wishing my camera was available, but it was packed away and I did not have time to unpack my gear and still get to the airport on time.... Not my first option for high quality documentary photography, but at least I could grab a few pics. As I walked through the display snapping away, and enjoying the way that the animals were positioned in relation to one another to create a series of real-world looking scenes, I thought that these pictures might be great candidates for a little photoshop session. While the camera original images from a lower-res point and shoot may not be up to your regular standards, you may be able to produce an interesting picture by tweeking it in the computer. I look at these situations, as a chance to practice my photoshop skills and get a little creative.

Thoughts of a part-time motorcycle racing photographer

Brian Cleary — 2009-08-03T09:32:25-04:00

Just off my latest assignment, covering the Tornado Nationals AMA Motorcycle races at Heartland Park Topeka, in Topeka, KS: ...-They all have that look in their eyes that says they've been to a place where the rest of us will never go. -It's a pleasant change to be able to wear shorts while covering a motorsports event, this is generally unheard of in car racing. ...Spent a lot of time tromping around in knee-high grass this weekend contemplating this. -When you make a mistake on a motorcycle, the consequences are quick and unpleasant! -Motorcycles are smaller and quicker than race cars, and much more difficult to shoot. -It's hard to get a large variety of photos when the race is only 20 minutes long. ...-I'll be on a plane en route to Watkins Glen in 2 days to transform back into a race car photographer.

Accidents Happen: A Crash Course in Racing Photography

Brian Cleary — 2008-03-28T22:59:22-04:00

An article I wrote several years ago for "Crash and Burn" Magazine: ...1.KNOW YOUR RACETRACK While it's true that a crash can happen at any time or place on a race track, all tracks have their potential trouble spots. ...That's OK, but don't keep it there too long, and always remember to reset it to 1/500th of a second or higher just as soon as you1re done with the pan shots! Also, if things get really dark in the late afternoon or under cloudy skies, you might consider going to a film rated at ISO 400, 1000, or even 1600, or pushing the film that1s in your camera so that you don1t have to drop your shutter speed too low. ...THIRTYSOMETHING Always be aware of how many frames you have remaining on you digital media and try to have at least 30 available or, if you're shooting film, try to use 36 exposure rolls of film whenever possible.... I know one photographer who had a bird1s eye view of Darrell Waltrip's unbelievable barrel roll down Daytona's backstretch a few years ago. Only problem was, when he pressed down his shutter button his camera fired one shot, then ran out of film! ...Keep in mind that accidents are more likely to happen when the cars are bunched up right after the start of a race or after a restart following a caution flag, so this is the time to keep your shutter speed high an dyour camera at your eye! ...SAVE A SHOT Always try to save a frame or two for after the smoke has cleared, as often great pictures can be made of a driver exiting his crashed race car at the end of the wreck.

The picture that launched a career (mine)

Brian Cleary — 2008-03-09T18:36:36-04:00

...I had recently earned my BA degree in communications from Florida Atlantic University and, while I liked journalism and writing, I was pretty sure that it was not what I wanted to do for a living. Having discovered photography through a couple of classes I took when studying journalism, I decided to go after my photography degree in Daytona and ws hoping that this would be my career. ...One day at lunch I grabbed my old Canon AE-1 (which was actually my new Canon AE-1 at the time) with a DeJur 135mm lens and drove the mile or so from the college campus to Daytona International Speedway, where practice for the annual Supercros motorcycle race was going on. I've always enjoyed all forms of motor racing and I figured that this would be a good way to spend my lunch hour and maybe good a good photo or to for my photojournalism class. ...I stood by the fence and watched after the dirt bikes circulated around the bumpy track and was impressed as the racers flew high over the large main jump right in front of me. ...He semed to be leaning out a little further than most as he soared toward his landing and it soon became apparent that he was not quite going to clear the top on the landing hill.... I snapped a single frame since I had no motordrive or power winder on the camera and then took a few more shots of the course marshalls helping the rider up. ...It was 27 years ago and I've covered the Daytona Supercross nearly every year since then, but that photo still remains the best I've gotten at a motorcycle race.

Earnhardt Memories

Brian Cleary — 2008-02-16T18:37:43-05:00

I liked his quiet confidence, his bold driving style, the way he sat "laid back" in his race car and the fact that he was not afraid to race head to head with my heroes, Petty, Allison, Baker, Yarborough, etc. ...When a photographer aimed a camera at him, he had a way of staring point blank down the lens in a manner which almost dared the photographer to take a picture of him. ...I saw him do some amazing things on the track and have some very vivd memories of his exploits, many of which I was lucky enough to witness in person. I was there when he cut a tire down on the last lap at Daytona, handing Derrike Cope a Daytona 500 win, I was standing on Daytona's turn 4 tunnel as he zoomed past trailing shreds of seagull after striking the unlucky bird on the backstrecth ending another gallant, but ill-fated Daytona 500 bid. ...Earnhardt and Sterling Marlin slammed the wall right in front of my photo location at Talladega one year in one of the most violent impacts I'd ever seen and I watched in disbelief as he walked to the ambulance under his own power clutching his injured shoulder and refusing a stretcher. ...I, like probably everyone else in attendance waited for the "other foot to fall" and some strange bit of bad luck to once again snatch the 500 from Earnhardt's grasp. When the final caution flew and Earnhardt beet Bobby Labonte to the line to finally secure the win, I followed the car around the track in my viewfinder and photographed the historic checkered flag. The real significance and emotion of the event didn't sink in, however, until I removed my eye from the camera's viewfinder and looked down on pitroad where virtually every crewman and official on the property had lined up to congratulate the triumphant Earnhardt.

Twice Around the Clock to Start the New Year

Brian Cleary — 2008-01-31T19:05:32-05:00

The new year is almost a month old and this past weekend many motorsports photographers got there first taste of action in 2008 in the form of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Grand American Rolex Series Sports car race. ...The cars are on the track at for the openning practice session at 10am following a brief Speedweeks Kickoff Ceremony, and I'm out there shooting every single car so that we have a record of each car in action.... Fortunately I have a Honda Helix scotter at my dispoal for this event and I've gotten pretty good at shooting as many cars as possible at one corner, jumping on the scooter and racing to another corner to shoot all the cars again. ...Since these sessions are only 15 minutes each and since I've already got shots of all the cars from the practice sessions, I usually hang out in the pits to get a few more driver portraits and capture any celebratory shots of the pole winners. ...Next on the agenda is that annual exercise in futility know as the team grid shots, where we photographers try and shoot each team and car before they are rolled down the grid to line up for the start. ...After I'd had my fill of shooting, and before I got too tired to do it, I had to post some race photos on the web site, and then I unrolled my sleeping bag in my photo room ini the media center and, for the first time in years, spent the night at the track. ...A trip to the pits for a few more pit stop shots and then back to my computer where I sent photos of the race leaders to the web sites I was servicing so they could have them queued up for posting as soon as the raced ended. ...As I write this on Thursday evening I'm just burning the last of the DVD's and about ready to wrap up another year of Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona coverage and I wonder if heading into next year' srace I'll be any better prepared.

When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go

Brian Cleary — 2008-01-18T15:59:55-05:00

I was covering a pro-am motorcycle event at Daytona International Speedway many years ago. Stationed out at the chicane, which is a pretty remote location on Daytona's road course, out of sight of the spectators and kind of a pain to get to for photographer, I was the only person in the area, other than a few corner workers out at their station. These events were a day-long succession of short sprint races filled with club racers who were not well known and whose skills were not on a level with the great racers who compete annually in the Daytona 200, so the racing wasn't always stellar. ...It was in just such a stupor that I sat as I waited for the start of the next race. At these races, the riders circle the track once in there "sighting" or warm-up lap before returning to pit road the line up and start the race. ...Thinking that he must have some sort of mechanical problem, I was hoping that this would not delay the start of the race by too much.... With his back to me, I watched as a stream of liquid appeared on the wall and ran down onto the racetrack (see photo above). Relieved, the rider re-zipped his suit, climbed back onto his bike and sped off to join the other riders on the grid for the start of the race. ...Some people jokingly say that you should always bet on the dog in a dog race who relieves himself on the way to the starting gate, as that dog will be just a little bit lighter, and I guess the same theory must apply to motorcycle racing.

Testing . . .testing . . .

Brian Cleary — 2008-01-16T14:16:08-05:00

You'd think that the time between the final checkered flag of the fall and the first green flag of the new season would be a time a sitting around the house watching TV with the kids and catching up on domestic chores. ...In 2007 I covered the following banquets: Grand American Road Racing Rolex Series (Las Vegas, September), Grand American Koni Challenge Series (Las Vegas, November) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (Hollywood, FL, November), NASCAR Busch Series (Orlando, December) and NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (New York City, December). So, after all of that, after my tuxedo was hung up for the winter and I gave up my standing spot in the long term parking lot at the airport in anticipation of a leisurely off-season, here came the annual parade of primer painted race cars into town for the ritual of winter testing. ...Still, as many race fans know, the drivers don't really look forward to these test session, which involve endless laps around the track punctuated by periods of standing around as crewmen work on the race cars, with very little excitement involved. It's not much better for the media and photographers, as the cars aren't painted, the driver's uniforms aren't updated for the new year, and the photos are of little use to anyone, other than just documentation of the test sessions for the track and teams. ...It's also a chance to see the new teams and cars in their first warmup for the season opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, which runs in late January. ...After that there is a string of NASCAR tests, each 3 days long: The first group of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars goes first, then comes the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series followed by the second group of Sprint Cup cars(the above photo shows the cars of Scott Riggs, 66, Michael Waltrip, 55, and Sam Hornish, 77 in action at this test session) and finally the NASCAR Nationwide Series. As that session ends, I'll finally settle to the couch to really get into the off-season and then I'll realize that the Grand Am cars are just 3 days away from rolling into town for the following weekend's Rolex 24 Hour race.

Half-A-Lifetime taking pictures

Brian Cleary — 2008-01-09T23:51:06-05:00

I've been making a living in photography ever since then, so then next time I think "Damn, it seems like I spend half my life lugging these cameras around", I actually have spent half my life lugging these cameras around. ...To start with, back in the day, we had to carry around a large supply of film and fumble with the camera after every 36 exposures whether it was freezing cold out, pouring rain, blowing dust or whatever. ...In the old days when the shooting was done, you usually found yourself elbow deep in chemicals, breathing fixer, fumbling in the dark to actually see the results of your efforts. Nowadays the day ends hunched over a laptop computer with cramping hands as you try to stay a step ahead of editors and clients anxiously awaiting your photos. ...Years ago we'd be frantically twisting the focus ring on our lens back and forth trying to keep a moving subject in focus, while today we are often just as frantically mashing a button on our camera and cursing the autofocus system for being too slow. If you are familiar with wire service work you might remember the days when sending a photo over the wire was similar to a kindergarten art class project involving scissors, tape, and glue. You'd "soup" your film, make a print, bang out a caption on a Brother typewriter, paste it to the print and clamp the whole creation to a revolving drum transmitter to send the print over phone lines a picture desk, usually in Washington or New York. ...Anyway, those are just a few of my memories from the "old days" (which weren't really that long ago) and I welcome and look forward to hearing any of yours!

Bowling in Florida

Brian Cleary — 2007-12-30T08:23:59-05:00

For the working freelance sports photographer in Florida, New Year's Day can mean only one thing: Bowl Time! This year there are 5 major bowl games in the state including the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, the Outback Bowl in Tampa, the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the Capital One Bowl in Orlando and the Orange Bowl in Miami. ...First, its a chance to start the year off on the right foot, with a decent payday on the very first day of the year, there is also the opportunity to get good play in the media if you can capture good shots from these high profile, high energy events, you also get the chance to fill your files with photos of potential future NFL superstars (the above photo shows Ohio State running back Eddie George in action at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando in January 1995), and finally you get to see some good, fun college football firsthand, from the sidelines rather than planted on your couch in front of the TV. One of my favorite College bowl days stories comes from a photographer I know who lives nears Tampa. One year, as he tells it, he arose early New Year's Day and drove to the old Tampa Stadium to shoot the first quarter of the Hall of Fame Bowl. In a driving rain storm, the photographer jumped into his car and took off up I-4 to shoot a portion of the final quarter of Orlando's Citrus Bowl from an opening under the grandstands. Then it was back in the car, over to I-95 and north to Jacksonville where he worked that evening's Gator Bowl! For the Florida freelancer, New Year's Eve is often a night of moderate celebration and early bedtime followed by the first working day of the New Year.

Christmas in Outer Space

Brian Cleary — 2007-12-22T17:51:21-05:00

At that time in my life I had a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son and my wife and I were living in Daytona Beach, Florida and I was scrambling as fast as I could to make ends meet as a freelance photographer. That is how I found myself leaving my house at 6am on a Sunday morning to drive more than 200 miles to photograph a 1 o'clock Miami Dolphins/San Diego Charger NFL game at Joe Robbie Stadium. ...During the long drive south to Miami on that Sunday morning I had plenty of time to think and I , as was my habit, I began to calculate what time I would be home that evening. I wasn't long before I realized that, if the game ended at about 4 pm, as usual, and if I got to my car and on the road quickly, I would be near Kennedy Space Center by about 8 pm.... I picked up my cell phone and called my AFP contact at Kennedy Space Center and told him that, if he wanted, I could try to photograph the launch from somewhere nearby and then bring the film to him at the Space Center. ...I was monitoring the launch on my radio , and knowing that I would have to drive 10 or 15 minutes east after leaving the interstate and still find a suitable site from which to photograph the launch, I made the decision to exit I-95 and drive east near Melbourne, FL at about 8:30. ...Sure enough, I found a decorated christmas tree at an oceanside park, parked my car, grabbed my camera and tripod and waited for the launch, which was now less than 10 minutes away. Although this before the days of readily available portable GPS, and while I didn't know exactly where on the horizon the shuttle would appear, I knew from experience that in a night launch a bright glow precedes the appearance of the firing column of the space shuttle rising into the night sky.

Shooting Race Cars in the Snow?

Brian Cleary — 2007-12-17T17:48:40-05:00

As I watched the Jacksonville Jags beat the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday on a snowy, windy Pennsylvania afternoon,I thought of the winter afternoon in New York City a few years back where I stood on Park Avenue wearing a tuxedo in a blowing blizzard and photographed the newly crowned NASCAR Winston Cup champion as show shot horizontally through the photo. Matt Kenseth had clinched the '03 championship a few weeks before and I as prepared to travel to New York for the banquet from my home in Florida, I was excited by the weather channel's forecast of snow for the banquet week in New York, as I hadn't seen any real show since I was a 5-year-old growing up in Massachusetts. When the snow arrived, however, it was much more than I had bargained or prepared for, with 17 inches falling over the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of banquet week. The storm reached its peak late Friday afternoon and Matt Kenseth and his team prepared to pose with their race car on Park Avenue in front of the Waldorf. At the appointed time the driver, crew, and all the media (me included) walked out into the storm to record the traditional image of the NASCAR Champion and his crew and car in front of the Waldorf on Park Avenue. Wearing my light tuxedo in the blizzard, I might as well have been standing there in shorts and a tee shirt. I would bet that this Park Avenue Champion's shoot was the quickest, and most unusual on record.... I've always liked the look of the photos from that shoot, with the snow blowing through the pictures, and yesterday, as I watched Jacksonville's Fred Taylor carry the football on a snowy field in Pittsburgh, I thoguth to myself that NFL players aren't the only ones who are called upon to perform their jobs in less that perfect weather.

An Old Race Car Photographer Photographs Old Race Cars

Brian Cleary — 2007-12-15T16:51:52-05:00

I guess it's only fitting that the first entry into my new blog features old race cars. After all I basically got involved in photography 30 years ago to be able to take decent pictures of one of the sports I love: auto racing. ...For one thing, auto racing lends itself quite nicely to photography, with its bright colors, spectacular action and high emotions. I've photographed hundreds of motor races since 1977 including the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, so when "Rennsport Reunion III" rolled into Daytona International Speedway this past weekend and I was offered a n assignment to work the event, which featured hundreds of historic Porsche race cars and drivers, I jumped at it. I'd actually photographed many of these machines in the past when they were "racing in anger" as the saying goes, so it brought back many memories. The photo I've included in this post features the yellow #48 Porsche 917 driven by Jim Torres doing battle with the tiny #4 Porsche 908 of Phil Daigrepont in the Group 4 race on Sunday afternoon. I was struck by the tremendous difference in the size of the two cars as they raced side-by-side around Daytona's famous race course.