Doug, Look again, I think that's a bridge abutment that protected him. He looks like he is standing on the down road side of a concrete bridge. Still not much of a place to roost... Regards, Bob S.
On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Doug Franklin <jehosep...@mindspring.com> wrote: > John Francis wrote: >> >> Oh, I don't think it's that unusual. > > At least for me, it's not unusual to relax trackside with my camera at my > side. What's unusual is doing that when a car is coming. That's when the > good shots present themselves. > >> When you're photographing an event like this you don't >> photograph every car that comes past unless you have >> a reason to do so. > > True, but you never know which car will decide to attempt to fly, or batter > its way through a Jersey Barrier, or see if it really does hurt to catch > fire, or mate with the car beside/behind/in front of it. If you're not > panning with the car when it happens, you're likely to miss the best > shot(s). > >> I think that's probably a good thing, in this case. >> No matter how alert you are you don't get as good a >> feel for the situation if you're looking through the >> viewfinder of a camera with a long lens attached >> (even if you keep the other eye open to look around). > > No doubt about that. But he wasn't paying attention, or he had poor > judgment, or he use much more relaxed safety criteria than I do when > positioning myself in the hot zone. It's usually possible to position > yourself to get good shots without putting yourself right in the middle of > the primary impact zone for the corner. He didn't manage to find any of > those positions. > > I think you know it, John, but as background for the others, I've been > "working corners" at amateur and professional road races, mostly at Road > Atlanta, since about 2002 or 2003. We are the guys in the white jump suits > that wave colored flags at the cars as they go by and respond first to any > incidents on the track. > > As such, I've been on the "hot side" of the fences a lot. But smart people > are never completely at ease in the "hot zone". Even as first responders > and emergency workers, we try to avoid getting into the hot zone unless the > pack is under the control of a safety/pace car, unless a driver or worker is > down or /in extremis/. > > And when I'm out there as a first responder or flagger, I have earplugs in, > but my vision is unhindered. And the cars are loud enough that the plugs > don't really detract from your ability to hear danger coming. You rely a > lot on your ears out there, since your eyes are usually busy helping you > assist a driver or worker. Blindering myself with a camera makes me > /really/ uneasy in the hot zone. So I tend to pick safe spots and only > bring the camera to my eye when necessary. > > I can't even imagine picking the spot he picked. The other side of that > wall and 10' (3m) up track would've gotten him just about the same shots, > and he'd have been about a gazillion times safer. He didn't give himself > any viable routes of retreat. In a lot of cases, it's safest to run > straight toward the mess coming at you, counterintuitively. And it's > usually safest to move up track, since the mess is almost certainly moving > down track. But at least leave yourself something to hide behind, to put > between yourself and that ambulatory fire. He had no viable up track > retreat route and not much in the way of hiding spots. > > He's a lucky, lucky man. > > -- > Thanks, > DougF (KG4LMZ) > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
