Well, I made it into August and I'm still making it out to the races. I've had a bit of a rocky road the past month or so but have made it to all the races on my schedule up through the USA Nationals. I was originally planning on going to the UMSS race at Kopellah on August 8 but the UMSS canceled so considering the forecast I opted to stay home instead of going for their regular classes. It proved to be a wise move as two of the Features rained out after running several in a steady mist. Steady mist might be tolerable for hearty fans but not for thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment. This morning it rained hard in Forest Lake, the ditch is full of water, there are flash flood warnings nearby and all racing is canceled. CLS and Rice Lake canceled early and the last holdout within easy reach, Ogilvie, canceled at 2pm. Deer Creek as far as I know is still racing but I don't need to see a race so bad that I'm going to drive that far tonight.
I'm looking at what remains of the racing budget and it looks like I'll be able to do the rest of this season with a few adjustments. After that I'm going to have to regroup and take a close look at what the prospects look like for next year. I need to be sure of what I'm going to do before making a commitment to the media sources I contribute to. I'm listed as one of several track photographers at one track and as a series photographer. That probably sounds good on paper but people aren't buying many photos from me this year so I'm not making enough to justify the added expense. In the past the only Friday night races I'd attend were big events such as the Masters, USA Nationals, and the Jackson Spring Sprint Spectacular but aside from a few specials I only went on Saturdays and would take an occasional Saturday off as well. This year I have been going every Friday and Saturday with no breaks and that is causing some problems with the family.
I'm not complaining, we all have a limit to our resources whatever our role is in this sport. The difference being a fan or racer is that when funds get depleted they can take a couple weeks off to regroup and nobody is going to notice but for me when I commit to a media source for the season I feel obligated to see it through. I'll finish out this season pretty much as planned except for a question mark regarding two nights that require a motel room. I know I won't sell anything to pay for that trip and it will be tiring to drive back and forth two late nights in a row. I'm probably going to have to find a replacement unless some photo orders come out of nowhere to help defray the cost of a motel room. The unexpected demise of the Ranger changed everything for me. The Merc doesn't have a trailer hitch and the camper isn't licensed so camping at the Jerry Richert Memorial is up in the air. I'm too old to be sleeping in the back seat of a car so that tradition might have to wait until next year.
This year I'm on a pace to hit 50 races and for a person who only ever went to 25 that is a big increase. I thought I could do it but when the Ranger didn't make it through the summer that set me back too far. In addition to the added expense I'm doing a proportionately greater amount of racing related work during the week to the point I barely have time to even cut the grass. Changes will have to be made to cut down the number of races to a level that fits my budget and vacation but I'm sure that's what you all do so I'm no different than anybody else. I just have to do my best to estimate what I'm going to be able to handle prior to making any commitments next time. I still plan to shoot but probably not from the first green to the final checker because there's no incentive to stay down there. Like I said, I'll finish this year out business as usual but I'm way too busy to keep up this pace. I'm not sure of the extent of my interviewing, photos, and writing but I'll figure that out after the season is over.
There are some other reasons for cutting back next season besides money. At 50 races I barely have time to cut the grass let alone do any home projects. The wife and I want to get the house in shape to sell because we'd like to move into a town house. There are some projects that will take a do-it-yourselfer like me all weekend. I can't very well remove a window and leave a hole in the side of the house for a week just so I can go racing. I'm not a contractor by trade so everything takes me twice as long as a professional and some of these projects are things that can't be completed on a week night. Certain adult children must think I have a revolving door and that's been disruptive for my wife and I so that's another reason we'd like to move to a smaller place. Sorry, no room! LOL. My more ambitious than usual racing schedule has also cheated my wife out of our Fridays nights together and that has been hard on our relationship. Having the privilege of taking photos is not worth sabotaging a relationship over.
My lack of success at selling is not the fault of any track or series and I'm sure they would want to see me do well as I would think that they appreciate the media support I bring to the table. I would think that writing for a racing paper and doing the racemn.com and dirtcast.com interviews would be some added incentive for them. Photography is something I am passionate about so if I was restricted I'd be forced to find places that are willing to accommodate my part time schedule. I understand why the tracks would want a commitment and they have all treated me great but there comes a point where I have to recoup some of my expenses to make doing this worth my time. I should make it clear that it is not my goal to make a living or even a profit from my racing photos. I'd simply have to find a way to cover a portion of my expenses for the additional races.
I have heard of cases where someone will win their first Feature and there was no photographer to take the victory lane photo. You'll hear the racers complaining that nobody was there to take their photo but they need to put themselves in our shoes. If they won a race at a track where there wasn't any photographers present then there was probably a reason. There's probably no sales opportunities at that particular track and it's costing the photographers more to go there than they're making in sales. Us photographers aren't the smartest guys out there so we'll go to a track once, twice, maybe three times and eventually if there aren't any orders we'll probably stop going. That doesn't mean we don't like the track or you the racer, it means that it's not cost effective and we we're not going to just show up "for the love of the sport." I think the competition among photographers for a dwindling share of the racer's photo purchases is another factor. This year I have seen more guys traveling hundreds of miles to weekly shows at my local tracks than ever and you never used to see that. Evidently sales must have dried up at the tracks close to where they live. I'm at a competitive disadvantage because I'm doing other things besides photography and I don't have time to walk the pits selling photos. That's nobody's fault but my own. I'm not good at sales or getting my name out there and apparently the racers aren't seeing my contact information on the track and series websites. The links aren't always very prominent so it's pretty hard to beat the old tried and true method of walking through the pits with a portfolio. It isn't possible to do my media tasks and sell photos, there is only so much time in a night of racing.
What I'm looking at next season is probably around 20-25 big shows. Say for example there's a multi day show where this year I attend three or four nights I might only go one or two nights next season. If there are no special events on a particular weekend I will stay home and work on projects. I can do the phone interviews during the week and my regular routine of photos and interviews at the races I do attend.
Every year at this time it seems like I get frustrated and I think about finding another hobby that isn't so expensive and demanding. In fact I have said this so many times that nobody takes my annual dog days of August burnout seriously. All I can say is that the numbers aren't very good and the wife is more fed up with our family resources being donated to dirt track racing so we'll see what happens over the winter. It's hard to really do much planning for racing right now with plenty of racing left on the schedule.
One thing I can say is that I don't have any plans of stopping my website. I've got two free domains besides gotomn.com and unlimited space so rather than take gotomn.com down I'm actually considering adding some kind of non-racing website. I'm looking for something that would appeal to a larger audience and would allow me to incorporate my photo, graphics and multimedia skills. I'm thinking about something that is big and appeals to such a large number of people where there aren't any restrictions on photography or extensive travel and lodging required. I've got some ideas so I might take a closer look at that over the winter.
Later,
Stan
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