Assignment Racing Photographer New England Mid Atlantic
The motorsports photography of Michael ONeill. Helping you build your brand from the race track to the world. Lets face it. There are thousands of photographers out there calling themselves sports photographers. I find it so humorous during an event such as The Super Bowl when I see literally hundreds of photographers lining every linear foot of the sidelines and end zones. Who is buying all these pictures? A day after the big game it is all old news. Sure some images will surface later in weekly or monthly sports publications but, for the most part, sports photographs have a very short shelf life. The world of motorsports can be quite different and requires a professional racing photographer with a different mind set when capturing the action. Take this image of Funny Car driver Ron Capps performing a burnout in the NAPA Chevrolet at an NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series national event. The 2016 Funny Car champion is piloting the Dodge Charger for Don Schumacher Racing. A lot of words in that description…important words. Words about the driver athlete, his racing team, his car, his sponsor and the race series sanctioning body and title sponsor. You see racing is big business. One of the reasons is that it is a well known fact that racing fans are some of the most loyal fans in the world. They have a favorite driver and/or a favorite team and they patronize the sponsors who’s support brings their heroes to the track every weekend. Their loyalty is unmatched by any other fan base in all of professional sports. Sure, I do my share of assignment photography, covering events for sports news media outlets where I am just really at the track to document the race day activities and get them to my editor immediately for publication. I also maintain a large library of stock photos managed by Getty Images/iStock where people can by my images for use in advertising and public relations efforts or simply for their own personal keepsakes. Most important, however, is working with a race team and/or it’s corporate sponsor(s) in producing carefully chosen images that may be used in a sponsor’s advertising programs or in public relations materials that are distributed trackside to their loyal fans and in their hospitality tents where they host groups of VIPs at every event. To effectively serve this market the racing photographer needs to be well versed in who all the players are. Not just the driver/rider…but also the team members, sponsor(s) and affiliates. Only then can your motorsports photographer produce the images you’ll want to fulfill your needs. I am one of those informed, educated, enthusiastic photographers and would love to work with you at your next event.