Hey David! What are you up to today?
Today we're really just getting things together for the Vendor Row Challenge next weekend at Loretta Lynn's. We're going to hold the challenge on Friday.
Are you going to be competing in the challenge?
I would love to but my doctor has told me I'm not supposed to be racing any more. I love being a part of the sport more than anything. So it's one thing to know I'm not out there racing because it's not the right time, and it's another thing that my doctor says I'm not supposed to.
Even though you can't race, you've stayed involved with the sport. When did you start Race Day Pix?
I started it in 1998. It was kind of a sideline project to my full time job. I was general manager of some hotels in the Atlanta area and just wanted to get back into racing. That's where my heart has always been. I know I'm not a competitive racer anymore, so the only way I could be back in it was in a secondary role.
Was photography something you were already interested in, or was it just a way to get back into the sport?
I actually started taking pictures back when i used to road race back in the late 80s. I wanted pictures of me while I was racing. That may sound vain! I got equipment so people could take pictures of me while I was racing and I could take pictures of my friends.
What road race series did you compete in?
I raced the AMA CCS series. I loved it! I was the number 2 rated rookie the first two years that I did it.I even got up to a pro plate. We had some great times doing it.
Race Day Pix is a family run business- what's it like for the family to work together each weekend?
It is good. I love it. I quit corporate America so I could so something with my family. I wanted to raise my own kids, and I didn't want to send them to day care and only see them on the weekend, or just get home in time to kiss them goodnight. We started the company so we could be actively involved in raising our children and that's where it took us.
So you had it in your mind from the beginning that this would be a family-run venture?
That was our definite intention to keep it that way. Over the past few years it's taken a few different turns. It's still a family run business and it always will be. Now I just don't have my whole family with me when I travel, and that makes it tougher for me. I will still do it, though.
How are the kids?
They're great! Stephen is actually working with us still at the races. Cheyenne is improving and going to school and going to therapy. She's doing awesome, and doing better every day. Shelby is a wide open 3 year old. She is a rambunctious little angel.
That's awesome to hear the family is all doing well. Going back to the Vendor Row Challenge- what's going on for this year?
The Vendor Row Challenge is something I started about 5 years ago. My goal and my intention is to get the guys who used to be involved in the sport back out to ride. So many of us, whether our children grew up through the ranks, or business gets busy, or we're at the track to work- it's time to get back on the bike to ride.That was my whole intention. Rekluse is flying in some people to do the race. CV4 will be there, Hooper will be in it, Racer Productions will be in it again, and Al from Wiseco and Powersport Graphx will have riders. I can't remember them all! We had 15 riders last year, and we're hoping for 15+ this year.
What does the winner get?
The winner gets bragging rights! We also create some plates for them, so they'll get a number 1 plate for winning. We're trying to find something really gaudy that you have to carry around for a year and then defend. If you don't win it passes on to the next person. We're looking for an old engine block. We want something big, obtrusive and heavy. That's our goal. It's so fun.
How many races do you go to each year for Race Day Pix?
We started doing RaceDayPix on the side for about three years until I quit corporate American in 2001. Back then, we'd do a Friday night supercross, a Saturday morning motocross, a Saturday night Supercross, and then on Sunday we'd do a Harescramble. We were doing that about 48 weekends a year! It boiled down to one year we did like 74 races in those 48 weeks. Now, with the economy, and our family dynamic having changed, I can't afford to do a lot of the local things, and we have to watch our budget. When we were younger, my mindset was if we break even at least we're getting our name out. I just can't do that anymore. Now that we're traveling nationally instead of locally my mindset has changed. For us to go to a race, to set up and get ready to sell, we spend between $800 and $1000, and that's before we sell our first picture. If we go and it gets canceled and we don't make any money, that's a big loss for us. We have to be a lot more choosy about where we go and what we do. Also- with the advent of digital cameras being more affordable- you look around the track and everyone has a digital camera.
Has that become a challenge you've had to face?
Probably as with any vendor, It's new competition or new people who say, wow he's got a great concept, I can do that, that can be a challenge. I see that everywhere I go. I don't want to sound like I'm whining! But wherever you go you see a table and a handmade sign that someone does pictures. But it makes us stay on our toes to make new things. We pride ourselves in making friends with these families. We travel around and stop and see them when we can. I don't come out here to make as much money as possible, get it and get done. I love being a part of the sport. Now the greatest challenge is to be away from my family.
What do you like about being on the road and at the races?
I love to travel. I grew up as a traveling kid. We were all over the country. In the 5th grade I had been to like every state but four of them. It is nothing for me to jump in my truck and drive 18 hours. At the races, I'm with my friends and my family. When I'm home, I don't know my neighbors, and I'm cool with that. When I'm at the races, I'm with all my friends. That's why I love packing up and going to the races. If I'm not shooting pictures on the weekend, I'm bouncing off the walls. I don't know what to do on the weekends I'm home.
As a photographer, what do you try to provide to the racers? Do certain teams want certain kinds of shots?
What I try to provide from a product standpoint, is good value at a good price. We're the only company that I know of on the east coast that is doing what we do for more than 5 years, and we've been doing it for 13 plus years. A lot of people can take pictures and say, 'I'm going to take pictures and put them online,' but the hard thing is doing it on site. As far as the photos themselves, that's a tricky animal.I have to take a photo where at least 90 percent of the participants look like they really know what they're doing. Do I lose some of my artistic creativity by doing the entire group? Probably. That's the line that I have to walk. It's how to make everyone happy. So that's just what we have to do.
Do you do other things with your photography skills?
We do.We do senior pictures for a lot of the riders. We do family portraits. In our area, our goal has always been to build a studio. We haven't been able to financially do that, but one of those days we will get there.
Is there anything new going on with RaceDay Pix this season?
We're offering some on-site stuff that we've never done before. We're offering the riders a package where you can actually get every photo we've taken of you over the year. We could have 100 pictures of you and it's $125 for every photo we've taken of you all year. So at a $1.25 for each photo versus $15 online you can get all of them.
We also put together these multi-photo collages and that's been really popular.
OK, David! I'll let you get back to your family. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
I just want to let everyone know I love the sport I'm involved in. I hope I've made JT and Gretchen happy with their photos. That's my goal.
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