Left the IHBA Bayfair race with too much lens and a great tan

Mark and I had plans to shoot the IHBA Bayfair race in San Diego, CA together. However he got the call Thursday that he was to shoot the BYU game on Saturday and the Chargers on Sunday. I was a little bummed to not be shooting the whole event together since there is a lot of down time...but I was also excited to hopefully catch some great stuff and rub it in his face.

I'm not too excited about my Saturday photos. The fog and light was difficult to battle. It didn't illuminate the boats well enough to show off the vibrant paint jobs.

Across the bay on Vacation Island, Unlimited Light boats were racing. Mark was kind enough to leave me with the 600mm for the weekend and I wanted to see what it could do.

First round of qualifying began with the National Anthem and I couldn't be more excited for the Top Fuel Hydros. Scotty Lumbert takes his first pass in the Spirit of Texas. The spray amazes me every time!

John Haas makes his first run as a seagull tries to be his spray.

Then he starts to get a little shaky as he begins to get a little air. That's right Mark, both propellers!

Daryl "Madd Maxx" Erlich makes a record breaking pass at 265mph as he smashes into the time sensors. Too bad I clipped his front end as he speeds thru my frame.

While I'm at work all day, Mark so kindly emails me youtube links of various crashes he finds. Fortunately, I watch them and it actually prepared me for my first ever crash. Top Alcohol Hydro racer Kent Price starts to get wobbly as he makes his pass. In my head I start thinking, he's gonna crash, he's gonna crash.

This is where it starts to get ugly. The crash literally happened right in front of me and the 600 was no longer my friend. As you can see I'm panning with the boat as it shoots up into the air and I lose him for a few seconds before finding him again as he makes his descent into the ocean. Below is my contact sheet.

Just as I started to calm down from Price's crash, Top Alcohol Flat driver Fred Hart makes a run that also ended horribly.

What could have been my best shot of the whole weekend ends up out of focus. Ugh. What can I do.

Mark suggested that I move further down the beach for the faster boats since they have a tendency of crashing after the finish line. However Hart managed to make his way pretty far down the track and crashed right in front of me...again. I am cursed with too much lens.

To everyone's surprise the capsule lid was missing as everything settled down. Luckily Hart landed right side up. As I'm shooting a couple of shots of him getting picked up, I notice he's holding something up...it's his arm.

Day 3 I came to the track with an attitude of doing something different. I didn't want to end up with the same shots with crumby lighting as everyone else. So I tracked down Johnny Love, the track engineer, to see if he would take me in his dingy across the track to this island. Here's a pic of my camp for the day.

Photo by Richard Quattrocchi

As John Hass made his first pass for the day, I was so glad I went to other side of the track to not have to fight the fog and shadows.

Jarrett Silvey deploys his parachute during the first round.

Scotty Lumbert shoots out some great flames as he makes his first run for the day.

Maybe its the colors, but for some reason, I love the Mean Streak boat driven by Mike Fry. It catches my eye every time.

For a moment I thought I was on set of a Pantine Pro V commercial. Terry Kain emerged from his capsule with such grace and shook his from side to side as he took his helmet off. He then stood on his boat with such confidence I couldn't help but photograph his presence.

I made my way back to land courtesy of the Rescue boat and its fine crew.

Photo by Richard Quattrocchi

As the day was coming to an end, the tear out crew for the sound system was enjoying their overhead view of the race from their boom lift. Still on my kick of shooting something different, I asked the guys if they would take me up. They were more than happy to help.

Photo by Richard Quattrocchi

I couldn't have asked for better backgrounds. With an elevated view, my frames consisted of beautiful glimmering water and the colorful boats. If only they had been there for the previous days action.

Pro Mod driver Shawn Reed.