Capturing the moment

Sydney based photographer Skene Motorsport really managed to capture the moment as Carl got ready to launch at this year’s Sydney Jamboree utilising his Canon 1Dx equipment. Drag Racing needs intense concentration and reaction time for the ‘lights’ is as important as the BHP of the car.

This is what Gavin Skene, Australian Speedway Photographer of the Year award winner, had to say about his picture above, “Carl Cox. For a bloke that has made his living being the ‘Hype Man’ and getting everyone else to move around, I was able to find Carl in a moment of being calm, vision-driven and focused on what was something of great strength from not just himself, but a crew that all their combined work would be over in under 10 seconds.

So much goes into what is done on track with Drag Racing that only the fans see the ‘2 dollar part’ in what has significant costs in getting there. Just the sacrifice, time and dedication on how hard it is to make that 10, 8, 7 or 5 second pass. To the punter it is just another car going past, really fast.

What I love about what I do is finding that moment that no one else is in. I could have done a backflip on roller skates and still not grabbed Carl's attention with the amount of mental focus that is contained at that moment he is in. In movies they say, to be continued; in photography I guess it is, never to be repeated.”

You can see more of Gavin's work via his Instagram channel @theartofspeedway.