It was awesome to see that there were several different track photographers for the Pahrump 9/8 - 9/9 weekend.  I didn't get a chance to see Brians while I was there.  Mikes looked great and Jerry's too!

 Thanks for a great weekend Aaron!!

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!

+1 For Jerry and his services! Almost everyone knows Jerry and his great pics that he takes on his own time, missing track time, missing PAID track time. Great guy and pics! I used to really like Caliphotography when Brian first moved here, was taking pics on Palomar and hooking up great pics for absolutely great prices, compared to the competition. He filled Kent's (Palomar pics) shoes pretty well and kept the prices down for a while. No offense to Brian and crew, but their picture quality has degraded, meanwhile prices shoot up to pay for all of Brian's equipment and what not. Again, nothing against Brian and crew having a business sense, but I think there should be line drawn so prices don't go from $50/CD of good pics for the weekend up to $80 for, in some cases, poor quality pics.

Oh well, my vote is definitely for Jerry, after all, he's one of us! =)

+ 1 jerry all the way.

Cam brought up a point I forgot to mention. While multiple photogs would be great for the end user (read: US) it probably wouldn't be profitable for all the photogs involved. If CP, Jerry and Mike (and whoever else wants to participate) are willing to participate at the Pahrump day for a possible loss I say they have a battle royale! All three do their thing and then the riders can vote for who they like best at the end of the day or something. Display pics from all three, without displaying their name (label them A,B,C) and have the riders put on the back of their raffle tickets which one they like best and put it in a box. Winner gets the contract.

Or if that's not feasible, I'd say give Jerry a shot since 1) It sounds like the majority of people want a change. 2) He takes great pictures 3) Mike LaPutt already has contracts with other orgs that bring him some kind of income.

Just my .002

I would support whoever's doing the photography, if there's more than one guy that's even better, more choices.

Last pahrump weekend you guys had 2 tyre vendors, one of whom made me miss one session just because I wasn't buying tires from him and that I had brought my own, so I got last priority and he kept doing the others' tyres even though they didn't need them right that moment. So I switched to the other guy: done in 10 minutes.

We all paid not little for the fun weekend, and it's only natural to be wanting the best of a memento to be taken home. Just lucky enough we kinda "did have some choices" the last pahrump weekend.

I'm doing the video next time :D

addition: I think Jerry said he could also meet your schedules for a whole season. He was a Utah resident so Miller's not a problem for him he said.

Lots of posts since I last saw this!  I'm of the opinion that I do enough track days that I can't really afford to buy a CD for every day that I go.  Instead, I review the pictures and if there are one or two pictures that make me go "WOW" I'll buy the pic or CD.  I haven't seen any stuff this season to prompt me to buy a photo.  I've seen Jerry's work on several occasions and I'm always asking him to print pics out for me because he seems to have the eye - whether it be timing or framing - to really impress me.  I agree, the dynamic "alternative" angles I've seen CP take are neat, but not something I'm interested in purchasing.

 While I think having multiple photogs at an event might work a few times, I'm doubtful that it will work well.  Having multiple photogs = competition.  Competition means each photog will make less money than if they were the only player there that day.  While this is better for the consumer (lower prices, more selection) it may make it such that one photog simply doesn't make enough money to make it profittable to attend any more, bringing us back to the 1 photog situation we're already in.

 If I could vote, I'd like to give Jerry an opportunity to show us what he can do.  He's already shown that he can take fantastic photos and his prices for prints are more than reasonable.

I've had the opportunity to see some of Jerry's (orguss) pics and I gotta say, he does get "the money shots"...and if I remember correctly, that was after only one or two sessions of shooting.

That would be cool to have Jerry as the photo guy. I think his pics are top notch and uploaded in a timely manner. Prices are competetive as well.  

First let me start by saying that all the guys at CP are really nice folks. Very personable and friendly. With that, I also have to say that I HAVE seen them take great shots. The problem is I don't see enough of them. Much of the shots I see are either out of focus, are at a weird angle, include something awkward in the background or generally just don't have that "wow" factor that potential buyers look for.

I'm not saying lets can them, what I am saying is that we should have more than one photog at each event. I don't care who's taking pics, it's hard to take quality photos of, what, 100 or so riders? The more shutterbugs at an event the better for multiple reasons: 1. Everyone gets more pictures. 2. The angles are different. 3. Another photog can take a break and download the pics to his/her computer while someone else is snapping pics. 4 It allows pictures to be snapped all day long--Most photogs I see at trackdays stop taking pics after lunch (which is usually when most riders have their best sessions) so they can DL into their computers. At least this way there's a constant flow of pictures being taken...and everyone loves to see pics of themselves at the track.

I personally like the stuff that Jerry and Mike LaPutt take, but I say let the people decide. Have CP continue to take pics, have Jerry come along and have Mike join the party as well. Have them do their thing and whoever the people buy from will be the winner. I don't see why there only HAS to be one photographer...

If an opportunity is given, I can produce the same quality pics as Mike at trackday.net and at low prices or equal to Mike.  I like to have repeated customer and charging them at a low price for quantity purchases. Though I do not have the equipment like Mike at trackday.net but will obtain them when a contract is sign. And I will only be covering a single track org, not multiple events. Jerry 

Good comments posted latley. Wonder what the magic number is to give someone else a try.

I think at the very least Brian should show up if CP continues shooting.

I'd like to give someone cash for photo's but at those high prices the quality needs to be much better.

i don't see why we can't go with multiple photogs instead of just one.  Let the "customers" decide on where to go...this will determine which photog to keep at the end. :P  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

I usually buy pictures when I see that the quality is good. Last 2 times at Pahrump w. Ti2TT, the quality IMO was not worth me putting out money for. Now if Mike LaPutt was shooting at pahrump, i would buy his pictures in a heartbeat. Im not hating on CP but the last 2 events at pahrump were not good.

I didnt buy any cds last go at willow springs due to the poor quality and lack of pictures.... out of focus and not enough of them to justify $60.00

97 Honda VFR Interceptor #42

San Luis Obispo California.

email - cozmoguy@hotmail.com

I agree with the ongoing argument of CP mainly focusing on quantity of photos, not so much quality. Sure, some of their work is great, but it would be nice if more of it was, also. I am certainly no expert, but I personally think Rick Clemson (www.rickclemson.com) from Orange County is the best photographer I have seen. He takes awesome shots, and focuses on quality, not quantity. But I'm not sure what his schedule is regarding trackdays. Just throwing his name out for consideration.

i completely understand aaron's point about finding someone/company that will commit to an entire season.  there are a number of aspects to this business decision that he has to consider.

 as a whole, i think caliphotography is very good.  i think brian is easily the best photog of that crew, but he can't be 2 places at once.  perhaps he should do a little more training with his guys (though they aren't bad, just not as good as brian or mike laputt, etc.).  my other rub with cp is that the last few td's i have done with them have taken quite awhile (6-10 days) for the photos to be posted online.  seems like once again, brian is fast and the others are less fast.

 i would say have mike laputt do your pahrump days and cp do the rest...but this may not be possible.  talk to brian at cp and see if he can bring the rest of his team up to his level.  all in all, tho, cp is pretty damn good.

I don't think there is any badmouthing going on at the moment...it's all just peoples opinions in which everyone is entitled too, however, once again...We will have to have a lot more "opinions", suggestions, before we just up and switch photo people...The reason we use Cali is because of our schedule and that they can make all our dates. We are running 3 states and multiple tracks and next year it will expand again, so to get someone or some company to make our schedule is not the easiest thing in the world which Cali has committed to all of our dates. It's a little easier to get a photo person/company to commit to your dates when you are only running 1 or 2 tracks in the same state, unfortunately, that is not our deal.

No bad mouthing here, just unhappy with the product the last 3-4 days ive been out. When i quit seeing Brian at the track is when i really started noticing.

Hmmmm.  Seems to be a little badmouthing of the CP guys.  Personally I think they do a great job of taking as many photos as possible and giving the customer a wide range to choose from.  With some of the other guys, I have noticed the quality is about the same but the quantity is far less.  The average person buying photos at the track is looking to get qualtiy photos and a lot of them, not one perfect one.....  I say keep Cali around...  Just my opinion though!

Cheers

Here's another voice to go with other photog.

Well we can certainly look into it. I know Mike over at trackday.net and also know Jerry as well but we'll need a little more input than just 3 peoples opionions over here.

I completely concur with the previous statements. Mike LaPutt's photoraphy at Pahrump has been the highest quality as well as the availability to get individual photos and cds the same day at the track. I would have to say Jerry's pics are right up there with Kents and he also has great pricing and turn around time. I've been thoroughly disapointed with Caliphotography's product. Their people are nice but their pics aren't...

Yes please, someone that takes professional photo's and doesn't over charge for them.

Mike @ trackday.net would be great for Pahrump and anywhere else he would go i think and he's proven he's up for the task, not to mention he post pics the same day taken.