One of the side benefits of shooting video (or stills), is that if you are a sports lover, the two can be combined with some decent side effects. For starters, if all the cards fall right, you can get free entry, usually much better access to areas that are normally forbidden and even chat and perhaps socialise with competitors, manager and officials.

In my time I have covered V8 Supercars, Grand Prix, rallies, speedway, racing jet boats, tennis, ten pin bowling, fishing competitions, soccer (football!) and yachting, although it is fair to say my first love is by far and away motor sport and this was where I actually started in both journalism and technology back in the late 70s. It was a case of being at the right place at the right time, but this no way should prevent anyone from having a go if this is what they want to do, and to this end, there are a few tricks I can offer up and hopefully some sage advice to help you along.

My Start

I happened to have a friend who worked for Agfa and he had obtained some pre-release very high (for the time) black and white ASA (ISO) film. As that weekend was the Rally of the West – which morphed into the International Rally Round in later years – we decided to follow it with my older brother and get some shots. In those days, there was little in the way of crowd control, so you could find a nice spot on a corner in the forest, wait for the cars to come blasting through, pack up, leap into the car and go like hell to the next spot.

There were no GPS systems so we had to rely on maps, and most of this stuff was at night! Camera gear by today’s standards was perhaps primitive, with wet cell flash units for light (although we did have a remote flash on a tripod triggered by infra-red I think it was). My own cameras were a Pentax KX and 55 ~ 200 mm lens nailed to a 2x converter for long stuff, and a Leica M2 for closer shots.

When we ran out of film we drove back to Perth and as our mate had a friend at WA Newspapers we rolled up there to get the negs processed. When they came out of the machine – and this is the right place at the right time part – the sports editor saw them, told us he had no shots as the appointed journo was sick so could we sell some prints to him. That was a nice easy $100, not bad in 1979. Then the editor asked if anyone could do a 500 word story and I swear to this day everyone in the room looked at me. They sat me down at a Remington typewriter, and half an hour later they had their story and I had another $50.

Thinking this was a good lurk, I contacted every motor sport magazine in Australia and those photos and rewrites of the story were printed no less than four times. And I got paid each time, enough to buy my own typewriter!

Australian Touring Car Championships – Brock, Moffat, Grice, Richards etc

When the next round of the ATCC (Australian Touring Car Championship) came to WA, we all applied for, and gained, accreditation for Wanneroo Park, now Barbagello, to act as photo-journalists. This meant as mentioned before, we had fee access to all parts of the circuit as well as free entry, and could go in the pits and before the start even walk among the cars on the starting grid, shoot the drivers, interview them and so on.

I ended up doing this full time for a number of years across different sports, selling the stories to anyone from The West Australian, the Sunday Independent, Motoring Reporter, Auto Action, Wheels, Sports Car World and others. To get the stories approved, I simply rang them and spoke to the editor! Good people who love any particular sport and are au fait with cameras AND can write were as rare then as they are now!

Today

A few things have changed since those days, but the mechanics are the same. The biggest change has been in the area of accreditation. Let’s take the V8 Supercars and other motor sports I am most familiar with as an example.

Today, instead of being accredited by the circuit, for the V8 Supercars, they actually supply the passes allowing you in and depending on the level, where you can go. A photography pass for example gives more freedom than a journalist and a media authorisation gets you more again.

You have to wear a special “bib” at all times as further identification (to officials from a distance) and if you want to shoot from the pits during a race, higher accreditation has to be obtained (which is VERY hard to get) and you have to wear an approved V8 Supercars supplied fire proof driving suit. This you have to buy and they are NOT cheap.

There are other rules too; no photography is allowed during the press conference (as Channel 7 has the sole rights to that) and if an official tells you to do something, you do it with no question. Why? Here’s a true example that happened to me at Brisbane’s Lakeside circuit.

There was a Holden HQ race about to start and I was standing in a particular spot next to a Shell sign (they are made of foam). An official told me to move in no uncertain terms, very rudely in fact. I had a full media accreditation for the meeting so could technically go where I wanted. If he had asked nicely, I probably would have agreed immediately, but it turned into a bit of a shouting match at a distance. After a while, fed up with the haranguing, I grudgingly moved away (it was an excellent shooting spot) around 5 seconds before a car at full tilt and out of control went right over the spot I had been standing and cleaned up the sign in a white, red and yellow explosion of foam.

Apparently on the previous day, no less than three cars had left the circuit at that point – hence the official’s insistence. From that moment on, I have ALWAYS followed an official’s directions no matter how much a ‘grunt’ they become – and some can be REAL grunts trust me! In the old days most of them were volunteers, but today they are usually paid security guards with no remaining sense of humour. In fact these days, I make a point of introducing myself to close by officials of all types and ask them to tell me if there are any local rules or things they prefer. Keep ‘em on your side is a good idea in the survival guide!

Whilst trying to get accreditation for the V8s is hard unless you have a really compelling reason for them to give it to you – in other words you can get them some serious coverage -  and Formula 1 is almost impossible, local club meetings can be as much if not more fun to cover, with varying classes of vehicles from Go Karts (which are VERY fast!), exoticars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus etc, open wheelers, fire breathing sports sedan monsters and touring cars – Holden, Ford, Toyotas etc.

Usually the promoter issues the accreditation, which is more often than not the circuit’s Club, and they LOVE getting coverage. You can also, unlike V8s, often sell your services as a videographer or photographer to competitors adding making a quid to the sheer fun of it all.

(I admit, there is a delicious apparent but unsaid nyah, nyah to the crowd when you are “on the other side of the fence”!)

Of course, again if you can show you’ll get the Club or Promoter media coverage it’s easier, and to this end you might want to call the editor of the various newspapers (national, state and local) to see if they want/need coverage, as well as appropriate magazines; even offer material to the Club for use in their newsletters or as a members’ video night.

This same principle applies no matter the sport is motor racing, horse dressage, hockey, Aussie Rules, tennis, netball or lacrosse or swimming.

The BIG Rule

One BIG rule though is that you have to be able to establish you know your stuff. Turning up with a $299 digi-still is not going to inspire confidence. My tip is to build a portfolio of stills or video via something you can give them when you apply – a thumb drive, DVD etc – or build a website to show off your skills. WordPress is very convenient for this.

Next, make sure you know your equipment and have all the appropriate gear. A tripod is an absolute must as is usually an external mic and a set of headphones to monitor audio. Spare SD cards or tapes are a given as is at least one spare battery and a charger (many sporting venues have a room set aside as a media room where you can safely leave gear, plug things in to re-charge them and some even feed and water you!).

But don’t forget also that sport doesn’t necessarily stop for inclement weather. I have a backpack (waterproof) that contains spare underwear in a zipper plastic bag – there is nothing worse than wet undies andsocks), a spray jacket, hat, gloves, towel and even a first aid kit along with various size plastic bags to put cameras etc in if required. And as you will be standing for a long time, especially in motor sport, a good pair of shoes is a necessity.

Make sure you know the sport. You cannot “cover” a sports event if you have no idea of the rules. I have never covered a Rugby League match for example as I have no concept of the rules of the game. And make sure you stay up to date with any rule changes.

And finally ...

Finally, when actually covering something, keep your wits about you, especially if that sport has any element of danger to it as motor racing certainly does. NEVER turn your back on “play,” and become aware of what can be a precursor to an “incident”. A cricket ball in the back of the scone, a golf ball in the moosh, a kick from a horse or a hockey stick in the ribs can all lay you out of action for weeks.

Oh one last thing. NEVER get caught up in the actual play; in other words, do not interfere or become part of the action and that includes giving advice or a suggestion to an official, especially if it is over a penalty and you thought you saw differently. Your job is to report on the proceedings, not influence them! If required – and this has happened to me – a tribunal may call for your footage or photograph or even verbal evidence AFTER the fact. I find it wise in the longer scheme of things to comply under that circumstance.

So go for it. It’s not hard and just needs a bit of before-the-fact work and PR. And I promise you’ll love it!

* The video footage was shot in 2005 on a consumer SONY TRV10E with a Cokin filter kit and an ND filter plus gradient blue filter fitted. The aim of the exercise is to show how close you can get!

** By the way. For some more ideas on making a quid making video, you might like "Making Money, Making Video".

By David Hague

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com, vbthedog@gmail.com via Twitter via @vbthedog. or