choose to shoot Nikon – and, no, I don’ t do camera wars, I think Canon, Sony and most of the other DSLR manufacturers all make superb gear. My usual trackside kit includes a D800E and D500 bodies( with a D750 as a spare), 70-200 / 2.8G, 300 / f4E and 200-500 / f5.6E lenses plus 24-70 / 2.8G and Sigma 10-20 / 4.5-5.6 lenses for pit and grid work. On top of that, there’ s a flash gun or two, spare batteries, cards, card readers, laptop and all the other stuff that I need to get me through the weekend. And sunscreen, which I always start to use the day after I’ ve burned myself to a crisp – I’ m a slow learner. One thing I’ m grateful for is that I’ m largely a product of the digital age. The ability to review my shots in near real time and then adjust based on what I see must amount to either witchcraft or cheating( or both) to those who shot races back in the days of film, which wasn’ t that long ago when you think about it. Most of my lenses would work just fine on the late model state-ofthe-art-at-the-time Nikon film bodies and one

of these days I’ m going to get one and shoot a session or two in film just to see what I can get out of it. The last time I shot a race meeting in film was at a mid-80s Le Mans 24-hour. And back in the day I wasn’ t taking it remotely seriously.... which shows in the photos I have from back then. Humping gear around the track is a big deal, especially when you’ ve got dodgy knees and a crook shoulder like mine. Carrying two bodies, two or three lenses, water, energy bars( the diet I live on at the track sustains life but isn’ t going to win any prizes in a healthy living competition) amounts to a fair bit of weight and Phillip Island is a big track to walk around. My girlfriend, Sarah, bought me a Lowe Pro Street and Field Technical Vest and Belt and that’ s been a lifesaver( thanks Honey) because it spreads the load of whatever I’ m carrying and I can hook different pouches on it depending on what I need to take with me and whether I might need weather protection or not. And it looks cool. If you want to see more of Nick’ s photos, you can find him at Half Light Photographic( www. facebook. com / halflightphoto) on Facebook and @ half. light on Instagram.

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