Thunder on the Beach 2005

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

On Saturday I had the opportunity to photograph the 2005 addition of "Thunder on the Beach" in Wildwood, NJ. It was an extremely bright, warm day. A far cry from last year when it was cold and rainy. The sponsers of the show liked the photos that I had submitted to them last year, so this year they sent me free tickets and gave me a pass to shoot anywhere on the race course during the event. I shot over 1000 pics in 2 days using my D2h with an 80-400 VR and a D50 with a 18-70 DX. We had a great time and David enjoyed the behind the scenes action and getting to meet the drivers. The other photographers covering the event were using Canon Digital Rebels. I felt a little better with my Nikon Gear. The 80-400 really did pretty good with focus speed but I found that I was shooting at the shorter range most of the time.
Here are a few of the photos all take with a D2h and 80-400 VR.

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Thanks for looking and all comments are appreciated.

Gale · Sep 5, 2005

Wow those are great Dave..

Bet David just had the time of his life.

greyflash · Sep 5, 2005

Great action shots Dave. Neat how you caught all these cars up in the air. Well done.

PGB · Sep 5, 2005

Awesome. I bet David had a blast. That ninja turtle and bigfoot are just great!

Well done,

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

A few more photos........

Thanks for the comments. David had a blast. He even got a chance to ride in a Monster Truck and to do some announcing. :smile:
here are a few more shots.

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Here is David riding in the truck :smile:

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Here is some Quad action

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Monsters at night

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eng45ine · Sep 5, 2005

WOW....I WANNA SHOOT THOSE THINGS TOO!!!!!!! Outstanding series of images, Dave. The only thing missing is the rumble of their engines. That looked like a ball to shoot. Easy to understand how you shoot some many images. If you need someone to carry your bottled water for next year's event...I'm volunteering!!!

greyflash · Sep 5, 2005

More nice shots Dave. I'm sure David had a blast.

hans · Sep 5, 2005

Dave these are a feast for the eyes,I love these shows never saw it for real always on the screen.

Great series, give my regards to that wonderful son of yours

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

eng45ine said:
WOW....I WANNA SHOOT THOSE THINGS TOO!!!!!!! Outstanding series of images, Dave. The only thing missing is the rumble of their engines. That looked like a ball to shoot. Easy to understand how you shoot some many images. If you need someone to carry your bottled water for next year's event...I'm volunteering!!!

Frank, its a deal! We are looking at the first weekend in October next year for the show. I drank a lot of water that day. They wanted me to cover 2 more shows this weekend but I told them I was all "trucked" out. :frown:
Thanks for the comments.

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

hans said:
Dave these are a feast for the eyes,I love these shows never saw it for real always on the screen.

Great series, give my regards to that wonderful son of yours

Thank you very much Hans. David was so excited this weekend he could have burst. :smile:
I wish you all could have seen his smile riding in the back of the Truck. I would have taken a photo, but I was bouncing aroun so much I was afraid I would have broken my nose with the camera :smile:

Jim Strathearn · Sep 5, 2005

I can see why the promoters gave you the free tickets! Great job... (Makes me feel better about my recent 80-400 VR purchase as well!)

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

Jim Strathearn said:
I can see why the promoters gave you the free tickets! Great job... (Makes me feel better about my recent 80-400 VR purchase as well!)

Thanks Jim. The 80-400 VR is an amazing lens. It's pretty cool to be able to hand hold at 400mm.

Gale · Sep 5, 2005

Dave Double WOWWOW

Those are some great shots.

Hey nothing wrong with that 80-400 VR VR VR

Now I have a Kinko Pro TC 1.4 on mine. Does a great job :>)))))))

Wonderful weekend you two had. Wish I was there toooo.

Can I join Frank with the water and carry the towels :>)))

DAVE VAN · Sep 5, 2005

Gale said:
Those are some great shots.

Hey nothing wrong with that 80-400 VR VR VR

Now I have a Kinko Pro TC 1.4 on mine. Does a great job :>)))))))

Wonderful weekend you two had. Wish I was there toooo.

Can I join Frank with the water and carry the towels :>)))

Thanks Gale. I have to admit its a little intimidating to be 30 feet away from a 10 foot tall 12 foot wide 10,000 pound truck with 6' tall tires with a 560 ci 1,800 horse power engine flying 30 feet in the air!

My wife Maureen was convinced that I was going to get squashed :redface:
I also am glad that I had two bodies. Having the D50 with the 18-70 as a second camera, sure beat having to change lens on the beach with the sand flying.