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Texas DP Roger Woodruff on NASCAR

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Talent isn’t the only quality a DP needs to have when working a NASCAR race, passion’s a must to truly encompass the atmosphere and spirit of this sport in the footage you hand over to the client.  I’ve been attending NASCAR races since I was a kid. These drivers are athletes! They train hard both mentally and physically.  They have families and lives outside of racing. Those are the moments I love to capture. Those are the stories I want to tell.

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I’m no stranger to NASCAR or the tracks they race on.  In fact I’ve been to every track except Kansas, Las Vegas, and Homestead.  I love this sport and I’ve been lucky enough to experience things only fans could dream of.  I’ve captured Kurt Busch throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game, Carl Edwards giving a personal tour of his private jet, and even spend the day in NYC with Brad Keselowski.  

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I cut my teeth while on the road with Fox Sports and Turner as Skip Clark’s DP apprentice.  I ran audio, learned the track layouts, and found that I was right at home. After my time with Skip I went on to be a cameraman based in Nashville, before moving to Texas.  

A couple years ago I got a great opportunity to DP TNT’s “All Access” features for their NASCAR Summer Series.  You can read about my experience here. For six weeks I was on the road.  Each week I followed around a different NASCAR driver.  I literally bounced around the county. These guys have busy lives.  Even when they aren’t at the track. I followed Denny Hamlin to the Fedex headquarters.  I rode in a Ford Rapter with Brad Keselowski at the Ford test track outside Detroit. I even spent the day at Cedar Point with Juan Pablo Montoya.

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I’m definitely in my element when I’m telling one of NASCAR’s stories.  At the end of the day the gear doesn’t really matter when it comes to telling a story.  Passion matters. Being driven matters. Having the right attitude matters. If you want a DP that has all of this and can also shoot and light the hell out of anything, then you just found the right guy.