Prograde Digital Ambassador Whit Bazemore

“Photography has changed beyond comprehension since the early 1980s when I was working with a Canon F1 camera, manual focus Canon FD 500mm f/4.5 Fluorite lens, plus Kodachrome 64 or Ilford FP-4 film.”

A former National Hot Rod Association® (NHRA) Funny Car driver with 20 major wins to his credit, including two U.S. Nationals victories, Whit Bazemore easily relates to the athletes whom he has come to know over the years; he has both photographed many and raced aside even more. At age 16, this neophyte’s trackside image of a race car hitting the wall, plus ensuing driver extraction, earned him front-page placement in the Atlanta Journal Constitution sports section. By age 18, he was working as one of two photographers for the sports marketing arm of RJ Reynolds Tobacco, Co. At age 20, he consorted with clients such as Ford, Nissan, Anheuser Busch, Stroh’s, P&G and other Fortune 500 companies, plus produced imagery for advertising agencies and publications. Yet with ample assignments falling into place and firing on all cylinders, a mere two years later Bazemore set down his camera and made the decision to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a race car driver. He says the climb was long and challenging, but his tenacity got him to the right places.

“My photography work today is as personally fulfilling as was my racing career: pushing oneself to improve and be really good at something is both challenging and rewarding.”

What fuels this photographer: “You have to have a goal and continue to aim for creating your best.”

A resident of Bend, Oregon, Bazemore specializes in sports photography but remains ready to aim the lens at most anything.