NASCAR 350, Powered by Ethanol

Sometimes I have to pinch myself. It truly is hard to believe I get picked to photograph some of the cool assignments I get!!!

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of photographing the NASCAR Iowa Corn 350, Powered by Ethanol, at the Iowa Speedway on Rusty Wallace Drive outside Des Moines. I was shooting for the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), which is the title sponser of the race. The best part about that is I get carte blanch to go just about anywhere I want and photograph every aspects of the day. I bounce around from the VIP tent to the Club suite, from Midway with all the vendor trucks to the infield with all the team garages, and of course the race itself from inside and outside the track. I cover the pre-race festivities like VIP presentations, pace-car rides, pre-race concert, behind-the-scenes appearances, driver introductions, and more. I’m one of only 2 photographers that gets to cover the most famous words in the racing world…”Gentlemena, start your engines”. Then we literally RUN off the track and out of harm’s way. Once the race starts, I’m constantly moving around, looking for unique angles and interesting subjects. And of course after the race is over, I get to cover all the celebrations at the end!

The Iowa Speedway where the race is held is a 7/8-mile oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa…approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Des Moines. The track was designed with influence by Rusty Wallace, who patterned it after Richmond Raceway, a short track where Wallace saw a lot of success during his racing days. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered Recreational Vehicle viewing area along the backstretch. The track hosts the NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR events.

This year’s Iowa Corn 350 was held on August 3, 2025, at Iowa Speedway, contesting over 350 laps around the D-shaped oval. It was the 23rd race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. William Byron won the race. Chase Briscoe finished 2nd, and Brad Keselowski finished 3rd. Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five, and Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top ten.

Many thanks to the amazing team at ICGA for all their hard work planning and organizing this incredible event. It was such an honor capturing all the energy and excitement of the day for them!!!

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 3

With 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 3 of the conference capitalized on all the informative presentations and relationship-building from the previous two days! There were many more powerful presentations, as well as panel discussions for everyone to attend. Plus there were many new connections established during the networking breaks. The day culminated in a fun group shot of all the amazing people on the US Grains Council team that made this whole conference possible! It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!!!

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 2

With 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 2 of the conference was all about the keynote speakers in the main ballroom! There were lots of networking breaks as well. At the end of the day, once everyone’s brains were filled to capacity with new knowledge, a nice reception was held at the Minneapolis Orchestra Hall. (Stay tuned for Day 3.) It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 1

With over 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will get a chance to meet farmers and see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 1 of the conference I was busy photographing candids of everyone arriving and registering, team photos of the various delegations, as well as the welcome reception.  (Stay tuned for days 2 and 3.)  It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 3

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from the final Day 3…

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 2

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from Day 2…

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 1

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from Day 1…

WP Chrysler Club Conference

It was great to be back at Belmond Charleston Place this week, photographing the WP Chrysler Club sales meeting.

The program started off with a welcome reception for all the sales leaders and their significant others. My friend Gary and I partnered up to provide couples portraits, which Gary printed and delivered on-site for the guests to take home as a memento of the evening. We also photographed head-shots for the various dealership owners. Then everyone enjoyed a beautiful cocktail hour, followed by a fabulous dinner!

The next morning I photographed the business meeting, including all the networking opportunities, the keynote speakers, and of course the award presentations to the top sales leaders.  CONGRATULATIONS to Chris & Joel for their achievements!

At the end of the day, everyone gathered for a big group photo on the famous Grand Staircase. That was the last “official” duty before everyone dispersed to partake in their various free-time activities, including golf, shopping, carriage tours, etc.  As soon as I snapped the last frame, everyone scattered like school kids on the last day of class before summer break!  😉

I’ve been slowly incorporating the new Nikon Z system into some of my shooting. Although most of these images were photographed with my trusty Nikon D5, many were captured with the Z6II, which I’m very impressed with. However, there are still a few things that have left me wondering “why did they do that?!?”. The jury is still out as to whether I will fully switch over to mirrorless.  But so far it’s been fun to play with.  So stay tuned…

USGC 17th Internationall Marketing Conference – Day 3

Last week I had the pleasure of Photographing the US Grains Council’s 17th International Marketing Conference at the Hilton Downtown Tampa, Florida. It also happened to be the Council’s 60th Annual Membership Meeting, which made it extra special!

In keeping with Chairman Darren Armstrong’s theme of “Make Something Happen”, members had opportunities to visit directly with the Council’s staff from around the globe, build relationships with them, and deepen their understanding of the critical efforts they undertake for the US grains industry. In addition, Advisory Teams held in-depth meetings, offering the chance to provide recommendations to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives. Plus of course there was an incredible lineup of fantastic speakers, experts, and panels during the general session.

After three long but fulfilling days together, everyone left the meeting with a renewed dedication to the work at hand of promoting coarse grains and ethanol exports for US farmers. And I left with a sense of accomplishment at having faced the many challenges of dark conference rooms and grueling 12-hour days loaded down with camera gear, to come away with a collection of images that truly captured the spirit of the event!

Here are a few favorites from Day 3…

USGC 17th Internationall Marketing Conference – Day 2

Last week I had the pleasure of Photographing the US Grains Council’s 17th International Marketing Conference at the Hilton Downtown Tampa, Florida. It also happened to be the Council’s 60th Annual Membership Meeting, which made it extra special!

In keeping with Chairman Darren Armstrong’s theme of “Make Something Happen”, members had opportunities to visit directly with the Council’s staff from around the globe, build relationships with them, and deepen their understanding of the critical efforts they undertake for the US grains industry. In addition, Advisory Teams held in-depth meetings, offering the chance to provide recommendations to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives. Plus of course there was an incredible lineup of fantastic speakers, experts, and panels during the general session.

After three long but fulfilling days together, everyone left the meeting with a renewed dedication to the work at hand of promoting coarse grains and ethanol exports for US farmers. And I left with a sense of accomplishment at having faced the many challenges of dark conference rooms and grueling 12-hour days loaded down with camera gear, to come away with a collection of images that truly captured the spirit of the event!

Here are a few favorites from Day 2…

USGC 17th Internationall Marketing Conference – Day 1

Last week I had the pleasure of Photographing the US Grains Council’s 17th International Marketing Conference at the Hilton Downtown Tampa, Florida. It also happened to be the Council’s 60th Annual Membership Meeting, which made it extra special!

In keeping with Chairman Darren Armstrong’s theme of “Make Something Happen”, members had opportunities to visit directly with the Council’s staff from around the globe, build relationships with them, and deepen their understanding of the critical efforts they undertake for the US grains industry. In addition, Advisory Teams held in-depth meetings, offering the chance to provide recommendations to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives. Plus of course there was an incredible lineup of fantastic speakers, experts, and panels during the general session.

After three long but fulfilling days together, everyone left the meeting with a renewed dedication to the work at hand of promoting coarse grains and ethanol exports for US farmers. And I left with a sense of accomplishment at having faced the many challenges of dark conference rooms and grueling 12-hour days loaded down with camera gear, to come away with a collection of images that truly captured the spirit of the event!

Here are a few favorites from Day 1…