Mary and Howie Hodge
I’ve always had a great admiration for our fellow motorsports photographers. They see things from a different perspective than the rest of us. When they’re working at a race, they’re burdened by all sorts of paraphernalia---cameras and all the associated hardware.
We writers have a couple pens, a reporter’s notepad, and maybe a miniature recorder. No sweat. Then there’s our work location. Writers, if we’re lucky, we’re in the pressbox, where there’s a seat, maybe even something to eat and drink; at worst, we’ve found a vantage point like the roof of the Lebanon Valley infield hotdog stand to see the entire race.
Photographers have stronger constitutions: they’re on their feet all race long, anchored in one spot, usually in a turn, dodging all matter of flotsam and jetsam as the cars roar past lap after lap. When they’re lucky, they catch an unbelievable action photo of cars defying gravity; when they’re not, the race is a long parade past their location.
Howie and Marty Hodge have been plying their trade for decades. They began shooting for New England-based trade paper Speedway Scene, which led them to providing photos of the Modifieds and Busch North Tours for NASCAR. More recently, they’ve become members of the Area Auto Racing News staff, continuing to cover the Whelen Modified Tour and other weekly races.
Their tireless dedication to the sport has taken them to more than 150 different speedways where they’ve captured the essence of auto racing for today and the future. The members is proud to welcome two of our own into the EMPA Hall of Fame.
We writers have a couple pens, a reporter’s notepad, and maybe a miniature recorder. No sweat. Then there’s our work location. Writers, if we’re lucky, we’re in the pressbox, where there’s a seat, maybe even something to eat and drink; at worst, we’ve found a vantage point like the roof of the Lebanon Valley infield hotdog stand to see the entire race.
Photographers have stronger constitutions: they’re on their feet all race long, anchored in one spot, usually in a turn, dodging all matter of flotsam and jetsam as the cars roar past lap after lap. When they’re lucky, they catch an unbelievable action photo of cars defying gravity; when they’re not, the race is a long parade past their location.
Howie and Marty Hodge have been plying their trade for decades. They began shooting for New England-based trade paper Speedway Scene, which led them to providing photos of the Modifieds and Busch North Tours for NASCAR. More recently, they’ve become members of the Area Auto Racing News staff, continuing to cover the Whelen Modified Tour and other weekly races.
Their tireless dedication to the sport has taken them to more than 150 different speedways where they’ve captured the essence of auto racing for today and the future. The members is proud to welcome two of our own into the EMPA Hall of Fame.
