Trudy and Jeff Marshall have been shooting auto and snowmobile races in the area since 2003. Jeff, a mini stock car owner, has full track access, and he and his wife use that benefit to get close-up photos and to shoot from inside the oval.

The Jay-based business has been popular with fans and racers alike, as the Marshall family has documented dozens of races with tens of thousands of photographs. (See them at jarracingphoto.com.) It’s a labor of love the Marshalls fit in between their day jobs. In addition to Jeff and Trudy, their adult children take racing photos too. Having cameras all around the track means they don’t miss any of the action.

Name: Trudy Marshall

Age: 49

Occupation: Racing photographer

How long have you been a photographer? I’ve been doing it all my life. Jeff started doing it in 2003. It’s turned into quite the little business. We have a lot of fun doing it. We just got the USCC Racing Tour, which is a cross-country (snowmobile) tour. We also take pictures for NASCAR and we belong to the Indianapolis Motor Sports Business Conference show, and we take pictures there also.

How has Jeff’s position as a car owner helped your photography? We have full access to the whole track no matter where we go.

What got you into the racing photography business? My husband was racing and one night (racing announcer) Bobby Walker needed someone to take pictures because the photographer wasn’t there, and I just stepped up and said, “Yeah, I don’t mind doing it.” From there, it just grew into what it is now.

Is it tricky taking photos of moving cars? It is. You have to have an art for it, especially at Oxford Plains. You rely on your camera a lot. You have to see what people want to see. They want to see crashes. They want to see what’s happening. It is an art. You have to have the right equipment.

Who are your customers? Fans, or other racers? Fans, racers, everyone. We do a lot of sporting events throughout the state of Maine. Mud runs and stuff like that. We’ll get people from California that have never even been to these events. They just want a picture of that monster truck or a picture of that car. Most of them are fans from the race tracks and fans in general.

You said the entire family pitches in. How does that work? The kids also shoot pictures at different locations that we can’t get to. We have them set up at different places on the track to take pictures. They’re not kids anymore, they’re all young adults.

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