More Indianapolis 500 Practice

[DC Fan]

On the morning of the run for the pole, from the inside of the third turn - the turn left on the oval where you can get a decent view of the cars and get around the impact of a fence being in the way.

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a1385.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a1282.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a1039.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a0623.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a0934.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a1196.jpg

http://www.kevinlillard.com/racing/05092009a0186.jpg

[jdando]

You have some good looking shots there! Nice capture on the sparks on #23 car. On your cropping, perhaps leave a little more room at the front of the car, giving it somewhere to go.

[DC Fan]

Uh, sorry, but the images weren't cropped. They were resized, but not cropped. They're framed as they came out of the camera, unchanged. That's what happens when you have cars passing at 220 miles per hour.

[pastanley]

Nice shots. I sat in the turn 3 area for the 1995 race. Can I ask what lens you used?

[DC Fan]

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM on a XTi. The location is around 120 feet from the inside line of the third turn. Typical focal lengths on the XTi were 100-120mm. Used shutter priority 1/125-1/250 and let the camera figure out the rest. 1/250 is fast for panning motion blur under most circumstances, but turn speed in this area is higher than straightaway speed at most tracks. If there seems to be subtle vertical vignetting in some of the frames, that's because those not fortunate enough to have credentials need to shoot through a fence, and the vertical wires are only a couple of inches apart. Long focal lengths and moderate shutter speeds minimize the impact. It's far from a perfect situation, but it's one of the few places left at the Speedway where you can get a decent track-level shot of cars on the oval without toting a credential.